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Hi everyone,
I've been getting great info from this site for quite a while and finally joined, in part because I would like to share my situation and see how common it may be and if anyone has great wisdom to share. My eyes were "diagnosed" as dry about four years ago, with a tear breakup time of 5 seconds. The optometrist but me on Lotemax with the suggesting to use continue using my artificial tears as needed and warm compresses daily, while increasing my omega 3 intake. Nothing got better so I was eventually given Topradex. Not totally happy with my progress, I sought out the opinion of an ophthalmologist, who diagnosed MGD, recommended Lipiflow, and then cauterized my lower puncta. I got the LipiView test which showed a lot of incomplete blinking, though I was never diagnosed with lagophthalmos. I got a Restasis prescription but never was able to really start using it, because of the incredibly intense burning pain. They gave me bandage contact lenses to wear with the disclaimer that "this is probably going to be a life-long commitment."
Then in May I had the TBUT measured again and it was now three seconds. The doctor put me on the autologous eye serum and recommended I take Lotemax four times daily to reduce inflammation so that I could try Restasis again. Here we are in October, and a few days ago my TBUT was measured to be one second. The doctor expressed her concern that at my age (33 years) I am certainly not post-menopausal and that perhaps I have Sjogrens. I have a referral now to see a rheumatologist. Oh, and she also diagnosed me as having ocular rosacea. I am doing warm compresses daily, Lotemax four times a day, preservative-free Soothe eye drops every 15-30 minutes and autologous eye serum every two hours; and now I have been given an Rx for oral doxycycline for the rosacea. The ophthalmologist put plugs in my upper puncta, so now I am quadra-plugged. Well happily I am not really feeling any dryness, but I am getting a SERIOUS amount of burning and irritation. My eyes just want to keep closing because they are so irritated. They physically feel HOT. Such a strange feeling. I just read today for the first time about this "toxic tear lake" that scared the crap out of me. Why would they plug all of my puncta? Is it reasonable to have such a variety of diagnoses? I just kind of feel like there is probably one "central" diagnosis, but no one has pinpointed it or admitted it, because they don't know what to do with me. It seems that everyone just wants to keep preaching about LipiFlow but if I can't even get a real diagnosis, why would I feel confident LipiFlow would even work for me?! I feel that I'm just getting shoved around, but then I suspect most dry eye patients feel the same way! I have a hard time getting any sympathy when I tell people I suffer from dry eyes
So just to summarize, here's my current treatment regimen:
preservative-free artificial tears every 15-30 mins
autologous serum every 2 hours
Lotemax gel 1-3 times daily
lower puncta have been cauterized
upper puncta have been plugged
warm compresses 1-2 times daily
doxycycline, 50 mg twice a day
And the diagnoses I've collected:
MGD
Ocular rosacea
possible Sjogrens
Sorry for the long post, didn't mean for it to run on like that. Thank you for any comments you can provide!!
I've been getting great info from this site for quite a while and finally joined, in part because I would like to share my situation and see how common it may be and if anyone has great wisdom to share. My eyes were "diagnosed" as dry about four years ago, with a tear breakup time of 5 seconds. The optometrist but me on Lotemax with the suggesting to use continue using my artificial tears as needed and warm compresses daily, while increasing my omega 3 intake. Nothing got better so I was eventually given Topradex. Not totally happy with my progress, I sought out the opinion of an ophthalmologist, who diagnosed MGD, recommended Lipiflow, and then cauterized my lower puncta. I got the LipiView test which showed a lot of incomplete blinking, though I was never diagnosed with lagophthalmos. I got a Restasis prescription but never was able to really start using it, because of the incredibly intense burning pain. They gave me bandage contact lenses to wear with the disclaimer that "this is probably going to be a life-long commitment."
Then in May I had the TBUT measured again and it was now three seconds. The doctor put me on the autologous eye serum and recommended I take Lotemax four times daily to reduce inflammation so that I could try Restasis again. Here we are in October, and a few days ago my TBUT was measured to be one second. The doctor expressed her concern that at my age (33 years) I am certainly not post-menopausal and that perhaps I have Sjogrens. I have a referral now to see a rheumatologist. Oh, and she also diagnosed me as having ocular rosacea. I am doing warm compresses daily, Lotemax four times a day, preservative-free Soothe eye drops every 15-30 minutes and autologous eye serum every two hours; and now I have been given an Rx for oral doxycycline for the rosacea. The ophthalmologist put plugs in my upper puncta, so now I am quadra-plugged. Well happily I am not really feeling any dryness, but I am getting a SERIOUS amount of burning and irritation. My eyes just want to keep closing because they are so irritated. They physically feel HOT. Such a strange feeling. I just read today for the first time about this "toxic tear lake" that scared the crap out of me. Why would they plug all of my puncta? Is it reasonable to have such a variety of diagnoses? I just kind of feel like there is probably one "central" diagnosis, but no one has pinpointed it or admitted it, because they don't know what to do with me. It seems that everyone just wants to keep preaching about LipiFlow but if I can't even get a real diagnosis, why would I feel confident LipiFlow would even work for me?! I feel that I'm just getting shoved around, but then I suspect most dry eye patients feel the same way! I have a hard time getting any sympathy when I tell people I suffer from dry eyes
So just to summarize, here's my current treatment regimen:
preservative-free artificial tears every 15-30 mins
autologous serum every 2 hours
Lotemax gel 1-3 times daily
lower puncta have been cauterized
upper puncta have been plugged
warm compresses 1-2 times daily
doxycycline, 50 mg twice a day
And the diagnoses I've collected:
MGD
Ocular rosacea
possible Sjogrens
Sorry for the long post, didn't mean for it to run on like that. Thank you for any comments you can provide!!
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