My past year of eye failure and triumps!

[BeckaG]

I'm very excited to finally be a member after reading numerous posts this past year for tips and info.

A little about my eye journey. I'v been a heavy contact user and in May my eyes got extremely red and itchy while wearing my contacts. I was diagnosed with giant papillary conjunctivitis and spent a few days wondering how it came about, I switched last year to Acnevue Oasis contacts, had a 1 1/2 year old baby, moved homes, pollen in the air, so could have been many factors but prayed it would go away.

I zipped right off to see if I could get lasik because I never wore glasses which I was now forced to wear, however (thankfully after reading this forum) I was turned away because my prescription is so high -11.5. I was prescribed lotemax and told I could wear contacts after a couple of months. However my eyes were becoming increasingly DRY especially as 8pm rolled around and I found myself having to wake up to put eyedrops in. I decided to get a second opinion from another optometrist as the first one always rushed me in and out. He said he didn't believe I had very bad gpc, if any, and that he believed I had dry eyes.

I started using eyedrops, and by this time perhaps 3 months after no contact wear with a wedding coming up I went to an eye specialist. He didn't seem to offer much more information unfortunately and said just to stay out of contacts for a few more months so my eyes can fully heal.

To make a long story short I believe my gpc is barely there and through this forum I have had no more dry eyes due to putting olive oil around my eyes and taking seabuckthorn oil (I have tried taking omega 3 since May no difference and taurine. I have considered taking vitamin A but am scared of taking too much.) I don't even need to touch my many bottles of eye drops which is GREAT!

My problem I am battling now is my eyes have LOTS of VEINS since the gpc. I keep mentioning it at my appointments (seen 4 different people now) and no one ever seems to say anything about them being bad. I am afraid of wearing contacts because to me my red eyes signal they are irritated and I don't want to make them worse. I am desperately at this point trying anything to clear up my eyes as my glasses are so thick and I'd like to at least get to some point in my life where I can wear my contacts for half the week.

Anyways thats my story that led me here, if any one has any ideas please send them my way! I'm crossing my fingers one day my eyes will just get better but until then I am willing try anything!

[SharonS]

Hi BeckaG,

I was wondering if you had found anything to improve the red veins in your eyes? Also wondered if you were able to wear contact lens at all?

Thanks,
Sarah

[BeckaG]

Hey sarah I basically wear my contacts everyday now for at least five hrs to ten if I have to. This was a follow up post I made a little while ago if youd like some more info: http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...tacts!-(Kinda)

[MGD666]

HI BeckaG - In reading through your original post (thanks for linking it) I am curious about what type of herbal pills that your naturopath recommended in regard to your borderline thyroid tests, and also which particular olive oil have you found to be of help? Thanks.

[BeckaG]

HI BeckaG - In reading through your original post (thanks for linking it) I am curious about what type of herbal pills that your naturopath recommended in regard to your borderline thyroid tests, and also which particular olive oil have you found to be of help? Thanks.

Id like to put it out there first off I have tried so many different things so I realise my posts might sound contradictory and confusing, but ill go ahead and tell you now a year later on my journey what I believe has healed my eyes. First off I am pregnant now and stopped taking the herbal thyroid pills, they are called thyrocsin from thorne reasearch. Iv stopped taking them for almost five months now because their untested for pregnant women but iv had no noticable difference so I dont think thyroid was the culprit.

Things I keep in my routine that I believe have progressed my recovery is still using only hypoallergenic makeup, 1 teaspoon of nutrasea plus vitamin d omega oil (important its this brand), 4000 iu of liquid vitamin d and the olive oil routine when i wakeup and before bed. I dont believe the brands of olive oil or vit d matter as much, I get whatevers on sale but my naturopath highly recommended this fish oil because of the fish its sourced from and to be weary of getting just any brand. I still take my other vitamins ontop of these but I do believe these core things are what's turning my eyes around, and I also belive no alcohol helps also imo but I suppose I can test that out after baby

And you never know it could just purely be time. But id like to think these key things have helped. I could only wear my contacts maybe five hrs once every two weeks until I started doing this stuff particularly. Also ill add iv had a couple weekend getaways where I didnt pack the olive oil and my eyes felt itchy and dry all night long!

[BeckaG]

Just wanted to add my first post is misleading when I say omega 3 didnt work, all the brands I tried didnt work, until my naturopath recommended the nutrasea one

[Minni]

Coffee constricts blood vessels, so taking that in moderation with some milk and caloric-sweetener should tone down the veins.

But you should balance that with hot baths, due to its constricting effect.
In case of esophagitis developing from coffee try Zantac or Prilosec.

You can also try berry tea's such as black cherry/berry tea.
Or black cherry concentrate.

I personally find that citrus expands vessles and can be irritating, so I'd avoid citrus and tangy stuff to avoid veiny eyes. Too much sodium in diet should also be avoided. Refer to food labelling to see percentage of sodium content.

You can also try applying a cool wet cloth atop closed eyelids every so often - but not so long as to cut off circulation. Or try applying a used teabag to closed lids.

P.S. I have some personal preferences which I find calming, such as a high lysine diet (as long as its low-fat). Also root-beer soda and also ginseng. As for meds, gabapentin relaxes me more than i'd be otherwise.

[littlemermaid]

BeckaG, thanks so much for all that good news and great tips on contact lenses and GPC. So happy to hear it's all working out for you and you are having a baby. Very kind of you to come back and let us know you are doing well - wish everyone would do that!

[SharonS]

Hi BeckaG, just wanted to thank you for your reply! I am following some of your tips - hoping for some improvement soon! Thank again!

[Alex91]

Hi this is very interesting thank you for giving us some advice, I will try some of this tips and hope for improvement

[BeckaG]

I'm glad you guys have found my post helpful. If insurance covers it or you can afford it, I think it is worth going to see a (good) natropath. This website has tons of great information, but it can be really tedious trying all the different cures to see what works for you, and waiting to give them time to kick in to see if they do anything. Again not sure if it was just coincidental timing, but it wasn't until I went to the naturopath till things got better. When I introduced myself to my natropath the very first thing I said was I'm sick of trying to do my own shotgun approaches to heal myself and need a doctor who is actually knowledgeable in what can help me. It is invaluable to have someone to work with you who knows about natural remedies to cure what is making YOUR eyes dry and takes you seriously, unlike most of the eye doctors I had seen before.

[fionasmom]

I am going to post an intro, but my story is very similar to yours, just at the beginning of it though. I was very happy to find that someone else is having the same general issues, able to commiserate I mean, not happy that you have had to face all this mess.

[blazeyellow02]

BeckaG, would you please post your olive oil routine

[BeckaG]

Hi blazeyellow,

pretty simple just go buy a good quality olive oil, before I go to bed I put it just below my bottom eye lash line (not going into my eyes if it goes into your eyes you will feel it sting), and once you go to bed it seems to make its way into your eyes and is very soothing. Then when I wake up in the morning after I shower I put some again under my eyes as I am getting ready and wipe it away once I put makeup over it.
Iv read castor oil works well too and my naturepath recommended I use castor oil but I had an unopened olive oil at home so I tried this first and because it worked just stuck with it.