New to site - 23 year old suffering with dry eyes

[Ailish]

Hi there, I'm a 23 year old female from Ireland suffering from dry eyes.
My eyes are very sore and itchy during the day. Things like cutting onions are extremely painful probably because I can't produce tears.

I went to the USA last summer for 3 months on a J1 visa with friends to MD. I noticed my eyes becoming very dry while I was there so I stopped wearing my daily disposable contact lenses altogether and stuck to my glasses. I presumed when I came home to Ireland that the dryness would end. I was wrong. A year later here I am still suffering with the same dryness and soreness. I can only wear my contact lenses now for small periods of time for special occasions.

I've seen optometrists and doctors and all they've given me are prescriptions for eye drops. I've tried many different types including natural preservative free kinds. I've also just started taking krill oil and am starting sea buckthorn oil but haven't noticed any changes yet.
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated as it is very difficult to live with.

[jennifermd2015]

I am sorry to hear you are having this problem at such a young age. I am also struggling to adjust to not being able to wear my contacts very much due to poor tear film. I wore my contacts a lot when younger and think this has contributed to my MGD/poor tear film. You could try around 2000mg of flax seed or fish oil (important thing is OMEGA 3,6,9) and then try to do warm washcloth/express glands or hot compress. Mine is to the point that neither of those help very much but it is worth a shot. Lubricant gel drops like celluvisc didnt seem to help me too much and also left a weird crust or feeling that I had unpleasant goo in my eyes but I have allergies on top of everything else so that could be the problem. Do you have any issues with ocular rosacea or bleph? That might be worth looking into as well, using a lid scrub or cleaning around eyes with apple cider vinegar (anti bacterial and anti fungal properties). Good luck