17, dry eye, astigmatism

[Mre_man]

Hey dry i guy and all,
Im 17 yrs of age and i just found this website today, and i read about dry eye and im almost certain i have it, i also have astigmatism but in both eyes, do u find it hard to watch tv, reading and watching a computer screen or any screen?.
Theres always a really annoying glare or disturbance when watching tv, even with my glasses or contacts on. I tried to explain this to the optermetrist and she said that this is somthin u must live with due to the astigmatism. It reallly gets to me, and is taking over my life.

I always notice this disturbance in all the activites in my life( mainly watching tv n computer) but this gives me the feeling that i cant enjoy anything in life anymore due to this condition, does any1 have this same problem with astigmitism and dry eye?

Another thing my eyes always go haywire in airconditioned places and windy areas, expically when im wearing my contact lenses, does this happen to u?

I have recently been dignosed with depression/anxiety disorder and i am certain it has somthing to do with my eye sight and dry eyes, am i crazy to think this? i said this to my phyciatrist and he said its all in my head, is it?

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi Mre_man and welcome!

You know, to be really blunt I think you might just need a new optometrist and psychiatrist.

The visual effects could be from uncorrected astigmatism or from dry eye or both. Did the optometrist elaborate at all? I mean, do you have a very high amount of astigmatism, or mixed astigmatism, that is very difficult to fullly correct?

If your eyes 'go haywire' in air conditioning or wind, you should be tested for dry eye. Your doctor should do a Schirmer and TBUT test and thoroughly discuss things with you like what times or day or during what activities your eyes act up.

As for the psychiatrist, what a silly thing to say. Of course depression/anxiety are "in our heads", but that does not mean they don't occur for perfectly valid reasons. If you're constantly anxious about your eyes it's going to wear you down. Eye problems are wearing on old and young alike. With young people the worry and the social impact can be tough.

I would suggest as a first step that you check our page on dry eye symptoms. If you think some of these things describe you, it might be worth trying to go ahead and get a referral to a corneal specialist ophthalmologist. Otherwise, perhaps discuss with your parents going to see a new optometrist who is willing to work harder on exploring lenses that fit better and correct your vision better. If the optometrist is convinced you are fully corrected with lenses, then they should try and figure out why you are seeing so poorly.

[calli66]

does any1 have this same problem with astigmitism and dry eye?

Hi- welcome to dry eye talk. I have astigmatism and dry eye, and yes astigmatism can really mess up vision, aggravate dry eye, cause eye aches, etc.

I have what is called "oblique astigmatism"--where the diagonals are blurry, instead of the usual "with the rule" (horizontal plane blurry), or "against the rule," (vertical plane blurry). Click here for more info on that. With my oblique type, it is very, very difficult to get the right prescription with the corrected axis (called cylinder in lenses) in the right place.

In addition (for myself), the zone of oblique blurriness is from "8 o'clock to 12 o'clock." The problem is that astigmatism correction in lenses does NOT correct that wide of arc--it only corrects about 15 degrees (from 9 o'clock to 11 o'clock), so there are still uncorrected areas even when I wear glasses.

This may not be the same for you, but my point is that contacts--especially soft contacts--and glasses don't always solve the problem of astigmatism. Uncorrected and badly corrected astigmatism can make your eyes miserable --I've been there.

C66

[Mre_man]

hey

Hey, thnx all for ur responces,
Yer i dont think my astigmistim is that high, around 1.5 in my left and roughly 2 in my right. I am currently at my second optermetrist, cause i felt that the first didnt do a very good job. I feel that this one does, she runs loads of tests n all, and she told me that she has corrected it to the best she can, the thing is i can "see" things but always with this anoyying glare/and disturbance on everything i look at. This "disturbance" makes me feel like objects are very uncertain in distance and are not in the exact spot where i view them to be, EVEN WITH MY GLASSES/ CONTACTS ON, if that makes sence at all.

This has impacted on my alot. It makes me feel so anxious all the time and i cant stop thinking bout it as hard as i try. And as i stated earlier is what i believe is making me depressed. I FEEL HOPELESS at everything in my life and i cant see any other reason then my sight giveing me this greif

I know it sounds silly, but thats my reality of it. Thats how i feel, and im certain that me contantly worring about it is making me feel so sad. I wish i could worring.....

Is it because im 17, and im at a stage of my life that im leaving school and very indecisive in what the future holds for me?. Is it a stage everyone goes through at this age? Will things brighten up when im a bit older?

[calli66]

MRE man,

Sorry you are going through a bad time. Your astigmatism is greater than mine, by the way.

Some of the things I do for dry eyes are also helpful for vision stress--like warm washcloths over the eyes (others use rice baggies), sleep goggles (block out light). Sounds like you might be having more luck with your current optometrist in getting the right Rx. But---

Be sure you get high quality lenses for your glasses -- not polycarbonate. Better to get high-index plastic. There are tons of lens aberrations (bad optics) in some materials which may be causing your visual disturbance. Glare might be from the astigmatism, and may also be due to corneal edema or roughness--because of dry eye.

Do you wear hard contacts or soft contacts?

Problems in judging distance/ depth perception may be due to lack of coordination between your eyes (one eye dominating). This is hard to pick up from simple eye refraction exams. Some behavioral optometrists use certain hand/eye coordination tests to find these problems.

In the meantime: rest your eyes. Go without your glasses or contacts whenever you can--say around the house. Sounds weird, but having blurry vision reduces stress, provided you don't strain to see things in detail (don't try to watch TV or read). Just give your focusing system and your brain a break from working so hard. Try it for short periods, till you get used to it, or wear an older, weaker pair of glasses if you have some that are comfortable.

C66

[Mre_man]

hi

hello thnx for u suggestions calli,
umm i wear soft contacts. But before when i said i had 1.5 and 2 i made a mistake. U see, i also have myopia with my astigmatism and meaning long distances are worse then short. Im not really sure what my astigmatism is, isnt it measured in degrees or somthing? isnt it a certain angle that light is focused at?

[Guest]

Mre_man

An astigmatism is recorded as part of your optical prescription for example:

OD -3.75 -1.50 X 30
OS -4.25 -1.25 X 180

OD - Ocular Dexter (Right Eye)
OS - Ocular Sinister (Left Eye)

The first set of numbers (-3.75 and -4.25) is the degree of spherical correction - a minus is shortsighted (ie difficulty seeing distance, close up objects generally clear), a positive is longsighted (ie difficulty seeing close up, distance objects generally clear)

The second set of numbers (-1.50 and -1.25) is the degree of cylinder correction or astigmatism, again, this can be a positive or negative number).

The third set of numbers (30 and 180) is the axis or angle of your astigmatism.

If you only have the first set of numbers on your prescription, it is likely that an astigmatism does not exist or has not been measured.

Some of us that have had laser surgery have an irregular astigmatism, ie it is on two different axis and so have great difficulty being corrected with glasses.

So grab your latest prescription and look for the second set of numbers and this will tell you what level your astigmatism is and the third set of numbers will tell you the axis of that astigmatism.

Hope this helps (this is based on the info I got from my optometrist when I asked for an explaination of my prescription).

Cheers

Prattstar

[Mre_man]

hi

thnx for ur help pratstarr.
umm after looking at my prescription on da box of contacts it says-
left eye=sph -0.00 cyl -1.75 ax 170
right eye= sph -0.50 cyl -1.25 ax 10
does that mean i only have shortsightness in my right eye? why is it -0.00 in my left why not just 0.00 without the negative?
ummmm is my prescription high at all???

[Mre_man]

umm

ummmm by the way....what are these hot and cold compresses im hearing about? do they really help? and how do u do them?

[Gerri55455]

Hello,

ummmm by the way....what are these hot and cold compresses im hearing about? do they really help? and how do u do them?

I am looking for someone who has used FML, discontinued therapy before the end of the 4-week course and developed problems. I've read a similar issue on another site with this username. My logic is that since I have developed the same problem myself, if I can locate those who have had a similar problem, I might be able to learn from them what their solution was. Thanks for your response and hope your problems resolved. ~Gerri