Pondering the cause of my dry eyes.

[kaycen]

I've already talked in the open forum, but I feel like rambling a bit in here.


I've browsed through every possible reason why my eyes could be dry and none really jump out to me.

My eyes aren't terrible when I sleep, although when I wake up in the morning it's a bit dry until I blink a few times. I use tranquil eyes but even when I didn't, it still wasn't terrible upon waking.

As the day goes my eyes do get dry and irritating, and also my right eye is drier than the left. I've luckily haven't any abrasions happen to my eyes due to the dryness and my vision is still better than 20/20.

My eyelids aren't inflamed or anything like that, either.

All that my eye doctor says is that my tear level is thin and to constantly use eye drops when using the computer or other activities. He never wondered if it could possibly be anything else besides using antihistamines for too long.

I was on accutane twice when I was younger which could be a culprit of drying, but would it really come three to four years later?

Could it be that due to avoiding the dryness due to not thinking too much about it staying that my eyes became inflamed?

[sazy123]

Hi

I was going to say contacts as i believe this is one of the BIG causes. But im guessing coz you said you have good vision you never wore them?

It could be accutane. I think medication generally exaberates pre exisiting dry eye conditions, but im not sure about accutane. How old are you? if you are older theres hormones to consider. Or theres underlying autoimmune problems. Do you suffer from eye allergies, you said you take antihistamines?

Im a believer in finding the cause of the problem, then you are one step closer to finding a solution.

Im starting to believe more and more from my reading that contacts have alot to answer for in terms of causing decreased corneal sensitivity, which i think is a big cuase for dry eye in young people like me (otherwise healthy).

[kaycen]

I'm 24. I've never worn contacts and I quit taking anything that could possibly continue to dry me out, but the dry eyes never completely healed. It lessened to a degree but it never got better.

How old are you? I'm sorry if contacts caused your dry eyes. I understand how terrible it is to deal with this problem and I'm trying to find ways to lessen my mind from focusing on it. I'm about to join tai chi and also focus more on meditating to maybe let my mind not focus so much on my eyes. It's going the distance, but I need anything that will help me not stress so much on this situation.

I'm also going to get my thyroid levels checked and maybe see a corneal specialist here in Jacksonville, fl to see what he thinks about the problem.

[GeorgeT]

Hi Kaycen,
Do you still have acne? Oily skin?
Even if you don't have acne, only couple of blemishes
you may still have ocular rosacea.
Anyway, Dr. Tseng or Dr. ****** will figure this out right away.
Have you taken doxy ? What effects did you see?

Best of All!

George

[kaycen]

Yeah, I still break out off and on but I haven't really had the effects of ocular rosacea, but I could be wrong!

My eyelids have never seemed to be inflamed and although my eyes get red sometimes, my dry eyes usually cause under my eyes to look tired and drained (kind of like dark circles under the eyes).

I'll look more into finding out if it truly is ocular rosacea.

Thanks for your concern, and no, I haven't tried doxy quite yet. That's another step I'll try.

[dianat]

You might start with hot compresses and omega fatty acid supplements.

[kaycen]

I use a rice baggy I made, and I take a 1000 mg of omega 3 and a 1300mg of flaxseed oil each day. It hasn't helped too much but I'm persistent.

[bassfan]

plugs

I'd look into getting some dissolvable punctal plugs to try for a while. Im kind of in the same boat as you and I work on a computer all day long...eyedrops get old quick, and it seems quite logical to use your real tears to their fullest potential first. I have lower plugs in now from Dr Latkany, which hasn't made a huge difference, but will be getting uppers shortly and Im hoping that makes a big difference and I'll just look like im crying all day. I think I could live with that for a while!

[kaycen]

I think I am going to try acupuncture before resorting to plugs. I'm not sure how much acupuncture could help, but I've known people who were helped by it extremely. I'll let you know how it goes when I try it.

[calli66]

Kaycen-
I waited for 2 years before getting my lower plugs (last month I got Parasol by Odyssey--NOT a intra-tear canal type). I was really nervous about it, but it turned out to be no big deal, and it has helped my overall dryness. Not a huge change, but it's definitely positive (not as many "bad days").

C66

[bassfan]

plugs

Plugs are no big deal...only takes a couple minutes to have them in. If your insurance covers it, you shouldn't be worried at all and sure seems like the ideal solution to a lot of peoples eye problems. Dry eyes...keep more tears in the eye longer makes eyes less dry. That said, my lowers aren't really giving me a whole lotta relief right now.