New here--my dry eye saga

[gabrielle]

I am new to this forum...but I am very glad I have found it. I have had severe dry eyes for the last 7-8 months. I'm not certain about the cause of my dry eyes, but it could be from several things... About 2 years ago, I took accutane which drys out everything on your body. However, surprisingly, I never noticed having dry eyes while I was on it or even right after I was off. I have worn contact lenses for over 10 years. The trigger seems to have been taking birth control pills (Yasmin) and I was on those for 10 months, and about the 8th month, I started having "eye inflammation" according to my eye doctors that just would not go away. I had eye inflammation off and on for about 2-3 months. So, I could not wear my contacts during this time. I took a ton of different medications to get rid of the inflammation and then once that was gone....bam! dry eyes....debilitating dry eyes. So, it used to be really, really bad, where all I could do was just come home, make dinner and then close my eyes for rest of the night. Now, I have good days and bad...but it seems like the bad days outnumber the good.

I assumed my dry eyes were from the birth control pills and that my eyes would eventually return to normal once I had been off for awhile...but now I have been off of them for 6 1/2 months and I still have really, really dry eyes a lot of the time. After reading a lot of posts here...I am starting to wonder if my eyes will ever return to normal, or if I am a lifer.

I have started doing the hot rice bag compresses recently. Seems to help a little. I was on restasis for several months, but I quit that several weeks ago, b/c it didn't seem to help at all. Oh yeah...I also have the temporary punctual plugs that will last several months.

Anyway...if anyone has had a similar experience and can offer some hope...I would be grateful.

[Natalie06]

Welcome Gabrielle!

I have mixed feelings welcoming you since it's because you have dry eyes but at least here everyone understands. This board has kept me going many, many times.

My severe dry eye is Lasik induced but I know now that hormones were why I went from tolerable dry eye to absolute misery after the surgery. I am not on BCP's but do know women like you as well as women who developed DES after having a child.

You are doing the right thing by using the warm compresses. Your Meibomain Glands keep your tears from evaporating and hormones are considered the number one culprit for them getting clogged up in women. Many sites and every MD I have seen also suggest taking Flax Oil Capsules and/or Thera tears nutrition as these Omega Fatty acids have helped the glands function more normally. There's not a lot of hard data on this but it surely can't hurt/

I would recommend a thorough Dry Eye evaulation by a corneal specialist to determine if your problem is "evaporative dry eye" alone or if there is also an aqueous deficiency component (meaning you aren't making enough tears) or both. This site explains these differences much better than I can!

A good MD checking your Meibomain gland function will press on your eyelids very hard...mine used what looked like a shish kebab stick to do it. She was the only MD of all the MD's I have seen this past year to do this, including my Lasik surgeon, my optometrist and another specialist out of state. So if they don't do that and then tell you you don't have MGD (Meibomain Gland disorder) then don't believe them.

They can also do a Schirmer test to measure how many tears you are producing. Again you can read up on this site about some of these tests.

I am so sorry that you've joined the "club" but welcome and hopefully having a support "team" makes dealing a little easier for you.


Natalie

[curlygrl31]

Gabrielle,

I don't know if you are still around, but has your situation gotten better? I just read another post about someone being on Yasmin & having dry eyes. I just stopped Yasmin two weeks ago with no improvements yet. Was curious for an update.

Carrie

[rubyslippers]

My dry eye has been diagnosed as induced by topical anti-inflammatories (steroid drops which effectively doubled my inflammation in a week) and topical antibiotics. The doctor says that this is reversible over time. I am hoping that Gabrielle is cured by now.

I have been dealing with it for 3 months and am starting to feel it turn around this week. I am down to 1/2 the eye drops and I KNOW the hot, wet compresses are helping so much.

[snoek]

Accutane

My doctor who is a corneal specialist told me that while they do not know what causes blepharitis they do know how to give it to laboratory test animals. They induce blepharitis in the animals by giving them accutane! He has written about accutane and subsequent eye disorders in a Medical Journal.

I have been suffering with very painful and visible corneal ulcers for almost 20 years now. I took accutane prior to having RK (long cut) surgery. Ironically, he said that in my particular case, Lasik would have been a better choice. But the bottom line is if someone has oil gland dysfunction on their face, then they should not have eye surgery. Especially if they have used accutane.

He recommended that I "live on fish oil". Hope this helps somebody!

[lboogie]

I took accutane in middle school -- i'm 29 now. I'm wondering if that might be why I'm struggling. Although my contacts always felt fine, except after really long days. I don't recall if they did any kind of glad exam during my pre-op. The only one i remember is the schrimers.

They didn't ask about my drug history -- only current drugs. If it's a contraindication, they should ask it on the health history form. I would have thought about it had I been asked the direct question.

thanks for the insights everyone.

[Podiatric Medicine Studen]

Hey Gabrielle

Hi there... So I kind of know how you are feeling- BAM... your life is ruined... well, not really, but it sure can bring your self esteem to a new low. I was never on Accutane, but I have had Chronically dry eye since I was about 13. I suspect that maybe it is the same onset as mine... you body possibly had an auto-immune mediated reaction against it's lacrimal glands (much like type II diabetes)- at least this is how I look at what happened, since none of the Corneal specialists have any other bright ideas. I would recommend to NOT stop the restasis. I took it for quite some time, and only saw real results after about 6 months or so. Also, I don't believe that they allow your body to "create new eye drops"- In fact, I think that this is a big lie... they work on inflammation suppression. Cyclosporine is an anti-rejection drug... once used systemically in Heart Transplant Patients, and now used topically in our eyes. It doesn't work that well, but you should try putting them in at bedtime, then waking up around 5 or 6 (whenever the middle of your sleep period is), and put in other lubricating drops (I really like the refresh plus moderate to severe drops). Then, after you get ready, and are leaving for the day, put in the restasis again. I know that it sounds really stupid crazy to put drops into your eyes during the middle of the night, but it actually really works- Sorry for the novel.
Good luck with things, and I hope you will find new ways to cope (look at me, I am able to make it through days in Medical School... would have never thought that possible 10 years ago!!).

[atta]

cycslosporine?

Hi Studen,
I also have dry eyes since I was little. And I guess its also kind of auto immune problem which isnt diagnosed yet. I've been on Restasis for about 2 years. They helped a lot in the first 5 months and afterwards less. Once I stopped for a month, my eyes get worse and then I use it again.
I have very bad inflammation and I need something which can be used long term. Can you give me more information about cycslosporine?

[Podiatric Medicine Studen]

Hi Atta

Hallo, und Viele Gruesse. Unfortunately I don't really know that much about Cyclosporine... the good thing I have learned is that if you already have all 4 punctal plugs inserted, and you are using the drops, then you shouldn't have to worry about any systemic effects (because it is not getting into your body through the digestive system). I guess any good news in our world is exciting, right?

If you want to know more, you can look at these sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclosporine
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...r/a601207.html

Good Luck, und bleib Stark! John

[migirl]

yasmin and dry eye

I am wondering if your dry eye ever improved off the Yasmin for extended time now? I hope you are doing well.