New & Looking for Hope

[Bren]

I am happy to have found this site. I'm new at this. I am 39 and have worn contacts for about 27 years. I have not always taken the best care of my lenses and have been known to sleep in them occasionally. I have been having problems wearing my contacts for about the last 5 years due to dry eyes and allergies. My eyes are extremely dry at night. I have ignored this issue for some time, until I woke up few weeks ago with corneal abrasions and a bad eye infection. To make a long story short, I am in my glasses now (which I hate to wear ) and my corneas are not healing after almost 3 weeks. I am using Thera Tears every hour and gel at night. My question is this: has anyone had a similar experience? Did your corneas heal? How long did it take? Do dry eyes ever get better after contact wear is stopped? I am really hoping I can go back to wearing contacts again at some point. Is this just wishfull thinking? More so, I am worried about my corneas healing, they really hurt (mostly left eye - like a hard pinch) and my vision is not as good but it does seem to be getting better. I am also not light sensitive like I was the first week. Please tell me there is some hope. Thanks for listening

[liz56]

Hi, Bren.

I'm sorry to hear of the things that brought you to this site. I have a condition called map dot fingerprint dystrophy (also, Cogan's dystrophy, epithelial / anterior basement membrane dystrophy (EBMD / AMBD), which causes recurrent corneal erosions. I'm 40, and it started for me in April of this year. You may want to see a corneal specialist (one who specializes in diseases of the cornea as well as refractive surgery, since they all seem to be refractive surgeons).

I've been looking for help and have found lots of it at this site. While I am still getting erosions, they are happening much later in the night for me (5 a.m. instead of two hours after I first go to sleep), and I am getting longer breaks in between. I have been using drops sold at this site, and I have gotten a lot of good advice from Cindy, so you might want to look at her posts, because she is a real success story with this thing.

I hope that you get to the bottom of what is happening with your erosions, since they can be caused by a disease, dry eye, or both.

At any rate, let us know how you are doing along the way as you get the help that you need.

--Liz

[Bren]

Thanks Liz

It's nice to know I'm not alone in this. I have experienced this pinching sensation and light sensitivity along with blury vision many times before - I have always attributed it to wearing contacts for so long and not giving my eyes a break. I think maybe I have had these abrasions before. I will never take my eyes for granted again! Thanks again for your input. Best wishes to you ~Bren

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi Bren and welcome!

My eyes are extremely dry at night.

Most of us deal with this in some degree. There's lots of tips here about it and a page dedicated to it here where you may find something helpful.

My question is this: has anyone had a similar experience? Did your corneas heal? How long did it take?

Healing from abrasions can vary. For many people it will clear up quite quickly. But in some cases, a corneal injury can kick off a cycle of erosions that takes much more time, patience and treatment to bring under control.

Do dry eyes ever get better after contact wear is stopped?

Well, the generic answer is YES, based on the medical literature. But there are so many variables. What kind of dry eye and at what stage? An advanced underlying condition is not going to be reversed by stopping contacts but if the dryness is specifically related to/exacerbated by the lenses, the according to the medical evidence it should get better. In practice many situations are more complex than that.

I am really hoping I can go back to wearing contacts again at some point. Is this just wishfull thinking?

Much too soon too draw any conclusions about that. I'd concentrate on healing and pampering your eyes to give them the best possible chance. Even after you heal, before you attempt contacts again I'd really invest some time & energy in investigating what was the cause of your dry eyes and seeing what you can do to improve them.

Please tell me there is some hope.

There is, there is, there is

[Bren]

Thanks Rebecca. I appreciate your answers. What a difference a week makes. I can actually see again! I am very optimistic my abrasions have healed. I have never really used anything for my dry eyes besides squirting no rub contact solution in them. I can only imagine how bad that is. Using the preservitive free drops, the muro and night & no more contacts, has made a huge difference. I am slowly getting use to my glasses. I am no longer concerned about going back to the contacts. It is nice to know there is a place to vent when your eyes are driving you crazy.

Thanks for the good info.
~Bren

[liz56]

Hi, Bren.

I'm really thrilled to hear that things are turning around for you and that you are healing up! I hope that all continues to go well.

Although I don't want to be discouraging, I want to let you know what a corneal specialist told me about recovering from recurrent corneal erosions, and that is that the superficial healing happens very quickly, but the substantial healing in which the epithelium adheres strongly to its basement membrane can take up to eight weeks to attach. So, do not be discouraged if you have a setback. Also, take some time to care for your eyes, especially during times that erosions are likely to happen. There is no reason to believe that you will have a setback, but don't be discouraged if one occurs. It takes time to heal up.

My ophthalmologist also told me to be aware of a shooting pain during waking hours, possibly weeks after the last erosion, and not to be alarmed, because the sensation is the nerves growing back in the epithelium.

Again, I am happy to hear that your healing is well underway, and I wish you the best as substantial healing sets in!

--Liz

[Bren]

To Liz:

Hi Liz,
You are right. Although my eyes feel a lot better I went back for another re-check & the abrasions are still there - but improving. I did have a bit of a set back today with a few shooting pains. It's nice to think of these as "healing" pains. I do have a question for you. I am not seeing an opthamologist only an optomotrist. I have only catastrophic insurance, so for financial reasons I am trying to see if this works first. Like I said before, I think I have had abrasions many times before. My guess is improper contact lens wear, but maybe not, there could be an underlying condition. Anyway, I asked the optomotrist about using the Muro oinment because the gel seems to be making my eye lids puffy. I have read on this site many people use the muro with success and Dr. Latky recommends it. I tried the muro oinment and really liked it because I got through the night without feeling my dry eyes. My optomotrist did not recommend the muro because she thought it would dehydrate my eyes. Any opinions here? What do you use to prevent or heal your abrasions? I know you probably have a number of things you do, I'm just wondering about nighttime oinment or drops. Thanks for the well wishes. How are your eyes doing?
~Bren

[liz56]

Hi, Bren. I'm glad to hear that things are still improving for you!

I used Muro drops five times each day and ointment at night for the first two weeks of treatment; then, the erosions came back, and my doctor took me off of the ointment, put me on Genteal Gel at night, and kept me on the drops. Then, I went for two months with no erosions, but I left off of the Muro drops after five weeks of use and after I learned about this site and the drops it offers.

So, I would say that if you are using things that work and you like them, just keep using them.

I'm weaning myself off of the gel now, and using Dwelle, from this site, at night. Last night was a good one. I'm keeping at it, and thank you for asking.

I hope that you continue to have progress!

--Liz