New here

[chatham]

Hi, I'm new here. I can't wait to read more on this site.

I used Visine for 20 years and now I have paid the price!! I have dry eye/and red, red, red eyes. I've developed 2 pinguecula which makes things look worse. I hate them. I'm on Estrogen. I am so self-concious and depressed over this. I 've tried drops, plugs, restatsis, lid scrubs, antibiotics, steroids, flax oil, Thera-tears. I wake in the morning in pain until I put drops in. Then all day, all I want to do is close my eyes because of pressure/fatigue/strain around my eyes. My eyelids itch too, somedays worse than others. Sometimes I think I am going crazy.
I could live with the physical discomfort if my sclera was whiter though.

I think I'm going to try the moisture goggles. I love the idea of the cool compresses but wonder if it will be detrimental to my oil gland problem.
I've also been in contact with an OD to make me scleral contact lenses (with the sclera painted white and the center clear) and am on my way to see if that could be a "cosmetic fix". They are soft lenses and was told that they might be good for dry eye because of providing a liquid cushion? Also, I wonder if they will prevent further UV damage because of the white painted opacity of the lens. Has anyone tried these lenses?--they are not the Boston Scleral Lens. They are cosmetic, non-bulging (similar to a regular contact lens but larger).

[TRiBaL]

Welcome to the place of sob hahah.

[Rojzen]

Welcome, Chatham, and know that you have much company here, familiar, very intimately, with the kind of pain and distress you experience daily. . . .

I'm not familiar with the coloration aspect of large/scleral soft lenses, but I did wear soft, clear, non-Rx scleral-size "bandage" lenses for a time, and they caused no pain or discomfort/irritation, all the while being intolerable because my tear film is very unstable (to non-existent). . .

I do not know if long-term use of a soft lens is actually therapeutic, and I hope that you will rule out every possible adverse effect of such a lens before proceeding. . .

Can you tell us what the docs say, so far, about possible causes for your redness? As I understand pinguecula, it forms yellow patches on the bulbar/inner portion of the sclera. . .Are the causes of pinguecula and your redness related?

And have you popped a question to Dr. Latkany, here, re: those soft sclerals?

[chatham]

My doctor says I have dry eye-hence the treatment plan so far. He says that some people just have "red eyes"-he describes my sclera color as 'muddy". I have not discussed with him my plan about the cosmetic sclerals. I'm sure he would ignore/disregard it. His basic attitude is that you just have to live with it! It's so discouraging............

[chatham]

Rojzen, You said you wore the soft sclerals and that they they were not uncomfortable, but then you said they were intolerable due to low tear production? i'm confused.

[Rojzen]

apologies . . .I'll clarify

Good point, chatham . . .Here's what I meant: As someone who'd worn soft contacts on and off for about 20 years, before I developed severe evaporative dry eye, I came to know what it meant for contacts to be really uncomfortable. . .When I could feel the lens gripping my eye surface, and experience burning pain, I was experiencing what countless lens wearers feel regularly, some of the time. . .Anyway, when I was fitted for scleral soft lenses as bandage lenses, I had none of that old familiar lens discomfort, possibly because these huge lenses did rest right on the corneal edges, like so many smaller lenses do.

But because, by then, I had a new problem, i.e., the severe dry eye, I could not wet the lens surfaces adequately to keep them from sort of shriveling up in my eye. . ., and I had trouble keeping my eyes open, and so it was a different kind of intolerance from the kind of intolerance I'd had before my eyes got sick . .

Perhaps this is all too nitpicking.. .But I meant to convey that scleral bandage lenses may have a place in therapy, especially with recurrent corneal erosion. . .On the other hand, if they're not therapeutic, or even harmful, when worn on a very dry or irritated surface, I'd be very reluctant to use them. . .

Only your doc will know how they are affecting your ocular surface, if he/she examines regularly and closely. . .

I was also trying to convey that I hoped you would do more investigating into the causes of your redness before resorting to something like a lens. . .Lots of contact on top of a possibly inflamed or irritated eye could be something to avoid. . .