New to dry eyes, going crazy...

[faithlies]

Any help appreciated

I'm a 27-year-old girl from the UK.

I've been wearing soft monthly disposable contact lenses pretty much full time during the day for nearly nine years.

Never had a problem, the odd case of pink eye perhaps once a year, if that.

About five weeks ago, my eyes were getting quite red while wearing lenses, so I switched to glasses permanently and got some antibiotic drops.

Things seemed to clear up a bit and I wore my contact lenses for the last time for four hours on Feb 3, clay pigeon shooting. My eyes were fine, not bloodshot at all, but took them out later in the day and went back to specs.

Tried my lenses in again a couple of days later, eyes went red nearly straight away.

Things didn't seem to be clearing up so I went to the eye casualty on Feb 8 and was told I had a viral infection, given anti-inflammatory drops, told to carry on with antibiotic drops and also Viscotears. Nurse swabbed my eyes for infection and it was absolutely agonising, she said it was because they were really dry.

My eyes don't seem quite as red now but still incredibly dry. Went back to eye hospital tonight and got an appointment for Friday, told the swabs for infection came back clear.

I last tried to put my lenses in (new ones out of the packet) on Saturday for a wedding, and my eyes went bloodshot immediately, I mean within seconds.

I'm desperate to find out what's going on. My eyes are sore, burning, not extremely red but a little bloodshot.

Please help me, I'm at my wit's end! Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[Rojzen]

any further detail on organism?

Welcome, friend, and know that you've come to the right place. . .

Can you share how it is that your problem came to be diagnosed as a viral infection? Was the swab subjected to antibody testing? and were you told what virus was involved?

If it turns out that, in fact, you have not had an infection, it will still be great if you could get more of a workup. . .If you have seriously inflamed meibomian glands that are secreting irritants, for example, a course of a tetracycline antibiotic might be logical . .If, on the other hand, your condition is not mediated by antibiotics, there are a world of other options to consider. . .

What do you know about the status of your corneas? Has there been any erosion? Erosions would point one in a few key directions that are not always covered well by traditional opthalmology practitioners. . .but with which we are well versed here. . .

[eva b]

welcome from another UK member

Hi Faithlies

are you in London by any chance? just curious because I am, and wondered which hospital you'd been to - I've been to both the London ones and have had very mixed experiences.

As Rojzen suggests, you need to find out more about what is causing the problems - certainly contact lenses won't be helping, but you might ask to be referred to one of the clinics or a specialist in corneal or external eye diseases to check out what is going on.

Best of luck, and please don't hesitate to pm me if you'd like any more info about London resources.

Eva

[faithlies]

Thank you for your help....

Hello lovely people

I'd better answer a few questions, then hopefully you veterans of dry eyes might be able to throw some light on all of this!!!

I went to the eye hosp on the 8th with my eyes being sore, quite red, not really gritty but just that they didn't feel quite right and every time I put my lenses in, my eyes went bright red.

Dr said the front of my eye (he did the yellow stain test?) looked fine, my lids looked fine and the back of my looked fine, and said it was probably just a viral infection. Said he could see some "specks" in my vitreous, but nothing to worry about. Told me to carry on with the anti-biotic drops and prescribed FML (anti-inflam) and Viscotears.

They are still pretty much the same, though today they've been a lot less sore (it's like a burning sensation) and they still seem dry but not quite as bad as they were earlier in the week. I'm just using the Viscotears at the moment until I go back there tomorrow.

The sister told me on Wed (when I went back to the eye hosp- they said they'd see me as an emergency but there were 17 people in the queue in front of me and offered an appointment for tomorrow instead which I gratefully accepted) that the swabs they did on Feb 8 were clear -- so it clearly isn't an infection?? Or am I wrong in thinking a viral infection wouldn't show up?

The main thing I'm worried about is the floaters I've got. Mainly in my right eye but a little in my left. My optician said I'm more likely to notice them wearing glasses (as opposed to my lenses) and I suppose they could have been caused by inflammation (whatever is causing my eyes to be red).

Can dry eyes alone cause floaters???

The action I've taken to try to sort this out this week includes:

Cutting out all caffiene and sweeteners in tea/coffee (I feel great, by the way, so much more full of energy and sleeping a lot better)

I wasn't in front of a computer all day yesterday -- I had a meeting all day in the board room and then went to my sister's school play last night;

Then today at work I've taken regular breaks (every hour) to go outside for some fresh air for about a minute. Also taking screen breaks. I've used my Viscotears three times today, but my eyes already felt better this morning than they had for several days.

Could it be over-usage of computers causing it?

My other main question (and the thing really causing me the worry) is why do my eyes go so red when I put my lenses in? Will this by dry eyes doing that? The reaction is almost immediate, and subsides one I take them out (haven't worn them at all for nearly four weeks now, have tried them on Saturday and also two weeks ago on Friday, same reaction)

Any help appreciated -- i know I've asked lots but I really want some answers!!!

[faithlies]

Thank you for your help....

<duplicate post>

[faithlies]

Oh Eva B - I'm in the West Midlands -- I'd love to hear your story though and hear what sort of help you've had in London.

I've posted on the Open Forum, but I'll copy what happened today here:

I went for an appointment with an eye dr today.

I've laid off lenses for five weeks now.

Eyes have felt alot better in the past two days, to the point today they were barely even red this afternoon at the eye drs. I'd only used Viscotears once this morning when I got up, eyes weren't red before I put the gel in, but always seem to be red afterwards.

Now, despite the VT giving relief to the dryness initially, I did notice that my eyes have always felt worse a few minutes afterwards, then seem to calm down again in terms of the feeling of dryness, but they still are very red.

Here's the possible link -- are my eyes better becaue I haven't used VT so much? Or am I not using VT so much because my eyes feel better? I think it could be the former.....read on...

Eye doc says today that although my eyes are dry, the redness and uncomfortable sensation is probably being caused by allergy to the Viscotears (she said allergy to the preservative?)

She put Celluvisc drops in, the stain drop an anaesthetic drop (it really hurt when she flipped my eyelids) and also dilated my pupils.

Despite them being messed with, my eyes are now almost completely clear and don't feel particularly dry.

Could it really have been the Viscotears, prescribed initially to relieve possible infection along with FML and antiobiotic drops, that have caused/exacerbated my dry eyes?

It's now nearly five hours since my eyes were examined, my pupils are returning to normal and my eyes are still almost completely clear from redness and they are neither sore or particularly dry (oh - and I've even managed a couple of cigarettes!!!)

Either way, the Viscotears is now in the bin and I am hoping to goodness that it was the evil preservative causing my problems to some extent!!!!!

Another major thing -- I had really noticeable floaters in my right eye, I was convinced I had PVD or a detached retina!!! Eye doc says my retina is fine, and the floaters are just down to being shortsighted or possibly due to inflammation, and will either subside or I'll just forget about them.