new here and to dry eye

[member31986]

Hi, I am on the verge of 50 and female. Last summer I began to notice when I would wake up, my one eye seemed to be alittle dry. I asked the pharmacist for what to use, she suggested Refresh. I ended up buying it but it really did not help much. So I tried an ointment which did make a difference. The problem of course is once that is in, you can not see so I would use it on occasion at night. I really don't like using it but it does help. Then in January of this year, I had a really hard time opening up my eye and decided to go to the eye doctor. Long story short, my insurance changed and my reg. eye doc was on in the network. I also wear accuvue contacts with moisture. I went to Pearl Vision because I could get an appointment that day. I really was not pleased with them. Asked the doc about Restasis and she ended up giving me the perscription but told me to try a few other porducts first. She told me I have enlarged tear ducts and I suppose that "plugs" could eventually be put in my eyes if all else fails. First off, I know Restasis is expensive so I have yet to fill my perscription. Should I try it or go see another doctor and should it be an opthamologist, optometrist or my regular PC. My other eye now seems to be getting dry as well. My husband just went to a new optometrist yesterday and mentioned about me, of course he would like to see me. He told my husband he uses Restasis with a steroid treatment and likes to regularly see the patient. What should I try. This doctor told my husband he has seen cases whereby the eye is so dry it can rip the cornia (I think) when trying to open and I suppose be very painful. Help! Is this the process of mid life? Suggestions are greatly aprreciated. Many thanks.

[liz56]

Welcome to the DEZ.

Hi, member31986.

Your morning symptoms may just be dry eye, but if your eye is sticking and burns in the morning, you may have some underlying cause. The first thing is to get to someone trained to tell whether or not you have a healthy cornea. Since you are close to 50, there may be a hormonal shift occurring that is worth checking out with your family doctor or gynecologist. The goal is to figure out the real cause and not to cover up symptoms.

In the meantime, you may want to use Genteal Gel (severe) at night instead of ointment; it blurs but not at all like ointment. It helps me a lot. Also, you may want to consider using glasses instead of contacts, which could be exacerbating the problem, for now.

Here's what happened with me, but your case could be different, so I am sharing, just to let you know how things might go and not to tell you what you ought to do. I am 41 and female. I had to go to one optometrist, two ophthalmologists, and two corneal specialists before I got results and answers. I was diagnosed after the second ophthalmologist with recurrent corneal erosions, which happens when the eyelid sticks to the cornea and pulls upon awaking in the morning, and treated correctly after the second corneal specialist. (The symptoms were burning, tearing, redness, and a blurriness, and that was because the torn epithelial layer of the cornea happened to be over the pupil.) My treatment is to use Dwelle (or something like it by prescription, though if I don't need a prescription, then, why bother with it?). I am also on Restasis for dry eye. As far as I can tell, I have a corneal dystrophy, called anterior basement membrane dystrophy (aka epithelial basement membrane dystrophy, Cogan's dystrophy, and map-dot fingerprint dystrophy). I really suffered with it for years before it caused recurrent corneal erosions and symptoms were dry eyes that burned and felt like I needed to close them, especially in the evenings. I also had a mild, fluctuating astigmatism. Although 90% of people with this dystrophy, I have read, never know they have it, because it does not present severe problems, it can lead to recurrent corneal erosions. I am looking into why I am not one of the 90%, and I think that it is because I have a thyroid problem that is causing two things-- an abnormally thin epithelium and dryness of the eye. I am beginning treatment for that now.

That's really long and complicated, and it has been about a year since my real problems began. I just wanted to let you know that you just need to be sensitive to what is going on with you and to keep looking for answers, even if good doctors are trying their hardest and coming up empty. There may be more than one thing happening, and if you consider the complexity of your health and your body as a complete system in which a lot of things are interrelated, then you have a good chance of finding one or more angles for treating your problem.

There is a lot of great information here, the BEST thing that the DEZ offers. Please read and ask questions.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

--Liz

[member31986]

My eyes sometimes wake me through the night because they are burning. Although, trying to open them is hard because of the dryness. Lately, I have been getting a little (but not always) crust at the opening of the lid. This does not always happen and some nights are better than others. When I went to my gyne. last fall she stated that this sometimes happens during menopause , aren't I lucky??!! and to try artifical tears. Of course the problem has persisted. I still am not sure who to turn to, eye doctor-optomitrist, opthamologist or my pc. As far as I have read, there seems to be no cure for this and can be chronic. I hate the thought of living with this and especially if it can get worse. Any more suggestions etc. are helpful. I never knew there was such a site so I was happy to find it. No one else in my family has had this problem either, parents, sister...so I can't even go to them for advice. Why me??? Help! By the way, my eyes appear to be fine during the day, I half wear glasses and half wear contacts (Accuvue Oasys) to give my eyes a break.

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi & welcome...

I'd strongly suggest you pick up a copy of Dr. Latkany's book "The Dry Eye Remedy", which is an excellent resource for people with dry eye - very useful for understanding 'the big picture' and also for lots of practical suggestions about prevention and care for dry eye.

Liz56 has great advice for you... With that pattern of primarily night/waking symptoms, some corneal dystrophy is a very real possibility and/or incomplete lid closure at night. Often conditions like ABMD are never diagnosed until the eyes become drier due to other factors.