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Hello,
I will properly introduce myself first. I am thirty one years old and diagnosed with dry eye six months ago. It started one November morning (2007) when I put my contacts in and it felt like the lens was scratching the surface of my eye. Because I have dealt with a severe eye infection caused by my lenses 10 years ago (which by the way held very nicely) I am very cautious with my lenses so I took them out and put my glasses on. After three visits to the doctor and many treatments for eye infections later they send me to an eye specialist. She said to me you have dry eye, probably it has always been there but it has increased by your lenses you can’t wear them anymore…
She gave me eye drops and opatanol (allergen medicine). The allergen medicine only made it worse so I stopped using it. After that visit my eyes got worse and worse. The second eye doctor gave me drops to stop the inflammation. That didn’t work either and also made my eyes worse.
In the meantime I am on sick leave for 10 hours a week because I can’t work full time anymore. The quality of my life was decreasing by the minute. I also tried bandage lenses. That didn’t feel good either. It felt like the pressure in my eye increased and that gave me a headache. The third eye doctor I went to see just told me that I have to learn to live with it. Come back when it gets worse. Worse? I know it can be worse through this forum but that scared the hell out of me.
Since a couple of weeks it has been better. That has nothing to do with my eyes but more with the way I deal with it. I try to get enough sleep, drink a lot of water, installed “workpace” on my computer at work so I have to stop working on the computer every 8 minutes and I close my eyes for 1 minute, don’t use to many eye drops and use traquileyes at night.
I still don’t know what is causing my dry eye or what is really wrong. They tell me I have decreased tear production. I don’t think I have blepharitis or mdg. I don’t really have problems with my eye lids. I only have (especially my left eye) really dry eyes. Now after 6 months I am slowly learning to deal with it but still it gets me very frustrated some times. I am 31 years old and have to wear glasses (yes it is a vain thing to say but I am young and single ;-) and can’t enjoy life to the max without having to really suffer the next day. During the week I have to be in bed at 10 pm and if I have meetings at night I am in pain. That also means that I am less professional and can’t deal with people very well. I just got promoted but don’t feel up to dealing with the increase of responsibility or expectations.
Thursday I went back to my doctor because I want to know what is causing my dry eye. They suspect it is Sjogren but if it is Sjogren I want to know. My doctor said I was looking for answers that are probably not there. That made me so mad. They haven’t even really tried to find the answer. How can they tell me “with dry eyes” that I should have to learn to live with it without really trying to help me. I know more about dry eye from this forum than they do. Well you all understand my frustration.
I have visited this forum many times already. It has given me a lot of useful information and support. Through this forum I also hope to find contact with people from The Netherlands (Holland) or other European countries who are dealing with dry eye. Nothing beats talking to someone who knows what you are going through…
(p.s. I am Dutch so sometimes my English is a bit rusty ;-)
Margje
I will properly introduce myself first. I am thirty one years old and diagnosed with dry eye six months ago. It started one November morning (2007) when I put my contacts in and it felt like the lens was scratching the surface of my eye. Because I have dealt with a severe eye infection caused by my lenses 10 years ago (which by the way held very nicely) I am very cautious with my lenses so I took them out and put my glasses on. After three visits to the doctor and many treatments for eye infections later they send me to an eye specialist. She said to me you have dry eye, probably it has always been there but it has increased by your lenses you can’t wear them anymore…
She gave me eye drops and opatanol (allergen medicine). The allergen medicine only made it worse so I stopped using it. After that visit my eyes got worse and worse. The second eye doctor gave me drops to stop the inflammation. That didn’t work either and also made my eyes worse.
In the meantime I am on sick leave for 10 hours a week because I can’t work full time anymore. The quality of my life was decreasing by the minute. I also tried bandage lenses. That didn’t feel good either. It felt like the pressure in my eye increased and that gave me a headache. The third eye doctor I went to see just told me that I have to learn to live with it. Come back when it gets worse. Worse? I know it can be worse through this forum but that scared the hell out of me.
Since a couple of weeks it has been better. That has nothing to do with my eyes but more with the way I deal with it. I try to get enough sleep, drink a lot of water, installed “workpace” on my computer at work so I have to stop working on the computer every 8 minutes and I close my eyes for 1 minute, don’t use to many eye drops and use traquileyes at night.
I still don’t know what is causing my dry eye or what is really wrong. They tell me I have decreased tear production. I don’t think I have blepharitis or mdg. I don’t really have problems with my eye lids. I only have (especially my left eye) really dry eyes. Now after 6 months I am slowly learning to deal with it but still it gets me very frustrated some times. I am 31 years old and have to wear glasses (yes it is a vain thing to say but I am young and single ;-) and can’t enjoy life to the max without having to really suffer the next day. During the week I have to be in bed at 10 pm and if I have meetings at night I am in pain. That also means that I am less professional and can’t deal with people very well. I just got promoted but don’t feel up to dealing with the increase of responsibility or expectations.
Thursday I went back to my doctor because I want to know what is causing my dry eye. They suspect it is Sjogren but if it is Sjogren I want to know. My doctor said I was looking for answers that are probably not there. That made me so mad. They haven’t even really tried to find the answer. How can they tell me “with dry eyes” that I should have to learn to live with it without really trying to help me. I know more about dry eye from this forum than they do. Well you all understand my frustration.
I have visited this forum many times already. It has given me a lot of useful information and support. Through this forum I also hope to find contact with people from The Netherlands (Holland) or other European countries who are dealing with dry eye. Nothing beats talking to someone who knows what you are going through…
(p.s. I am Dutch so sometimes my English is a bit rusty ;-)
Margje
) I have decreased tear production. That's all they said. 
). Er moeten toch veel meer (ook jongere niet gelasikde) mensen met deze kwaal rondlopen in Nederland.
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