just joined

[kiki]

hi, i recently joined this forum in the hope of finding out more about dry eye, i've had this for a year and have only just been diagnosed, i was taking allergy drops previously. I'm only 17 so am terrified of it getting worse, i currently use a liquid gel 6 times a day which really helped at first but now seems to clog my eyes. What really bothers me is the redness, its become much more noticeable and i know its going to carry on getting worse...

I was wondering about any ways people use to manage redness without take the red out drops? I don't like people thinking im constantly stoned!

[odydnas]

Hi Kiki! Welcome! I know that it's so frustrating at such a young age. I just turned 24 and I've put off grad school because of my eyes. It really sucks.
There is a lot of valuable info on this site and I hope that it can help you. From what I've gathered, get the red out drops are not good for your eyes, so avoid it as much as possible! Also, I was wondering, since you were using allergy drops AND your eyes are red, do you think it's possible that this is caused by the BAK in your drops? There are a quite a few people on this board that have a bad reaction to preservatives in eyedrops.

[baddabingtim]

you are not alone - my eyes killed in high school - they used to call me veg cause I would not look at anyone - well guess what I am 48 now - go to the doc and see about getting plugs and restasis - it will help - but when all is said and done it is livable

[kiki]

I didn't use the allergy drops much as they weren't helping, i think the redness was caused by excessive rubbing and just hasn't gone down
i've got an appointment in 2 weeks with the eye hospital, doctors were really useless they were so dismissive.

[Toril]

Hi there!

..did you use allergy drops containing preservatives (BAK)? In that case, that might have irritated your eyes as some people are allergic to preservatives.

Toril

[Judy]

Hi Kiki,

Please don't be too upset. Doing many of the things I've learned about on this website have really helped me. In particular (for me), the warm rice baggy has done wonders... Diluted baby shampoo, foaming eyelid scrubs, and rinsing with Unisol4 are all part of my morning shower routine. I use Restasis as well... Sometime less is more when it comes to gels and over the counter eyedrops. I use Refresh Plus quite frequently during the day. The Bak preservative is only a temporary help in prescribed eyedrops, then I believe this can do much damage to your eyes. I used tons of "get rid of red eye" drops when I was younger and I think that did much damage for me. However, I really think it can be reversed with time and patience. Best wishes for your upcoming appointment. Keep researching and keep an open mind! God Bless!

[KaylaR]

Maybe you could try not using any drops at all. Have you thought about taking natural supplements like Omega 3?! My dad takes them and his eyes look and feel like they are wetter. Or have you thought about punctal plugs?

[kiki]

thanks for all the responses i think its just going to be trial and error about finding something that works for me, my eyes were slightly red prior to the drops, but they did get worse as i was using drops, might just be a coincidence, as i've used preservative drops briefly before with no problems. It seems much worse when i'm stressed/tired/on the computer for a long time but i think thats normal.