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Hello. I am just now posting on this site, but I have been reading others posts for a few months now.
Here is my story:
This all started right after Christmas last year. I woke up with irritated eyes. There was no discharge, but they were red and irritated. My sister and niece were over our house Christmas Eve. They had both had pinkeye the week before. My sister was taking the drops for a few days, but she was feeling better. I went to my primary doctor and she said, yep, you have pink eye. Here are some drops. I was on the drops for 3 days, but they burned like crazy when I put them in. Then I got this feeling like something was poking me in my eye. I couldn't even close my eye. I went to urgent care and they said nothing was wrong with my eyes, and I did not have pink eye. I remember going home crying. I was in so much pain from the poking. Luckily, the next morning the poking went away, but I was still left with the irritation. I stopped taking the drops that burned and went back to my primary care and she said yes you do have pinkeye, and here are some different drops that are not as irritating. I took those for a few days and it still did not go away, so I finally went to an optometrist. He told me the drops were not working because I had viral conjunctivitis, not bacterial. He explained that the poking might have been dryness (he did see some dry spots) He gave me tobradex and zadiator. The tobradex helped a little but I had to stop after the five days he prescribed it for. I went back to the primary care and she gave me optivar and said this should definitely do the trick. Of course it did not work. I then went to an ophthalmologist who once again said nothing was wrong and he did not understand why I was so emotional over such a small problem. He told me to stop all drops. They were probably just irritating my eyes. I left his office in tears.
Since then I have been to 3 other ophthalmologists, been on lotemax twice (did not help), pataday for 6 months (did not help), doxy for 4 months (did not help), restasis now for 3 months (has not helped). I got lower plugs in April (has not helped) and most recently I got upper plugs (had too many tears). I had to have the upper plugs taken out the other day because I couldn't take the over tearing. My doctor told me the only other thing we can try is Azasite. He gave me a prescription. I had it filled yesterday, but I have not started it. I am still recovering from the upper plug fiasco. My eyes are drier than ever. I will start the azasite next week. I am going to Disneyland this weekend with my family and I don't want to ruin my weekend if I have a bad reaction to Azasite.
For 4 months my doctor told me I had allergies. I didn't buy that. I went to an allergist and had all sorts of skin testing. I only have a very mild allergy to cockroaches and mold. Allergist did not think that could do it. I had air purifiers in my house for 3 months. It did not help. The only change that happened before this began was the city where I live added fluoride to the drinking water. I have never asked (for fear of being laughed at) if there could be any connection. For about 3 weeks, I showered with goggles and drank/used only bottled water, but it still did not go away.
I went to a dry eye specialist in FL in June and he said I had blepharitis, demodex infection of eye lashes, and conjunctivachalasis. He recommended a 30K operation. I spent $1200 to see this doctor and once again left crying.
I went back to my doctor here in CA and he did not agree about the conjunctivachalasis (I didn’t either after I read about it). He did finally agree that I had blepharitis. He once again told me to clean my lids and put me on doxy. He only prescribed 20mg a day. Could that be why it is not working? At my next visit, I saw another doctor first (it is a teaching facility, so I always get checked by 2-3 people before I see my doctor) and she said that my glands were still blocked. I asked her what she was talking about. She said my meimbonian glands. The doctor had not told me that before. I even asked him if I had MGD and he said no. I have a pretty normal Schrimer score, but my TBUT is like 4 or 5. He told me that was also indicative of allergies. So, my doctor told me to do warm compresses and do massages on my glands. He also prescribed restasis, only at my request.
I also recently tried acupuncture. I spent $600, and what do you know I am not better. I went to 12 sessions.
I am losing hope that this will ever go away. It is really difficult to deal with this. I have 2 small children at home (2 and 5) who need me to be strong, however some days I have no strength to deal with this.
When I wake up, my eyes are the most normal, but nowhere near normal. As the day goes on, they get worse. By 7 or 8, I am at my worst. I usually just go to bed. I wear tranquiele goggles at night. These have helped me sleep better. I feel like when I am sleeping that is the only break I get from this craziness.
My regimen right now is:
Lid scrubs in the shower
Restasis 2 times a day
Artificial tears (non-preservative kind) as needed
Warm compresses and gland massage before bed
Lots of flaxseed oil
Onion goggles on the computer
This has taken over my life. My five year old wants to know why I still have an eye infection. Since this began, everyone in my family has gotten pinkeye once, and they all recovered. I just don’t get this! I never had any problems with my eyes before. My eyesight is good. I do not wear glasses or contacts.
Sorry for the long post. Any suggestions or comments would be great.
Jennie
Here is my story:
This all started right after Christmas last year. I woke up with irritated eyes. There was no discharge, but they were red and irritated. My sister and niece were over our house Christmas Eve. They had both had pinkeye the week before. My sister was taking the drops for a few days, but she was feeling better. I went to my primary doctor and she said, yep, you have pink eye. Here are some drops. I was on the drops for 3 days, but they burned like crazy when I put them in. Then I got this feeling like something was poking me in my eye. I couldn't even close my eye. I went to urgent care and they said nothing was wrong with my eyes, and I did not have pink eye. I remember going home crying. I was in so much pain from the poking. Luckily, the next morning the poking went away, but I was still left with the irritation. I stopped taking the drops that burned and went back to my primary care and she said yes you do have pinkeye, and here are some different drops that are not as irritating. I took those for a few days and it still did not go away, so I finally went to an optometrist. He told me the drops were not working because I had viral conjunctivitis, not bacterial. He explained that the poking might have been dryness (he did see some dry spots) He gave me tobradex and zadiator. The tobradex helped a little but I had to stop after the five days he prescribed it for. I went back to the primary care and she gave me optivar and said this should definitely do the trick. Of course it did not work. I then went to an ophthalmologist who once again said nothing was wrong and he did not understand why I was so emotional over such a small problem. He told me to stop all drops. They were probably just irritating my eyes. I left his office in tears.
Since then I have been to 3 other ophthalmologists, been on lotemax twice (did not help), pataday for 6 months (did not help), doxy for 4 months (did not help), restasis now for 3 months (has not helped). I got lower plugs in April (has not helped) and most recently I got upper plugs (had too many tears). I had to have the upper plugs taken out the other day because I couldn't take the over tearing. My doctor told me the only other thing we can try is Azasite. He gave me a prescription. I had it filled yesterday, but I have not started it. I am still recovering from the upper plug fiasco. My eyes are drier than ever. I will start the azasite next week. I am going to Disneyland this weekend with my family and I don't want to ruin my weekend if I have a bad reaction to Azasite.
For 4 months my doctor told me I had allergies. I didn't buy that. I went to an allergist and had all sorts of skin testing. I only have a very mild allergy to cockroaches and mold. Allergist did not think that could do it. I had air purifiers in my house for 3 months. It did not help. The only change that happened before this began was the city where I live added fluoride to the drinking water. I have never asked (for fear of being laughed at) if there could be any connection. For about 3 weeks, I showered with goggles and drank/used only bottled water, but it still did not go away.
I went to a dry eye specialist in FL in June and he said I had blepharitis, demodex infection of eye lashes, and conjunctivachalasis. He recommended a 30K operation. I spent $1200 to see this doctor and once again left crying.
I went back to my doctor here in CA and he did not agree about the conjunctivachalasis (I didn’t either after I read about it). He did finally agree that I had blepharitis. He once again told me to clean my lids and put me on doxy. He only prescribed 20mg a day. Could that be why it is not working? At my next visit, I saw another doctor first (it is a teaching facility, so I always get checked by 2-3 people before I see my doctor) and she said that my glands were still blocked. I asked her what she was talking about. She said my meimbonian glands. The doctor had not told me that before. I even asked him if I had MGD and he said no. I have a pretty normal Schrimer score, but my TBUT is like 4 or 5. He told me that was also indicative of allergies. So, my doctor told me to do warm compresses and do massages on my glands. He also prescribed restasis, only at my request.
I also recently tried acupuncture. I spent $600, and what do you know I am not better. I went to 12 sessions.
I am losing hope that this will ever go away. It is really difficult to deal with this. I have 2 small children at home (2 and 5) who need me to be strong, however some days I have no strength to deal with this.
When I wake up, my eyes are the most normal, but nowhere near normal. As the day goes on, they get worse. By 7 or 8, I am at my worst. I usually just go to bed. I wear tranquiele goggles at night. These have helped me sleep better. I feel like when I am sleeping that is the only break I get from this craziness.
My regimen right now is:
Lid scrubs in the shower
Restasis 2 times a day
Artificial tears (non-preservative kind) as needed
Warm compresses and gland massage before bed
Lots of flaxseed oil
Onion goggles on the computer
This has taken over my life. My five year old wants to know why I still have an eye infection. Since this began, everyone in my family has gotten pinkeye once, and they all recovered. I just don’t get this! I never had any problems with my eyes before. My eyesight is good. I do not wear glasses or contacts.
Sorry for the long post. Any suggestions or comments would be great.
Jennie
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