Good Morning, I'm new

[arenda]

Alittle back ground, I'm a 30 year old stay at home mom with 2 boys. When I was in second grade (about 7) I was daignosed with dry eye syndrome. Back then they had never seen someone so young with this problem so I was shipped off to Boston Mass Eye and Ear every couple of months for tons of testing. They deemed me unfixable. Now the more I read and understand the eye the more I think maybe something else is going on. I'm hoping this site can help me find answers or point me in the right direction.

Basically, I have NO tears. My eyes are always dry and scratchy. The main thing that makes me think it's more then just DES is I do not produce any reflex tears. When I cry I have NO tears. My eyes don't even get moist. Untill recently, that is. I've worn contacts for alittle over a year now. The eye doctor told me I would never be able to wear them everyday, but if I don't they hurt so much worse and I produce gross amounts of mucus. So I wear them everyday, and if I get upset and cry they even get alittle moist, not much.

They doctor has never said anything about plugs or drops or anything, it's almost as if he pretends nothing is wrong and sends me on my way. Time to find a new one.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Any advice would be greatly welcome, Thanks, Arenda

[Cindy]

Hi arenda and welcome to Dry Eye Talk. Two things ocurred to me while reading your post. 1) have you ever heard of or been to the Boston Foundation for Sight? One of our members, Lucy, has been keeping us updated on her experience there getting fitted for special scleral contact lens for dry eye. You might find it helpful to do a search for Lucy's posts and also visit their site: http://www.bostonsight.org/


2) You wrote:

Now the more I read and understand the eye the more I think maybe something else is going on.

I'm really sorry you have been dealing with dry eye since the age of seven. That makes you pretty courageous in my book. As you probably know, dry eye can be a symptom of a lot of things. Here's a link to a 'symptom' site that I find rather interesting: http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/sym/dry_eye.htm

[Delilah]

Welcome

Welcome to the site and I am very sorry for your eye troubles. There are many other diseases that lead to no tear production at all. If you could describe in full detail what your symptoms are and if you have any other medical problems that might be connected to your eye problems the doctors on this site might know what to do for you. All I can tell you is to use an eye drop for severe dry eye, I have dry eye and MGD, its hard to deal with, using contacts with severe dry eye is making your eyes worse whether you notice it or not. If I were you I would quit using the contacts and start using an eye drop for severe dry eye, try the Dakrina or Dwelle from this site or Genteal eye drops, I found that Refresh tears are wonderful, I have been using those as well. Again welcome and God Bless. Delilah