New member, dry eyes getting worse

[synes89]

At the beginning of the school semester, I have started experiencing sensitivity to light, then later to wind. My eyes would water a lot by the end of the day or if I was in a windy area. I didn't think a lot of it, but then things got worse.
If I didn't sleep (that is, keep my eyes closed for a period of time) 8+ hours, my eyes would hurt the next day. It wasn't a feeling of dryness, but definitely stinging and burning, aggravated by wind, dust, or bright light. I tried sleeping more, but couldn't get that amount of sleep all the time.
After a couple weeks it started getting worse. I finally went to the ophthalmologist and she told me I have dry eyes. She gave me a couple drops to dry- Optive and Systane Ultra. I found the Systane to be effective but it irritated my eyes. Optive didn't irritate but did almost nothing.
Now every day my eyes sting or burn when exposed to bright sunlight, cold or wind (especially now during this weather). I tend to stay at home, where I don't get the pain as much. Also thanks to this forum, I started taking flaxseed oil, drinking more water, and also warm compresses (which I find are the most helpful, my eyes definitely feel relieved after that, but it is shortlived).
My ophthalmologist seems to only tell me to try different drops such as Refresh and GenTeal ointment (which I'm not too keen on trying). The reason I'm saying this is when I leave the eye drops in overnight, my eyes experience dry eye pain for the rest of the day, as opposed to when I have nothing in them at night. Also, I don't want to rely on drops since I do not feel like they do anything good for me.
What else should I do? I feel like I'm doing the right things, but something is missing. My dry eyes aren't TOO bad that I can't participate in activities, but they are definitely a constant bother that needs to be relieved. I don't want this to get worse than it is. I already stopped wearing contacts (I used to wear SofLens 38, tried Acuvue Oasys, which didn't help). I definitely want to get back to wearing contacts. I feel like contacts is the culprit, but if so then why doesn't anybody who wears contacts develop dry eyes?
Anyway, I'm a 19 year old male, soon 20, if that is relevant.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[JAH1973]

I so miss my contacts and wore them religiously from the time I was 11 until 34 of this year. I have not even considered putting them back in since June 2008 when my previous doc told me I was cured and could wear them again. In two days, my eyes were so scratched up, I vowed to never wear them again.... I do have other health issues that "may" be contributing to the dry eye, but I do know that the contacts were probably instigating the dryness/scratches.

Personally, I use Refresh Plus drops regularly and cannot function without them. When my eyes are really bad, I will use Genteal. Do whatever your doc says so that the eyes do not get worse.

When you say that your eyes feel dryer after using the drops at night, do you put additional drops in throughout the day upon awakening?

[synes89]

Thanks for the reply JAH.
Yes, I have put them in later during the day but it feels like having drops in my eyes at night is detrimental since it feels worse after that for the rest of the day. Is GenTeal PM ointment effective?

Also, I do wish to continue using contacts, probably a different kind with more water content, but I hope I don't have to stop using them completely :-\

[JAH1973]

I used to wear Oasis contacts and tried several types after that. My fav were the Acuvue daily lenses in which I used with preservative free saline. Since they could be thrown away, I didn't have to worry about the chemicals from the cleaners.

I never tried the pm drops, just the geneal gel that is for severe dry eye. I do not use any drops at night. I just use the Refresh Plus throughout the day.

I have heard of many who can wear contacts comfortably, so do not let my two day experience scare you.

I have been on restasis for over seven months and was told that I could try them again... too afraid. As I said, I have other health issues that may contributing so I am not the one to advise.

[synes89]

Just coming back here to say that this forum has helped me a lot and that I am very happy that my condition is most likely due to dehydration. I started drinking lots of water in hopes that that might do something and it turns out my eyes stopped hurting within 2-3 days (knock on wood). I noticed if I stop hydrating myself, my eyes become worse, so I'll keep at it for a while until I see a permanent improvement.
Thanks again!

[liz56]

Hi, synes89.

I agree JAH1973 about the Genteal Gel severe (not the ointment). I use it at night, and it helps a lot in terms of how I feel the next day.

Glad that keeping hydrated helps.

--Liz

[hkgcomet]

Don't use any oilment if you find you are worse the next day with a sensitive eye. Use gel like genteal gel or viscotears. And found a sleeping mask.

Don't wear contact now! Or you want to the ruin your pretty life...
Contact user easily get dry eye but usually can recover after stop it for a period.
I suffer form dry eye lots of years losing job and social life.