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Hi,
I have been lurking for a while and finally have gotten the nerve to post. This is going to be long so I apologize. I was diagnosed with dry eyes in Feb. I had what seemed like an outbreak of Rosacea or perioral dermatitis this winter. During this time my face would tingle and my eyes would burn terribly, so badly that I would have to sit down and take deep breaths. Thankfully these spells would last a very short time. I did go to the derma and he put me on Tetracycline for my skin. I was on this for about a month when my eyes started to become dry. I woke up on Monday and thought my eyes felt kind of dry, by Wednesday I was on my kitchen floor crying from the pain. I went to the our local eye institute the next day and the Dr there told me that I had dry eyes and blepharitits. My schrimer test was 1 and 2. The Dr was totally cold and unsympathetic. She told me I needed to get blood work done, but wouldn't give me an order to do it until she checked me in 2 weeks. I don't think you should tell someone they might have an autoimmune disease and to check it out, but you need to wait until I feel like letting you get the test. I got it anyway and it came back negative, but I now know that Sjogren's doesn't always show up in your blood work. I have become extremely depressed and anxious from all of this. I stated taking antidepressants about a month ago now and have to take Xanax about 2 x a day. I found the Xanax helps with the pain, I'm not thrilled about using it. I have 4 plugs, use drops about every hour, and have a new Opthamologist. Thank you for letting me share all this, there are times that I feel hopeless. I just need to connect with people who understand and can relate. Any insight or advice you would like to share with me would be greatly appreciated, especially how you cope with the burning and pain.
Carolyn
I have been lurking for a while and finally have gotten the nerve to post. This is going to be long so I apologize. I was diagnosed with dry eyes in Feb. I had what seemed like an outbreak of Rosacea or perioral dermatitis this winter. During this time my face would tingle and my eyes would burn terribly, so badly that I would have to sit down and take deep breaths. Thankfully these spells would last a very short time. I did go to the derma and he put me on Tetracycline for my skin. I was on this for about a month when my eyes started to become dry. I woke up on Monday and thought my eyes felt kind of dry, by Wednesday I was on my kitchen floor crying from the pain. I went to the our local eye institute the next day and the Dr there told me that I had dry eyes and blepharitits. My schrimer test was 1 and 2. The Dr was totally cold and unsympathetic. She told me I needed to get blood work done, but wouldn't give me an order to do it until she checked me in 2 weeks. I don't think you should tell someone they might have an autoimmune disease and to check it out, but you need to wait until I feel like letting you get the test. I got it anyway and it came back negative, but I now know that Sjogren's doesn't always show up in your blood work. I have become extremely depressed and anxious from all of this. I stated taking antidepressants about a month ago now and have to take Xanax about 2 x a day. I found the Xanax helps with the pain, I'm not thrilled about using it. I have 4 plugs, use drops about every hour, and have a new Opthamologist. Thank you for letting me share all this, there are times that I feel hopeless. I just need to connect with people who understand and can relate. Any insight or advice you would like to share with me would be greatly appreciated, especially how you cope with the burning and pain.
Carolyn
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