not liking dry eye

[izzy3usa2002]

Hi i am Vicky from Ohio. I got dry eye in December 2008, so about 4 months ago. I am currently on restasis, lotemax, and elestat. i use soothe xp tears and genteal gel at night or whenever i have severe eye pain. iIuse hot compresses. I take omega 3 fish oil. I have plugs in both eyes but they keep falling out so my eye doctor wnats to close them with some small surgery. I wear wrap around tinted, padded prescription glasses. my eyes feel much better with the glasses on. When I take them off I am right away irriated. The wind and air conditioners are ruining my spring. My vision was affected and I could barely see but when I went to the eye doc the last time I got 20/20 vision with my glasses on! So i am making some progress. Goo sometimes gets on my eyes and I have to put tears on the end of a q-tip and get it out. I fear my eyes will at some point get damaged. I am scared. I have been very upset and depressed since this started because one minute I will be ok, the next i'm in terrible pain. I am trying to do anything I can to make this better. I am sure I will learn what makes it worse. I learned to deal with epilepsy and asthma and they are both now under control so I figure I can learn how to deal with this. It will just take some time. Wish me luck. I will need it, and God Bless all of you out there who are having to deal with this. It sure can mess up your life. Hang in there and I will too.

[Lucy]

Hi Vicky from Ohio,
I happen to have a cousin Vicky, who lives in Ohio so thought I would say hi. It sounds like you are doing a lot of things right. You mention the "goo" you get in your eyes and you need to fish it out with a Q-tip. This is called "mucous fishing." There is really a name for it. Doing it is not a good thing as it makes things worse. One of our long time members, Delilah, has this problem and it's written about often in the archives.

I don't think you will "damage" your eyes by doing the things you need to do. The exception is the "fishing" and while I don't think it will damage your eyes, it can make the mucous thing worse. If you've been able to deal with epilepsy, the dry eye thing will also be managable. Keep reading here and let us know how you're doing. Lucy

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...mucous+fishing

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...mucous+fishing

Those are just two threads I found in a search. There are many more.

[msienkiewicz]

Welcome,

I'm a newbie too. You're right. This dry eye takes some getting used to, but you sound strong and determined. I have found this to be an excellent place to get wonderful advice and encouragement.

Best wishes,
Melissa

[izzy3usa2002]

thanks Lucy

Thanks for your works of encouragement Lucy. Maybe I wont have goo much longer as my doctor just called and I have a severe thyroid disorder that she said caused my dry eye she said it may be graves disease. she said i will have to takes meds the rest of my like but big deal. never in my life have I been so happy to hear I am sick lol need to get rid of these dry eyes. no wonder nothing was helping huh?

[msienkiewicz]

Please tell me more about your symptoms of Grave's disease. Is that hyperthyroidism? What meds will you be taking to correct this?

just curious...
Melissa

[izzy3usa2002]

my graves disease

the doctor just called me today and said i had severe thyroid disorder and probably graves. i dont know what medication i will be taking yet she wants some other test done right away so i will let you knoe when i get the meds. she did say i would have to take them the rest of my life. as far as my sysptoms of graves i have te dry eye of course then i have dry skin, weight gain, shakiness, heart palpations, fatigue, i get real hot and sweaty the doc said that was part of it also. they will probably call tomorrow to schedule my test and another doctor visit so i am sure she will give me the meds then and i will be sure to let you know. i would have blood test done if i were you i am so glad i did! i just knew something was causing this dry eye. i sure hope the new meds take my severe dry eye away, the doc said it would. also i would like to add that i did not have the protruding of the eyes that i guess you normally get with graves sos the doc didnt suspect it.

[izzy3usa2002]

melissa i have been given methizamole for graves but i cant say as its helping i notice no difference. at this point i am about ready to just go have thydoid surgery and be done with all this!

[msienkiewicz]

Wishing you the very best with your decisions,

Melissa