Daily Check-In

[calli66]

pollen

Hi Delilah, Hi Everybody

Grit, scratch, burn.

Pollen count for Albuquerque today: 10.8 out of 12.0--cedar and juniper. Whoopee! Those juniper pollen particles have spikes.

C66

[Lucy]

Hi Delilah,
Nice to hear from you. No pollen around here. Snow, maybe. A few warm, sunny days but still have snow in a few isolated piles. It did snow flurry today, but didn't last. Our furnace is going full blast as it's getting in the teens at night. I just refilled the humidifier for the day/night. Spring will be here, spring will be here soon, spring will be here soon...spring..
Lucy

[fernellen]

two lousy days/two good days

Friday was a bust! After exercise class, I came home and started with the warm compresses and goggles--did not emerge from the house until Sunday morning to teach Sunday School. I listened to three books on tape, learned a bit about Beethovan's music. And was all-round miserable.

Sunday was so good. I taught, went to choir reahearsal, was able to write a report for my congregation, review a reading, prep for Wednesday's class with minor pain. I watched a lot of TV in the evening through the early morning.

It's Monday. I've slept about five hours, but no real discomfort yet (too tired) and have arrived at the gym ready to go.

Gotta strike while iron is hot. Hoping for a couple more good days before the inevitable.

fernellen

[Julie1]

I'm having a lot of burning today. I can't figure out what's causing it because I have been having some pretty good days lately. I hope it doesn't last. I'm trying my hardest to just ignore it but the sad tears are coming anyway. This is not fair. I'm just counting down the hours until I can go to bed tonight and just keep my eyes shut. I'm so tired of this...

[calli66]

Julie--sorry to hear you are feeling so down because of the burning. Years ago, my husband gave me a piece of advice, that I always remember during bad times.

It's this: things ALWAYS seem worse late at night--don't dwell on them then."

Kinda simplistic, I know.

I've been having some really bad days, too. I'm pretty sure it's a massive amounts of pollen. I'm not allergic to it, but the amount overwhelms my eyes. Can't wear my contacts, left eye bone dry, gunk, goop, having to use lots of eyedrops, and they're not doing any good!

It's late and I should take my own advice and go to bed instead of staying up, looking at the computer screen.

C66

[Rebecca Petris]

I guess it's the pollen for me too. My left eye is kicking out tons of gunk and is a bit pink. I had to remove and clean my scleral several times today. I am in the habit of kind of unconsciously picking strands of mucus off the top of the lens when that happens, or dumping in some drops, but today nothing would clear it and when I finally looked in the mirror I realized it was all accumulating beneath the lens. Ugh, I might just need to leave off the lens tomorrow.

Funny, the left eye was always the one with intermittent contact lens problems before I had LASIK. I always suspected ocular allergies and the docs always said no, if it were allergies it would be affecting both eyes. I still think it probably is allergies. Oddly though my right eye which is by far the driest is not affected.

[Rebecca Petris]

Almighty taught me how to use my webcam thingy. Hope he hasn't created a monster. Anyway, this is my eye last night (blech), and again this morning (sorta better kinda not). guess I better bite the bullet and find a local doc.

[Judy]

Hi Rebecca,

I think we're twins!!! Cute (gotta laugh at our red eyes so we don't cry and make them worse) picture!!

Judy

[Dotanne]

What did the local doc say Rebecca? I get this problem with gunk and a pinky eye and it generally seems to get better by the time I get to the eye Dr. He says my tear film is fine and my symptoms are a lot worse than my eyes look!!! The latest comment on my last visit (he sends me a report that also goes to my GP) is that I have minimal papillary hypertrophy under both upper lids. What does that mean? No blepheritis. All I know is that my eyes give me heaps esp the right one which is useless during the latter half of the day. A bacteria swab earlier was negative. My left eye has usually been the driest and it is not nearly so bad. I get the feeling that they feel that it is my depression that is the problem. I'm going to a pain management Dr on Tuesday and he runs the Sjogren's Soc. If I could get my eyes back to how they were last winter I would not feel depressed!
Julie - How I feel for you. I tell myself all the time not to cry as it only makes it worse but I long for bedtime every day too. I go like mad during my little good spell - about 2 hours - each morning before the pain sets in.
We have had a wonderful lot of rain (good for us) with terrible floods not far from here (too much for them) on our east coast of Northland.
Here's to better days.
Dotanne

[Julie1]

I hope your eyes are feeling better today, Rebecca. Did you make it a local doctor? What did s/he say?

I hope you are feeling better too, Calli. Thanks for your encouragement.

My eyes have been feeling better since I stopped using Genteal Gel at night. I think I was starting to develop some irritation to a preservative in the gel (even if the label indicates that the preservative dissolves in the eye). It's only been three nights since I have been using Dwelle, so I can't say that it's a trend yet. My eyes are still the worst in the morning, but the irritation seems to clear sooner than when I was using the gel. I also think that spring and all the winds might have something to do with my irritation.

Dotanne, I completely understand the depression that you are going through. The best that my eyes ever feel is slightly irritated, and that makes me feel broken. I'm finding that even on good eye days, I still feel sad because I know that the pain will return at some point. I have noticed, however, that I don't feel quite as sad as I used to, so perhaps I am starting to cope better. I believe that you will find that the same is true for you. I hope that the rain is helping your eyes. Keep working with your doctors and hopefully you will find some relief.

[Rebecca Petris]

Sigh, didn't manage to squeeze it in on Friday... I will try again tomorrow. Thanks for asking.

Julie - hope things continue to progress. One of the things that is frustrating to me with reading of people's experiences with many of these OTC products (e.g. Genteal Gel) is, and frankly the medical literature says this too, it's hard to separate the drop from the preservative, i.e. if you're not doing well on it, is it because the lubricant is ineffective for you or the side effects of the preservative are out-shouting any benefit from the lubricant. We don't know, and in any case, we just have to be vigilant to track trends and 'take a break' when we suspect a product may be linked to worsening of symptoms.

The best that my eyes ever feel is slightly irritated, and that makes me feel broken. I'm finding that even on good eye days, I still feel sad because I know that the pain will return at some point.

That is a really potent, articulate expression of the impact of dry eye and I'm sure it expresses what many feel.

[calli66]

Hi Julie-

Just wanted to say that I use Genteal Gel every night (I'm afraid not to), but that I have trouble with it sometimes---when I first put it in, it really burns. I don't dare open my eyes at first, as contact with air intensifies the discomfort. I think maybe this is the preservatives doing their thing--changing chemically to some other compound "in the eye." (I don't know what the manufacturers mean by that).

Then, most of the time, I don't have the burning. Go figure.

No matter what the labels say on the products, you just have to trust your own judgment about whether they benefit you.

I find that if I give my eyes a break from my usual product routine (gels, drops, tranquileyes, etc) every now and then, they do seem to appreciate it.

Genteal Gel feels like it's really "weighing my eyes down," and I'm glad to get it all cleaned out of my eyes first thing in the morning.

C66

[cristinalatina]

[QUOTE=Julie1] My eyes have been feeling better since I stopped using Genteal Gel at night. I think I was starting to develop some irritation to a preservative in the gel (even if the label indicates that the preservative dissolves in the eye). QUOTE]

Julie, this rang a bell. After my LASIK, I thought Genteal Gel has a miracle, the only thing that provided real relief. I have kept a stash of a couple of the small tubes, in case I need something strong - after intense irritation, on air travel, etc.

Well imagine my surprise when I realized that on the contrary, it proved to be very irritating...?! I don't understand why. It feels irritating in my eye now, and it was such a dissappointment because I used to consider it excellent I don't use it anymore.

[Dotanne]

I have found Alcon Poly Gel is good for night time and is preservative free. I use it often in the day too as it lasts longer. The mornings are more pleasant too without all that residue to cope with. The vials sometimes don't empty out properly - but they seem to be the best gel that you can get over here.
Dotanne

[shells]

Sounds like everyone is struggling a bit more lately, maybe because of allergies. I hope everyone is having a better time right now. I was having some extra problems with allergies too, although I wouldn't say my eyes looked quite as bad as Rebecca's pics! I thought the warmer weather would help me out, but I guess with the pollen, it actually did the opposite. I spent two months last summer on lotemax because things were so bad, and I really hope things don't end up like that this year. This morning there is snow on the ground though, so maybe things will calm down, atleast for now! Now we just get to put the heat on again . Overall though, I still have my ups and downs, but for the most part, I think I'm in a reasonably manageable place with my eyes now, and I'm really grateful for that.

Julie and Dot, I hope you guys are having a happy weekend. I struggled so badly with depression for quite a while after my dry eye started, and it was such an awful period. Dot, you really helped me through alot of it. I'm praying for you guys, and I hope that you both start feeling better soon. The rough times always pass, and I hope that they do real soon for both of you.

Shells