Two Questions

[kimby2007]

Hi All:

Me again (sorry!) Two questions for you all, the 1st one I am going to ofcourse run by my doctor but wanted to gauge your opinions

1) Mucous strands---is this alone caused by aqeous difficiency or can this be caused as well by MGD. Basically just curious if it alone pts to one problem or can be indicative of another condition as well.

2) MY Dry eyes (from autoimmune most likely) hit overnight. Just wondering if that is common occurrence. I have read mixed reviews. U would think that something like this would gradually occur but it seems that for many people they just woke up one day with bad eyes.

Thanks all. Wishing you all good days!

[calli66]

1) I just recently got 4 plugs, and with my minimal tears actually staying in my eye now, I find that I have fewer mucous strings and globs. So maybe with more liquid in there, the mucous doesn't take over ---just a thought. I probably have some MGD, too. But since I've had all the plugs (and more tears) I've noticed a significant decrease in mucous.

2) I have DE caused by auto-immune disease also. My dry eye didn't exactly hit overnight, but I remember in early 2003 switching to a new brand of contact lenses (after having worn glasses for 4 years) and the contacts felt fine---were working out well for 2 months---then, boom, I couldn't wear them at all. I thought it was kind of weird at the time.

---at that same time, I had gone to the doctor with problems of vaginal dryness, loss of libido, etc. I had thought it was due to menopause, but may well have been the start of auto-immune symptoms.

Calli

[kimby2007]

Question for Calli66

Hi:

Thanks for answering my message. I am only on restasis 3 months and ofcourse freakin out that it is not going to work. How r things with the 4 plugs--have u noticed any significant improvement? Also I think u mentioned in a previous post u have reflex tears?-correct?

Thanks again

[Rojzen]

sudden onset: actual or simply the impression?

Great question about others experiencing sudden onset.

I, for one, had a sort of sudden onset: about a month of generally feeling sick, feverish, and fatigued, followed by waking up one day with severe burning in the eyes.

Perhaps a week after the burning started, I sensed my tears evaporating instantly, and could no longer keep the peepers open without goggles on.

My take on this is that my meibomians were gradually dying, over a period of years, for reasons unknown, but possibly related to whatever caused my overall illness (which was eventually diagnosed as some nonspecific autoimmune problem indicated by very high ANA, and systemic inflammation of sebaceous and related glands). . .There were, perhaps, creeping symptoms, for years, but when the last meibomian finally died and sealed up, the complete loss of oil secretion produced a dramatically different sensation, which was the first, I perceived, of dry eye.

Many others here have reported sudden onset. . . I have no idea if others may, like me, have possibly experienced an undetected build-up to the moment of awareness. . .Perhaps. . .

Great news is that even with sudden onset, dramatic reversals have been reported here, too. . .We have had a member (whose name escapes; he is a physician, himself) who had severe and sudden onset of DES, followed by a complete elimination of his symptoms through use of DHEA eyedrops. . .That was inspiring to read. . .

[TRiBaL]

I'm on restasis myself for 2 months hoping it will work. Hot compresses been really irritating my eyes. It sucks...

[calli66]

How r things with the 4 plugs--have u noticed any significant improvement? Also I think u mentioned in a previous post u have reflex tears?-correct?

I am still in the adjustment period of having 4 plugs. I had 2 plugs before, and barely noticed an improvement. However, this time I definitely feel more tears---at times they pool a bit---but they don't run down my cheeks or blur my vision.

But--the adjustment. I'm sure my eye/ tear chemistry is going through changes. One eye has been very itchy, and I have had to reduce Restasis to once per day (evening) because it was causing delayed burning (a morning application caused burning in mid-day). The burning caused reflex tearing, and those tears made the burning worse. And I wasn't sure whether the hot compresses I usually do were aggravating things, so I've stopped that temporarily, too.

I think things will settle down eventually, once my eyes get used to the new situation. I don't think I have an infection, and there's no localized irritation around the new plugs. But my tears are collecting and drying on the inner corner of my eyes and the lower lids---making the tissue tender. It has helped to rinse off the residue with saline.

I have tried Restasis off and on since 2003. Sometimes it burns and sometimes not. Kind of depends on my overall eye condition. I don't think there's a single answer as to what effect it might have on a person, because there are so many variables.

Calli

[IanJ]

2) MY Dry eyes (from autoimmune most likely) hit overnight. Just wondering if that is common occurrence.

Hi,

My right eye is lacrimal defficient (bad!).....and hit very suddenly. I was at work looking at the PC screen one minute, everything was fine, and the very next I felt my eye get dry and vision was blurred. From that day forward I've suffered.......over 2 years now. It sucks!

As well as the above, both my eyes have MGD which I didn't know I had until the above happened and my eye doc told me. It was a very gradual onset and I've probably had it 15+ years. I now do the warm compress thing and althogh it probably helps the MGD it does nothing for the lacrimal gland.

Ian.