Drier Eyes in the Evening/odd feeling

[janedoe1969]

Hi. My eyes tend to be worse around 4-5pm every day. I have this weird feeling as if wind is blowing in my eyes even when I'm 'in' the house. They also get this cold feeling or the same feeling as if you're opening your eyes really wide. Does this make sense?? It's hard for me to walk down the hall without squinting. For 3 weeks now, I have used TheraTears single use containers 4X daily, an ointment at bedtime, and I am taking an Omega 3 supplement and have for 4 months. I recently switched to the TheraTears nutrition capsules which are upsetting my stomach quite a bit due to the 3 capsules at a time. I got temporary collagen plugs put in on Thursday which were to dissolve in 3 days. These did not help. My next step is Restasis, the eye dr. said. I'm mainly wanting to know if the above symptoms have been experienced by anyone else. Thank you for your time. Take care.

[Lucy]

Yes, probably most of the members here have or do experience the exact things you are talking about. It sounds as if you've taken some positive steps to fix the problem. One other comes to mind as you were speaking about "walking down the halls" as though in a workplace. You might try wearing glasses of some sort as moisture chambers. It's written about throughout the website. You can buy plano glasses (fashion glasses-no prescription) in mall boutiques, for example.

Most people with dry eyes feel worse as the days wear on, simply because their eyes have been open since 6 a.m. or whatever. Night is a renewal for most people, to some extent. It varies from person to person, but it makes sense that your eyes feel worse at the end of the workday.

Lucy

[odydnas]

I have that feeling you described, and it's sometimes referred to as the "menthol sensation". Have you been checked for MGD? The could possibly be one thing causing your cold eye sensation. Increasing the humidity in my home has helped and so has doing warm compresses. Many people have also found that moisture chamber glasses help. Good luck!

[janedoe1969]

Thank you for the replies!! It does make sense that one's eyes would feel worse after being awake all day long. I have never heard of the 'menthol sensation' nor MGD. I did look that up. I will talk with my eye dr. about that when I go back on Thursday. I feel a LOT of anxiety when my eyes start doing that. I tend to dwell on it and that makes it worse. I've actually skipped suppers because my stomach is in knots. It's nice to know I'm not the only one doing this and that helps. I should probably start another post concerning this but I have been on birth control pills for 17 years, which I hear can be a cause of dry eye. I wonder if one kind is better than another or if the Patch would be better. I'm trying to rule out everything I can. Thanks again! Take care.

[Maenad1]

Have you tried Dr. Holly's drops?

I'm sorry to hear about your end-of-the-day dryness issues. I think that's a fairly common problem, especially for those of us who work on computers all day.

I wear contacts during the day, so at the end of the day most days, my eyes feel dry. Here's what I do: I take out the lenses. Eyes feel quite dry at this point. I dribble in some Refresh Plus (the preservative-free kind) and give that a minute or two to "soak in" and make my eyes feel comfortable. Then I "seal in" the moisture with a drop of Dwelle (from the Dry Eye Shop) in each eye. Dwelle seems to sort of spread across my eye and provide a protective barrier. Then, for the rest of the evening, my eyes feel pretty good. If they start to feel dry again, I put in some Celluvisc and that takes care of it.

I've found this method through trial and error and experimentation with different brands and types of drops. I found that TheraTears, Systane, etc., did not help me much in the evening when my eyes felt stripped of all moisture. I think the idea of wearing goggles to seal in the moisture is a good one, too, although I have not yet tried that.

Restasis supposedly takes three months to kick in, so even if the doctor starts you on that today, it will take a while before you notice any changes.

Good luck!

[Rojzen]

fighting menthol sensation successfully

So glad you articulated this in the way you did, janedoe1969. . .As you can see, many of us have had this menthol/windy sensation. . .Like you, I have found it to be the single most distressing and disabling aspect of dry eye. . .Missing meals is so familiar! Sometimes I couldn't even think straight, just from that darned windy blowing in the eyes . . .

The advice here on using protective eyewear is critical. . .Over a period of many years, I learned that keeping some form of protection on indoors, all the time, not only essentially eliminated the windy sensation, but also reduced other sensations that come on after prolonged windyness. . .such as burning. . .One doctor told me that moisture chambers may have saved my corneas from significant damage, over time. . .

The advice on using Dr. Holly drops is also really, really worth following. . . Using Dwelle and/or FreshKote for 7 months helped me so much that I stopped having to wear moisture chambers 24/7. I still keep wraparounds handy (both clear and tinted) for outdoor use and driving, but often, I walk around indoors in plain old glasses. . .

In my personal experience, the best effect I've gotten is when I've used Dwelle alone, without resort other kinds of drops that I personally find interfere with Dwelle's unique action on the cornea and tear film. . .

Please let us know what you experience if you try Dr. Holly's drops and stick with them for a while. . .

[janedoe1969]

moisture chamber glasses

Rojzen: Where did you get your moisture chamber glasses? Those are the one thing that I am very unfamiliar with. So you wear those around the house? Thanks to you & Maenad1 for suggesting the Dwelle drops. I just looked up the Dr. Holly's Drops and Dwelle. I'm a bit confused. Is it best to buy all 3 eyedrops (Dwelle, Dakrina, NutraTear) or just the Dwelle alone? I see Dwelle is more a nighttime drop. Did you use it only at night? Also, I read: "Our products have a preservative (polexitonium) which has been clinically demonstrated to be non-irritating even with frequent use." That concerns me a little although they say it's okay. The only drops right now that I really like are TheraTears. The Refresh Dry Eye Therapy drops almost seem to aggravate the problem. I am currently just seeing my optometrist, who is the one to put in the plugs and mention Restasis. I'm wondering if I should go see an ophthalmologists. I assume they would do more extinsive testing?? Thanks again for any advice.

[janedoe1969]

Dwell/EyeWear

Hi. Just thought I'd get this bumped back to the top. I'm really curious about Dr. Holly's drops. I have been on Restasis for 3 days now. Is it okay to use the Dwelle drops or any of those others while on Restasis? I just posted to another topic about how mind-consuming this is and it is really starting to take a toll! Rojzen, your story seems pretty positive. You also seem to have the same symptoms I do. That windy feeling is driving me crazy, literally. I feel better when my eyes are 'dry', as bad as that seems. I just came back from Walmart and had to squint the entire time I was shopping. Any advice about the moisture chamber glasses and the eyedrops being combined with Restasis will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

[liz56]

Dr. Holly's Dwelle Eye Drops

Hi, janedoe1969.

You should check with your doctor first, because he or she knows all of what is going on with your eyes.

I have ebmd, dry eye, and a very thin epithelial layer, so all of that has contributed to recurrent corneal erosions for me. I have been under the care of a corneal specialist for a little over eight months now. He encourages the use of Dwelle and has me on Restasis. He said that the only drop that (in general) one should not use with Restasis is Refresh Endura, because both of those have the same thing-- castor oil. As he weans me off of another prescription eye drop, he wants me to increase my usage of Dwelle, so that is my experience.

If you are finding it difficult to do the most basic things, it is worth calling your doctor and seeing if he or she will agree to let you try Dwelle. It took me several weeks to notice a big improvement, but WOW. It's the best thing I have tried.

Good luck,
Liz

[rubyslippers]

That cold windy feeling is awful. I also get the anxiety to the point of crying. Depression seems to be part of this too. I have only had dry eye for a few weeks and am finding that it takes trial and error. Right now Soothe drops work the best for me, but I am going to print off the ingredients fromt the products on this site and see what my doctor says. He said the only one with preservatives I can use right now are Soothe and no more than 4x a day. That is working somewhat for me, but I am never discomfort free except when I am asleep. I have this annoying feeling at the inner corners of my eyes like there is a little swollen sore lump there.

Also, run a humidfier in every room and that seems to really help.

[rubyslippers]

Oh, yes, the only good thing about this dry eye is that I also cannot eat much in the evenings and have lost 10 of the 15 pounds I needed to lose in only 4 weeks. It is hard to eat when you are sobbing.

[janedoe1969]

I too have not been eating. I had a bowl of cereal this morning and that is it. It's now time to cook supper for the family & I have no desire to. I know that your mind can play a big part on your overall health but it's just so hard to dismiss this. I've always said it's 'mind over matter' but I can't seem to grasp that. I'm not sure why I keep going back and forth with 4 days in a row being good then one day like today that just throws me over the edge. I'm hoping the Restasis kicks in after a month or 2......I've heard give it at least 2 months. I just keep hearing positive things about Dwelle. I'm tempted to just order it from this website and try it at night.

[Lucy]

Jane, I just got back from Walmart too! I live in the Midwest and it is cold and windy here. I'm wearing eyeglasses which I always do.........and that is probably the best thing one can do when outdoors, shopping in big stores. If you think about it, the glasses do provide a buffer against the wind. If you don't need RX glasses, buy some fashion glasses, or wear sunglasses whether it's sunny or not.

Lucy

[janedoe1969]

eyeglasses

Hi Lucy. I'm from the Midwest also. I did look into non-prescription eyeglasses at Walmart but couldn't find any. I guess I will make a trip to the mall or find some off Ebay. Any suggestions on where else to get some? I've never worn glasses before (except sunglasses) so this will take some getting use to. Thanks for the advice!

[curlygrl31]

JaneDoe,

Are you having redness issues or just the "windy feeling?" I know EXACTLY what you are talking about when you described it that way. I've got a lot of redness in the whites of my eyes, but really in certain sections. Going shopping is terrible as my eye tends to get worse in the mall, Target, etc.

You are not alone. And, as a single Mom, I can tell you that I know how frustrating it can be when health becomes an issue. We're supposed to be "the rock!" Hang in there!!!

Carrie