Am I crazy?

[stephgurl1986]

Hey everybody,


I get the feeling that I'm crazy. I've seen so many doctors and they just keep telling me that they don't understand why I have so much pain. My eyes are so red and dry but my cornea is healthy. I really suffer, I have pressure pain on my left eye 24/7 and my eyes are so red that I try to avoid looking at others. I cannot go out at night because of the pain and redness. But the doctors just keep telling me that my eyes aren't that bad and that they don't understand why I have so much pain.
I start to think about this- do I imagine the pain? I surely cannot image the redness because that is visiable...ah, I think I'm getting crazy. I just can't stop thinking about my eyes, it's the first thing I think about in the morining (good or bad day) and the last thing I think about before going to bed. I have pain and I'm afraid that my university degree is useless because I fear that I'll never be able to work in a normal way...
Is anybody else feeling like this? Am I crazy or is it all the doctor's fault? How can I manage to pay less attention to my eyes? I just keep thinking that my life would be perfect if only I didn't have these eye problems...

[MyDryEyes]

You are NOT crazy. I have been told the same thing - that my symptoms are greater than my "clinical" signs. Pain is real. Just keep working on the problem - I know it is exhausting. We'll get there. I am in the same space - I think about my eyes constantly and how much better my life would be if I weren't in so much pain. Just hang in there. We have to, right?

[rhad]

I know how you feel....I feel the same way, I really am not very convinced with conventional medicine that we all hale as being so great and advanced. I mean conventional medicine can't even fix any health problems, just suppress symptoms with man-made drugs that stimulate your body to do unnatural things. it makes me sick just thinking about it. I wish you the best of luck, and also you are NOT crazy at all.

if you change your perspective or the way you look at this dry eye problem, you will begin to have hope for a cure....because "diseases don't really exist", a disease or name is just something they slap onto symptoms that are happening in your body.... such as dry eyes, it is just a symptom of a bigger problem. I feel like I am close to a cure for my MGD/Blepharitis, and I believe I know what causes it....but if everything works as I have predicted I will post my findings.....until then, good luck! have some hope, don't let what doctors tell you get you down, because after all, they are just ordinary men, they are just as clueless as us.....

rhad

[acarol]

You are not crazy - most Doctors just don't see 'dry eyes' as the major life-altering problem that it is. Try and find a Doctor or Optician that will help you and give you answers (not easy i know).

[acarol]

I know how you feel....I feel the same way, I really am not very convinced with conventional medicine that we all hale as being so great and advanced. I mean conventional medicine can't even fix any health problems, just suppress symptoms with man-made drugs that stimulate your body to do unnatural things. it makes me sick just thinking about it. I wish you the best of luck, and also you are NOT crazy at all.

if you change your perspective or the way you look at this dry eye problem, you will begin to have hope for a cure....because "diseases don't really exist", a disease or name is just something they slap onto symptoms that are happening in your body.... such as dry eyes, it is just a symptom of a bigger problem. I feel like I am close to a cure for my MGD/Blepharitis, and I believe I know what causes it....but if everything works as I have predicted I will post my findings.....until then, good luck! have some hope, don't let what doctors tell you get you down, because after all, they are just ordinary men, they are just as clueless as us.....

rhad

Could you give us any hint of this 'cure'? Is this just a cure for you or for anyone that might have MGD?

[stevo88]

Stephgurl1986,

Are you more troubled by the pain or the redness?

If it is the redness, you can try to email Dr. Gulani, I have heard he is able to remove the red veins but at about $4,000 per eye.

But cheer up, people are not as judge-mental as you think.

[odydnas]

Stephgurl, I know EXACTLY how you feel, to the bone, except for the redness. I have been told over and over my cornea is perfectly fine, but I feel real pain, and for a while, I thought that maybe I was going crazy too. You just have to find a doctor that can pinpoint the problem. Do you know if you have MGD? Sometimes docs are so intent at looking at your eyeball that they forget to check out the eyelids as well. I've also had many docs look at my eyelids and declare that they were perfectly fine, until I went to Dr. L who declared that my eyelids were "completely messed up" (i'm in my early 20's).

You are NOT crazy. You jsut need to find a doctor who is skilled in dry eyes and can pinpoint the problem(s). Perhaps a trip to NY may be worth it? The earlier you figure out the problem, the more easily reversible it is.

Good luck!

[yeouch]

That's exactly how I felt for about 2 months, up til.. about yesturday, when all these doctors I had been seeing, have said that either my eyes are dry have allergies and that I shouldnt worry.. but then, when the pain hits, it drives you to insanity and beyond.. and then everything flashes in your head.. what will i do? how will i get by? .. I say keep going back to get 2nd opinions, because I think a lot of these doctors just don't know right off the bat, because its hard to diagnose, and you just gotta keep going back, for one of them to finally solve the mystery... and even then, you still keep going back! (im going back tomorrow, because Im in pain still!!) even with the diagnosis! YOU'RE NOT CRAZY!!!

[stephgurl1986]

I've acutally been to NY and according to Dr. Latkany I have ocular rosacea.
My major problem is the redness, I have pain, but I think I could deal with that but I cannot cope with the fact of my ugly looking red eyes, I'm 22, I want to go to clubs, have fun etc. but I can't. My pain is caused by the blood vessels in my left eye. Doctors don't understand why blood vessels hurt - for me, there is a simple explanation: the vessels fill with blood and then I feel that pressure pain. And due to the fact that I have a "net" of vessels in my left eye, the pressure is so intense.

@Does anybody know how the redness is removed by Dr. G???Sounds interesting!

[rhad]

well, actually "Dry eye syndrome" is not a disease, but a symptom...look in the dictionary, it says a symptom is the manifestation of a disease.....so in order to cure your MGD/blepharitis you have to correct the disease, not the symptoms(dry eyes), that is just rediculous. that is why you will not find a cure for it with doctors/opthamologists, because they aren't trying to cure it, just reduce the symptoms or discomfort(dry eyes).....
I have a theory, that I am testing, to see if it is true.
hope that makes sense

rhad

[Plat]

Hi Rhad,

What your are doing seems to be helping even if it is not a cure. I hope you come up with the cure though. If you let us in a bit on what it is we can all test this theory. And if it is false hope, then oh well.

[stevo88]

RHAD,

can you let me on your theory? I promise not to steal it if it works


Stephgurl,

you have to email him with photos of your eyes, he'll tell you what he can do for you. Oh, and he is located in Orlando.

[liz56]

I know how you feel, Stephgurl.

I was going to eye doctors for years, telling them that my eyes felt terrible and that they were so dry. They shooed me along with some drops from their drawers and told me that everything looked fine to them. Even after I started having recurrent corneal erosions, I was told that things were fine for weeks!

It was not until I developed an ulcer from it that they took notice. Then, they gasped. Then, I still was just told to use Genteal Gel and was not told at all about EBMD. I went through six doctors. It was the sixth one who put me on a program that worked. In the meantime, I found Rebecca. Thank goodness for Rebecca and the great people here. I would not be as healed as I am this day without the DEZ.

Hang in there, and keep telling doctors about your problem. It needs to be well documented, because not enough doctors are trained in how to handle problems like ours, and they need to know that we are out here and our lives that were once so open have gotten much smaller; that was the hardest thing for me.

--Liz

[Lucy]

It's a shame doctors, except for the select few, do not realize the pain of dry eyes! Oh, dry eyes, no big deal, huh? I do believe that's what the docs think. It's hard to relay to them just how acid burning eyes feel. It can be post-lasik or PRK, from MGD, rosacea, or whatever, but the pain can knock you on your butt.

Liz is right, about keep documenting and seeking a doctor who will take you seriously. It's hard to imagine in today's world when we can do just about anything, we can't fix dry eyes.

[rubyslippers]

You might try some very young doctors. Mine is just a few years out of medical school and is an optometrist. He totally goes by what I feel rather than what he can see. He was taught the a person can be miserable and not have much visible to the doctor and there are some he is sure should be suffering but are oblivious to any feeling of discomfort. I think the younger ones are being taught to listen more.