How my dry eye started I started wearing hard contacts in 9th grade. In 10th grade I also had a surgery - scleroplasty- done in Eastern Europe to slow down progression of my high myopia. My dream was to get LASIK done and my mom encouraged me to. When we immigrated to the U.S. my primary doctor referred me to an eye doctor who specialized in cataract surgeries and Lasic and (Thank God!) he told me I was not a candidate due to my high prescription. I considered him to be an honest, trustworthy doctor and started seeing him on a yearly basis. He switched me to monthly soft contacts. I remember m ..read more

It started in my 20s. I couldn’t tolerate lenses very long. I thought it was due to my being a very high myope (I won’t say how high – let’s just say: much more than -10 in both eyes). After some years of being told only rigid, hard lenses were possible to give me a break from very thick glasses, soft lenses started to be made for my prescription. I was able to wear them for a handful of hours only, then had to go back to glasses. I luckily did research and found out that I wasn’t a good candidate for laser surgery for my myopia – I would not be able to change my vision to glasses-free. My rel ..read more

The Beginning Just another year to have my eyes examined. 1st optometrist: Informed me of an eye infection and scarring on my cornea. I had no symptoms except the usual redness. So, prescribe the blue bottle of eye drops? The optometrist refused to prescribe them and referred me to an ophthalmologist. I just wanted new contact lenses. Sitting in the 1st ophthalmologist’s chair, wondering why I’m here...."Whoa!" The ophthalmologist exclaimed “You have bumps under your eyelids.” What does that mean? It was described as cobblestone-like bumps from wearing contacts for too long.  But tha ..read more

How my dry eye started I first became aware that I had Dry Eye about 14 years ago, but I'm not exactly sure when it started, because I wasn't aware of the condition at the time. I thought I was just tired, or wasn't getting enough rest or was working too many hours. I guess I first really noticed it after a trip my husband and I took to Mexico. It was a long travel day with early flights, etc, awake for 22 hours the first day. I couldn't believe how red my eyes were after a day or two on this trip. When I look back at the pictures it is hard to believe! The pain was also what told me this was ..read more

I developed Recurrent Corneal Erosions after my small daughter poked me in the eye. In hindsight it was the trigger for the problem. I developed a problem of my eyelids sticking to my eye, which went along with intense pain of ripping off the surface layer from my eyes when waking up, and required subsequent time to repair in the morning with extreme light sensitivity… a story many here likely recognise. The eye doctor identified the problem, and prescribed a bandage contact lens, which worked well--although on occasion that one stuck as well--but never as bad. After about a year I figured out ..read more

The past three years since I had LASIK surgery have taught me important lessons in courage, vulnerability, and connection. I wanted to share my story with others to break the isolation that this condition can cause us to experience. I hope that my story can help others to recognize there is someone else out there who is struggling too, and that while we are each on our own unique path, we don’t walk it alone. How it all began When I had the means and opportunity to finally ditch my glasses with LASIK nearly 30 years after getting glasses as a middle-school kid, I went for it. I did some resear ..read more

How my dry eye started My dry eye is from a botched cataract surgery. I was in horrible pain for four months doing nothing other than useless OTC drops. My ophthalmologist minimized my complaints. How it progressed and what I did I finally saw a corneal specialist who put plugs in my eye. From then on, it became tolerable. I read two books about dry eye which I ordered from Amazon. They helped me understand which circumstances to avoid and why. Now I have a new normal. There are days and places with discomfort, but overall the situation is what it is and I just carry on. The hardest part The h ..read more

I have tried so many things to get rid of redness in my eyes. I have Keratoconus, Blepharitis, Dry Eyes, and I live Colorado (Dry climate). So tired of trying supplements, eye drops, lid wipes, and prescriptions. I just to be able to look in the mirror without seeing redness. Tired of people making comments about my red eyes. I thought wearing Scleral lenses would help. I wore Rigid Gas perms before Sclerals and that was a nightmare. Wish there was a cure for it all! Burned out mentally, physically, and financially. Any advice would be great! Jonathan Blank Colorado ..read more

I used to frequent DryEyeTalk all the time looking for ideas that might help. I was diagnosed with posterior blepharitis, and dry eye syndrome, back in 2004 when I was 21. My eyes would always look red and irritated, and it really got me down. I could have picked up these symptoms either from Roaccutane (Accutane) or Prozac, which I used for a short time. I have spent thousands on different treatments and supplements over the years, and tried so many things (heat compresses, baby shampoo, juice fasts, detoxes, flaxseed oil, herbal treatments (e.g. euphrasia), to name just a few). For a long ti ..read more

How my dry eye started In November of 2018 I had cataract surgery. After surgery, I suffered severe dry eye. My surgeon said this was quite common. She recommended the normal OTC eye drops. She also did punctual plugs in both eyes. For six months I endured severe pain--every time I would blink it felt as though my eyelids were coming down on crushed glass. It only got worse. I knew I needed to try something to relieve my pain that didn't cost $640 a bottle! I tried the treatment Lipiflow ($1000) How it progressed and what I did The diagnosis continued to be chronic dry eye and MGD. I kept a da ..read more