3 ms·

Let this be a tale of warning. In February of 2011 I was a 28 year old, healthy (perfect vision, etc) software developer working for a small software company.

Let this be a tale of warning. In February of 2011 I was a 28 year old, healthy (perfect vision, etc) software developer working for a small software company. I was working on some cool stuff, was getting the extra responsibilities I wanted and putting in at least 10 hour days every day. I was learning, and hacking and building at an awesome pace. Until, like a switch, my eyes dried up and I could barely keep them open. Literally in the span of an hour or so I was happily hacking away to driving myself home opening one eye at a time. Since then it's been more of the same. Avoiding bad lighting, no more TV, limited computer use. I've seen 3 Opthamologists, some name brand ones, some research clinics. They all tell me I have Blepharitis, which I disagree with (which I know sounds crazy). I wake up with tired, dry eyes and it's a battle all day long. I've tried lots of things, low light, low contrast, fish oil pills, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, cold compresses, hot compresses, drops of all kinds, special computer glasses, restasis, books, meditation, etc. To be honest, it's been hell. I worry about my future career and it's negatively affected relationships. It's gotten somewhat better, but it is still a constant discomfort. I just try to keep my eyes relaxed, eye drops nearby, and massage them frequently. So, give your eyes a break once in a while and be more mindful of them. I bet if I listened to my body at the time it would have told me my eyes were strained and I should give it a break. If anyone else suffers similarly, please reach out would really appreciate chatting with people in similar situations.

dmd 13y ago
Can you elaborate on why you disagree with them on the diagnosis?
- djb_hackernews 13y ago
  Blepharitis is basically a catch all for any issues related to lipid production by the eye lid. Basically what happens in your eye is you produce tears and you also have glands that produce oil. The oil becomes a coating over the tears so they don't evaporate. Blepharitis essentially means your glands aren't producing enough/any oil and so the tears dry up really fast. I disagree with the diagnosis because it doesn't fit with the symptoms. My eyes actually don't feel all that dry like real dry eye suffers describe the sensation. The discomfort is a definite strain. My eyes are relatively discomfort free when I am not looking at a computer screen or in "bad" lighting. But as soon as I look at a computer screen or TV, it's an immediate discomfort. Through out the day I can feel the muscles in my eyes becoming weaker and weaker to the point where they feel almost useless. It is difficult to describe but imagine you do bicep curls until failure, for 3 years every day. You can feel the bicep, but it just doesn't work. In fact I can sense muscles in my entire face reaching back to my ears and down to my cheek bone. Muscles I never even noticed. Also one eye is definitely weaker than the other and if I completely relaxing them it closes about 50% more than the other and feels like there is a weight hanging off of my eye brow. So I really think it is muscular and tear production or oil production is a side effect. If I fix the strain, I fix the dry eyes.
clumsysmurf 13y ago
I can understand your frustration with doctors. Around 15 years ago I had redness and pain in my eye. It got bad enough, that although after-hours, I went to a Cigna Urgent Care center. I was examined by a non-specialist who didn't know what the problem was, but guessed it was probably a bacterial infection. So he sent me home with antibiotics, and told me to come back in "about a week" if things did not clear up. Well, a week later it was only worse, so he told me I needed to see a specialist "immediately". I was in terrible pain. Redness, photosensitivity, etc. I get an appointment with a real opthamologist, and he said I have a viral infection in the cornea, and its serious. I had already permanently lost vision (from 20/20 to 20/50). Antivirals + steroids cleared it up, but it created a dynamic that is difficult to manage to this day. Now with corneal ulcers, the surface of the cornea is uneven. This prevents the tear film from distributing evenly. With poor tear film (tear break up time, TBUT) the eye becomes inflamed. With inflammation, comes neo-vascularization, nerve destruction, and more epithelial defects. All these conspire against proper tearing, and the cycle repeats. So - its very important to get whatever dynamic you have under control. 'Dry eyes' is actually pretty serious, but most opthamologists agree we don't have good weapons for it. Some people have dry eyes, even though they produce too many tears. Its because their tears are defective. Like some people having high HDL, but their HDL is defective. Almost all the OTC stuff is crap. All I can do is recommend 1) Find the best specialist in your area, and see them. I saw a cornea specialist at the Mayo Clinic for a while; they were "OK". But I was surprised they had an even more famous individual there - and she never once said "hmm, what we've been trying for the last 2 years hasn't been working, lets see what my (famous) colleague X thinks". So you have to manage your doctors with great attention. Also, my suspicion - is that cornea MDs like to operate (in my case - cornea replacement), not treat. Operating is probably more profitable. 2) For dry-eyes, you should consider a few things. I use Systane Gel Drops going to sleep. Friction between cornea and eye lids is a problem. The various PM oil formulations are too goopy; but this is the thickest liquid that seems to protect me through the night. I don't wake up with red eyes. 3) For the office, consider moisture being wicked away from your cornea by ventilation. I wear a hat and glasses. Try things that make a full seal, like something Ridick would wear, or a motorcycler. Try Wiley-X Climate control stuff. Since the seal needs to be perfect, try them on first. 4) I love my Oakley M-Frame Heater lenses. Huge, wrap around the face. I wear clear even at night if I'm not wearing goggles to protect that micro-climate around the eyes. 5) You can try the 'dry eye forums' at http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/ http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/ .. YMMV. I hope things get better.
hyuuu 13y ago
I was in a similar situation with you, I too was prescribed as having Blephartitis by multiple opthamologist, I did what they told me to do, clean my eye lids, warm compress, eye drops (various brands) didn't help. After diligently tracking the root cause, data gathering and the likes, I found the issue and I have been dry eyes free since (mostly). As a matter of fact, I had my LASIK, which makes dry eyes worse usually, and have little to no dry eyes. What's intriguing about your case is this sentence "I wake up with tired, dry eyes and it's a battle all day long" your symptom is the same as mine. My situation is this: My eyes don't close all the way when I sleep, thus throughout the night, they will get exposed and dry up badly. After 8 hours, it's plain to see why I would wake up with dry eyes and the dryness lasts throughout the day. My solution is simple, before going to bed, I tape my eyes shut and I use a 3M tape. I tape it in a way if I try to open my eyes I won't be able to. Please do try that for a few days and let me know if it helps :)
- djb_hackernews 13y ago
  THAT is something I haven't tried. I'll be headed to the store today to get some tape. Thanks for replying.
  - hyuuu 13y ago
    Please do let us know :) I have researched this enough and tried a few things, maybe there is something else we can do!
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]

dmd 13y ago

Can you elaborate on why you disagree with them on the diagnosis?

djb_hackernews 13y ago
Blepharitis is basically a catch all for any issues related to lipid production by the eye lid. Basically what happens in your eye is you produce tears and you also have glands that produce oil. The oil becomes a coating over the tears so they don't evaporate. Blepharitis essentially means your glands aren't producing enough/any oil and so the tears dry up really fast. I disagree with the diagnosis because it doesn't fit with the symptoms. My eyes actually don't feel all that dry like real dry eye suffers describe the sensation. The discomfort is a definite strain. My eyes are relatively discomfort free when I am not looking at a computer screen or in "bad" lighting. But as soon as I look at a computer screen or TV, it's an immediate discomfort. Through out the day I can feel the muscles in my eyes becoming weaker and weaker to the point where they feel almost useless. It is difficult to describe but imagine you do bicep curls until failure, for 3 years every day. You can feel the bicep, but it just doesn't work. In fact I can sense muscles in my entire face reaching back to my ears and down to my cheek bone. Muscles I never even noticed. Also one eye is definitely weaker than the other and if I completely relaxing them it closes about 50% more than the other and feels like there is a weight hanging off of my eye brow. So I really think it is muscular and tear production or oil production is a side effect. If I fix the strain, I fix the dry eyes.

clumsysmurf 13y ago

I can understand your frustration with doctors. Around 15 years ago I had redness and pain in my eye. It got bad enough, that although after-hours, I went to a Cigna Urgent Care center. I was examined by a non-specialist who didn't know what the problem was, but guessed it was probably a bacterial infection. So he sent me home with antibiotics, and told me to come back in "about a week" if things did not clear up. Well, a week later it was only worse, so he told me I needed to see a specialist "immediately". I was in terrible pain. Redness, photosensitivity, etc. I get an appointment with a real opthamologist, and he said I have a viral infection in the cornea, and its serious. I had already permanently lost vision (from 20/20 to 20/50). Antivirals + steroids cleared it up, but it created a dynamic that is difficult to manage to this day. Now with corneal ulcers, the surface of the cornea is uneven. This prevents the tear film from distributing evenly. With poor tear film (tear break up time, TBUT) the eye becomes inflamed. With inflammation, comes neo-vascularization, nerve destruction, and more epithelial defects. All these conspire against proper tearing, and the cycle repeats. So - its very important to get whatever dynamic you have under control. 'Dry eyes' is actually pretty serious, but most opthamologists agree we don't have good weapons for it. Some people have dry eyes, even though they produce too many tears. Its because their tears are defective. Like some people having high HDL, but their HDL is defective. Almost all the OTC stuff is crap. All I can do is recommend 1) Find the best specialist in your area, and see them. I saw a cornea specialist at the Mayo Clinic for a while; they were "OK". But I was surprised they had an even more famous individual there - and she never once said "hmm, what we've been trying for the last 2 years hasn't been working, lets see what my (famous) colleague X thinks". So you have to manage your doctors with great attention. Also, my suspicion - is that cornea MDs like to operate (in my case - cornea replacement), not treat. Operating is probably more profitable. 2) For dry-eyes, you should consider a few things. I use Systane Gel Drops going to sleep. Friction between cornea and eye lids is a problem. The various PM oil formulations are too goopy; but this is the thickest liquid that seems to protect me through the night. I don't wake up with red eyes. 3) For the office, consider moisture being wicked away from your cornea by ventilation. I wear a hat and glasses. Try things that make a full seal, like something Ridick would wear, or a motorcycler. Try Wiley-X Climate control stuff. Since the seal needs to be perfect, try them on first. 4) I love my Oakley M-Frame Heater lenses. Huge, wrap around the face. I wear clear even at night if I'm not wearing goggles to protect that micro-climate around the eyes. 5) You can try the 'dry eye forums' at http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/ http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/ .. YMMV. I hope things get better.

hyuuu 13y ago

I was in a similar situation with you, I too was prescribed as having Blephartitis by multiple opthamologist, I did what they told me to do, clean my eye lids, warm compress, eye drops (various brands) didn't help. After diligently tracking the root cause, data gathering and the likes, I found the issue and I have been dry eyes free since (mostly). As a matter of fact, I had my LASIK, which makes dry eyes worse usually, and have little to no dry eyes. What's intriguing about your case is this sentence "I wake up with tired, dry eyes and it's a battle all day long" your symptom is the same as mine. My situation is this: My eyes don't close all the way when I sleep, thus throughout the night, they will get exposed and dry up badly. After 8 hours, it's plain to see why I would wake up with dry eyes and the dryness lasts throughout the day. My solution is simple, before going to bed, I tape my eyes shut and I use a 3M tape. I tape it in a way if I try to open my eyes I won't be able to. Please do try that for a few days and let me know if it helps :)

djb_hackernews 13y ago
THAT is something I haven't tried. I'll be headed to the store today to get some tape. Thanks for replying.
- hyuuu 13y ago
  Please do let us know :) I have researched this enough and tried a few things, maybe there is something else we can do!
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]