u/Dear-March-2433

We went swimming at a family member's house last night. My daughter and husband swam, I didn't but as we were out there I saw something fly over their heads over and over and finally the home owner said "yeah there's bats out here" so I made my daughter and husband get out of the pool but by that time they'd already been in for over an hour.

Also, the pool didn't look like it was recently cleaned. I asked even before I saw the bats and was told it had been recently cleaned but it didn't look like it tbh and they were filling up the pool with the hose water when we got there because they said some of the water had evaporated. It's my understanding that if bats are out there, then they probably also use that pool to drink out of so I'm also really stressed about the pool not being clean, the bats drinking out of the pool, and my husband and daughter being in it. Not to mention how close they were getting to them.

Also this was all in the backyard. When we were leaving through the front door of the house my daughter told me to look up because she saw something black on the porch in the upper corner. She's obsessed with beehives so I assume that's what she thought it was. I took a brief look but couldn't tell what it was and now I am thinking it was a bat sleeping. I swear I felt something briefly touch my neck as we walked past and I'm so concerned it was a bat biting me.

Now I'm spiraling because I feel like we should get the vaccines

I am in the United States. In Texas.

I have read the FAQ.

I'm not sure where else to post this, but if there's a more appropriate place please let me know.

I am not asking for medical advice. We went swimming at a family member's house last night. My daughter and husband swam, I didn't but as we were out there I saw something fly over their heads over and over and finally the home owner said "yeah there's bats out here" so I made my daughter and husband get out of the pool but by that time they'd already been in for over an hour.

Also, the pool didn't look like it was recently cleaned. I asked, and was told it had been recently cleaned but it didn't look like it tbh and they were filling up the pool with the hose water when we got there because they said some of the water had evaporated. It's my understanding that if bats are out there, then they probably also use that pool to drink out of so I'm also really stressed about the pool not being clean, the bats drinking out of the pool, and my husband and daughter being in it. Not to mention how close they were getting to them.

Also, once I made them get out, we went inside so they could change and stuff and by this time it was night time, as we were leaving through the front door it felt like something briefly touched the back of my neck. Could've been a fly, could've been anything but with bats in the area I'm scared.

Yes I have anxiety.

I don't know if I am overreacting by wanting us all three to get the rabies vaccine.

Hi, I'm not sure where else to post this, but if there's a more appropriate place please let me know.

We went swimming at a family member's house today. My daughter and husband swam, I didn't but as we were out there I saw something fly over their heads over and over and finally the home owner said "yeah there's bats out here" so I made my daughter and husband get out of the pool but by that time they'd already been in for over an hour.

Also, the pool didn't look like it was recently cleaned. I asked, and was told it had been recently cleaned but it didn't look like it tbh and they were filling up the pool with the hose water when we got there because they said some of the water had evaporated. It's my understanding that if bats are out there, then they probably also use that pool to drink out of so I'm also really stressed about the pool not being clean, the bats drinking out of the pool, and my husband and daughter being in it. Not to mention how close they were getting to them.

Should we get the vaccines in the morning?

Hi everyone,

I'm on my second set of sclerals and they feel great on my eyeballs and cornea, howver, they seem to inflame my inner eyelids corners. Each blink feels like something is poking me in my inner corners and like rug burn specifically in those areas. The rest of the eye feels great. I was put on a 14 day course of lotemax and my inner corners felt great on that medication and my eyes in general felt totally normal, but I stopped yesterday and this morning when I woke up my inner corners were inflamed again so putting sclerals in just makes this inner irritation even worse.

What I've realized is that these doctors don't know hardly anything about the eyelid skin and how to treat it so I've been left to just figure this out myself. It's my eyeskin on the underside to be clear.

The sclerals fitter im seeing told me that he's going to try to steepen the inner corners and see if that helps but basically if it doesn't he doesn't know what else to do and idk how to get my lids to calm down. They hurt a lot today like rug burn.

please help!

My own tears burn like acid in my eyes. Not all the time, but a lot of the time. Serum tears have been helping me but last night I put my dose in and it burned too. IDK what is going on. Does this mean I have a nerve issue

My daughter has pink eye. The ophthalmologist couldn't say for sure whether he thought it was viral or bacterial but prescribed drops for her. I'm feeling so stressed out to the literal max. Not only am I scared of getting it and it setting back my progress with dry eyes or giving me severe pain because of my dry eyes, but I'm terrified that it will give her chronic dry eyes once it is over. And after looking online it seems this stuff sticks around for weeks and is contagious the entire time. Not to mention her having to deal with this for weeks. Just so stressed out I could cry. I'm always paranoid of her getting dry eyes because I know how terrible it is and now she has pink eye which a lot of adults say gave them chronic dry eyes

My 6 year old daughter saw an optometrist two weeks ago who gave her an rx of -1.75 in both eyes. He did not dilate her eyes.

Today we went to an ophthalmologist (she has pink eye in both eyes right now) and while we were there he tested her glasses and was shocked to hear that we had just gotten them in two days ago. He dilated her eyes, did her vision test and said she is a whopping -5.75

I was shocked.. That is such a huge jump and that is so strong for her age :(

I am 30 years old and a -8.75 and I feel so insecure in my glasses and get made fun of all the time for my distortion despite having the thinnest lenses, round frames, and all the things to make the distortion better.

At just 6 years old having an rx of -5.75 concerns me so much because what if other kids make fun of how she looks in glasses? What if it progresses quickly. If this is her at 6 I can't imagine at 12 or 16 or 18.

I follow a behavioral optometrist on TikTok who claims that giving pediatric patients a lesser version of their rx and altering numbers (idk the exact terms or methods) it can actually reverse the myopia some and stop it from progressing quickly.

Any suggestions? Just looking for some advice.

Also shocked she is so nearsighted because she has never complained of not being able to see ever.

Just wanted to share that after 4 IPLs, 8 months of Vevye, warm compresses, cold compresses, steroids, etc not helping me I finally gave in and did serum tears and they are truly helping me. I am no longer feeling like I am blinking over glass shards, or burning in my lids from dryness or feeling like I took my eyes for deep dive in chlorine.

I'm only a week and a half into using them, but they've made a difference. I still have some burning situationally though.

I wonder if this means my main issue truly is tear production if the serum is helping this much?

Anyway, just wanted to share.

My eyes burn like acid when I cry. It's so frustrating. I don't know exactly what causes it. But it's not gotten better. Has anyone with a similar symptom improved?

I befriended a woman on here about a week ago and we had a lot of the same things in common with our eyes of course. She was sharing with me what had worked for her and what hadn't. We talked for a good bit. I am learning today that she took her life on Saturday due to this disease. She messaged me very early Saturday morning and I did not see her message until a bit later on Saturday so I messaged her back and she never replied. As I was looking in the Facebook Dry Eye sub I saw that she had passed.

I feel so bad for all of us who are suffering. I feel so awful that this happened to her. There is not enough coverage about how terrible this disease can be. We need more help, more medicine, more answers, more attention to how terrible this disease is.

I just feel so down about this today and so awful that this happened to her. It's just terrible.

Anyone experience more sensitive eyes after starting serum drops? I just started a couple of days ago but I'm noticing my eyes feel more sensitive. They're watering, sensitive to light, etc. Not severely but its noticeable

I've tried everything and nothing has helped. Next on the list is switching to Xiidra and starting serum tears. I just did my first dose of serum tears this morning and I'm nervous. I'm always nervous about anything making me potentially worse. I'm not producing enough tears. My oils are fine. Also feeling worried serum tears might not help at all. I know its mostly used for corneal neuralgia. I don't have that. So IDK. Anyone see great success?

Anyone experience this? I've seen people talking about feeling a needle sensation in the ear but it doesn't feel like that. It feels painful but more like a painful pulse. My ear pulses but the pulses feel painful! it comes and goes and isn't constant but I have no idea when its going to come. My throat on this side also feels super tight and sore and tense.

I suffer from TMJ but the opposite side is usually my symptomatic side.

I have severe, severe anxiety. Especially health related. Yesterday I got a sharp pain in my right ear. It felt like a brief pulse of sharp pain. Not electric or burning or anything like that. Just a sharp pulse of pain. It is over in half a second. Happened 2 times and then stopped. Well, it happened again this morning and just now 6 hours later. I do have TMJ but my jaw feels fine. I have poor posture and neck too.

Has anyone experience this and did it go away? my brain automatically jumps to trigeminal neuralgia. my anxiety is so bad right now I am spiraling.

I've already heard from all of the people it didnt help lol but wondering if anyone here has gotten even a little relief from them?

My eyelids are my main issue. They hurt, itch, feel raw, and I can feel every blink when they are especially bad and it's painful. Here is what they look like when I flip them

Is this blepharitis? Anyone have any ideas on what it is? Allergies?

https://preview.redd.it/84tqdfxv0b5h1.jpg?width=710&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ecc91fdace619fae960f22aefccc34d2d8539b4b

https://preview.redd.it/i8wkxgxv0b5h1.jpg?width=710&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb9ac663055ac1ce5e7bb6e5119633b8ef5f0224

My main symptoms are dry eyes and my eyelids hurt so bad. They feel super dry, burning, and irritated. I can feel every blink sometimes. I've seen multiple dry eye doctors. All of them have said my glands are producing oil just fine and I have a lot of inflammation and papillae under my upper lids. My lower ones are fine. My glands are almost all intact, and my schirmer is a 5/6,

When I think back on how my issues started I just remember about a year before shit hit the fan I remember I cried and felt like my tears were mildly burning my outer corner of my eyelids. I remember googling what this was and saw a few reddit posts but didn't think much of it. It didn't happen often and it wasn't severe. Then I started to have itching along my lash line, mascara started to make my eyes feel "heavy", and the biggest thing is I remember one day waking up, putting in my contacts and my contact solution burned the crap out of my eyes so bad. This happened a few times. Then, I started to wake up with really dry eyes but they would subside as the day went on and I was still able to wear my contacts just fine. Then suddenly, I couldn't tolerate my contacts anymore. I went to an two eye drs who told me that I had blepharitis and my upper lids had a lot of inflammation/papillae/redness. After I discontinued contact use, my eyes just were never the same.

I've never had classic blepharitis signs though. I have never had swollen outer lids or redness or rashes on my outer lids or any crusting and my oils produce just fine.

Anyway, I've been on the search to figure out the root cause. Here is everything I've had tested so far via bloodwork:

Vitamin D: NORMAL

B1, B6, B12: NORMAL

Magnesium: NORMAL

Full thyroid panel: NORMAL

Full hormonal panel: NORMAL

Insulin: Indicated I am insulin resistant

Iron/Ferritin: NORMAL

Celiac: NEGATIVE

Full ANA panel that tested for antibodies in diseases such as Sjogrens, Lupus, RA, Scleroderma, ETC: ANA was positive but it came back positive with a pattern that is usually NOT associated with autoimmune diseases. All antibodies were negative.

Ultrasound of glands, had this done twice: NORMAL

Allergy testing: Came back with common allergies like mold, weeds, dust mites, cats (which I have)

I'm considering doing the lip biopsy for Sjogrens, but I don't really feel that I have it. IDK. The low schirmer is so distressing because I feel like there's no help for those with low tear production. Most treatment is geared towards MGD.

Also will be doing patch testing in a few months.

I've already done IPL. Did not help. I've been on Vevye for like 7 or 8 months. Hasn't helped and I'm thinking of stopping it. I'm pretty miserable right now and feeling just depressed. My eyelids really hurt. I'm feeling so much anxiety today about having this condition and never getting better. To make matters worse my husband also has dry eyes and my daughter has been struggling with blepharitis. I worry everyday not just about my eyes, but theirs too. Everything fucking sucks right now.

It's manageable for people who find treatments that work for them, but what about people who have tried everything and nothing works? Then what? I've done the warm compresses, taping my eyes shut at night, the gels, the ointments, IPL, cyclosporine, none of that helped. Next on my list to try is sclerals and serum tears. Also considering plugs and hopefully some of those work for me, but so many people have tried all of that and it doesn't work. What about them? I just hate when people say this is a manageable disease like its no big deal.

I had my first follow up appointment today since the beginning of January. I had my last IPL (4th) at that time so this follow up was to see how my eyes are doing. My dry eye specialist doesn't love the schirmers test because she says it can vary so much but I always request that she still does it so I can track my tear production and she's great about doing it for me.

In January my schirmers test was a 5 and 6 with numbing drops after 5 mins. Today they were exactly the same - 5 and 6. And it just barely was a 5 so you could argue it was just passed 4.

Anyway, she said I had no dry spots except one super tiny one that she showed me but it was very small and my eyes actually looked good. My main symptoms are burning somedays which is by far the worst symptom for me because I struggle to keep my eyes open and other days my eyelids burn which I think is due to not having enough tears and there being constant dry friction when I blink. Other days my eyes are okay and I just manage with drops and it's fine.

I have a positive ANA and negative antibodies for Sjogrens but I am scheduled for a lip biopsy soon to get a definitive diagnosis because sometimes antibodies can be negative and the biopsy is positive.

I guess what I'm saying is I'm really nervous. I'm so scared that I might have Sjogrens and what that means for my future. It is such a scary disease from what I have read and I'm just nervous. I also am nervous to try sclerals (in the process of trying to get them covered because they are too expensive out of pocket) and worried they won't work for me and I'll be stuck in my high prescription glasses forever which just adds to all of this being super shitty. I know being in glasses isnt the worst but mine are such high prescription that it really messes with my self esteem. That's all. I just needed to vent.

Oh also, she pushed on my glands in the slit lamp and said they're producing great oil and it's coming out just fine so idk where that leaves me. Maybe I don't have MGD at all? But I know my glands in one eye are slightly shortened.

And the other thing is, is it worth going to a specialist that does all the fancy testing and stuff? Idk what that would change for me but I know some doctors do like the advanced testing that shows your lipid layer density and all that. I have a meibography and I did the NIBUT and shirmer but that's all I've done. Curious what yalls opinions are.

I have a positive ANA of 1:80 DFS pattern, negative SSA/SSB, slightly elevated ESR, normal CRP, ultrasound of my glands was normal, but I have dry eyes confirmed with a schirmer test and a dry mouth that I've had for years which I would consider mild but recently has been causing me oral pain. I requested the early sjogrens panel although my rheumotologist said it is not well validated and sometimes can have false positives but I've also heard other doctors say they DO consider it accurate.

Anyway, here are my results. I just wanted some feedback on what I should do next and others opinions on how accurate this test really is and just any feedback and advice in general. I don't understand what these antibodies are and what they even mean or what they do and my current rheumotologist isn't super great. I'm waiting to get in with a new one.

Thank you

https://preview.redd.it/p9o6my5bl40h1.png?width=863&format=png&auto=webp&s=41bb3a6fa2ae8ca277b1e72e667affb4a92baec9