r/Dryeyes

Been a long time since I posted.

My problems were severe. I ended up getting both corneas debrided after horrendous recurring erosions that caused vision problems, flares, light streaks etc.

What has worked for me:

- Vevye prescription drops every day. Absolute game changer.
- Muro 128 or generic equivalent every night
- Padded eye mask every night
- Refresh Optive MEGA-3 drops about 10 min before I apply Muro at night, and first thing upon waking up, prior to opening eyes fully
- those same MEGA-3 drops as needed during day (I use a full vial every 24 hrs)
- if I really want to be comfortable, limit gluten and sugar

In my case I strongly believe my dry eyes are environmentally caused, probably by allergens in the area I moved to about 6 mos prior to onset.

Thus, the anti-inflammatory approach (the foundation of which is Vevye) has been incredible.

I did everything else - warm compresses, eyelid massage, oil supplements, etc but the problem was never the glands themselves. It was inflammation.

So for those like me, who maybe moved somewhere new and are suddenly getting dry eyes, do get your glands checked and all that, but keep in mind it may be an inflammation issue.

My life went to absolute hell and has come back thanks to this strategy. I plan on moving sometime in the future but can’t now…but it would be nice to live somewhere that doesn’t cause dry eyes. One of the reasons I strongly suspect it’s my location is that even brief travels elsewhere cause a near-instant remarkable decrease in dryness.

I have suffered from dry eyes for the last year. It became unbearable during the summer months, when i was putting in a drop every hour. I went to see an optometrist, who put me on Ikervis once a day.

Two months ago, I went to see the Odyssey in theatres, and I was in pain the whole time, putting in eyedrops every 15 minutes or so.

Today, I went to see the Odyssey again. I did not experience any burning or photosensitivity. I put in drops thirty minutes before, and did not put use drops again until two hours after the movie. I truly believe that Ikervis, eyelid wipes and MaquiBright supplements have helped.

This is such a small thing, but I felt like I was slowly getting my life back, since I was heartbroken that I was unable to watch movies, my favourite thing in the world. For a while I was unable to even leave the house.

Never loose hope, I love you guys

3-4 months ago I was in a horrible place. Couldn't go anywhere without goggles and drops and it was so miserable. Fast forward to now and I can actually get through the day mostly without drops, except for Cequa.

What I did: IPL w/lipiflow June with lacrimal punctal plugs, cequa July. Bumped up my HRT in July too, but I dont know how much of this improvement is due to that, because it happened the same time as cequa.

Im currently getting fitted for sclerals (threw out my soft contacts for good) and will probably do a repeat IPL/low level red light treatment.

All this to say, I've improved more than I had hoped and wanted to let others know it can get better. I'm not 100%, but life isnt as miserable as it was. 🤞🏻

Keep fighting the good fight! And I hope it gets better for others ❤️

30f, have had dry eyes for about 3 years now. The issue coincided ironically around the time I was cleaning up my diet, stopping alcohol and reducing takeout (I had a lot of stress around this time too but had stress before the diet clean up as well). The weight loss happened over months.

At 5’2 I went from around 109 to 105-106. I had been at 109 for years with no dry eyes. I have since reduced my stress but the dryness persists.

I am not sure if it’s just a coincidence or if there’s a correlation.

Almost 2 months of constant eye pain and I’m losing hope
Hello everyone. I’m desperate and I really don’t know what to do anymore.

It’s been almost 2 months that my life has felt like a nightmare because of a constant, severe sensation/pain in my right eye. It is there all day, every day, without a single real break. I wake up with it and go to sleep with it. It has completely taken over my life.

The strange thing is that my eye isn’t red, my vision is normal, and doctors haven’t been able to find an obvious cause. I’ve seen 3 different ophthalmologists, and none of them can really explain what is happening.

They haven’t found a foreign body, obvious conjunctivitis, or any clear injury that would explain how severe and constant the symptoms are. I’ve tried so many treatments and eye drops, including STERDEX, LACRYADEX, artificial tears and other medications, but nothing has given me any meaningful relief.

The sensation is extremely intense and constant. I’m struggling to function normally because I can’t escape it for even a few minutes. It’s not just “a little discomfort” — it feels unbearable and it’s exhausting me mentally every single day.
What scares me the most is that nobody seems to know what is causing it. I keep thinking: What if this is permanent? What if I have to live with this for the rest of my life?

I’m honestly terrified and completely exhausted by this situation.

Has anyone here experienced severe constant eye pain/discomfort with a relatively normal eye exam, and eventually found out what was causing it?
I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through something similar and eventually found an explanation or something that actually helped.

Curious if anyone else experiences similar episodes.

I was diagnosed with dry eye 4 or 5 years ago by an optometrist who has some additional training in eye disease management. I was just told I had blocked glands based on a visual exam and given advice on drops and eye hygiene. I feel like my symptoms come and go and admittedly my compliance with home treatment also waxes and wanes. Learning on my own I added compresses and the 20/20/20 'rule.'

For several years I have had these intense and sudden episodes of crazy fatigue with burning eyes, feeling like I can barely keep my eyes open. It can last 10 minutes, an hour or the rest of the day. It happens at work (computer, 10 hour days 4 days a week), out and about (low stress and no screens) including shopping/indoors, outside, driving (the worst because I have to pull over).

I have spent years trying to figure these out. Gave up being vegan (17 years) in case it was my diet, home glucose checks, talked to my PCP reoeatedly, labs, went back on hormones (early menopause). Increased my water, modified when/how I eat. Increased my exercise. All kinds of strategies. And because it comes and goes sometimes I thought i figured it out. Briefly.

Now it occurred to me that maybe it's the damn dry eyes. Maybe the fact that the fatigue always comes with eye burning misery is the most important clue.

Anyone else?

(I have redoubled my eyecare routine and found a real ophthalmologist but appointment is pending).

I just had my first IPL session for my dry eye and mgd today when would I resume my lid scrubs and my heating masks and my prescription drops miebo and veyve as well as my artificial tears basically my daily regimen what after care comes after this first session to those of you that have had IPL done with mgd + dry eye

So i’m flying to Tokyo tomorrow, 13 hour flight. My right eye has been dry for a few days now, i’ve had an eyelid inflammation (blepharitis) on that eye for nearly two weeks, it’s lessened significantly though, it doesn’t hurt anymore, no red eyes, no vision loss, just slightly fuzzy vision when I wink with that eye, dry feeling. Is it safe to fly with that eye and what should I bring with me for the flight to help? Any advice is welcome.

I have a ton of expiring xiidra eye drops at hand and my insurance doesn’t cover xiidra so i’d rather use these then throw them away since they’re incredibly expensive. Has anyone here used xiidra past expiration? I’m thinking they should be fine 4ish months after expiration but i feel uneasy using them past that. Also thought of freezing them before they expire and using them a couple months later but that might be a bad idea as well. Any insight would be appreciated

I feel like nobody around me understands how debilitating this actually is. My eyes are constantly dry, I use eyedrops, a nighttime gel and both cold and warm masks everyday.

I also have very high myopia, around -9. I absolutely hate wearing my glasses because I feel like they deform my face and this doesn’t allow me to be myself in social situations. People always make comments about it and it makes me quite insecure.

It’s like I either care about feeling ok physically (when I don’t wear contacts) or psychologically (when I do, because I feel better about my appereance). I also got sclerallenses but the nerves on my face started hurting after a couple weeks and I had to stop. Now I am just waiting to maybe try again since the edges got smoothed out.

I just want to feel like there will be a solution and I will feel free. I honestly just want to wake up one day, see and not worry about my eyes or my appearance all the time. I am also so terrified I will become blind because of the high myopia and this constant checking of whether symptoms are normal is so exhausting. I wish this didn’t affect me or my social life so much. Now I basically only socialise with contacts, which make my eyes more dry. It’s a vicious cycle.

Is HydraMed Night Sensitive supposed to be almost completely liquid? I was expecting a thick texture but it's like oil. I've tried two different tubes but both are exactly the same. The ambient temp in my house I don't believe should be enough to liquify it. Plus this didn't happen with Hycosan.