New post coming soon!

I haven't been able to post a new blog for a few days as my son is unwell. Hopefully he will be better soon and I will post more soon.

How dry my eyes feel right now

So you have that dry eye feeling? Not sure how dry your eyes are? Well, I thought I would give you a description of how my eyes are feeling right now.

First some context - up until this time last week I was using my laptop for maybe an hour a day and my eyes had been feeling good, I have two small children and was able to tend to them during the night as well without my eyelids sticking to my eyeballs (I know yuck - but that's the sensation).

Since last week I have been using my laptop for maybe 4/5 hours a day (more in the evenings and during the day when kids are playing) - as I've been developing this blog and learning about blogging.

My eyes have been feeling progressively drier since then. I've not been able to try my new daily disposable contact lenses as I'm too scared to put them in - although they are meant to be good for dry eyes - they are called Acuvue Trueye.

I've had to eye drops more often than usual to help my dry eyes, especially so in the evening. Without the drops they feel 'shriveled' as if the skin around my eyes is doing it's best to stay open. My right eye is feeling much worse and compared to my left looks slightly closed. But the moment I use the drops my eyes are revitalised and instantly open up, although for me this optimal state lasts a few mintues before the dryness starts settling in again.

The eyesight from right eye is also slightly blurred (although I know this is temporary as the eye drops clear it up again).

So that's how dry eye my eyes feel right now! More  from me soon :).

Treatment at hospital - closing of tear ducts

The first treatment for my dry eyes involved blocking my tear ducts - technically known as punctal ducts. Up until this point I never even knew I had any! These are the tiny holes on the inner lower and upper lids of your eyes (If you look really carefully close up you should be able to see them). Their job is to drain away tears from the eyes into the nose (hence the runny nose when crying). They are constantly working as the eyes continuously produce small amounts of tears to keep our eyes lubricated, protected and healthy.

Eye diagram

To insert the plugs (by the way these are just made of silicone and are flexible to enable easy insertion), I was told to lie down on the couch. The opthalmologist and nurse then positioned a large magnifying glass over my eyes, sterilised my eyes and then inserted the plugs.

YouTube video showing punctal plug and punctal duct (hope your not squeamish!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md_jodCoZe8

I would describe this process as more uncomfortable than painful. As it was done on the same day as my eye exam my eyes looked a little messy and sore when they finished. My eyes also had a strange yellow tinge caused by the dye used to examine for dryness (my eyes probably resembled something from a sci-fi movie :)).

I went home from this appointment with my eyes plugged, bag full of eye drops and ointment and new hope that all of this will be the magic solution to fix my dry eyes. Little did I know I would have to return for an even more daunting eye procedure...

The eye examination

So, on to the treatment. At my first visit to the hospital the medics conducted a thorough eye examination - it was very up close and personal - with the ophthalmologist only inches away from me!

They used a yellow dye to highlight the damaged areas and were so astounded that they called all the eye doctors in to have a look. I felt quite privileged and secretly pleased at the thought of having all these expert opinions :). They even photographed my eyes to use as teaching material.

After all the examination excitement I was told the somewhat dreaded news that indeed my eyes were producing very few natural tears and my corneas had become damaged. They wanted to use a two pronged approach for treatment- firstly to retain the tears I did have and secondly to keep my eyes lubricated using eye drops (which were called celluvisc) and an eye ointment for night time use (called lacrilube).

Use of the eye drops and ointment was simple (although not pleasant - I will cover my experience with these in later posts). Preserving the tears was a different matter, which involved two small, separate procedures - first blocking my tear ducts and then closing the tear ducts permanently!

More on these in my next post! thanks for reading and please visit again!

My journey from normal to dry eye...

My dry eyes are the reason I have decided to start this blog in the hope of helping others who may be suffering the same problems as I have with my eyes. I hope you find it informative and useful – and please do leave a comment or share your story with others.

What is dry eye? Eyes become dry when there are not enough natural tears to help keep them lubricated (tears are there all the time not just during episodes of crying). This lack of tears may be caused by either insufficient tear production or increased evaporation from the eyes. Whatever the reasons the effects are just as pleasant blurred vision, irritation, grittiness.

My dry eyes are caused by a condition called Sjogren's syndrome which is an autoimmune disease. It can have many manifestations with a main symptom of dryness - which I have both in my eyes and my mouth (how it affects my teeth needs deserves it's own blog :)).

My eyes first started to deteriorate when I was in my early twenties (I am now 32) - after about 3 years of wearing contact lenses. I don't think the contact lenses caused the dry eye but the continuous use probably magnified the effect Sjogren’s was beginning to have. By the age of 24 I stopped wearing lenses daily (reserving them for social use), and became a permanent wearer of glasses.

At this stage my eyes were feeling continuously gritty. Blasts of air from air conditioning etc. would make my eyes go red and sore. By early evenings my eyes would be semi shut - people would ask me why I was feeling so tired or sleepy. When I did wear contacts my eyes would be sticky and weeping after taking them out. My eyes stayed in this state for a few years. I did not know there was any treatment for them and nor was I aware of the extent of damage.

It was when I went for a routine sight test, aged 27, that the optician noticed both my eyes had corneal damage. I was naturally shocked and worried at this discovery and promptly attended a hospital eye clinic...

...So what happened next I hope your asking – well, I will explain in my next blog as things get a bit technical here – I have to conjure up an eye diagram to properly describe the treatment – wish me luck and please do revisit for my next instalment of my dry eye journey!