New to site - Dry Eye

[livinginthesun]

Hi
I live in the UK. Have worn contacts for about 7 years and have recently been told I have Dry Eye.
Its driving me insane. It really is.

The hospital gave me some artificial tears which were good, they have run out now and I have tried things over the chemist counter but they are not good

I constantly blink, even walk about with my eyes closed sometimes and cant wear my lovely lenses.
The hospital said it was OK to wear them, not unsafe, but my eyes are just too uncomfortable to bear it.

Can anybody recommend ANYTHING that they have used that I might be able to try. Even dietary help. The thicker tears seem to work better for me as they are a thicker consistency.

So sorry this post is so long, Im desparate for some help

Lorraine

[sazy123]

Hi welcome to the zone, what tears did you try before that were good? Do you just have dry eye when you wear contacts or all the time? I know alot of them you can't use with contacts. I live in the Uk and have tried practically every brand going, if you want to know more! Im not sure with contacts but the ones i find the best are systane, celluvisc (night), dwelle of this site is good. you will find lots of info about artificial tears and other treatment on this site.

Have you treid other brands of lenses, that are more dry eye friendly, or have more oxygen. Before my eyes were this bad i got contact intolerance. They mite have better brands out now, i found acuvue advance, proclear, bush and lomb didnt make a difference.

Make your posts as long as you want, the more info the better you can provide us the better!

[kitty]

Fish oil capsules/omega 3, can be beneficial. I saw some improvement with those after about 6 weeks. I like the TheraTears in the vials the best for during the day.

[Cindy]

Hi Lorraine,

The diagnosis 'dry eye' can be something of a puzzle that needs to be pieced together. For instance, - if you know - are you aqueous deficient (don't produce enough tears) or mucin deficient (your tears lack the oil they need to keep from evaporating) or both?

It's helpful to know if you are aqueous or mucin deficient (or both) before you start throwing a lot of 'fixes' at the problem. Sometimes something as simple as warm compresses will be beneficial.

What drops (artificial tears) have you used with your contacts? Have you found one that lets you wear your contacts longer than others? What contacts have you tried? There are several available now that people with dry eye seem to be able to tolerate.

Too many questions, I know. There are so many things to try before you give up on contact lens wear. And so many things you can try to alleviate dry eye discomfort.