Dry Eyes treated as allergies for years!!!!

[mamaskoby]

Hi everyone!!! I am new here so just wanted to introduce myself. I am 45 year old female who has been told for years by millions of Drs that I have allergies....for years I have taken every known allergy pill to mankind. My eyes got soooo bad I was driving my kids to school and almost crashed because I couldn't see clearly!!!
I then INSISTED I have allergy testing done and guess what??? NO allergies!!! My allergist basically just said "I can't help you"...
So I made an apptmt with an eye Dr. who said I have dry eyes.....put me on Restasis....did not work. I called him and left a message saying "not working, tried for 4 months...whats next?"
Eye Dr. called me back and left me a stupid message saying tears are an important part of our bodies etx........not offering me any other medicine or treatment.
Thats when I decided to start searching online and found you all!

[vivian3090]

Hi mamaskoby,
Welcome! I just turned 22 and I have pretty much been told by my doctors it's just allergies.
I used to wear contacts, but I became intolerant to them; I had thought that it was just the brand, but when I switched and they still became dry and bloodshot, I knew there was a problem.
I stopped wearing contacts for while and my eyes got better, but they were still RED. I have an opthamologist that put lower punctal plugs (have you inquired to your opthamolagist about them?) and they seemed to help a great deal. My eyes were still red but I was able to look at a computer screen and not feel it strain as much.
My opthamologist also did Lasik on me recently. I do have a bit of dryness but it is suprisingly getting better as the days go on.
I was on pred forte, but I cannot use that for long time. Once i stopped it my redness and irriations have gotten worse.
So he put me on restasis and FLarex.

Restasis to me burns my eyes for a bit but then i put flarex in after that to stop the infllamation/redness. it works for a awhile and i keep puttting in refreshe preservative free drops.

All in all for me the dryness hasnt really been a problems, its just really the inflamattion and redness.

I wish you the best of luck in finding eye comfort and we are all here for you!

[Chemia]

Vivian, I am confused. Why would you allow a doctor to perform Lasik on your eyes knowing that you had a difficult time with contacts and the fact that you have punctal plugs? Also if I recall you had inquired about Lasik and were discouraged by DEZ members but you did it either way! Sounds like you had a doctor feed you some BS.
Also Flarex is a steroid and you really need to have your eye pressure monitored. The preservative in it could also cause the redness you are talking about. Good luck and hopeully you get through this.

[vivian3090]

I felt like my Doctor didn't feed me BS. on anything. I've come to realize that my eyes aren't half as bad as other people's out there. I am taking it day at a time.

I know I inquired about Lasik and dry eye. But I didn't heed the warnings. Yes my eyes are still red, but that's my main problem right now. I feel if I can get ovver my insecurity over having red eyes, I can handle it. I don't have any problems with severe dry eye, i dont feel any pain, or grittiness. It's just the redness. i don't regret my descision to get lasik.