Chronic eye pain

[Poppyseed78]

I have chronic dry eye and blepharitis. Three years ago I scratched my cornea, which led to recurrent corneal erosions. Then the dry eye and blepharitis started. If you'd told me years ago how debilitating this could be, I would have laughed. Now I know. It is horrible. It's not just a little scratchy feeling, it feels like needles digging into my eyes, and like tiny ants are crawling through my eyelashes, with itching and burning all the time.

My entire life is centered on this. When your eyes hurt, nothing is enjoyable. It has sapped my joy, my zest for life, my will to live. I have a baby, and I worry I won't be the kind of mother he deserves. I want to be fully present and engaged, not stuck in the constant pain every waking moment. I've been to several specialists, and they recommended a few things, which I tried to no avail, but mostly the answer has been that I just have to live with it.

I pray daily for relief and the strength to keep going. Sometimes God blesses me with a day with no pain, and it is such a gift. I try to look on the bright side and show gratitude for all the good things I have, but sometimes this just drags me down. I'm 30 now. Will it be another 50 years of this? I feel guilty for being such a downer all the time. My husband deserves a vibrant, energetic wife, not a sad sack of despair. I now have anxiety and depression due to the pain, as well.

It just feels so hard sometimes, to get through a day.

 

[faroukfarouk]

I have chronic dry eye and blepharitis. Three years ago I scratched my cornea, which led to recurrent corneal erosions. Then the dry eye and blepharitis started. If you'd told me years ago how debilitating this could be, I would have laughed. Now I know. It is horrible. It's not just a little scratchy feeling, it feels like needles digging into my eyes, and like tiny ants are crawling through my eyelashes, with itching and burning all the time.

My entire life is centered on this. When your eyes hurt, nothing is enjoyable. It has sapped my joy, my zest for life, my will to live. I have a baby, and I worry I won't be the kind of mother he deserves. I want to be fully present and engaged, not stuck in the constant pain every waking moment. I've been to several specialists, and they recommended a few things, which I tried to no avail, but mostly the answer has been that I just have to live with it.

I pray daily for relief and the strength to keep going. Sometimes God blesses me with a day with no pain, and it is such a gift. I try to look on the bright side and show gratitude for all the good things I have, but sometimes this just drags me down. I'm 30 now. Will it be another 50 years of this? I feel guilty for being such a downer all the time. My husband deserves a vibrant, energetic wife, not a sad sack of despair. I now have anxiety and depression due to the pain, as well.

It just feels so hard sometimes, to get through a day.

Sorry about your experiences; my worst pain ever experienced has been eye pain, which would regularly happen; but I'm encouraged that it hasn't happened lately; I hope this will be your eventual experience also. Keeping the eye lubricated with drops did seem to help, when they bothered.

 

[Poppyseed78]

Thanks for replying! I'm glad to hear that things have improved for you.

I use lubricating drops daily. I've tried quite a variety of drops at this point, as recommended by my ophthalmologist. I'm trying to stay hopeful that I come up with a solution.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Thanks for replying! I'm glad to hear that things have improved for you.

I use lubricating drops daily. I've tried quite a variety of drops at this point, as recommended by my ophthalmologist. I'm trying to stay hopeful that I come up with a solution.

For me, when I moved to another area, the eye problems stopped. I'm guessing it might have been a combination of the effect of climate and water and air quality that influenced variously the improvement; I can't prove it, though.

 

[Poppyseed78]

For me, when I moved to another area, the eye problems stopped. I'm guessing it might have been a combination of the effect of climate and water and air quality that influenced variously the improvement; I can't prove it, though.

I think that's a good hypothesis. I grew up in a climate that was more humid, and now I live where it's extremely cold and dry in the winter, and it's very windy most of the time. The indoor heat is always blasting. We use a humidifier, but it doesn't help much. I also suspect I might be allergic to the dog.

 

[faroukfarouk]

I think that's a good hypothesis. I grew up in a climate that was more humid, and now I live where it's extremely cold and dry in the winter, and it's very windy most of the time. The indoor heat is always blasting. We use a humidifier, but it doesn't help much. I also suspect I might be allergic to the dog.

Well, I don't know about dogs!

Up here in Canada it does get very cold; but my eyes have not been especially bothered by the wind; I do put the change down to air quality; I lived and travelled a great deal on public transit in a big city previously, and this may have something to do with it.

 

[Donna216]

Not sure if you've been given Refresh Liquigel by Allergan, but that has helped some of my patients. Usually, gel type lubricating drops are more helpful because they last longer. So sorry to hear of your pain and struggle; too many of us take our eyes for granted.