Monday, September 29, 2008

Not Much Goin' On

I said I would try to post more often. I didn't promise it would be interested (ha ha).

I'm struggling with dry eye syndrome, much like I did last year at this time. The only difference is that after two weeks of using Systane drops, the condition cleared up and what fine until this summer.

Now I can't wear my contact lenses for longer than a couple of hours before my eyes (my left in particular) turns blood red. I tried the Systane again for over a month, but it didn't help. In fact, I'm experiencing an alarming decrease in vision in my left eye. Even with glasses, my vision in the left eye is still blurry.

I finally went to an ophthamologist, expected to hear the worst, but no, she says other than being very dry, my eyes look perfectly healthy. Right now I'm using prednisone (steroid) drops four times a day. Starting tomorrow, I taper down to three times a day. I don't like prednisone drops. Not long after taking them, I can taste them in the back of my throat. Ick.

Next Tuesday, I decrease to twice a day and start using Restasys drops (a prescription). No contact lenses until my follow up visit in November! Hopefully this will do the trick. If not, there's a procedure where they put little plugs into your lower eyelids to prevent moisture lost.

Apparently when you get to be a certain age, you start to shrivel up. :-(

2 comments:

Shionge said...

Elle, I used to put on my contact lenses for more than 16 hours but age catches up (AHEM ;)) I take them off once I reach them to let them breath....so hope it is getting better for you now.

Sue said...

I would not be happy if I couldn't wear my contact lenses. Hopefully the problem clears up and you're back to your contact wearing ways soon!