Yes to fish oil capsules - I take 4 a day. Drink plenty of water. Microwaveable moist compress in the am before I put in my contacts. These steps gave helped - I have been able to increase my contact wearing from 8 irritating hours to 10 decent hours.
I work on a computer - take frequent breaks and blink frequently and deliberately.
I have not done the baby shampoo - but picture using it on a wet cotton ball to clean eye lash line. I might try that. I have meibomitis - which is the clogged oil producing duct thing.
Years ago my ophthalmologist dx’d blepharitis. And, recommended “eye lid scrub” The brands were OcuSoft & Systane. Both manufacture towelettes. OcuSoft also sells the solution in a pump bottle, which dispenses foam.
I have never had uncomfortable symptoms, like dry eye or styes.
I wear hard gas-permeable contact lens & use Blink for Contacts eye drops during the day mostly when looking at a computer monitor for long periods of time.
(As an aside, I wish I could find mascara that doesn’t flake or run. A problem with contact lens.)
I have ocular rosacea, with associate blepharitis.
The antibiotic eyedrops helped a lot with the acute problem; I needed 2 courses of them. Pricey little Rx buggers.
Lid scrubs were recommended, but I rebelled at the price. A fresh washcloth and very mild soap seems to do fine.
Oracea (low dose time release doxycycline) makes a huge difference. It is expensive – but my derm recommended a pharmacy that has a coupon that brings it down to $35/month. I can’t wait until it goes generic. Ridiculous price. It is primarily for facial rosacea (redness) but it really seems to help the eyes, and the opth. agrees. Every time I stop it within a couple of weeks my eyes are bugging me again.
Eye drops. I use Refresh Plus preservative free individual vials. Reasonable price at Costco,
I’m also suffering from dry eyes. I use drops 1-2 times at work and LOVE the refresh gel drops at night. Not giving up my mascara or my contacts, but this getting old stuff really stinks!
@zeebamom - when you say “scrub” do you mean the baby shampoo? I had read about that online and am gonna try that too. My bottom lashes are the issue so not sure how to actually do it, but maybe I will google some YouTube videos
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Ophthalmologist diagnosed my mom, and later me, suggesting using q tip and baby shampoo
Was scrappy to actually apply baby shampoo to eye lash area but it didn’t irritate at all- truly no tears
I used cloth to dampen eye lashes, small bowl with warm water and baby shampoo ( little squirt)
Used that solution to gently rub eye lash area with q tip moistened with solution.
If you use eye drops, use the single-use vials. Any other eye drops have preservatives in them. You don’t want to put preservatives in your eyes. I haven’t noticed a difference between the Refresh brand drops and the cheapie store brand, so I buy the store brand when I can.
I use Refresh gel in my eyes at night. I don’t like it, because I like to read in bed at night and not have to get up and put the goo in, but the gel makes a huge difference.
My eye doctor says if I’m regularly using the eye drops four times a day, it’s time to give Restasis a try, and then maybe punctal plugs. As I have Sjogrens, I expect I’ll have to try Restasis in the next year or so. I’m not looking forward to it.
I don’t know whether this is true for all dry eye sufferers, but the experts say that for people with Sjogrens, drinking alcohol makes the eyes worse. Sadly, that’s true in my case.
Well, I have Sjogren’s, and I drink alcohol, but I don’t think it really makes a difference. And I’m not giving up alcohol!
I tried Restasis for many months and it didn’t make a difference. There’s no reason not to try it – maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones – but keep your expectations low.
Yes, I tried Restatsis for several months but honestly didn’t find it helpful. The eye drops were at least as good and much less expensive, even with the insurance covering the lion’s share of the cost. I agree that trying it has very low downside. By the way, if you use a certain number of months of Restatsis, you get a month free (check their website).
My relative who is an ophthalmologist strongly recommends that people try the silicone plugs for the tear ducts, but I never did.
Like I said, once we figured out which of my meds is known for causing dry eyes, I went from taking it daily to taking it MWF and the dry eyes got MUCH better. It’s at least another thing to consider and double-check the things you are taking to see if ANY of them even contribute toward dry eyes.
@SouthJerseyChessMom - sorry, missed this. He uses the OCuSoft eyelid cleanser/scrub. I know it’s pricey, but it seems to last a long time. He also uses the eye mask compress most mornings (he lies on the sofa for 20-30 minutes before he leaves for work at 5:30 anyway, so makes the most of it.) he notices if he misses a few days, so it all must be doing something beneficial.
I’ve tried the silicone plugs. They fall out relatively soon. You can have the puncta (that’s what the little drainage holes are called) permanently occluded but I’m icky when it comes to eye things, so I never did it. Refresh a few times a day seems to be working for me, after all these years.