Difficulty opening eyes in morning

For the last several months, it is very difficult for me to open my eyes when I first wake up in the morning, and they have crust in the corners and are slightly watery.  Once I blink a bunch of times and clear the crust out they are fine for the entire day, until I wake up the next morning again.  I wear contacts during the day, but take them out every night to sleep.  I have seen 3 eye doctors/medical doctors - the eye doctors said they saw no signs of infection and recommended I try eye drops, which didn't work.  The medical doctor first diagnosed me some eye drops for allergies, which didn't work (I don't have any signs/symptoms of allergies, and have never had allergies - I just switched to a hypoallergenic pillow and new pillowcases too, and the problem persists even when I'm not at home), then did a test to see if I had an eye infection, told me I did, and prescribed me some antibiotic eye drops called Iquix, which I took for a week.  They seemed to help a little but about a week later it was back to the same symptoms.  I already called my MD to ask what type of bacteria I had.  I have called the office 3x and they either say they will call me back and never do, or the doctor calls and tells me that what I took "should have been effective".  Obviously, I am not going to get an answer, which leads me to think I really didn't have an infection.  An opthalmologist looked at my eyes and said there are no signs of infection, said my eyes look healthy, and refused to even perform any tests.  He recommended I try eye drops, daily contacts (which I've switched to, with no improvement), or putting a warm wet washcloth on my eyes in the morning, which doesn't seem to help.  I am at my wit's end - I want to know what the problem is, not just how to treat the symptoms, b/c the problem seems to be getting worse.  I have also tried wearing a sleep mask, thinking maybe I am not closing my eyes all the way when I sleep, but it did nothing.  My husband says that as far as he can tell, I'm not sleeping with my eyes open.  Any suggestions; at this rate I'm afraid that soon, I won't be able to open my eyes at all upon waking up.  

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

You may have blepharitis.  Get some Ocusoft scrubs and wash you eyelid at night after apply warm compresses.  

Dr. O.