Dust allergy since January 2007

[Sadia]

In Jan07,i felt irritation in my eyes,tired eyes,then my eyes started to swell,i felt like blinking my eyes again n again,then a doc sugested to tke eyedrops & later on i found out tht it had steroid in it.i used those drops 4 more than month and 1 day i saw circle of rainbows around any light(which has never happened to me b4)so i got scared n stopped using it.Another doc gave me "Allergan Prefrin-A" eye drops.my eyes were better,still not perfectly alrite,i still had irritation in my eyes as if ive somthing in them...my eyes also used to get red at nite,so i went to another doc & he gave me "NaphTears" By Alcon eye drops & for the whole month i felt irritation in my eyes only once,and so far its the best,so the doc asked me to use it as long as my eyes get better and stop using it slowly like i started off using 4 times a day.i started using it from the 26th of April 2007 and its been 2 weeks since ive been using those drops thrice a day.He told me im allergic to dust.I wanna know for how long should i be using these eye drops(im using only "NaphTears" thrice a day)and is it safe to use eye drops coz ive been using different eyedrops since January 07.Does dust allergy ever go away 4good coz im sick of using eyedrops!!is this allergy for lifetime????wod i be using the eyedrops for my whole life?!!coz this allergy does not seem to go away since Jan.Its been 6 months.Im 27yrs old and i wear glasses.my eyesight is 5.5 of both eyes(cant see far things).and i dont use lenses.

[John C Hagan]

Sadia, crying for long periods is not bad for the eye nor does it cause dry eyes. If you problem is dry eyes using artifical tears, perhaps the non-preserved artifical tears, might work better than the drops you're taking. On the other hand the drops that help you or generally harmless.

Our body changes throughout our life. It's really not possible to tell if you'll need drops "forever". However if your eyes are healthy and they help you and they don't cause side effects and they're not terribly expensive, there are things that are much worse (as a casual read of other people's eye problems in this forum will reveal).

JCH MD eye physician

[Sadia]

Thx 4 answering me.One more question..u said "dry eyes",could crying a lot can cause dry eyes coz a year back my dad past away & i used to cry a lot for many months say 2 or more times in a week maybe...The doc who gave me "NaphTears" also said tht ive dry eyes...if i close my eyes & move my eye ball up & down i cod feel there`s "sumthing" in them esp. in my left eye,not the right one usually(what is tht "sumthing?"can u explain it if im not allergic to anything)(plus this does not happen all the time)but if i blink then i dont feel anything,they r fine.NaphTears has really helped me a lot coz earlier i didnt feel like doing anything coz my eyes irritated the whole time wen i used to b awake but not anymore.i dnt feel like blinking my eyes again n again.i wear glasses all the time,u said to use eye drops tht r preservative free..i wana ask is it going to cure me for gud coz im really tired of using eyedrops.will i be able to live my life without using eyedrops?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Hello Sadia,  'dust allergy' as a primary eye diagnosis is highly unusual. If someone has true dust allergy it more often affects the lungs, nose and sinus. I'm not comfortable that you have been fully evaluated.

For eyes that are symptomatic all year round a common underlying problem is 'dry eyes'. To diagnosis this you would need to see an ophthalmologist (Eye MD physician) for a complete comprehensive medical eye examination. and have a special test called a schirmer test (small strips of filter paper absorb tear production over several minutes).

Given your problem if, as I suspect, dry eyes in contributing to your problems there are several things that may help (tear duct plugs if very dry eyes, or RESTASIS if there is a lot of inflamation).

NaphTears is a mild over the counter eyedrop that does not contain steroids. Your experience with the steroid eye drops raises the possibility that you are a steroid responder (use of steroid drops can raise the pressure and cause glaucoma) be sure to share that information with the next ophthalmologist you see.

Also the prolonged use of drops like NaphTears can itself cause redness due to irritation of preservatives or 'rebound redness' caused by the drop itself.

If you need glasses but do not wear them it might contribute some by causing you to squint and/or rub your eyes often.

Between now and when you see the ophthalmologist you might try an over the counter, preservative free artificial tear 3-4 times/day and stop the NaphTears.

JCH MD