ive got very dry eyes..does anyone want to share anything about theres

See your doc about a prescription for new drops just released to increase tear flow. There are also some surgical corrections that may be able to help, dependent on your cause.

It is nothing you have to put up with forever. There are options.

l have to dispute the voter for a few points. For most people with chronic dry eye, it stays just that- chronic. The goal is not a 'cure,' but management in the form of being as comfortable as possible with ur tear production / tbut, or ideally, bringing those scores up, is the real goal.

That 'prescription' drop, called restasis, is just cyclosporin. It is not 'new' at all. What the commercials fail to tell u is that restasis only works for a measly 15% of patients- 10% more than the control group that benefits from the castor oil vehicle alone. That means that 85% of people who use the drop will not benefit from it.

That said, is it time to throw in the towel & give up hope? No! You've got options.

You still want to see that eye dr. First, & most important, get the CAUSE of ur dry eye discovered. Do ur tears break up too quickly, or do u not produce enough? It is easy to answer that, & impacts the course of ur treatment.

Some prescription options that do have a better chance of helping include:

-Punctal plugs. These r painless tiny little silicone or other body-safe material plugs that prevent ur natural tears from draining out of ur eyes, as well as prevent any artificial tears u use from draining.

-Freshkote. This is the prescription version of a drop l will mention later, Dwelle. It has added lipids, which may or may not help- that is up for debate. We do know that the rest of the drop, the dwelle base, works. If u can get prescription coverage, it may be cheaper than buying the OTC version. If u can not, forget about this drop.

-Moisture chambers. Moisture chamber glasses & goggles, which retain the air around ur eyes, maintain humidity & prevent ur eyes from coming into contact with wind. These r not prescription products, but ur insurance might cover them if ur doctor writes a letter stating that they're a medically needed prosthetic.

Beyond that, u can look at specialty drops from antibiotics to antiinflamatory to blood serum, & prosthetic devices like scleral contact lenses.

Ok, so what about the home front, away from ur doctor?

Tons of options! Head to the dry eye shop, at http://dryeyeshop.com/ , & browse around.

Some essentials l can suggest:

TRANQUILEYES:

These goggles, which r availible from eye eco at the same price, r neat little soft goggles u wear to sleep. You moisten them before u put them on. They keep ur eyelids closed & keep a moist environment around ur eyes, helping manage night-time dryness. The cheapest set, with six lower-quality foam liners or two normal quality foam liners, is around 35$

The cheaper alternative? Simple sleep goggles, which allow u to open ur eyes & see before u remove them, & maintain moisture around ur eyes (but do not contain foam inserts to moisten) weigh in at 11$, listed under 'eyewear' & then 'sleep masks.' Cheaper yet? The 2$ basic sleep mask. Even that helps.

EYE DROPS:

Dwelle & nutratear as a combo, weighing in at 18$, r utterly essential. Dwelle, for technical reasons well beyond me, promotes ocular wettability. In normal speak, that means, if u stick to using it (you will probably hate how it feels for the first three weeks) ur dry eyes may become less dry. At the very least, dwelle lasts a LOT longer than other over the counter drops. Nutratear does not last long, but it is light & refreshing, & u can put it in the fridge to soothe ur eyes.

FLAX SEED OIL:

At 9.52 for the capsules, it is worth giving this treatment that some people have benefited quite a bit from a try.

MOISTURE CHAMBERS:

The luxury versions, at 100-200$, r the wiley & panoptx. However, in the budget eyewear section, u will find onion goggles. These r not tinted, cannot have prescription lenses inserted (unlike the former two l mentioned) & r not nearly as fashionable, but at 20$, they do what they're meant to do- they protect ur eyes.

EYE LID CARE:

You will definately want to look at options like lid scrubs & warm compresses. You can make cheaper warm compresses at home using rice & panty hose.

The long story short: consider my suggestions. Join the dry eye forums at http://dryeyezone.com/talk/ & introduce yourself. Tell us ur story. There is a million suggestions l have not even mentioned yet that can help you- like buying & running a humidifier- & having a whole team of people on the forums to turn to is a lot more helpful than I've been.

You will learn to manage this. It might seem like a daunting amount of information now, but l spend all of 15 minutes a day going through prescriptions, compresses, drops, putting on protection, & the various scrubbings l do to my eyelids. 15 minutes a day being the price of comfort? l can live with that.