What is your diagnosis (or diagnoses if you have more than one)?
sjogrens, MGD, keratoconjunctivitis, ocular rosacea, recurrent scleritis,
How long have you had it?
10 years
What do you wish more people understood about dry eye (or eye pain if that's your main issue) and how it affects people's lives?
(1) That there is a wide range of dry eye severity and its impacts on quality of life. In the mild or moderate range, it might be relieved with occasional OTC drops. For those of us with severe dry eye, it is 24/7, interfering with daytime activities as well as sleep, in some cases leading to complex, chronic ocular surface issues, and creating an ongoing financial burden I never would have anticipated. (2) If your ophthalmologist is not assessing or addressing your dry eye complaints (other than saying, "Just use any OTC drop"), seek at least one other opinion. This is not a trivial condition.
What has helped you the most?
In the early years, punctal plugs in all 4 puncta were greatly helpful. At night, Bausch & Lomb Soothe eye ointment + an eye mask + Genteal drops every few hours all help. In the morning, warm eye compresses to get my eyelids unstuck from my eyes. Most recently, scleral lenses have become tremendously helpful. Just wish it had not taken 10 years of extreme life impacts before a case was made to my health insurance to justify sclerals.
Are there any dry eye resources you'd like to recommend?
Rebecca at the Dry Eye Shop is a God send.