hard to open eyelids at night

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ATHiker95 - 19 Oct 2007 01:47 GMT

I'm 57 years old, have had problems with blepharitis off and on for
some time and also have problems with dry eye to some extent brought
on by my rheumatoid arthritis,which I've had for about 8 years. In
the last few months, I've noticed that in the middle of the night when
I wake up or want to open my eyes, I can't without having to almost
physically lift the lids. When I do, it feels like rocks are in my
eyes. Once they're open, the "rocks" feeling seems to subside fairly
quickly . Sometimes if they are really hard to open, then I feels like
I've strained the muscles in my eyelids and they will ache for a few
days. Is it possible that I have ptosis and that the feeling of
"rocks" would be from the upper eyelid pushing down on my eyelashes
and poking them into my eye,while I sleep? I don't notice any
discomfort while I'm sleeping, only when I go to open them. Sometimes
the eyes will ache for a few days, giving me a sort of headache in the
eyebrow area and making it feel like it is tiring to keep my lids
open. My eyelids don't really droop over my eyes at all - in fact
nobody would really notice anything, but when comparing mine to my
wife's I can see that the upper skin seems to lie on my lashes, versus
hers which does not. My mother had problems with drooping eyelids and
was going to get them corrected in her 80's. My older brother who is
61 has a partial drooping eyelid on one eye. Neither ever reported not
being able to open their eyes though or having "rocks" in them. Do
you think this is ptosis or some sort of severe dry eye or
blepharitis? I put eye drops in during the day and have started
soaking with hot rags twice a day and putting in something like
Refresh PM Plus at night.

Curious as to what your thoughts on this might be?
Thanks,
Mark

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Neil Brooks - 19 Oct 2007 01:55 GMT

> I'm 57 years old, have had problems with blepharitis off and on for
> some time and also have problems with dry eye to some extent brought
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> Thanks,
> Mark

I'm not a doctor.

Refresh Plus and Refresh PM are two different products.

That said, BOTH ARE preservative free (very good move on your part,
IMO). Please make sure that your DAYTIME drops are PRESERVATIVE-FREE,
too. Preservatives eat corneas -- some more, and some less. There
does NOT seem to be any such thing as a "safe preservative,"
particularly for those ALREADY dealing with dry eye.

I'd recommend you see a dry eye/corneal specialist for a thorough
going over. You may also want to explore "TranquilEyes" to sleep in.
For some, the extra protection makes the lubricant work MUCH better
and evaporate MUCH less quickly.

Are you doing the appropriate lid hygiene ... meticulously?? Have
they tried the doxycycline/minocycline therapies with you??

Since you DO have a diagnosed autoimmune condition, have they tried
Restasis??

I'd also recommend you introduce yourself on

www.dryeyezone.com

They have all sorts of good info about the two primary conditions that
you've already been diagnosed with, they sell some helpful products,
and -- more importantly -- there are hundreds of folks struggling with
similar circumstances who participate on the forum there. I'm sure
they'd have add'l good ideas for you.

There's also add'l good info on the www.agingeye.net site.

Best of luck. Not fun. Probably took the wind out of your camping
passion, huh? It's sure made it difficult to pursue mine :-(

Neil

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ATHiker95 - 19 Oct 2007 16:39 GMT

> > I'm 57 years old, have had problems with blepharitis off and on for
> > some time and also have problems with dry eye to some extent brought
[quoted text clipped - 64 lines]
>
> Neil

thanks Neil! Very helpful information. I did try Restatis once but
didn't stick with it long enough. At the time I didn't have health
insurance that covered the cost very well. I do now, so might go that
route again, although I do see there is mixed success. Never have
tried doxy or minocycline for dry eye, but used minocycline initially
for my rheumatoid arthritis. Might consider combining that again with
my methotrexate - might help 2 conditions at the same time. Yep, my
RA and dry eye do put a bit of a cramp in long distance backpacking
these days. :( Just when I discovered something I really enjoyed, of
course!

Mark

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