As many of you know, I have been struggling with severe depression for the past couple years. I found an anti-depressant that worked very well. The only problem: it was a contributing factor in my heart attack. SO, I had to switch to a different medication. I had actually already started tapering off just before the heart attack.
I made the switch to a new one, but there was a side effect that was unbearable. It caused severe dry eye and dehydration. As a result of the dry eye, I got corneal abrasions. If you want to know what they feel like, imagine the burning sensation that you get when you cut onions, add the feeling that you have a big something in your eye, and multiply the whole equation by 10. Yeah, it hurts.
I was given a steroid-antibiotic eye drop. (or several) Supposedly, the abrasions should heal about 6 weeks. However, I have to transition off of the anti-depressant and switch to ANOTHER one. Since I am still in the process of weaning off the 2nd med, the dry eye continues. I constantly put in (think every hour) this very nice eye drop called Celluvisc by Refresh. It is a thick gel that helps coat the eye. Also the steroid drops 4 times a day, and an eye ointment at night.
Needless to say, this has been terrible! But, I am on the last week of this med, so hopefully my eyes will heal in a few weeks. If you want to see what corneal abrasions look like, just google image it. Beware, it is a little disturbing.
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