special kind of hell

[damncows]

have you tried eye drops best of the lot so far is Systane lasts longer and a nasal pillow mask.

[zorrro13]

The Human body is remarkable in its ability to adapt. Its possible that if you can put up with this torture your symptoms may just go away on their own. I'm sure many people here have examples of difficult hurdles they overcame. Please stick with it and keep posting even when you feel you've exhausted every angle, somebody or something will eventually lead you in the right direction

[NightHawkeye]

MrRandom, although you're not looking for suggestions, I'll offer several which your physician should have told you about, but perhaps didn't.

1) Moisture goggles

http://www.dryeyeshop.com/catalog/tranq ... basics.htm
Little sponges hold water and keep the humidity level at 100% next to your eyes so your eyes cannot dry out. Foam around the edges of the goggles provides a seal to keep the moisture in next to the eye while simultaneously preventing any blowing air from getting to the eyes. Personally, I'd recommend trying the goggles first.

2) Lubricating Gel

This works well in conjunction with moisture goggles. In the morning it's a simple matter of a few blinks to restore full vision.

3) Lubricant ointment


Physicians like to recommend ointment, but personally I didn't find it terribly effective and this stuff is just awful to get out of the eye in the morning. Nevertheless, it will keep your eyes from drying out.

4) Cloth tape


This can be used alone or in conjunction with any of the above. The objective is to seal the eyelids shut so as to keep moisture in and outside air out.

I'll spare you the details of why I know this stuff, except to say I'm speaking from personal experience with it. I'd guess, from what you've said that maybe you had dry eyes all along and the additional stress of CPAP just made the problem more pronounced. If that's the case, then traditional methods for resolving severe dry eye problems should take care of things. Give it a try.

Regards,
Bill

[NightHawkeye]

have you tried eye drops best of the lot so far is Systane lasts longer ...

FWIW, Systane Gel (the heavy-duty variant of Systane) was the absolute best at the time it was pulled from the market a year and a half ago due to potential contamination concerns. Quite a few folks, including myself, were upset when that happened. Fortunately, Refresh Liquigel now fills that void and provides even longer lasting relief than the old Systane Gel drops did.

[JeffH]

Been doing cpap for years and dry eyes the whole time. I deal with it. I've told MrRandom several times what I do to treat this. He has the information....

[jules]

Been doing cpap for years and dry eyes the whole time. I deal with it. I've told MrRandom several times what I do to treat this. He has the information....

I know you have Jeff.

[NightHawkeye]

Been doing cpap for years and dry eyes the whole time. I deal with it. I've told MrRandom several times what I do to treat this. He has the information....

Patience, Grasshopper ...

Remember, poor sleep => incomplete processing ...

Sometimes it helps to get the information from different people in different ways. We repeat a lot of stuff here. .

Regards,
Bill

[tomjax]

Mr Random,
You are to be commended for sticking to it.
Do NOT give up.


I have no idea the reason you have such a condition or if it is mask related. It has to be.

I use breeze and have no problem.
There must be a fix. I bet that if I were there with you, we could figure it out.
Some people are much better than others at coming up with a fix.

Find some reasonably creative person around you that can look at it and figure it out. Inductive and deductive reasoning is needed. Mostly inductive.

People at work? neighbors?
Help is there if you can find them.

LOOK and ASK.

[ColinP]

Hi MrRandom

I too suffer from dry eyes with my CPAP. As I use a Swift II and there isn't any air blowing out anywhere near my eyes, and because I know my tear ducts are open (if I blow my nose when blocked, air escapes from my tear ducts) I am assuming that my dryness comes from the tear ducts, and not from air blowing across my eyes. My understanding is that this is also the case for you (based on some comments you've made in the past and the fact that your doctor wants to cauterize your tear ducts).

I'm just lucky that my eyes don't often wake me up, and when they do, I can usually get relief by rinsing them out and getting back to sleep again.

I feel for you, just wish I had some constructive advice, but I don't.

Colin

[alnhwrd]

I'm don't know anything about this procedure, but maybe it is time to give some hard, serious thought to the cauterization. Like you said, the machine that can get you the rest you need is right there. I understand your concerns. Just using the words "eye" and "cauterization" in the same sentence gives me the heebie geebies.
But if you are feeling that bad, maybe its time to go over the pros and cons with your Doc.

You are in a difficult place without many options, and I empathize with you. I hope the solution comes to you quickly.

Alan

[pjwalman]

Bill, do the TranquilEyes goggles go high enough up on the nose to accommodate a full face mask? I know most of the sleep masks are too low on the nose and interfere with the seal so just thought I'd ask before investing. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding. Do you not wear them during the night but rather wear them the next day for a period of time for relief?

Thanks!

Peggy

[NightHawkeye]

Bill, do the TranquilEyes goggles go high enough up on the nose to accommodate a full face mask?

Depends on the full-face mask. I don't normally wear an FFM, except that about a month ago I briefly used my Ultra Mirage Full Face Mask. It worked OK with the goggles although a little cumbersome.

The nose bridge of the goggles is small and the UMFF simply slipped over that. I can't say it worked great. If I was gonna use it more, I'd make some adjustments.

I'd say that concern about the nose bridge is unwarranted, because if it interferes with your CPAP mask, then it's a simple matter to cut the nose bridge out and replace it with string or cloth tied to the two eyepads. (I had some of the same concerns you do, which is why I've thought about this stuff.)

I know most of the sleep masks are too low on the nose and interfere with the seal so just thought I'd ask before investing.

The goggles do add another dimension of complexity. The goggles got displaced by the CPAP mask, but for me that wasn't enough to interfere with keeping moisture around my eye. The goggles also don't need a perfect seal the way the CPAP mask does, at least not for me.

As for investing in goggles, that wouldn't be my first recommendation. My first recommendation would be to try the Genteal Gel and see if that doesn't keep the eyes moist enough.

Also, if you have a serious dry eye problem, then Restasis is probably worth considering. It definitely increased my own tear production.

Regards,
Bill

[shardebhow]

It's a special kind of hell when you've been asleep and wake up feeling like complete crap and have a machine sitting by your bed, unused, that could fix the problem yet you cannot use it because otherwise you toss and turn all night due to dried out inflamed eyes.

Even more frustrating is that since I can't use it, eventually I have to give it back as my insurance won't pay for it to sit there. I'm currently out of money and credit and can do little more than wait, by then too late.

I cried in the night. It was pitiful. I don't cry.

Mr R,
I have just started reading your posts. Silly question. . .are you sure it's the mask near your eyes that is leaking and not the air blowing out from the exhaltion area? The exhiltion area of my mask blows up. Sometimes it blows towards my eyes and makes me think it the mask area near my eyes until I check and realize that is where the air is coming from.

Not sure if this was covered before. . Just thought I'd throw it out.
Sharon

[pjadams]

Have you tried an oral mask? I have this one that I use when my sinuses are bad.
https://www.cpap.com/viewImage.php?PNum ... le-452.jpg Mine doesn't have the strap, but needs it so I retrofitted it with a headband. The only drawback I've found is that you have to have the humidifier fairly high, or your mouth dries out. But it doesn't leak air.

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