UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

hello all,
hope everyone is ok I should post more than what i do !!. I am 26 now and I wear glasses as I couldnt tolerate any lenses, so i plod on with glasses . I have not been able to drive for three weeks as I can't see much of anything. I have had the date for my pre-op which is for the 26th September, so I am assuming that I will have my graft done a few weeks after that.
I have also been off work on sick leave, I am an assistant scientist and work with fine dusts, various acid's and other chemicals, this has irratated my eyes so much, so went on sick leave to see if it would help them to settle. I am quite a strong person and decided that I was going back to work today, however I was there for 4 hours and both my eyes had become blodshot and quite painful, sore and itchy, I also started to get a headache. so I finished work and am on sick leave again . I am very luck that my employers are fab.
Is it normal to have such sore eyes all the time ?
I am using viscotears and another cream, and these are the 4th ones that i have tried, but still so sore
I hate being at home and my KC is really getting on my nerves, I miss my job, and my friends at work and it is rubbish !!!!
is anyone else having problems like this ? or is it just me ?
thanks
kind regards
nicola

Nicola

Moan away! this is a place where you'll get away with it! SO make the most of it

Eye Sorness can be due to various reasons, lens intolerance being one. Im sure many on here can relate to the frustration of not being able to perform certain functions due to inadequate vision....and then gettin more frustrated......especially if your one who loves your job and likes to get out and about.....

So feel free to vent!

Jay

Hi Nicola,

Another scientist, there's three of us now

KC and science can be difficult due to the nature of what we work with.

What changes have your employers made to your work environment?

Mine have allowed me to sit where I want so that I am out of the direct flow of aircon and I have control of the radiator thermostat to help stop my eyes drying.

Have a look at this link;

Link on this thread to dry eyes

As part of choosing where I sit meant that the lighting was better so I suffer less eye strain and less glare from the surrounding lights and sun coming into the office. They also provided me with a larger monitor so that I can see it relatively clearly without my lenses in, like it is only 6 inches from my face where a normal screen would have my nose against it! All this was made easier through the access to work scheme.

I only do lab work if I can see clearly out of boths eyes as most of what I work with is white powders in milligram quantities which if spilt on the bench is hard enough to see with perfect eye sight, put this with clear colourless solutions can make for an interesting life.

Most labs have vigerous aircon so I spend no more than an hour at a time in the lab. Therefore lubricating eye drops are also a must to help lock moisture into my eyes.

To stop the chemicals affecting my eyes, most of my work is done in laminar flow containment cabinets weather the toxicity of the chemicals demands it or not.

I have found my wrap round safety glasses help, if I use the normal ones then the air gap is too large and allows loads vapours in. Mine are very dark due to light sensitivity, unfortunatly no good to you as they will not fit over glasses and can not have prescription lenses.

The people I work for also have a departmenht that makes safety eye wear so I have sent them a spare pair of glasses with some design suggestions and put in that they must be able to take a standard prescription lens as commonly used in prescription safety glasses.

At christmas 2005 I could only tolerate lenses for 2 hours per day, but glasses were useless to get my sight to a standard to drive. After experimenting with lubricating eye drops and finding some which worked best for me (3 months of experimenting) I easily get over 12 hours lens wear. Did try other contact lens solutions but found the Bausch and lomb i started with were the best.

The specialists and the patients often blame lenses and say we are intolerant, but from some feedback here, the lens solutions and just the use of eye drops can make all the diferance.

Hope some of this helps and whine away, thats what a support group is all about.

Gareth has said it well, but I'm glad you started with a moan.

All the best. And, no need to apologize for moaning.

Andrew