Oy! My eye!

I just realized this is my 501st post. I let 500 go by without any fanfare. Shows how into blogging I am right now!

As I have posted before, I have been having trouble with my eye for a long time. The tear duct keeps getting clogged, which is not only irritating but means that I constantly look like I am crying, red, irritated - from one side anyway. All this year, literally since January, I have gone from one specialist to another trying to find out what is wrong with this stupid eye. Two different ophthamologists have flushed it out, I've been on steroids and other meds, it's been probed and poked at. From all of these remedies, I've had very temporary relief.

I haven't been able to wear my contact lenses since January. I hate my glasses, but I got new ones and they are even worse so I went back to the old ones. Glasses make me feel old and frumpy and ugly. My eyelashes are really long and brush up against the glass, which is annoying. I have been hoping and praying that I can afford Lasik next year and that a doctor will let me do it (one doc says I need PRK instead, another says I should be able to do Lasik...we'll see)

So, I hate to jinx myself but I think I have it figured out, and I've had 10 days of no eye trouble! In fact, I even wore contacts yesterday for the first time since January - for 7 hours and they didn't bother me at all. I am crossing my fingers that this is worked out finally.

The answer? Well, my first clue was in early June. My eye had really been bothering me - not only watering but also getting all goopy and gross. I knew I had a little cold (and it's always worse when I have a cold) so I thought that was it. Coincidentally, I had my yearly checkup for my med refills right around that time, and during the examination it was found that I had an ear infection (symptomless...but the doc decided to treat it anyway). I started the antibiotic, and voila - my eye cleared right up too. I had an eye appointment with a specialist at U of M the next week (to determine if I would need surgery) and he said this indicates that the problem might actually be with my sinuses (maybe chronic sinusitis or allergies) and to see an ENT.

At the ENT, more poking and probing, and 'everything looks structurally normal' (interpretation: you don't need surgery). He suspected that the tube on that left side is perhaps a bit smaller than average, and when it gets inflamed (from a cold, an allergy, or whatever) it closes up. Makes sense. They could put a stent in the tube, but since it seems to be patent most of the time, the best thing is to treat the symptoms.

So, I started trying to find out what I might be allergic to that is causing this to be so chronic. I decided to sacrifice and go without makeup entirely for a while, and then gradually add one thing, then another, until I could see if it was makeup causing it. When I added mascara back in - it flared up again! So then I wore everything except mascara for the past 10 days and I haven't had any trouble with my eye! Thus, I think it's the mascara!

I don't know what changed, as I have used good old Maybeleine my whole life and I love it. But, I am looking for a hypoallergenic one I can try (I have heard Clinique has one). I think if I can take care of the mascara issue and treat colds quickly I can avoid these eye problems for the most part. Cannot believe it took a couple of years to figure this out.

Probably I should just not use mascara at all, but admittedly there is some vanity there - my eyes are my best feature and I like them to look the best they can. I really don't want to go fake because I don't need to. I just need to play up what I have. I know this all seems shallow but this has really been annoying me. Several hundred dollars of copays and hours of doctor visits later, to find this simple of a solution almost seems unbelievable. I hope it lasts!