I’ve been
abit quiet lately with both blogging and doing my bit in social media since
coming back from the IDF conference in Vancouver. The main reason, I was burnt from doing a lot
of diabetes advocacy in the month of November and not being able to see very
well since then due to having some sort of allergic reaction in Vancouver that
scared the #@*! out of me since it’s always that “is it due to diabetes?” So, sadly this is now making it difficult for me to
stare at any gadget with a screen, even with looking away every 20 minutes
(this was recommended by my optometrist back in November – and is good advice
for EVERYONE who works on a screen or any other type of device). Even better, to remember to take that
20-20-20 break … you can download a free app to remind you to take eye breaks called Workrave (sadly not available to Mac).
If any of
you follow me on Instagram / Facebook / Twitter you would have seen some of my
posts on how the skin around my eyes looked (they freaked out my Mum and Dad to
no end). Whether it was the new BLUE
carpeting that was put down in the conference centre for the event that let off various
chemicals (this is what one of the RN’s that was a volunteer like me had
thought it could be) … the drier air … higher altitude in BC … who knows. It got to the point where the skin around my
eyes was so swollen that I thought I’d need a guide dog to allow me to
see. I was a very scared cat!
My only
relief was the daily 2 km walk to the conference and back with the moist
Vancouver air hitting my eyes, but things were going from bad to worse on a
daily basis (I had the same thing happen in Las Vegas in March at another
diabetic conference – so is it a combination of drier climate and being in a
conference area that has carpeting ?). I
had one pharmacist telling me to use a cortisone cream around my eyes
(carefully – as he advised – it’s not supposed to be placed near eyes) – which did
not work at all but actually made it worse.
In the end, a few of the CDE’s that were part
of the same volunteer team that I was with, suggested taking an antihistamine,
and the pharmacy they directed me to managed to find the right type to use for
what I was going through (non drowsy of course so I wouldn’t drift off to
la-la-land during the 8-12 hour days that most of us were having at the
conference).
Sadly, it’s
never quite cleared up completely, so who knows what is
causing it (dry air of winter? or natural gas heating which is a new
thing to me being from a house that was heated by oil or electricity before?). I’m just dealing with it as best as I can
after going to a local walk in clinic where all they could say was it would get
better . I demanded at that point for a referral to an
Allergist
which sadly the GP said it may still not help (I see the Allergist at the end
of March). After that, who knows, maybe
a dermatologist
(there are only 2 in the town I live in) will be the next step to figure out
what is causing the skin problems surrounding my eyes (I do have rosacea
which can cause problems with your eyes … but as someone suggested it also could
be eczema).
All I know,
in composing this blog, even with typing with my eyes closed, my eyes are
screaming, both inside and out with a feeling like a dry dessert (and yes I use moisturizing eye drops a lot since
the cornealabrasion episode last fall). The only good thing though, with December’s annual diabetic eye check-up? My old fart
diabetic eyes are doing extremely well with having diabetes since 1967 with not extreme changes..
Eye drop
time ... moisturize the parched skin area (good thing - I have no wrinkles with the skin so stretched ... I look 21 again) - take a break from the screen… until next time my readers!
