In january 2026, i developed itchy teary red eyes that was affecting my sleep, would wake up multiple times, due to how teary and itchy it was. Went to see general practitioner and was prescribed olopatadine (antihistamines). They worked great, instantly reduced symptoms and continued using them till mid february. When i tried stopping, i realised my eyes were really dry and had to continue usage. I continued using till mid april, while gradually tapering usage from twice a day to once a day to once every 2-3 days. Tried stopping again and had severe dry eyes and difficulty falling asleep.
I went to see an eye specialist recently and was told i have allergic conjunctivitis, with papillae developing in my upper eyelid. Which is probably causing inflammation to my meibomian glands, disrupting oil production. And true enough, i do constantly feel as if something is stuck in my upper eyelids on both my eyes. Was told to continue olopatadine for another 4 months, while adding on warm compresses and eyelid cleansing as part of my routine.
I hopped back on olopatadine and i could finally fall asleep again just had to deal with dry eyes throughout the day. Now on the 8th night of hopping back on, i had difficulty sleeping again despite using olopatadine, could not enter deep sleep state. Seems like my symptoms flared up again, and my body has developed a resistance to olopatadine from 5 months of usage.
What should i do? I’ve never had allergies before and the lack of deep sleep state is putting my mind at constant chaos and anxiety, really low motivation, bad mood, fatigue. Im worried that it is the olopatadine that is causing papillae to develop instead of allergies as i read that long term use of preservatives (BAK) can irritate ocular surface or cause papillae to develop. Is this what is happening or is the papillae due to allergies? I cannot sleep.
Should i get allergy testing? Should i get my mattress deep cleaned to reduce dust mites? Should i change my mattress? Should i go get a 2nd opinion from another doctor. Im losing hope, 5 months of dealing with eye issues has placed a severe mental strain on my mental health and the lack of deep sleep is the last straw.
The only relevant eye related issue i had in my entire life was in february of last year, when i had quite a severe case of viral conjunctivitis causing blurring of vision, i ended up using steroid eyedrops which cleared it. Had no symptoms whatsoever for the rest if the year up until january 2026 when i suffered from this. Anybody suffering from a similar situation, i really need advise, or just hope. I do not see any light at the end.
The funny thing is during the day, my eye gets better and symptoms only worsen at night when im about to sleep. I did notice symptoms worsening when i travelled overseas and slept at a hotel. So this pretty much confirms that i likely developed dust mites or dust allergy.