In science there’s this theory called Occam’s razor. The basic principle is that if you hear hoof beats, assume it’s a horse not a zebra. Why? Because while that cough might be an indicator of a rare lung disease, 99% of the time it’s just a cold. It’s a theory that makes a heck of a lot of sense. Unfortunately, I tend to fall into the 1% zebra category quite often.
When I was a kid, my knees were hurting like hell. They tested my tendons, my ligaments, my meniscus, etc. All of those were normal. Eventually a specialist figured out that I had plica syndrome. Plica what? Exactly. They’ve been testing my thyroid for years and every time it comes back in tip-top shape despite the symptoms I’m exhibiting. Turns out I’m allergic to sulfites. I have made more doctors scratch their heads in puzzlement then I can count. For whatever reason where my medical history is concerned, if you hear hooves you should assume zebra. Or gazelle, elk or a cow. Anything other than a horse.
Therefore, several months ago when I started to notice that my eyes were getting tired and dry after lunch I started investigating. Maybe it was low vitamin A? Eat more carrots, up my A. No help. Maybe one of my prescriptions was causing it? I switched up the timing of when I take my prescriptions to see if that helped. No help. I looked into the different diseases that can cause dry/tired eyes – lupus, scleroderma, Sjogren’s syndrome. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nothing made any sense and nothing I was doing helped.
Then a realized that I work in front of a computer screen all day, under fluorescent lights. Perhaps my eyes were simply dry and tired by the time I hit the afternoon? Today I tried some eye drops. Guess what? My eyes aren’t dry or tired anymore. It’s a good thing I’m pretty. Friggin horse.
