so it turns out that my eyes produce less than half of the moisture than they ought to for someone my age. after two and a half years of going to the eye doctor for issues with my eyes/contact lenses, i *finally* found a doc who actually did more than a brief eye/vision exam and found the problem. my corneas are scratched from the dryness, and i have special drops to use and a no-contacts order for three weeks, then i go back for a recheck. i'm just so relieved that i finally found a doctor who didn't either assume that a) i'd been wearing my contacts for too long and lying about it or b) that i must have some strange, resilient strain of pink eye. i've been walking around with scratched corneas! no friggin' wonder my eyes hurt all the time! crikey!