miserable news

[mary]

HI. I am a new victim of the constant misery. I have had dry eye troubles since I started birtth controll pills about 10years ago, but i have been funtioning well with the problem even wearing contacts a lot. But then I had Lasik 2 weeks ago. I know.......it takes time to heal... but is it normal to be totally incapacitated by dry painful sore eyes every minute to the point you can't even make through a meal without 5-10 episodes of drops? I can't function at all!! I have followd every rule and tried every eye drop, gel, ointment (of course no preservatives especially in the first week). my doctor said try Sustane- I don't know how ANYBODY can tolerate those! they make my eyes feel way more dry, and they make my eyes get so bluury I can't see at all! the more I use them, the worse it gets. so i went back to the refresh endura. I have beeen doing the warm/hot compresses, humidifyer, you name it. The pain and agony just continue. I have tried just letting them be dry- foreget that. I have tried crying and crying which is easy to do under the circumstances. the tears will finally come but only when I cry, and then it's dry time again. I have been on restasis since surgery.... I know this will at least get better.... but tell me, some of you that have been at this a while,... can you at least get SOME relief long enough to get at least SOMETHING ELSE outta life without the misery, for at least some period of time?> so any of you suffer like this day in and day out, or is this extremely unusual? Mary

[Rebecca Petris]

Mary,

Welcome. I'm so sorry you had to be here!

There have been many here who have gone through a period like what you describe after LASIK, some longer than others. No, it's not 'normal' by any means, but there are many people it has happened to.

Some suggestions for getting more comfortable in the short term:

- Try to seek a balance between pain management and actually treating the dry eye (i.e. improving the tear film). There are some things that may give immediate pain relief but that really just prolong the problem. While this is debateable, I think personally that constantly dosing with drops may be one of those (depending in part what kind of drop).

- Be careful not to OVERdo warm compresses. Too hot or too frequent can increase lid distress.

- Do cool compresses to soothe your eyes.

- Consider getting moisture chamber eyewear like Panoptx. In most cases I'd say it's too early to make that kind of investment but what you describe is so severe that it may make sense.

- Take naps or simply breaks with your eyes closed now and then.

- Avoid crying a lot of possible... those are the very watery tears that just dilute your poor tear film even more.

I'm sure others will chime in with coping tips for the really rough stretches like this. Hang in there. It's really tough right now but in time you'll be able to get things under better control.

[mary]

thanks for the suggestions and the encouragement. this is scary as i am sure you know. I am going to my eye surgeon tomorrow morning as well. I have no idea if he wil have anything to offer me at this point. i will keep in touch...

[sazy123]

Hi mary.

how long are you post surgery?

[mary]

I have been in misery since my last poste.
I had Lasik 3 weeks ago now. My eyes are running my life now. I can hardly do anything for 5 minutes without constant aggravation. I went back to my eye DR. AGAIN today. Now he put temp. plugs in the upper punctum He said " this will likely cause some excessive tearing at first."--HA HA!! what a joke. No one seems to get it. MY EYES DON'T TEAR!! I have had them in ( I have all four plugs in) now four 4 hours, and not one tear. I am using my drops. I am only hoping to be able to cut down on the usage of drops. I have discovered by counting my drop usage that I am using more than I thought. I am usin 2-3 boxes of the Refresh Endurs a day. Each box has twenty vials. Each box is !5.00 plus tax..... COUNT that UP!!! THAT IS ----Yes, ---- $$$$1450.00 A MONTH!!!!!! I won't be able to pay my bills anymore. I amy go bankrupt over dry eyes. I have had Excellent credit all my life and never gone bankrupt. But I have tried EVERY DROP and GOOP possible. Refresh Endura is the only one that I can tolerate that does any good. I can tolerate the Refresh plus, but each drop last half as long (3-5 minutes instead of 6-10 minutes. Even the Endura I often have to use every minute sometimes or I end up in severe pain.
If you don't hear from me on here, it is because it is too painful to use yhe computer anymore. gotta go.

[Rebecca Petris]

Mary,

I'm really concerned about you. Please, if you are not feeling good enough to read the board, give me a call tomorrow if you see this (877-693-7939x717, between 9 and 5 pacific) in case there's some way I can help.

I'm concerned that flooding your eyes constantly with that many drops, esp. of the oily kind, - besides obviously breaking the bank - could actually be making your eyes worse. I know you have to do something to get the pain under control of course though.

[Julie1]

Hi Mary,

I am so sorry that you have to be here. This bulletin board is great -- there's lots of helpful people and information on this site. I would really encourage you to call Rebecca tomorrow. She's a great listener and will be able to offer some suggestions to help you get the pain under control.

I'll be thinking about you and praying that you can find some relief soon.

-Julie

[Dotanne]

Hi Mary
Oh how I feel for you. One thing I found helpful is to put in some thicker drops (Dwelle or one of the gel type) and have a long shower. I get longer lasting comfort with that and the drops sting less. I see you are in a very dry climate. Panoptx or WileyX or similar eye protection with a gasket seal would be a good investment - then you should need less drops. I have WileyX sunglasses with light sensitive lenses and a gasket and they look just like sunglasses and would be fine without the gasket when your eyes feel better.
Here are some hugs from New Zealand (((((((((((Mary))))))))))))))))).
I do hope you get some relief very soon. Do contact Rebecca.
Things will get better - I used to feel there was no hope but you will get more comfort soon.
Take care and God bless
Dotanne

[prattstar]

Mary

I am so sorry to hear about your pain from post Lasik dry eye.

I do hope that you called Rebecca for a chat, it is one thing to have this fantastic board at your disposal but something far more encouraging to actually talk with someone that fully understands your position.

See if you find some comfort in a hot/cold pack and a thicker drop so that you can rest and relax for a while to hopefully take your mind off this a bit.

I wish you well and can only encourage you that it is really early days for you and things WILL get better.

Do take care ((((Mary))))

Ian

[Delilah]

Hi Im Delilah and have been suffering for 4 years now with dry eye, I don't post much anymore as Im very busy but I do try and read new posts. I am very sorry for your troubles as I know as I suffer everyday like you with drops after drops and I suffer from mucus strings coming out of my eyes as they are so dry they don't produce the right amount of fluid for my eyes. I do have to say that I think the Lasik surgery was a HUGE mistake being that many of those surgeries make your eyes worse for dryness, but it's too late now. I found one thing that did help me for awhile and it's called fishoil eye drops and you can only get them through a compounding pharmacy, I am thinking of getting my perscription refilled again. Ask your eye doctor to write you a perscription for fishoil eye drops, then go through Leiters pharmacy they are a really good compounding pharmacy in California, you keep the eye drops in the fridge. They worked for me for awhile but everyone is different, they might do the trick? God Bless D

[heather g]

Hi Mary. I had lasik just over a year ago. I had the same agony. I mean I thought I would lose it and how was I going to go on this way? And it did go on for awhile. They would tell me 3 months should be better then 6 etc. Well looking back things did improve a bit and I mean very little at a time. Now after a year I have 4 plugs and am much more comfortable. Not pre lasik comfortable but looking back on last summer I am in a much better place. I, too was and am a fan of refresh endura. It seemed to be a good alternative. I also used Simalstin dry eye drops.
I know it is hard to hear (it was for me) but time will help. It is slow and frustrating. And through trial and error you will find things to get you some comfort. That is the great thing about this site. It gives you fantastic tips and alot of support. It will help you even more than time.
Don't give up hope.
Heather

[Dot]

I too am new to Dry Eye Zone and am 4 months out from Lasik and know your pain. You can read my story on other threads but I wanted to tell you that my surgeon does not like Restases because he has seen a few with increased inflammation from the drops themselves. It sounds early to be starting those...Perhaps like Rebecca said you need to start simple to really know what works well.
It has gotten better for me but very slow and very little. Another thing though that I found out way too late if you ask me that my eyes don't close all the way at night (Also from the surgery stretching the lids or something too much - another lovely side effect no one tell you about or even knows about except the dry eye zone folk!)so I have been sealing my eyes with a eye masks (gel like) and have tried the tranquileyes too, and I noticed about a 45 % improvement ! I don't know if its too early to do that but they they told me at the 3 month mark that I was fighting the dry eye all day because my eye was dried up during the night! So once I made sure they were sealed, my eyes weren't starting out terrible. I hope that that will help you.
You do learn to live with it like the others said.
To all my other encouragers: I had 4 "90 day' plugs put in last wednesday and have yet to notice an improvement. Are they a different make-up that takes a while to "puff up" or am I producing less tears for some reason??? It's kinda got me worried. Perhaps cauterization is the way to go? I would have thought they were working by now. Can eye adjust and get dryer or produce less tears in response to the plugs???
Thanks for input - all the best to you Mary.
Doreen

[Dot]

I forgot to mention that ise "refresh liquigel" with the refresh plus tears and they are my favorite combination. The liquigel viscosity replaces more of the oils and then the tears after that are much more soothing.
Hope you find what works for you. It is expensive though man, my surgeon is now charging me for the plugs and stuff... depressing!]

[Dotanne]

Hi Dot
I think it is tough when they charge you for plugs so soon after your Lasik. My Lasik surgeon tried to charge me for plugs and sent me an account but I wrote a letter back explaining that surely - if they offer free enhancement surgery then those of us that get a raw deal should at least get something free too - It must cost them more to do an enhancement than provide some plugs.
I refused to pay for my plugs. His reason was that seeing they hadn't told me the cost of the plugs beforehand that they would let me off paying.

I am 2 1/2 years post Lasik and things do improve - occasionally I have had set backs - but I am on an even keel at the moment but still spend heaps on drops. The night mask helped me heaps and also my WileyXs. I also try to do lots of exercise to help produce endorphins that help keep the depression away.
I did a 12 K walk yesterday (organised event) and my eyes haven't been too bad today!!! The weather was good though - cloudy and calm and fairly humid.

I keep hoping that by 5 years my tortured nerves might be back to what they were before Lasik!! There was a research article about that some time ago.
Cheers
Dotanne

[Dot]

Well I tried to use the argument of the enhancement vs some plugs. But no go. He agreed not to charge me for the placing of the plugs or the visit (sweet of him) and so I only have to pay for the plugs. He of course didn't know their cost... we shall see. I still think its unethical!

Well on Saterday after a busy day at work and naughty children I had a huge cry/sob and though that felt good to release at the time, I suffered the next two days with pain in my L eye similar to what I had fresh post Lasik!! Scared me to death. I didn't understand what was going on and then I read somewhere about crying diluting the oily part of the tears - anyone have experience like this?
Now however 3 days post crying spell I think the 3 month plugs may be starting to work, and with the combination of keeping my eyes sealed last night, I have only needed drops twice!! I dont' like the deep furrows that the gel eye mask leaves on my face and so I am going to try "tranquileyes" again tonight. It took me a while to figure out the straps.
Dotanne what are Wiley X's??
Doreen

[dianat]

Yes, crying is toxic. The tears are very salty and are not good at all for us dry eye patients. One thing I did notice, however, is the mental release of crying makes my psyche feel better. It's a great example of a paradox.

[Dotanne]

Hi Dot
WileyXs are a brand of sunglasses/goggles that protect the eyes from wind, airconditioning etc. They have an extra gasket to keep moisture around the eyes. They are similar to Panoptx. Do a search on this web-site (there are lots of comments on preferred styles) and you will find lots of info and/or Google to find the manufacturer's web-site. I was able to find out where they could be obtained in my country through the web site.
Using less drops sounds great. I hope things continue to improve for you.
Cheers
Dotanne

[dryeyes2]

Hi Mary,

I am sorry you are having such a rough time. I have dry eyes too, but not from Lasix surgery. I am writing to you because I saw that you are using Refresh Endura and Restasis. I do too; it is one of the drops I can tolerate. I am wondering if anyone else does this or not, but I was told by my opthamologist that I can use one vial of Restasis per day. After the first use, keep it upright in a clean glass and then use the second drop later in the day and then throw out the vial. Since Refresh Endura is the vehicle for Restasis, I have been doing basically the same thing with that. I open a vial and keep in a clean container and use it as needed, throwing it out (usually gone before this)after 24 hours. Does anyone know why this would not be an acceptable practice?

Talk to your eye doc about this. It might help cut down on the expense of this situation. Dry eyes sure aren't cheap!

Take care and I hope you find some relief soon.
Best wishes,
dryeyes2