Administrator
I get phone calls regularly from Dr. Foulks' patients, both at the U of Louisville and at the VA.
I frequently hear stories of how well he is treating them and how he is identifying conditions often overlooked by other doctors. I love hearing from patients whose doctors are doing a good job!!
Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone
Dry Eye Patient
Another "plug" for Dr. Foulks
I want to add to the positive comments about Dr. Foulks. I have been seeing him since February and have lost count of the number of times I've had to either call him or go in to see him again because of some new problem. Not only was he the first doctor to completely and accurately diagnose my problem (aqueous insufficiency and MGD); he has continued to treat me with extraordinary care and competence. What can I say? I'm crazy about him! Ha. Even now, we're having problems with one upper plug. (The other three are fine.) Lacrisert may be the next thing. Anyway, he always has a new idea, if something's not working. I can't say enough about my appreciation of this wonderful doctor.
Dry Eye Patient
Dr. Foulks is incredible.! He is by the far the best doctor I have ever been too! I see him again on the 29th--he wants me to try the lacriserts as well but wants to show me how to insert them. What I love is that anytime I have a question I can call him and he calls me right back! It's so wonderful and he always seems to have something 'new' for me to try.
He has gotten me the 'most comfortable' i have been in years. He is the first doctor where my MGD actually got under control. Now I just have to find something to help me when I have super dry days due to my sjogrens... I travel 2 hours to see him-I always have to get a family member to take me as my dry eyes can't stand that long of a drive but he is well worth it! I highly recommend him to anyone!
Dry Eye Patient
more on Dr. Foulks
It's really funny that I myself just posted a message on Dr. Foulks a couple of days ago and now am reading that you, Jennie, are expressing the same sentiments! I have had the exact same experiences. Sometimes I've even felt so apologetic about "bothering" him again, but he never makes me feel that way...I'm going in this week to be introduced to the Lacriserts as well. (I hope that these drops aren't as difficult as some people say b/c they sound interesting.) As you say, he never stops offering new possibilities. In the realm of dry eye, we are soooo fortunate to have him.
I carry Dr. Foulks business cards around with me and hand them out anytime I meet someone who's struggling with dry eye.
LouisvilleLady
Dry Eye Patient
Yeah he wanted me to come this week but i have to wait til the 29th due to work and i have to take the day off to drive down there! I am the same way-I feel like I don't want to bother him with calls and emails but I think it's because he is so patient and gives so much time to us! He is one of a kind ! I feel so lucky to have him as a doctor. I can't wait to try the lacriserts... He said something about putting them in at night before bed... he is going to show me... good luck w/ your apt and the lacriserts! You may love them. I hope!
Jen
Dry Eye Patient
Since I found someone else who's seeing the same doctor (Dr. Foulks), I thought I'd follow up from my last entry because it seems that both you and I, Jennie, were going to be trying the Lacriserts. Well, on my last visit (mid Dec.) Dr. Foulks looked at the right upper plug, in which he'd previously placed a SmartPlug and said that it was in place. Still, he was willing to reinforce it one more time with a second SmartPlug just to make sure that it was fully plugged. Then, if I was still not comfortable, he said to come back. Then he reminded me that winter is especially difficult for dry eye. Since then, I've been keeping up my massages, drops, and lid hygiene. So, we'll put off the Lacriserts even yet.
In the meantime, I remembered that my bio-identical hormones had been adjusted so that the testosterone level had been reduced, so I put in a call to bring the level back up and even put it in a separate tube so that I could put a little directly on my eyelids. Along with that, I thought that I'd go ahead and try Dr. Holly's drops. Honestly, I've had better days this past week than I've had for several months, so I hope I don't have to bother Dr. Foulks. I wonder what he'll say about these drops if we really believe they're good.
I admit that I've been a skeptic, but soooo many people on this website talked about how good they are...
Administrator
Do you mean Dr. Holly's drops? Dr. Foulks prescribes them relatively often (including Freshkote I believe). I hear from post-transplant patients of his all the time. He is one of the few MDs out there with a really good understanding of how they work. If I remember right he trained with Dr. Holly for a time.Originally Posted by LouisvilleLady
Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone
Dry Eye Patient
Hello --Louisville Lady--
I actually went to Dr. Foulks last Monday and he showed me how to use Lacriserts-I absolutely love them! I use them after I do my morning compress and massage and it is so FREEING---I no longer have to put drops in during the day and my eyes don't get so red (from being dry ) like they used too.. I love them.. I hope you get to try them soon. I too am using Testosterone cream-have been for almost 4 weeks-I have sjogrens and MGD but believe it may be worsended my hormone problems as well... You can PM me if you like ..
good luck w/ everything. keep me posted! Dr. Foulks is the best-and yes -Rebecca is correct-he knows all about Dr. Holly's drops -i use Dwell at nightime only
Dry Eye Patient
I so appreciate input from you, Rebecca and Jennie. Hmmm, well now I wonder why Dr. Foulks never mentioned these drops before. He'd given me permission to try almost anything which I felt comfortable with; however, he seemed quite partial to Systane. Maybe he thinks that Dr. Holly's drops are for "severe" patients, and perhaps I would seem to fit the "milder side of moderate" category. I'm that postmenopausal person who has reduced tear production and MGD (posterior blepharitis). Restasis, plugs and warm compresses/massages/lid hygiene have been the primary focus of my care. Yet, since I started going to Dr. Foulks, there've been a lot of "ups and downs" to get everything to actually work consistently without having another setback. (I might be doing fine for a few weeks and then an oil gland would clog up and get infected. He's actually had to squeeze my lids a couple of times!)....not to be gross....
Anyway, it's wonderful to find out that the Lacriserts are working out nicely, Jennie, because I was a bit skeptical....However, this week will be an amazing three weeks since my last appointment so if I continue to do well on the Dr. Holly drops, I guess I don't have any reason to pursue the Lacriserts. I admit that the idea of not putting in drops continuously sounds good. Right now, though, I see what people are saying about the Dwelle and Nutratear seeming to last longer. I do add some Theratears occasionally. My right eye has just been dryer - even with the SmartPlug.
Again, thank you for your comments. You all are such a wonderful support! Even if I'm not the worst case in the world, I remember what terrible, incapacitating pain I was in for the two years prior to going to Dr. Foulks. It's astounding to me that I can read again and be on the computer.
What's PM mean?
Dry Eye Patient
Pm-is private message.. sorry...
well, I was horrible before I found Dr. Foulks too. I also have hormone issues w/ the sjogrens too.. i am trying the testosterone cream and it seems to help with the inflammation so far..
and yes the lacriserts are great-i work in a call center on a computer all day for a bank and it is so nice to not have to constantly put drops in my eyes!
You will have to let me know if you try them. I know with me-Dr. Foulks likes to only change one thing at a time which is a good thing.
have a great week.
jen
Dry Eye Patient
lacriserts
Jennie, I'm scheduled to see Dr. Foulks in several weeks. I wonder whether he will still think that I need the lacriserts, but as I keep remembering what you've said about not having to use the drops as often, it sounds soooo wonderful. My left eye is fine, with "double plugs" and plenty of tears. Drops several times a day are fine there. The right one, however, has never been as "wet" ever since the SmartPlug was put in. The original punctal plugs were effective, but would never stay in. Dr. F said that he thinks that I just "got drier." Anyway, that's the one in which I have to keep putting drops. I use Soothe 3x's a day; Systane (vials) at least 2-3 x's, but more when reading; and Theratears gel (vials), every half hour from midday through the rest of the day. Does that sound as if I'm dry enough in that eye to warrant lacriserts? I know D.r F will tell me, but I still wondered what you think, from your experience.
LouisvilleLady
PS I'm not very computer literate, so I don't know how to do "private messaging."
Dry Eye Patient
Hey
I would think if you want to try them he will show you how (he demonstrated them to me) because even when I am having 'good days' i still put them in. It's so nice to not use any drops at all (except my dose of restasis) and also my eyes stay so white and clear-like I'm normal. I love them.
If anything I would think you might want to try them for the eye that is drier. I would still ask him if you could try them and if he has any samples for you to take home and try. That is what I did along with my prescription.
I work on a computer at work-banking call center-yesterday was nuts-If I wouldn't have had my Lacriserts in I would have been in severe pain--the blink rate really slows down when on a computer like that plus with my Sjogrens I am very up and down day per day and sometimes I will have a great morning and get drier later on. there is no rhyme or reason with it for me.
Good luck. Please keep me posted. I feel lucky to have found Dr. Foulks. He is such a great doctor!
Jen
Dry Eye Patient
Hello, LouisvilleLady!
I've sent you a Private Message (PM) in case you'd like to practice.
Go to the upper right-hand corner of the screen where you're reading right now.
It will show a Welcome statement with your online name, plus a statement of when you last visited, and a summary of the number of your Private Messages.
Here's how that portion of my screen read a few minutes ago:
Welcome, mary kenny badami.
You last visited: Today at 09:01
Private Messages: Unread 0, Total 67.
Right now yours should show at least ONE "Unread."
If you double-click on the underlined phrase "Private Messages" part of YOUR screen,
it should bring you to a place where you can find your way to read my message (also any others which you may have accumulated).
Dry Eye Patient
thanks
Thanks to both of you for your replies. I'm so encouraged by the kindness and support of you all. By all means, I appreciate the urging to go ahead and discuss lacriserts on my next visit. Now I feel more confident that it's a good decision. I question myself often as to whether I'm a bit of a perfectionist about the amount of progress I want. Also, Dr. Foulks said that the lacriserts were expensive, so I think he didn't want to jump into them too soon. I'll let you know next month on that.
Thank you also, Mary, for the info. on PM. I made a little progress, but I think that I'll get my husband to help me with a reply. Let you know later.
Thank you, again. You all are terrific!
LL
Dry Eye Patient
desperate
I wanted to give feedback on my visits with Dr. Foulks. I have had no improvement and no new suggestions other than lacriserts which I couldn't do. Actually I have gotten worse. I called today and he said he wouldn't prescrible the DHEA drops I have read about on here. I am so bummed out. I would go anywhere to get better. I wish there was somewhere else. I went to him because of the good reports on here.
Dry Eye Patient
Hi Louisvillemom,
I'm sorry that you've not been able to make progress with Dr. Foulks. I know that not every doctor is a perfect fit for everyone; however, if you truly have dry eye as your primary problem, it's hard to believe that he doesn't know what to do...That said, it took about a month or so before he got to the root of mine. I had to keep calling back whenever the treatment wasn't working. Finally, after the process of working step-by-step, we got there. Yet, it still takes ongoing work of implementing a regime, letting it work - or not - and then trying something else. Usually, new approaches come up along the way. ( I've been doing this for over a year now, and even though it's been "two steps forward; one step back," overall, I'm 90% better.) I've never known Dr. F not to continue to offer something! He's always ready with the latest information.
Now, one thing that I've had to adapt to is his conservative, slow, steady pace. Because he is a researcher, I believe that he is "conscientious to a fault" and therefore doesn't implement too many things at once. He gives a recommendation, says to try it for a while and then come back (or call) if it doesn't work.
Finally, Dr. F clearly believes in treatments having solid clinical research. Like you, I have asked about the DHEA drops, and he wasn't enthusiastic due to the lack of research. However, he told me that if I really wanted them, he'd be willing to try them. I also asked about the testosterone cream which is used at the Southern College of Optometry, and he wasn't impressed with that either, as it doesn't yet have enough "clinical trials."
Again, I'm sorry that you didn't find the help you needed from Dr. Foulks, but keep looking. Right now, I'm really glad he recommended this new drop - OasisTears Plus. It's seeming to do something that the other drops didn't, but he also said to give them a month! Everything takes time, and this has been the hardest lesson for me.
Dry Eye Patient
Louisville Lady,
I am glad you have improved so much. I have gone to him three times; the fourth time tomorrow and I have gotten worse. He said he would be unwilling to give me DHEA drops and said so for the testosterone cream too until I said I had read on this board he had given some to someone else and only then did he say he would give the cream. He had just told me I could go to Tennessee and a man there would give it to me. That is a long way to go for some cream. Again only when I said someone on this board(which is where I said I got my referral to see him) had gotten some from him that he said that she had gotten it first from a man in Tennessee and he just refilled it. Then he said he could give it to me, but was unwilling to give me DHEA drops. Tomorrow is I believe going to be my last shot with him. I have been out tons of money and I am getting worse. He acts for some reason like he doesn't like me. What treatments have you tried. I have tried restasis several times and each time I think it could be making me worse. Thanks for your reply.
I was searching and came across this thread. But I don't think it's a good idea to put in TWO smart plugs in the same place. One enough has it's own risks that could require surgery to remove it. But putting in TWO could/would be a problem as you might not be able to flush them out if needed. As sometimes they aren't able to flush out just the ONE plug. And I've read that with the Smart Plugs, the doctors can't be sure if they've flushed them out or not, or if they're even still in there.
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