RCEs after Lasek

[conorm]

Hi folks,

Im hoping one of you can share some of your knowledge and maybe even cheer me up a bit...

Deep Breath here goes......

I got LASEK treatment done back in March of this year and I have to say my eyesight has been perfect ever since. Unfortunately it has come at a cost.

In the last couple of months my eyes have become really dry and I am getting RCEs from time to time also.

For months and months everything was fine since the surgery and im wondering why the dry eye/RCEs are only occuring now. I went back to the surgeon who has told me to come back to him in 3 weeks and to log how often it is happening.

He is a nice guy and I have no doubt he is going to do his best to help.

He gave me Vidisic to put in my eyes before going to bed and Artelac Advanced SDU for during the days.

I found the day after using the Vidisic my eyes were stingy and dry so I decided to give it a rest for a couple of days...

The first day I didnt use it was fine and my eyes were feeling ok once I used the Artelac.

On the second day I woke up with quiet a bad RCE in my right eye. Funnily enough it wasnt when I opened my eye because I have trained myself not to open my eyes quickly in the morning but it was when I moved my eye slightly under the lid.. same thing i suppose

Im feeling quiet depressed and angry at myself for getting the surgery done in the first place but I cant turn back the clock i suppose...

Im wondering are these RCEs something im going to be stuck with for good or do they go away in some cases?

Also is this damaging my eye everytime it happens and if so could my eye be left with irrepairable damage

Any help would be appreciated...

Thanks

Conor

[prattstar]

Connor

Welcome to the board, I can absolutely relate to your story.

I live in the UK and had lasek nearly 3 years ago now and have had dry eyes to varying degrees ever since.

Where your story and mine are similar is that I started getting RCE's a little while down the track also.

I can assure you that with time, my left eye seems to be fine now but I still get RCE's in my right eye, however, they feel more like an irritation than the toe curling ones that I got back sometime ago.

I am a regular user now of Clinitas Ultra 3, I use it every night, and sometimes during the day also.

I found an Ice pack is good to have on hand for when those RCE's occur.

You could also keep some saline solution beside your bed, sounds like you have trained yourself well, a little saline on your eyes before you open them could just give you a boost of moisture and help prevent another RCE.

I feel for you but can absolutely assure you based on my experience that this does get better.

I didn't mean to frighten you at all but if you want to have a read about my story, it is in the "my story section" and is titled 6 months post epi-lasek. I will warn you, it is from some of my darker days, things have improved a lot for me.

I've not heard of either of the drops/drugs/ointments/gels/potions you have mentioned.

Warm regards

Ian

[conorm]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for replying. I read your story there. It is a bit scary alright. Fingers crossed mine wont be as bad and will improve in time.

My surgeon mentioned a surgery that can be done to flatten the outer layer of my eye I think he might have said PRK (sorry for my lack of correct terminology)

Has this been successful for anyone?

Maybe im jumping the gun and making a mountain out of a molehill as my problem is quite minor compared to some of the stories Ive read here.

I suppose il just keep putting in the drops and the gel at night and see what happens.

Il report back in a week or so (with good news hopefully).

Oh yeah what was the ice pack for Ian?

Regards

Conor

[prattstar]

Conor

I did warn you that my story could be a little scary and not everyone has the same road I did.

You are about 8 months out of surgery and things will continue to improve without doubt. My worst time was my 6 -12 month mark, so you could be going through that.

The icepack helped with cool the pain of the erosions, mine were pretty severe of a morning so that really helped me out.

I would encourage you to look at the drops/ointments/gels you are using, it is possible if they are the preserved variety that they could be exacerbating your problem. If it is an oitment, it could be inhibiting the wettability of your occular surface.

I am not exactly sure what the surgery is they are referring to but the options I have been presented with were:
Debridement - where the epithelium is removed and discarded then allowed to regenerate (supposedly adheres better)

PTK where a laser is used to "spot weld" the epithelium in place. My concern with this option was the potential visual disturbance, but I am thinking of this again now as the vision in my right eye is rubbish.

As stated previously, the best and most progress I have made with any lotion/potion/gel/tear/etc is Clinitas Ultra 3. In my case, it is the only thing that has given me back partial control of my life.

Warm regards

Ian

[conorm]

Actually the RCEs that are happening to me are only slightly painful but are more uncomfortable than anything else..

Hopefully thats a good sign that they arent too severe.

I'll stick to the stuff the doctor prescribed me til I meet him again in a couple of weeks and if im not seeing an improvement i'l definitely give the Clinitas Ultra 3 a go.

Thanks for your help Ian, its great to hear from someone was in the same situation.

[Hangus]

Hi guys
I too had RCE after lasek and still do but not to the extent I had in the first 18 months. Hopefully it will pass for you but whatever the general trend seems to be for the symptoms to ease after a while.
Ian, where do you get Clinitas 3 from? I understood it to be similar to Dwelle and Dakrina.

Conor , this is the right place to be for you because all the answers you need are on this site. Ian and I have had 3 years of this and between us we have tried the lot!
Chin up and keep positive
Barry

[prattstar]

Barry

I sent you a PM on this.

Clinitas is similar to Dwelle but it also has a lipid (to me it felt a little different somehow).

I use it mainly of a night instead of gels or the 22 other different things I've tried for night time comfort, this has been the best for me so far, so I'm sticking with it.

As for where I get it from, you can get it directly from the UK distributor (Altacor) for roughly the same price (around £7) that you can get it anywhere else.

They also sent me a letter to say that both Clinitas Ultra 3 and Clinitas Soothe are available of prescription but may need to be ordered by your pharmacy.

I guess the latter option is OK is you are bathing in it, but given that a prescription these days is around £7 anyway, there probably isn't a great deal of saving.

The Soothe though might be cheaper on RX than OTC given that it is a PF version and they tend to hover around £10+ a box.

My advice is to Google it but make sure you check out the shipping costs as some of them are a little steep. From memory (and that's fading) Altacor ship for free - again, check this as I could be wrong.

Cheers

Ian

[bernmee]

Conorm,

Just want to jump in here and give you a little hope. I had severe erosions for three weeks after Lasik, before I had a Bandage Contact Lens, which seemed to work. I continued having terrible night time/ morning pain after it was removed, but not the screaming pain of the first three weeks.

I switched from my Lasik surgeon to a trustworthy and caring cornea specialist after three months, and he told me he suspected I was still having minor erosions, though how the words minor and erosion can be used in the same sentence is beyond me.

He put me on Doxy for my MGD and told me that a side effect of the Doxy was that it helped the eyeball "gel" back together. Either way, I don't get that terrible pain that used to wake me and I now believe and am hopeful that the erosions are behind me. If I can only get my waking pain sorted now life would be sweet.

I hope your erosions can become a thing of the past, because those things are nasty.

Bernadette

[prattstar]

Bernadette

I remember my corneal specialist saying something similar about Doxy - eyes gelling back together.

I can't remember his exact words but they were similar to that if two of us have been told similar things.

Could be something in that.

Cheers

Ian

[conorm]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies.

Just to give you a quick update. I havent had an RCE since I started putting the Vidisic in at night time and applying drops when I wake.

I do find my eyes are very sticky in the morning though which is probably due to the Vidisic itself.

I starting to wonder is all the dryness due to the change in weather as the central heating and air conditioning seem to be on full blast everywhere I go...

Meeting surgeon on saturday so hopefully I can go til then without any set backs..

[conorm]

Looks like I spoke too soon

Was doing so well since putting in the vidisic correctly but I woke up last night with the worse RCE ive ever had in my left eye..

I think I might have been having one of theose dreams where you feel like your falling and wake yourself up. The pain in my eye was worse than ive ever felt.

My eye was extremely bloodshot and was difficult to keep open long enough to put drops in.

Funnily enough there was no redness this morning but my eye still feels very dry.

Ive been keeping track of how often it occurs at the moment and its looking like about 2-3 a month.

Is that a good or bad sign?

Its very disheartenening when it happens as I was doing so well recently.

Rant over..

[prattstar]

Conor

it is so hard to deal with this problem.

I can go for weeks (not normally much more than about 3-4) without having an erosion, but I can only reassure you that the ones I get today are nothing like they once were.

My left eye seems to be quite happy within itself these days as I very rarely get them in that eye anymore.

My right eye is still my problem, as stated, they used to really curl the toes and you just wanted to scratch your eye out. Now it is a more of an inconvenience than a pain.

I always keep an ice pack in the freezer as I find that it helps numb the pain and help clear up the redness (natural vasocontrictor).

Sorry to hear about your setback

Regards

Ian

[conorm]

Hi guys,

I went to see the surgeon on saturday and he recommended I get PTK surgery to rectify the problem.

I told him I wasnt keen on another surgery and that I would prefer to wait and see if they improve themselves for a while.

He put a plug in each tear duct and said that this should improve my dry eyes a bit.

I have another appointment in January and he said that if the RCEs havent improved by then that he would recommended surgery.

Im just praying that I dont have any RCEs now. The drops im using seem to be doing the trick during the day (Artelac Advanced SDU) so hopefully the plugs will help with the RCEs at night...


Has anyone else been suggested PTK and if so what was your reasons for either getting it done or not?

Thanks

Conor

[liz56]

Hi, Conor.

I suffer from RCE's, but mine are from a corneal dystrophy rather than vision correction surgery.

There is a thread, which is now locked, at another discussion board that treats this topic and has come people's stories. Also there are other threads there on RCE, PTK, and PRK. If you just search for RCE, they will come up.

I hope that you get relief soon. RCE's can be completely debilitating. They were for me. However, they also can be kept in check with a good routine, and, for some, PTK. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

--Liz

[conorm]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to give a quick update on my progress since my last post.

Since my last appointment in November I have been putting in the Vidisic in my eyes before going asleep and then the Artelac in the mornings to peel my eyes open... :-)

Since November I havent had any serious RCEs however I was awoken twice over the last couple of months with what id describe as discomfort and tightening in my eye but it wasnt bad enough to even make my eye water..

Im assuming they were very slight RCEs.

Anyway I went back to my surgeon and he inspected my eye with that light thingy :-) and said that he was delighted with the progress I have made and that I could start to gradually come off the Vidisic at nightime assuming I dont have any set backs.

Ive been using it every second or third night over the last week and my eyes feel great.

I think half of the annoyance is the sticky feeling you feel in your eye the day after putting in the night gel.

Also I found that if I ever woke up late in the morning and didnt have time for a shower my eyes felt a lot dryer during the day.
Maybe the moisture in the shower helped my eyes get off to a good start to the day.

Hopefully my progress will continue and I will keep you posted with good news... hopefully

[liz56]

Originally Posted by conorm

[snip]

Also I found that if I ever woke up late in the morning and didnt have time for a shower my eyes felt a lot dryer during the day.
Maybe the moisture in the shower helped my eyes get off to a good start to the day.

Hopefully my progress will continue and I will keep you posted with good news... hopefully

Glad to hear that you are doing so much better! that is a great story.

On the matter of the shower-- it also might be that the warmth of the water helps the glands in the eyelids that secrete oil to help and retain moisture in the eye to work better. So, if you get that dry feeling during the day, it might mean that a warm compress would help.

Thanks for the uplifting report!

--Liz

[Fiona]

HI, I have been reading these threads for a while now. I suffer from RCEs and Map Dot Dystrophy. With the help of a very sympathetic and persistant Optician and an excellent consultant the RCEs are now under control. I have a bandage lens, use Ocusan drops in the bandaged eye and Viscotears and Lacrilube in the other. These have all helped enormously but one of the main factors has definitely been using a humidifier both at home and work. I am aware I have been lucky compared to the majority of sufferers on this site but the consultant was insistant that I at least try a humidifier in my office and in bedroom at night - he was right it definitely helps.