Another LASIK question about how to treat this

[Ccoughlin]

Hi - I had LASIK surgery in Apr'12, so I'm about 8 months along, with MGD dry eye. It was starting to get noticeably better in the past few months, and now - with the cold and the heat turned on - I feel like I'm backtracking.

~ Is the first winter after LASIK the hardest, hopefully?

~ I sometimes wonder if it's getting better, or I'm just finally accepting this level of reduced vision (slightly blurry at times - always at night, but also inside in lower lighting situations - I guess my question is, am I right to hope that this will someday be better, and I don't have to do a million drops everyday?? Here's hoping. I just don't see many post-LASIK success stories here.

~ I wonder if my vision was degrading by nighttime, when I had contacts and glasses, and I just didn't notice it b/c the prescription "covered" it?

~ I hope that I see things better in the Spring season, when the warmth/humidity comes back

~ My TBUT was better - about 4-6, instead of a previousd 1-2, so MGD and lipid oil production/blockage is my problem. Should I get my plugs taken out soon -

~ Also, do you think I can leave off of Restasis? I don't know that it's helping me much - - very expensive too

~ I just started doxy - hoping that can help some

If you have any other recommendations, I welcome your input - - thanks, Chandra

[Scout]

~ I sometimes wonder if it's getting better, or I'm just finally accepting this level of reduced vision (slightly blurry at times - always at night, but also inside in lower lighting situations - I guess my question is, am I right to hope that this will someday be better, and I don't have to do a million drops everyday?? Here's hoping. I just don't see many post-LASIK success stories here.

~ I wonder if my vision was degrading by nighttime, when I had contacts and glasses, and I just didn't notice it b/c the prescription "covered" it?

I don’t really know about your case specifically, but I can tell you what happened to me.

I had real problems adjusting to dim light and night vision after LASIK. I complained about it for months but I think my LASIK doctor just kept hoping that my brain could adapt to decreased vision in those circumstances.

I eventually pushed the doctor for glasses that I could wear in those conditions. For a long time, I wore the glasses to drive, to watch television at night and to watch movies in dark theaters. It was really helpful and it really helped my mood. I was so disappointed in the procedure and so frustrated with my doctor. But the glasses to help with the decreased vision at night really helped.

For me, it was a combination of the LASIK correction and inflammation. The size of the treatment area for LASIK correction sometimes is just not large enough when our pupils dilate at night or in dim light. And for me, the long day with inflammation made my eyes particular inflamed and uncomfortable, with very poor tear quality.

I am not sure what your particular issue is, but if you tell your doctor that you want to try glasses for dim light and night vision, it couldn’t hurt. And it might help you feel better.

Scout

[Blinks]

Scout,

Can you provide a bit more detail around the glasses? Are these the amber colored contrast vision type advertised? Are they available as non-prescription to wear over sclerals? I'd like to ask my eye doctor about these and would be very grateful for any information that may help my doctor to find them, i.e. manufacturer or source.

Thank you for posting about this.

Blinks

[Rebecca Petris]

~ Is the first winter after LASIK the hardest, hopefully?

Can't predict any individual case but broadly speaking, yes, because (a) dry eye is at its worst in that first year and winter is the worst time for dry eye, and (b) the days are so short you have many more hours in which to notice the impact on vision in lower light and indoors.

Here's hoping. I just don't see many post-LASIK success stories here.

When you get better (note I'm not saying *if*) - however 'better' is defined for you - PLEASE come back and tell us Tell us when you knew things were getting better, and what it was like. The reason we don't have post LASIK success stories here is because when people get better, they have no reason to post. Same with any other kind of dry eye. When people get over the hump, they have moved on with life, which is great, but unfortunately they're invisible to those who most need to know that they exist. When you get discouraged by the apparent lack of successes here, always, always remember that this board is simply a magnet for the people who are still in a hard place, and for all the exceptions and unusual cases.

I wonder if my vision was degrading by nighttime, when I had contacts and glasses, and I just didn't notice it b/c the prescription "covered" it?

Maybe maybe not. Depends what the deal is with your vision. Often that stuff is spherical aberrations from lasik, and/or the kind of effect Scout's talking about.

~ My TBUT was better - about 4-6, instead of a previousd 1-2, so MGD and lipid oil production/blockage is my problem. Should I get my plugs taken out soon -

I wouldn't be in any hurry to make changes. It's only December, and we've got a lotta winter ahead of us. If you start having tear overflow that's another matter.

[Scout]

Scout,

Can you provide a bit more detail around the glasses? Are these the amber colored contrast vision type advertised? Are they available as non-prescription to wear over sclerals? I'd like to ask my eye doctor about these and would be very grateful for any information that may help my doctor to find them, i.e. manufacturer or source.

Thank you for posting about this.

Blinks

My actual correction changed in dim light and in the dark, becoming more nearsighted. It took quite a long time to convince my doctor that this happened. This was over 10 years ago and I think the doctors were just starting to learn how LASIK surgery affected certain people.

The glasses I had were just regular glasses with correction. But in addition, he added another -.25 to each lens. The theory being that sometimes an "overcorrection" can force the pupils to constrict a bit. In truth, it never felt overcorrected to me, it felt just right. I could see at night again and I was so relieved.

Scout

[Blinks]

Scout,

Thanks for the additional information. I plan to speak to my eye doctor at the next appointment about options to improve my night vision. It's so nice to read about some new strategies and what has worked for others.

Thank you!
Blinks