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  • Autologous serum report

    First, a big thanks to Rebecca for helping me get Autologous serum, and to Diane, for being so supportive.

    I've had it about two weeks now and wanted to report. I thought about posing sooner, but my experience with the serum at the beginning was extremely positive, and I didn't want to post a very positive message and then have to follow it up with a disappointing one.

    Fortunately, so far I can say that the serum has been great. Here's some history on my dry eye. No dry eye whatsoever previous to LASIK in 1998, followed by terrible dry eye, particularly at night. In November of 2004, I decided to use a bunch of meds in combination. So...I stacked on Restasis, FLM, NAC drops, and doxycycline drops. Basically, I decided to simply ignore the potential for drug interactions and adverse effects, and instead hope there would be some synergistic effects. Sometimes I'd run out of one or the other, but for the most part, I used them all simultaneously and also religiously did hot compresses and lid scrubs every morning. When I started, I had a Tear break up time measured at zero seconds...instantaneous. By combining all those drugs, I think I made it up to two or three seconds (though tear volume was much better). Then about six months later I began to develop tinnitus, ringing in the ears. My guess is that it was from the doxy, but I can't say for sure. Anyway, I panicked and stopped everything and in about two months, the tinnitus subsided. I'm glad it did, because in its own way, it was worse than the dry eye. First I couldn't sleep through the night because of the dry eye, then I couldn't get to sleep because of the tinnitus.

    The doctor is Richard Hector in Bradenton, FL. I saw Dr. Hector in the afternoon, then stayed overnight with a friend, because the serum would need to be frozen before I could make the three hour drive home. So, I went to the lab the next morning and they drew my blood...quite a lot of blood, I thought, but less than a donation. That was spun down into serum and put into syringes...100 of them, for a 100 day supply. The dosage is four drops per eye per day. The syringes are kept in the freezer. I withdraw one each morning, thaw it under the tap, use as necessary and put it back in the frig. Any unused serum is thrown out each evening. There's probably enough for about 8 drops a day per eye in the syringe, I'd guess. I doubt you can overdose on it, since it's your own tissue, but I don't absolutely know that.

    Anyway, the serum has been really great. I don't think it's a cure for dry eye, but it's definitely better than eyedrops. Whereas with Restasis, I felt like it was trying to force my eye to do something, the serum seems to work with my eye. And why wouldn't it, since it's my own tissue. My main dry eye problem has been waking up in the middle of the night with "sandpaper eyes," followed by blurry vision in the morning. All of it has diminished noticeably.

    Raj

  • #2
    Raj,

    I'm very, very happy for your good news and am glad you've decided to post it. Any thoughts on some day combining serum with another drug (not the doxy)? Just curious. I have good things to report about my serum treatment, but I still have a long way to go. Would love to find a good way to increase oil production. But then again, wouldn't we all...

    Diana
    Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.

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    • #3
      Doxy and Mino are supposed to thin the oil, so those would probably be good for most people. I won't use Doxy drops again, but I might take the pills. The drops apparently go right to the middle ear.

      The only other thing I know that increases Meibomian production is lid scrubs and hot compresses, followed by gentle palpatation of the lids to express oil.

      Raj

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      • #4
        I'm really convinced that in addition to aqueous difficiency, I have MGD. It's the only explanation for my discomfort despite being cauterized in all four punctae with overflowing tears. I still burn all the time and I still feel very "exposed" to the air. Yet, there really are plenty of tears. What's more is that I do experience a fair amount of relief from using hot compresses. I think that's a good clue.

        I'm suddenly understanding better your doxy issue. I didn't realize you were using doxy drops and not taking orals. I assume you felt that the doxy drops were indeed helping you? I feel for people who find a solution to one health problem with a drug that causes a side-effect they cannot live with. My mother has this happen with many drugs she's tried to eliminate daily migraine headaches.

        Maybe someday I'll look into doxy drops for myself. I've already tried oral doxy-/mino- a couple times and didn't see any results. I also experienced a side-effect I couldn't live with.

        Some day, Raj, we'll be better off. I don't know how or when, but it's got to happen.

        D
        Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.

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        • #5
          Yeah, the doxy drops were helping.

          Your doc should be able to look at your lids and determine whether the Meibomian pores are clogged, or whether they're expressing oil easily.

          I don't know if a confocal microscope could look at patterns of nerve regrowth under or inside the flap, but all us LASIK folks apparently have aberrant nerve regrowth. I've heard that continually scratchy eyes in the face of a normal tear film is symptomatic of regrowth issues. Chronic foreign body sensation probably would be, too.

          Yup, things will improve someday.

          Raj

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