7 months on Dr. Holly drops: the numbers are in

[Maenad1]

Congrats on your increased TBUT, Rozjen! That's wonderful. I look forward to hearing more about the specifics.

*runs off to put in some Dakrina*

[Stanza]

This is wonderful

[Rojzen]

will answer

Rory - - I will come back and answer your terrific questions later today. . .and then also ask you for your best guidance on pacing/alternating the Dr. Holly drops. . Several of us here are trying to pin down regimens that are optimal, for these. . .

Thank you, all, for following my news so closely and caringly. . .And Rebecca: I knew I could count on you to grasp and fully process the magnitude of what has happened to my TBUT. . .I'm intensively pondering today how to turn around the adverse side of my exam experience. . .Thinking tentatively of reaching out to some other local eye docs who have seen my eyes, over the years, and who, with that backdrop, may have a better appreciation of what's happening. . .

More soon. . .and thank you, dearest friends. . .

[Rory]

Rojzen,

Did the Dr say what your TBUT time is now?

Also, you have MGD, rather than aqueous deficiency. I was under the impression that Nutratear would be the most suitable of Dr Holly's drops in that case? Can you explain how you have used Dr Holly's drops?

I received Dr Holly's drops for the first time this week, and have been trying Nutratear and Dwelle at night. Its only been a couple of days, but my lids are very inflamed. Did you experience anything like this?

Also with regards to removing protective glasses.. i wore protective glasses for a number of years and stopped wearing them for a while...and my eyes were also much more comfortable ..but i wasnt taking any treatment at the time...could it be that the glasses themselves gave you the improved symptoms?

Anyway, I hope that whatever it is that is helping you, continues to work.

Rory

[Rebecca Petris]

This is one of those posts that I want to frame and put on my wall for inspiration. Measurable TBUT... after all these years... I'd hardly dared even to hope!

Crazily, the doctor said to me "You know more about the composition and physiological effects of artificial tears than do most cornea specialists."

Not surprising to me at all. I can imagine you hardly know what sensation is foremost: gratification, or disillusionment.

The whole experience makes me worry that there seems to be little motivation, in ophthalmologists and optometrists, to see whether eyedrops can be THERAPEUTIC, and not just soothing.

For all the lip service that is paid to the composition of the tear film these days, few take any serious interest in what's going on on the ocular surface and why.

Dr. Holly has often asserted that dry eye care and research regressed in the 80's and 90's. I think that this is correct and that it simply coincides with the advent of laser refractive surgeries, because that is where the attention of the cornea community has been squarely focused for nearly 20 years now.

[Lucy]

A doctor who lets the patient "in" on their care! Rojzen, I think you made your point and the doc thinks if they help, who's he to say no!

I brought Dr. Holly's drops to my doc's attention when we first became aware of them in 2001. I've used them since. I also use TheraTears at times. No particular time, but I usually have a box in the house in case I feel I need a change of drops. I hope the continue to be of great help to you.

Lucy

[liz56]

Yea!

I am so glad to hear that your numbers correlate with your subjective feelings, Rojzen.

Your posts have been quite helpful on this matter.

Perhaps over time your doctor will be able to think to recommend Dr. Holly's drops to other patients. It's hard to describe how much they help, but you are right, Rojzen, it takes a lot of time for real differences to be noticeable. I know that the recommendations on the drops' pages in the Store suggest giving them one or two weeks, but there is something that happens over a month, at least, I am convinced that it took that long for me to think that these are more than just good eye drops but that they are stunningly healing.

[Rojzen]

In case it hasn't been obnoxiously obvious , I admit here and now that I have been touting the Dr. Holly drops in recent weeks, and simply can't get over how they have changed the course of my disease. Today, I saw my eye doc, and finally got some numbers to report, after a trial of FreshKote and Dwelle over a period of about 7 months.

For about 10 years, my tear break-up time was consistently measured, by many different doctors, to be from 0-1 seconds. Throughout that period, I had to wear moisture chamber glasses 24/7, even in indoor environments with completely still air, due to menthol/windy sensation that made it hard to keep eyes open without protective eyewear. . .I have LOVED my moisture chamber glasses, because they have essentially made living possible, for these years. . .

After about 6 months on Dr. Holly drops (excluding NutraTears, which I have yet to try for a sustained period, though not by itself), I accidentally put on regular glasses for a day, sans moisture chambers. I found that I could go for many hours, this way. . .At 7 months, I am rarely wearing the moisture chambers, though I expect always to need them at some times. . .

Today my doctor measured a tear break-up time that he described as significantly greater than 1 second, and almost "normal-looking". . .I still have dry spots, after a few seconds. . .But the break-up no longer starts instantly after a blink.

Interestingly, my Schirmer scores are very high, now, too. . .but I don't trust Schirmers for good information on tear production, and I have never been severely deficient lacrimally. . .

Anyway. . .Having tried literally DOZENS of different therapies over the years, I never believed change was possible. . .Now I see that it is. . .

The only downer today was that while I raved and raved about the high oncotic pressure Dr. Holly drops, and even handed my doctor literature about them, this kindly, but oblivious, doctor still asked me to try Soothe and Systane. (I tried these years ago, and was, in fact, involved in the Soothe clinical trials, where I was pronounced a bad candidate for the product. . .Soothe was awful for me, even though I have MGD. Systane was nice, but not therapeutic.) I also found the literature that I'd given the doc inside my patient file, as I left the office. . .evidence that he will not be reading it. . .

Crazily, the doctor said to me "You know more about the composition and physiological effects of artificial tears than do most cornea specialists." He then proceeded not to care at all what kind of drop he tells patients to put in to their eyes. . .I'll stick with this doctor, because he is well meaning and a brilliant surgeon and ocular surface expert, but I'm on my own with treatment. . .

The whole experience makes me worry that there seems to be little motivation, in ophthalmologists and optometrists, to see whether eyedrops can be THERAPEUTIC, and not just soothing. . .I want to do something to change this, but I'm not sure how. . .