Tweet
Hello All. I am about 21 months post Lasik (had it back in July '07).
Months 1 thru 6: My first 5 months I only had some dryness upon waking in the morning, but after blinking my eyes a few times felt fine. I remember seeing my doctor for at a 2 month post-op checkup and he said they appeared to be slightly dry, but I didn't pay much attention because they felt fine. I was seing 20/15 and I didn't feel dry.
Month 6: Right about New Years time I was in Mexico City. It is high elevation and dry. My eyes started hurting and feeling dry. It took me about a week to figure it out, but then this is when I knew. Some of my pictures from Teotihuacan look awful bcos my eyes look super red and squinted! I was upset.
Months 6 thru 8: (Jan '08-March '08) For about three months last year I was in terrible shape, headaches, and pain. I got prety depressed from it. This is when I found this site. I ordered tranquilEyes (thanks Rebeca!). My eyes pained me well into spring too... I couldn't get over it.
Months 9 thru 15: Moderate dry eye. It definitely got better in the warmer weather. It didnt bother me as much, although always dry upon waking.
Month 15: (mid September '08) It got A LOT better. I think I posted this on another site because my loginwas not working here. I actually told people I had recovered. It seemed that after using a thorough coating of Genteal Gel at night and goggles (TranQuil Eyes) EVERY NIGHT RELIGIOUSLY for about two-three weeks, I was MUCH BETTER. For the rest of the fall and into winter and New Years, even in the cold I was fine. I thought I was more or less recovered/cured! I even stopped using the gel and eye protection.
Months 15 thru 19: I was feeling as if I was over it, and had finally found relief and not really worrying about them anymore.
Here was my posting from January 28th on usaeyes.org: Yes I have. Just recently, this year. It is about maintenance! The more you keep them healthy, the better they will feel over time. Until you get that concept you may never experience relief.
I am about 20 months post-op, almost 2 years, and it wasn't until just a few months ago that I started to realize.
-Coating my eyes very well with gel EVERY NIGHT, tilt my head back, then all the way forward, coat one eye, THEN do the other. Then wear the mask EVERY NIGHT.
First thing in the morning, DRENCH your eyes!
Just keep open nips of drops open all around, on the counter top, wherever. You gotta just keep using them.
-Then, coating the surrounding skin with oil. I dip my hand in some , I use organic castor oil, thick. But you could use olive, jojoba, or even vaseline.. Coat your eye sockets, around your eyes, and eye lids, especially at night. Keeps the skin around your eyes from wicking moisture away from your eyes.
And then just keep using the hell out of drops! And stay hydrated, and relaxed!
Basically my eyes started seeing signs of improvement after 18 months, and I feel like they are still getting better! I am hopeful. This is also my recovery post. Oh, btw, there are others who take 2-3 years to recover as well.
Good luck man! Keep stress reduced, and stay off the computer. Take care of yourself, and they very well should get better. That is what took me nearly 10 months to find out! And I Thank the Lord!!!!
Month 19 thru 21: I have had a bad two or three months since about mid February they started getting bad again, and now I am discovering that once this starts to happen, if you do not do anything about it, they just get inflamed, and they get worse.
Dr Helen Wu (Boston) today I saw her and she says I can get past this. She says that I have a lot of inflammation, BUT it is "cureable" she says!! Isn't that a bold statement!? Well I guess I did see a marked improvement from 12-18 months, so that says a lot I suppose!
treatment plan:
She said to try Restasis again (see I tried it for 3-4 weeks once last year but it just made things kinda irritated and didnt help so I stopped.) But she says I need to use a steroid first for two weeks in order for the Restasis to then work.
-Use Lotemax for two weeks: 1 drop in each eye, 4x/day.
-Start Restasis after 2 weeks using Lotemax.
-Use Restasis: 1 drop in each eye, 2x/day.
-AND Fish oil 1,000-2,000mg each day if my stomach can handle it.
She says to see her in 6 weeks. She thinks I can get better. I am hopeful.
Thank you for reading my story. I apologize for the long italicized excerpt post above, but I just re-read it and thought it may be uplifting for some. I'm glad I posted it here.
If anyone has had experience and relief from Lotemax and Restasis let me know. Thanks, B
Months 1 thru 6: My first 5 months I only had some dryness upon waking in the morning, but after blinking my eyes a few times felt fine. I remember seeing my doctor for at a 2 month post-op checkup and he said they appeared to be slightly dry, but I didn't pay much attention because they felt fine. I was seing 20/15 and I didn't feel dry.
Month 6: Right about New Years time I was in Mexico City. It is high elevation and dry. My eyes started hurting and feeling dry. It took me about a week to figure it out, but then this is when I knew. Some of my pictures from Teotihuacan look awful bcos my eyes look super red and squinted! I was upset.
Months 6 thru 8: (Jan '08-March '08) For about three months last year I was in terrible shape, headaches, and pain. I got prety depressed from it. This is when I found this site. I ordered tranquilEyes (thanks Rebeca!). My eyes pained me well into spring too... I couldn't get over it.
Months 9 thru 15: Moderate dry eye. It definitely got better in the warmer weather. It didnt bother me as much, although always dry upon waking.
Month 15: (mid September '08) It got A LOT better. I think I posted this on another site because my loginwas not working here. I actually told people I had recovered. It seemed that after using a thorough coating of Genteal Gel at night and goggles (TranQuil Eyes) EVERY NIGHT RELIGIOUSLY for about two-three weeks, I was MUCH BETTER. For the rest of the fall and into winter and New Years, even in the cold I was fine. I thought I was more or less recovered/cured! I even stopped using the gel and eye protection.
Months 15 thru 19: I was feeling as if I was over it, and had finally found relief and not really worrying about them anymore.
Here was my posting from January 28th on usaeyes.org: Yes I have. Just recently, this year. It is about maintenance! The more you keep them healthy, the better they will feel over time. Until you get that concept you may never experience relief.
I am about 20 months post-op, almost 2 years, and it wasn't until just a few months ago that I started to realize.
-Coating my eyes very well with gel EVERY NIGHT, tilt my head back, then all the way forward, coat one eye, THEN do the other. Then wear the mask EVERY NIGHT.
First thing in the morning, DRENCH your eyes!
Just keep open nips of drops open all around, on the counter top, wherever. You gotta just keep using them.
-Then, coating the surrounding skin with oil. I dip my hand in some , I use organic castor oil, thick. But you could use olive, jojoba, or even vaseline.. Coat your eye sockets, around your eyes, and eye lids, especially at night. Keeps the skin around your eyes from wicking moisture away from your eyes.
And then just keep using the hell out of drops! And stay hydrated, and relaxed!
Basically my eyes started seeing signs of improvement after 18 months, and I feel like they are still getting better! I am hopeful. This is also my recovery post. Oh, btw, there are others who take 2-3 years to recover as well.
Good luck man! Keep stress reduced, and stay off the computer. Take care of yourself, and they very well should get better. That is what took me nearly 10 months to find out! And I Thank the Lord!!!!
Month 19 thru 21: I have had a bad two or three months since about mid February they started getting bad again, and now I am discovering that once this starts to happen, if you do not do anything about it, they just get inflamed, and they get worse.
Dr Helen Wu (Boston) today I saw her and she says I can get past this. She says that I have a lot of inflammation, BUT it is "cureable" she says!! Isn't that a bold statement!? Well I guess I did see a marked improvement from 12-18 months, so that says a lot I suppose!
treatment plan:
She said to try Restasis again (see I tried it for 3-4 weeks once last year but it just made things kinda irritated and didnt help so I stopped.) But she says I need to use a steroid first for two weeks in order for the Restasis to then work.
-Use Lotemax for two weeks: 1 drop in each eye, 4x/day.
-Start Restasis after 2 weeks using Lotemax.
-Use Restasis: 1 drop in each eye, 2x/day.
-AND Fish oil 1,000-2,000mg each day if my stomach can handle it.
She says to see her in 6 weeks. She thinks I can get better. I am hopeful.
Thank you for reading my story. I apologize for the long italicized excerpt post above, but I just re-read it and thought it may be uplifting for some. I'm glad I posted it here.
If anyone has had experience and relief from Lotemax and Restasis let me know. Thanks, B
Comment