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5-weeks post- Lasik, Painful Right Eye & Anxiety; Advice Please

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  • 5-weeks post- Lasik, Painful Right Eye & Anxiety; Advice Please

    Hi everyone-
    I've been reading this site for a few weeks now and have found it helpful and wanted to share my story and ask for some advice- please.

    Five weeks ago I had femto second Lasik surgery on both my eyes. I had -4.50 in left eye and -5.50 in right eye. The first two days after surgery were great --I could see great and no issues. On the third day I started feeling like there was something in my right eye. I went back to the doctor on Day 4 and she said she saw a foreign body and tried to remove it. She said it fell off and put me on antibiotics, but said my corneas and the flap were crystal clear. Two days later I still felt something and went back. She said it was still there (on the outside of my cornea) and this time used drops to numb my eye and removed it 100%. I started on the antibiotics (and continued the steriods FML-T) and refresh drops for one week. I was a little freaked out, but was convinced that it would heal. However, the right eye has continued to be problematic and painful. I went back a week later and she said I was still dealing with dry eyes and changed my drops around --she said the scratch from the foreign body had healed nicely. I waited another week, but at this point the anxiety had set in and I went back at week three because the right eye was still bothersome --foreign body sensation, and increasing pain. It was difficult to focus at work and staring at the computer all day made my eyes worse. She said to give it time. She told me to stop the FML-T in the right eye and just use it for one more week in the left. I went back again at 4 weeks because the pain was getting worse --the left eye seemed fine- only occasionally dry, but at this point the anxiety had become worse. I am on fish oil, flaxseed supplements, vitamins, chinese herbs and was using the drops every hour, plus tons of water. At four weeks she said right eye is definitely drier than left and put me on Restasis (2xday)and made an appointment for me with the other doctor who also performed the surgery. One week on the Restatis didn't really do anything, although left eye has felt fine. Right eye even more irritated (a small red spot developing). At five weeks (two days ago) the new doctor did a full work up on the dry eyes and the situation. My Schirmer test scores were 12 and 13, and I think he said my TBUT was 10. He said I didn't really have dry eyes, my right eye (the one with discomfort) actually was seeing 20/20 (left eye is -0.75), but there was inflammation in my right eye. He couldn't say what was causing the inflammation --he said some people react differently to the laser or it could be from residual dryness. He said it wasn't an infection though. He gave me Pred forte, which he said I should take for three weeks (3xday for first week and then taper down), told me to continue with the restatis, and use Genteal gel at night. He said that I don't need to be using the tears more than four times a day because they will wash away the tears that I am making. He said not to worry, but I do. After two days on the Pred Forte, I did notice less pain and irritation, but yesterday after a day at the beach where my eyes felt much better, I still sense something in my right eye and the pain started again once I got home. My eyes in general still feel pretty uncomfortable (although less dry and I don't feel as though I need the drops as much) and the right eye there is an increasingly red/yellow area (this is not from the suction ring). The left eye also looks a bit more red, albeit not bothersome. Computers (which I have to use for work) and A/C make the problem worse. I've lost five pounds since this ordeal and feel like I've become increasingly anxious. I've been trying to stop myself from being upset and thinking worst case scenarios, but have been finding it difficult. Any advice on why only one eye would be so painlful or why the spot is getting bigger--or any thoughts on this at all would be most helpful. I can deal with moderate dry eyes, but pain in one eye and the feeling that something is wrong is really bothering me. Today my eyes feel better, but still sense something in the right eye.

    Sorry for the long-winded explanation --hopefully someone has some advice or can calm my nerves a bit.

    Thanks,
    Monica

  • #2
    Hi Monica
    so sorry to hear u r going thru this but good to seek advice early.
    Hopefully things will improve soon u r very early on. i think the only advice i can offer is in terms of what i would have done earlier if i only knew. Remember there is no right treatment for everyone .

    - breathe! Don't stress or panic and don't cry as ur eyes need rest. Get a family member on board to help u out. ie spend as little time on computer.
    - see a dry eye specialist asap. Where r u?
    Move on from lasik clinic if needed.
    - my eyes r red i wish i had dropped way more early on. so do . don't wait until u need it as ur nerves may b signalling pain too late. get athick gel like theratears gel.
    - get eye pressure checked as steroids increase pressure .
    - get moisture chamber sunnies will help and decrease redness long term.
    -avoid aircon and heating and wind. and cover up in sun.
    - take care of urself and eat healthy.
    - sleep and nana naps .

    Foreign feeling may b due to dry eyes .
    don't mind my short sentences as i too try to minimise time on computer.
    Pm me or ask any questions
    Remember u r early on and u need time to heal from suction during laser. i had a tbut of 1 so you are doing ok just keep on blinking and turn comp brightness down.
    http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/a/l/l/t/allthings.htm

    Comment


    • #3
      After my LASIK procedure, my right eye hurt, felt like something was in it (foreign body sensation). I went back to my doctor a few times and he said everything looked fine, give it time, “don’t’ worry.” A few months later, still hurt, I was living in NYC and was referred to another specialist. Still told all was well, LASIK looked perfect. A few weeks later, still hurting I saw yet another doctor, but this time I ended up with a huge chalazion on my right lower lid that had to be cut out, leaving an indentation. 9 years later, my eye still has that foreign body sensation, it comes and goes, but is bothersome.

      In hindsight, this is what I would have done:

      Find a new cornea specialist, ONE WHO DOES NOT PERFORM LASIK. “I think” those that perform LASIK tend to be myopic in their opinions when something goes wrong.
      Consider getting on Amitrypline or something similar ASAP. You may be developing cornea neuralgia. Your eye might be completely healed in that one spot but your brain may be looping pain signals. If this is the case, you need to start quickly to stop that pain signal. For more info read: http://eyeworld.org/article-treating-unexplainable-pain

      Consider autologous serum eye drops. There may be nerve damage in your right eye that the doctors can’t see, but it is there. Starting the serum drops within 3 months of LASIK helps with nerve regrowth. It can’t hurt you, only help, so no reason not to try it. It would need to be 20% dropping every 2 hours. See: http://kenes.com/iser2012/abstractcd/pdf/O320.pdf

      Just know, there is no “magical” microscope or slit lamp that exists where the doctor can see everything going on in the eye. So to the doctor, everything look’s great, but if you’re hurting, it obviously is not. A confocal microscope exam could possibly tell you if your “nerves” are healing correctly in the right eye, but maybe not.

      I understand your worry and anxiety. I’ve been there. I wish I would have had the strength to take more control over my treatment plan and learn all my options and find a doctor “open” to learning about new therapies and treatments.

      Try to turn your fear and anxiety into productive action so you can figure out what that red/yellow area really is. Your post was great, lot’s of good information. Maybe ask the forum for a cornea specialist in your area. You need another opinion outside of your LASIK clinic. Keep at it!

      Comment


      • #4
        Monica,

        What did they remove?

        Did you/do you have epithelial ingrowth? If you don't know you might want to call their office and ask.

        Where is that red spot? What have they said that it is? Any chance you could post a picture?

        I'm sorry for what you're going through. Hard not to press the panic button when it's about eyes. If it would help to talk with somebody, call me (877-693-7939).
        Rebecca Petris
        The Dry Eye Foundation
        dryeyefoundation.org
        800-484-0244

        Comment


        • #5
          Now at 3-months, some improvement, but still some pain

          Originally posted by Rebecca Petris View Post
          Monica,

          What did they remove?

          Did you/do you have epithelial ingrowth? If you don't know you might want to call their office and ask.

          Where is that red spot? What have they said that it is? Any chance you could post a picture?

          I'm sorry for what you're going through. Hard not to press the panic button when it's about eyes. If it would help to talk with somebody, call me (877-693-7939).

          Hi, it's been a while since I posted, but I wanted to give everyone an update. I am currently in India, but from the U.S. Since my last post, I've been to a corneal specialist here (not associated with my surgery) and one in Singapore. Both say that they don't see anything alarming --that the surgery went very well and my eyes are still healing. It's been a really hard three months on my mental health though because as many of you know, it's really hard when someone tells you everything is fine, but you feel pain and discomfort. I've started taking anti-anxiety meds and starting talking to a therapist and doing yoga --has helped some, but sometimes I'm still getting anxiety attacks about this. The doctor in Singapore, who I saw two weeks ago had Lasik himself, so I did trust him more. My right eye pretty much has either pain (like a 3-4 out of 10 at its worst) or a foreign body sensation almost everyday. Drops don't really help although I still put them in. He permanently plugged my right eye-- only the bottom duct, but I haven't really noticed a difference. My Schirmer score was 20 in my left eye and 12 in my right (two months ago my left was 13 and my right was 12, so no improvement in my right eye despite almost two months on Restasis). The doctor told me to continue with the restasis, hourly preservative free drops, and Genteal gel at night. He said that my he did see a little scarring and some haze, but nothing that he would even prescribe steriods for. He said I'm not crazy though and some of this could be corneal neuropathy, but that my eyes are still healing and the nerves are still regenerating. He thinks I also may have freaked out after they found the foreign body and the anxiety and stress I'm inducing on myself may be causing some of this. Finally he said the last thing he thought was that it could be recurrent corneal erosions, but he doesn't think so because my symptoms aren't really present in the morning --usually later on in the day and the evening, and my eyes aren't really red and I'm not in tremendous pain. The computer work definitely makes it worse, but I have noticed the pain of weekends as well when I hardly ever go on the computer.
          I'm taking lots of supplements and will continue with this regime, but was wondering if anyone had any other thoughts on what this could be. I am flying back to NY next week and will see a corneal specialist at Columbia University when I'm back --any recommendations or thoughts?

          One other thing --my doctor here advised an antidepressant about a month ago when I was really at a bad place with all of this, which I tried, but it completely dilated my eyes and made them blurry for a week despite only being on it for 3 days, not to mention increased my anxiety, so I qucikly got off of it. Now I am just on a benzo as needed and my eyes seem to be fine, but don't know if anyone has any recommendations on this topic.

          The hardest part is--and I guess another way of looking at it is positive--is that it is only one eye, which makes me think that this isn't dry eye but something else, but the right eye is only mildly dry, but causing so many problems. The positive is that my vision is good and seems to be improving and there is nothing threatening that.

          I find everyone's posts truly helpful and thank you Rebecca for your support.

          Monica

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