Cant Wear Contacts Anymore... Lasik Choice???

[xosweetiexo]

Hello Everyone...

3 months ago my eyes started to reject my contacts. After wearing contacts for over 10 yrs... I can not wear them anymore. Everytime I wear them, my eyes get beat red. My doctor thought that I just needed a break... and here I am, 3 months later with very dry eyes...plugs are not working and am stuck wearing my glasses (that I can not stand).

Do you recommend getting lasik done? I feel like this is my only option now that the plugs are not working for me. I am getting married soon, and I cant have my eyes looking like this- and I hate glasses!

Please help

[kitty]

I absolutely would not recommend Lasik and a good surgeon would say you are not a candidate for Lasik because of the DES. Lasik in many cases causes DES. (Contacts contribute to the problem as well.) You already have significant DES symptoms. Why would you want to risk making things worse? As one eye doc told me when I was faced with giving up my contacts: "There are really some great frame styles out there now. Find some you like and treat them like any other wardrobe accessory, and have fun wearing them". That was 4 years and probably three pairs of frames ago. I miss my contacts, but the damage that could be done to my cornea by wearing them is not worth the risk for vanity. Search this site for Lasik and visit the Dryeyezone.com, look at Rebecca's blog and you will find information that is consistent with what I say here.

[xosweetiexo]

So you think that I will never be able to wear contacts again?

I am so upset about this because I absolutely HATE glasses... I feel like I dont see everything as well as with my contacts and I dont feel as safe driving with them....

I just dont know what to do.. I thought the plugs were going to work and I am having no luck so far

[Stanza]

Have had to reconcile to this over the last 3 years myself, not that I could ever wear contacts full time really but still a choice is good.

You get used to it but you'll always be sad about it. I'm going to try Sclerals when I can get the time sorted out as they don't do them in the country I live in.

[Guest]

xoSweetiexo

I am sorry to hear that you have dry eyes and are having a challenge with your lenses.

As a post lasek dry eye sufferer, I can assure you that Laser vision surgery is NOT the answer.

I would trade my laser induced dry eyes anyday for the ability to wear my glasses again.

It may seem a bit of a challenge to you and as much as you may hate wearing them, your glasses are the safest option at least for now.

Give your eyes some time to adjust to not wearing lenses and stick with your glasses as difficult as that may be at this moment.

If you do this, you may find that you could wear a pair of lenses for your wedding day.

Warm regards

Ian

[xosweetiexo]

Yes, it is just so hard on me, especially with the wedding coming up. I feel ugly with my glasses and just want to get through the wedding and honeymoon with contacts somehow.

Thank you for your advice on Lasik... I will not get it done anymore- you are right... I shouldnt risk it if I am having problems now.

What do you guys think of SynergEyes? I dont know much about this- only from searching on this website. Do you think SynergEyes would be an option for me?

[kitty]

Yes, it is just so hard on me, especially with the wedding coming up. I feel ugly with my glasses and just want to get through the wedding and honeymoon with contacts somehow.

Thank you for your advice on Lasik... I will not get it done anymore- you are right... I shouldnt risk it if I am having problems now.

What do you guys think of SynergEyes? I dont know much about this- only from searching on this website. Do you think SynergEyes would be an option for me?

There was one or more users here who insisted they got benefit from wearing SynergEyes. However, that does not appear to be the norm and the risk of putting any contact lens on a dry eye is great. Please discuss with your eye doctor.

[Stanza]

I'd try SynergEyes if i could find someone to fit them who knows what they are doing, but there's no one where i live.

[gz9gjg]

Do Not Have Lasik!!!!

Hello xoSweetiexo,

LASIK is very likely to make dry eye problems worse, because corneal nerves get cut when making the flap, and they never fully regenerate.

I suggest you try several things to improve your dry eye:

"NutraTear" eye drops, available at the Dry Eye Shop. DO NOT use any anti-redness drops like Visine; they only make the problem worse.
Try wearing a sleep mask at night.
Try warm compresses in am & pm.
Supplements: others have had good luck with various oil supplements, flaxseed, omega, fish oil. I have recently been using NAC (N-Acetyl L-Cysteine, 600 mg), and in spite of the severe allergy season, my eyes feel better.

Consider a different type of contact lenses. RGPs hold tears against your eye, and have no water content in the lens material to dry out. I have been wearing them since 2002 with great success.

Good luck,

Lynne
Phoenix, AZ

[elvishthistle]

I have the same problem.I haven't worn my contacts for almost 2 months now and it's hard. I hate glasses and I have less confidence wearing them. I did go out and buy a cool new pair of frames though so that made it easier to get through. I am currently going in to get fitted for RGP (hard) lenses. These are pretty much my only option...so I'm going to try to make them work. Talk to your eye doctor about your situation. You may be able to get away with contacts on your wedding day, but for now avoid them at all costs. Your eyes need to "heal" without contacts.

[xosweetiexo]

Thank you everyone for your responses

When you say hot compress... do you mean use hot water and put it on a rag and apply the rag on top of eyes? Do you put it on top of your eye or just below? Also, for how long do you apply it for?

I am new to this and really have no idea what to do. This website is a great tool. I feel like I am not alone. I feel like no one understands what I am going through right now.

[mcrdot1]

I'm in the same boat, after wearing contact lenses for 15 years, wearing them for more than a few hours causes soreness and irritation.

When I saw the eye doctor he actually suggested Lasik as an option which I questioned as I was surprised, we had a small heated debate and he said I'd have to be assessed by the laser clinic.

Theres nothing else I can do but wear glasses and continue trying the artificail teardrops out there until I find one that works.

The hot flannel on the eyes is a nice relief when they start to get sore but that won't help if I'm in the middle of a forest or shopping center.

[clairvoyant]

I have to chime in here.

As everyone has so eloquently pointed out lasik and pre-existing dry eyes do not typically go well together.

Now I am probably going to say something that will gain me some hate from all post-lasik dry eye sufferers. If you have MGD after lasik then IMO it is not just from the lasik. So the laser is really not the offender. It is just the exacerbater.

Now to me, I had epi-lasik a few months ago. I have had dry eyes for about 4 years now. BTW prk/epi-lasik is probably the best choice, prk probably being better.

My vision in the day is better than I can ever remember. It's truly a beautiful thing.

Before I went ahead with the lasik I had to choose between lasik and contacts because same as you I could not tolerate glasses and dry eye.

And for me I really couldn't wait any longer. You probably can get contacts to work but you might have a little less leaway than with some type of laser.

My vision when not dry in contacts was pretty good and with contacts you don't run all the other risks associated with the surgery.

Also dry eyes can make your vision regress to a worse prescription and who knows what happens when you get older. I am pretty sure your vision starts to regress anyway.

Those would be reasons not to do the laser, not the dry eye. Cause if your eyes are bad enough then it will probably be hard to find a doctor that will put you in a severe keratitis state or the like. Cause you could probably sue his ass. Maybe not though, that damn form.

I am so happy with my vision now but my doctor was a little reluctant to fully treat me before the surgery (grr!) but I think you can make it work either way. Contacts being the safer of the two but it will be more of a hastle and probably require more meds. Sclerals were mentioned too but I hated them.

Find a great doctor like latkany and talk it over with him. He should give you the truth.

[calli66]

I sympathize. It's hard to give up contacts and go back to glasses. I've been back to glasses for 2 years, and my eyes are feeling much better--recently bought some great new titanium frames while on vacation.

But during heavy exercise (I go to Jazzercise) my glasses get all sweaty, slide down my nose, and flop around----it's a reminder of the freedom contacts bring.

But Lasik---if you already have dry eye---the doctors shouldn't be recommending that.

I sometimes use the "trick" of just wiping my eyes with a cool wet tissue---gently---this moistens the area and relieves the irritation in the moment without having to drench my eyes with drops.

Calli

[clairvoyant]

By the way, the doctor who did my surgery is an expert in dry eye.