I'm a new member.

[Samantha]

Hello everyone,

I have been wanting to post here for sometime now. I had lasik on Jan. 2nd this yeaer. I'm overcorrected. So i went from somewhere from -2 to about +1 both eyes. It a was big adjustment for me. The glasses the doctor prescribed for farsightedness never really worked for me. So I thought I would try soft contact lenses at six weeks post op. My eyes weren't even really dry at that time so i thought using contact lenses should not be a problem. Unfortunately, I rubbed my left eye when taking the lense out of it on the first try. I totally forgot that I should not rub my eyes for at least 6 months after Lasik. Snce my eyes felt normal, I let down my guards. Ever since then my left eye has been very dry and the vision out of that eye is very blurry, much worse than before the rubbing. It's dry, red, light sensitive, and itchy. I tried many different eye drops. No one in particualr worked very well. It's been over a month since the rubbing accident, left eye is still dry and it gets irritated easily for no obvious reasons. My right eye is not dry at all and feels comfortable and that's how my left eye felt before the rubbing. I have been to 3 different doctors, two being outside the lasik center where I got the surgery done. No one could see anything wrong. I'm very frustrated and with the dry eye and blurry vision. Even right after I put in artifitial tears the blurry vision does not improve. Does anyone here have any idea why rubbing the eye would cause so much dryness? Is there any hope for the dryness and vision to get better? I have been so stressed over this that I'm missing out on spending quality time with my children. I have cried so much since lasik. Whenever I look at my 3 year old and 7 month old boys, I feel like I have failed them by having had lasik. One more question, I have pretty bad seasonal allergy in April and May each year, which makes my eyes terribly irritated, what is the best kind of over the counter medicine whould be recommanded for post lasik dry eye? Thanks so very much to everyone who is on this forum and helping each other out.

[SusieD]

Hi Samantha

Im afraid Im no expert on on Lasik related problems but there on many on here who are! (unfortunately) so I will leave the more specific questions for them. I can understand that your eye may have become irritated by the rubbing and I would have suggested that perhaps you scratched your eye with the contact lense - but seeing as you have already seen doctors, they would have spotted this straight away. It does seem strange that that one incident is still causing you irritation now.

Im glad that your other eye feels ok - although I know it can feel awkward to have one eye feel really bad and the other one ok.

Really I just wanted to let you know that I understand about the crying and blaming yourself for having had the Lasik, I still feel like that myself as to an extent I caused my eye dryness by taking a medication. However it doesnt help the problem and like me, all you were trying to do was improve your quality of life - you shouldnt feel guilty about that and you most definately have not failed your children.

Also, on the upside, there is plenty of time for this eye to settle down. Did you go back to the doctors that did the Lasik? Perhaps you should consult a different eye specialist and get another opinion, obviously something isnt right.

Good luck.

[Samantha]

Hi Susie,

Thanks for the reply. You are right in saying it's no use blaming myself, but I just cannot get over the fact that a bad decision I made is having such a big impact on my family life. I'm a young mother with two small children. They need me to be there for them 100%, but with dry eye and blurry vision and the amount of anxiety I have, I'm not doing nearly as much as I was before lasik. I hope I will get better even if my eyes wont, i want to be the same mother I always was.

[SusieD]

I relate totally to that.

My eye problems have affected my studies, my home life, my personal life, you name it....

[Peggy]

Samantha,
I am so glad you decided to write...I had an exact outcome as you overcorrected.+1 in one eye and .75 in the other it has been extremely difficult to adjust to my new vision and very frustrating.Its funny wth my glasses before the surgery I never felt that I had them on with the overcorrection its difficult because I feel like I have magnifying glasses on and have to move my head all around to see things. The good news is I have an optometrist who has been checking on me on a regular basis and the overcorrection has reduced , which may happen for you, but I still have astigmatism which makes it a little tough.As Susie said you are still in the early stages of healing. I thought this was a one week process and its a 6 month-to a year. Rebecca and Cindy may be able to give you more advice about rubbing your eye..I do know that many of us have gone to several drs. before our problems have been resolved. It is very normal to feel anxiety I am still having a difficult time with the impact this has had on my life I have pain in and around my left eye it is so frustrating and must be so difficult for you because you have young children. Keep on looking and asking for help I dont know where you are from but let people know and maybe they can suggest someone in your area. Are you still wearing the contacts? Maybe you need to get your eyes checked again for a newer prescription also. I know this isn"t much help ,but there are many kind and informed people on this board who may have some good advice. Hang in there!!!!!!!!!! Peggy

PS I know that some people have been talking about a non drying sudafed on the market maybe that could help with the allergies.

[Samantha]

Hi Peggy,

I too never felt the glasses on my face before sugery and i could see so well with them. I did not have to wear them most of the time when I was at home. I was thinking back at my first born's first year. Many times I got up a couple of times at each night to breast fed him and cuddled him and sometimes played with him when he was not in the mode to go back to sleep after feeding. I did all this without glasses. How I miss those days! Lasik is just not neccesary for the kind of prescription I had. Now with my second born, My husband has been taking care of him since my lasik so that I can have good eye rest. I feel sad and cry for not being able to take good care of him. I also have my vision tested regularly, right after surgery, i was +1 and +1.25, but since one week after surgery, it's been stable at +.75 and +1. Now that I think about it, my eye were must be under -2 before surgery since I drove a couple of times without glasses not long ago before surgery. The surgeon used 2.69 for both eyes, i guess that's whyi'm overcorrected and there's not much hope for regression. But being stupid as I was, I never really knew what my real numbers were, i totally trusted the lasik center with my eyes. Peggy, I'm interested in all your numbers and the time line when the changes happened from right after the surgery to date if you still remember. Seeing how your eyes have changed for the better will give me some hope. Thank you so very much for the replying and very happy to have found you.

[shells]

Hi Samantha,

I'm very sorry to hear about your problems after lasik. The good news for you is that you are still very early in healing and have lots of time for improvements. I also have dry eye after lasik (9 months ago), and I understand completely the life changes, and the anxiety and depression that goes along with it. I just wanted to say that you should not blame yourself! Also, you are not stupid for trusting the lasik center with your eyes. You trusted your lasik center because you paid them big bucks and expected them to know what they were doing. That is what millions of people have done when having their lasik performed. Unfortunately, for a small number of us, the road to recovery is not as easy as we had expected or had been told.

I'm not totally sure what caused your sudden dry eye. It sounds like it is probably due to a corneal abrasion or something from your contact. The dry eye could also be causing your blurry vision. My vision still fluctuates from the dryness, but was much worse in the earlier months. I hope that you can find a doctor who has some better answers for you.

I just wanted to let you know, that we are here for you and we understand how you feel. You are going to get through this, and there are lots of people here to help support you along the way.

-Shelley