I have dry eyes 1 year after lasik. Is this permanent?

[patientpatrick]

I know that I'm supposed to be happy today. It's a new day and the beginning of a new year. This day has a lot of significant meaning to me. For starters it marks exactly 13 months since I had Lasik, and my eyes are still dry and painful.

I posted the following question on a doctor forum yesterday: I have dry eyes 1 year after lasik. Is this permanent?

Here was the answer: Yes. Talk to your ophthalmologist about your treatment options.

It was from a highly rated Opthamalogist if you want the name PM me and I'll let you know.

This saddens me sooooooooooooooo much. 2013 is really going to suck and to be honest every year after that. I'm trying to keep my head up but the more research I do, the sadder I become. I know there are studies about nerves regrowing year later, and that people do recover years later, but that seems to be a rare occurence rather than the norm. I'm very sorry to send out a bummer of a post on New Years day, but I can't seem to get myself together and I need to vent.

[jax8it]

Hey Patrick,

it is ok to vent. I understand everything you said. I hope this year will be better for all of us.

[Hemu]

http://dryeyezone.com/encyclopedia/coping101part1.html

I feel like posting the step one here as it helps me when I'm dealing with this:

STEP ONE, A LITTLE ORIENTATION:
You are NOT alone.

You are NOT going to feel like this forever.

You ARE going to feel considerably better, though it may take awhile (for a variety of reasons) so you need to gear up to cope with what you’ve got in the short term.

You have NOT tried everything, even if you think you have.

You MIGHT NOT yet have a complete or thoroughly accurate diagnosis, even if you have been to highly rated doctors.

You MIGHT already be on the right path to healing and need only time and patience to get there or minor tweaks to your regimen. How you feel right now is not always an accurate indication of what direction your eyes are headed.

You MUST NOT take how you are feeling now and perhaps your lack of progress to date and extrapolate it out till the age of 90. That’s needless and harmful. Trust me. It doesn’t work like that. Shorten your speculation horizon to, say, six months to a year.

[robster]

Are my eyes dry compared to what they were like before LASIK - yes, are they dry compared to what they were like a year ago - not so much. I don't think my eyes will ever be exactly what they were like before LASIK but I do think I can get them to a stage where they are hardly of any concern to me.

The point I'm trying to make is that LASIK dry eye is like alot of things in life - it's all about different degrees of severity. You might have dry eye issues long term but it could only be of the very mild variety. Then again I see no reason to believe why you can't completely recover. I'm 16 months post-LASIK and my eyes are definitely better than this time last year.

[Hemu]

Yeah, I would like to think it's difficult to call it permanent this soon, even though it feels like forever! Yes, the structure of our eyes has considerably changed and yes, recovery is being exceptionally hard.

However, I would like to think that we will all be functional and who knows, some of us might end up being perfect as well. It will take time, treatments and patience.

There are new treatments coming out for this as well. The closest seems like Lifitegrast, it has completed Phase 3 and was tested with 500+ subjects(that's 1000+ eyes) for around 6 months or so.

I hope something or the other works for all of us. Be hopeful Patrick, it is difficult but there is a possibility it will get better. Do visit your opthalmologist regularly(I visit mine every month), track your progress after every treatment and follow up.

Also, this forum has lots of people who have years of experience with this. I personally found that to be as helpful, if not more than visits to the doctor.

[patientpatrick]

Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. I know that I'm not alone, and as supportive as that is, it also saddens me so. I'm glad to have you all as company and as people I can turn to but I just wish we met on different terms.

Robster: When you stated you're better than you were this time last year, was it because your eyes healed? or because you found treatments that relieved your suffering?

Hemu: When you state: it's difficult to call it permanent this soon... Is it really too soon though? I understand that people do eventually get better, maybe getting better is just accepting things. I guess I'm just having a really hard time with that.

What probably hurts me the most is not that pain of the dry eye. Yes, it is annoying and is downright painful a lot of the time, but what hurts more than anything is that I inflicted this onto myself. I chose this. What's worse is that I was happy with my glasses. Why did I do this to myself? I find it hard to look in the mirror and see myself without my glasses. Okay I know this is a rant now and it wasn't meant to be. All in all, I thank you all for being supportive. I wish much relief to such kindred spirits.

Patrick

[Hemu]

Patrick, I certainly am not undermining your pain and anguish. This is not something any of us wanted but the fact of the matter is we are here and the best course of action for us is to move up.

What I'm trying to communicate is that healing patterns for us are variable. Most people heal in days or a few months post LASIK. That's what we were sold when we did our surgery. Clearly, all of us do NOT fall into that category. However, that doesn't mean that all of us are permanently damaged. It is possible that will be the case for some of us, however, we just don't know the future!

Without that knowledge, speculating that this is going to be permanent is not going to help you. It's best if you find a good opthalmologist and work with him/her to find appropriate treatments that make your life easier for you.

Rebecca had given me some invaluable advice at one point. She asked me to focus on some practical goals to increase my comfort level. I would encourage you to speak with her as well.

[Guest]

Hemu: When you state: it's difficult to call it permanent this soon... Is it really too soon though? I understand that people do eventually get better, maybe getting better is just accepting things. I guess I'm just having a really hard time with that.

I know this wasn't directed at me, but for what it's worth, Yes, part of getting better is accepting things and learning how to keep yourself comfortable despite having to go to a lot more trouble than "normal" people have to. But to me, the discomfort of dry eye is one thing, the depression that can come along with it can be just as bad - depression can totally screw up your life just because of the way your MIND is reacting to what's going on.

So, I'm sure that you WILL find ways to make your eyes feel better - so yes, you're eyes will likely improve somewhat... and maybe even a lot.

And if you can get control of any leanings you may have towards being depressed over this, that will help you enormously too - we all just want to be happy, right? and happiness is just a state of mind, and does NOT necessarily correlate to perfectly functioning eyes.

but what hurts more than anything is that I inflicted this onto myself. I chose this. What's worse is that I was happy with my glasses. Why did I do this to myself? I find it hard to look in the mirror and see myself without my glasses.

Patrick

I don't think any of us chose this. I don't know about you, but I was told that there was no chance of debilitating permanent dry after LASIK. I was told that my worst case scenario was MAYBE needing artificial tears once a day in winter, but not every day in winter, and that no, my eyes most certainly would never be painful.

Were we told there was even the slightest chance of THIS happening to us? I wasn't. And I bet you weren't either. So no, you didn't choose this.

You, like thousands of others, chose to try to improve your quality of life by removing your need to wear glasses - you chose to be able to see the alarm clock in the morning without it being too blurry to read. You chose to be able to go swimming and still be able to SEE everything (ie. since going without glasses to swim usually meant not being able to see worth a darn). You chose to be able to go out in winter and not be blinded by fogged up glasses every time you entered a warm building. You chose to be able to see in the rain (ie. no glasses to be made hard to see out of due to raindrops covering them) You perhaps thought you'd save money in the long run since LASIK would be a one-time expense and you'd no longer have to purchase eyeglasses every year for the rest of your life.

But debilitating dry eye? That wasn't even on the menu... I doubt you were told it was even possible by the surgeon (who is supposed to be a trustworthy source of info). You may even have known people personally who had LASIK before you and were thrilled with the miracle of perfect vision - that would only reinforce as probably true the surgeon's assertion that LASIK is safe and that no debilitating dry eye could possibly occur in you, the well-screened patient.

So, if you ever are tempted to beat yourself up about this and blame yourself, read all those reasons why you were NOT to blame once again. Yes, you chose to have LASIK, but you had no idea that this debilitating dryness was a possible outcome, so how on earth could you have chosen something you didn't know existed?

So this sucks, believe me, I know... you have to find a way to deal with it and be happy anyways. It gets easier with time. Your eyes will do better as time goes on, you'll get more adept at keeping them comfortable enough to do the things you need to do, and your happiness will return to normal (IF you keep trying... don't quit trying... if you fail, try again... if you fail again, try again darn it... it'll get easier)

We only have one life, and I think we ought to fight like hell to find happiness in it no matter what crap comes our way... (and I have no doubt you're doing just that!! )

[Hemu]

This is a great post. I deeply appreciate your words SAAG, they help me cope with this every time.

"We only have one life, and I think we ought to fight like hell to find happiness in it no matter what crap comes our way..."

A really good quote. I'll try to memorize it

[Guest]

Thanks Hemu!

[robster]

Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. I know that I'm not alone, and as supportive as that is, it also saddens me so. I'm glad to have you all as company and as people I can turn to but I just wish we met on different terms.

Robster: When you stated you're better than you were this time last year, was it because your eyes healed? or because you found treatments that relieved your suffering?

Hemu: When you state: it's difficult to call it permanent this soon... Is it really too soon though? I understand that people do eventually get better, maybe getting better is just accepting things. I guess I'm just having a really hard time with that.

What probably hurts me the most is not that pain of the dry eye. Yes, it is annoying and is downright painful a lot of the time, but what hurts more than anything is that I inflicted this onto myself. I chose this. What's worse is that I was happy with my glasses. Why did I do this to myself? I find it hard to look in the mirror and see myself without my glasses. Okay I know this is a rant now and it wasn't meant to be. All in all, I thank you all for being supportive. I wish much relief to such kindred spirits.

Patrick

I would say that my dry eye has improved since this time last year and I've also gotten better at coping with how it effects me. I still have down days particularly in the last few weeks as it's freezing here in sunny old England and my eyes certainly don't like that. You will in time be better able to cope.

[patientpatrick]

I know I have much to learn and much more to endure. SAAG i went back and read your section on punctal cautery, it read like chapters in a book to me as I went post by post, update by update and I was rooting for you every step of the way. I cheered as your updates showed such promise and I sank deep into saddness as you experienced drawbacks. I wanted a cure for you so bad. Please keep me posted if there are other positive news. I am fighting my hardest to find happiness and like many of you it isn't easy. A few days ago I was cleaning my eye lids in the bathroom and stared at myself without my glasses. I got so angry I threw a bar of soap at the mirror and almost broke it. I still feel like I've betrayed myself everytime I look in the mirror, and that will take much time to adjust to. I have 3 eye doctor appts with 3 different doctors this month and I'm hoping for something positive out of it. I will have the punctal plug discussion with all 3 of them. I'm thinking of the Eagle Vision Flexplug at the moment, but would like to know what you all think.

patrick

[Cristi]

Hi all
This site and the quotes of SAAG and Rebecca in particular helped me the most after my lasik induced dry eyes 1 year and 3 months ago.
One year ago I was suicidal because I could not handle the eye pain but most of all the thought that I've done this to myself.
Now I am a happy person just as I was before lasik. Sometimes it is difficult to adapt to various environments and still painful but overall I'm comfortable most of the time (I have lower plugs and Ziena Oasis moisture chambers).
In 2 weeks I'll go to a dry eye clinic to get a more accurate diagnosis...... I'm sure I have MGD but I cannot stand warm compresses
I have a lot of hopes about getting better over time even if sometimes I get terrified thinking about what will happen as I'll get older.....it is said that at 65 years we only have half of the tear production that we have at 20 years...I'm 33 now so a lot of time for high tear production as high as can be after lasik
I do not know if I really improved since lasik because I have plugs but I'm feeling a lot better for sure and this is what matters afterwards.
Hoping I've succeeded in sending you Patrick a positive thought.
All the best
Cristina

[Guest]

Hi all
This site and the quotes of SAAG and Rebecca in particular helped me the most after my lasik induced dry eyes 1 year and 3 months ago...
I have a lot of hopes about getting better over time even if sometimes I get terrified thinking about what will happen as I'll get older.....it is said that at 65 years we only have half of the tear production that we have at 20 years...

Hi Cristi, thanks for the kind words

As for old age, although it terrifies me too at times, I have 3 thoughts on that...

1) in old age we presumably won't be working therefore will be able to baby our eyes more and they probably won't be prone to as much irritation as they are now... so any declines in tear production may be cancelled out by improvements from less irritation in retired life

2) and as a back-up plan, or maybe even a first choice plan, one can always explore whether or not a different climate could help, and move to such a climate to further improve eye comfort (so that any declines in tear function in old age would be cancelled out by the improved climate which led to happier eyes) - kind of like my "move to north island New Zealand" plan haha (which I may still chicken out of... time will tell)

3) maybe there will be improvements in dry eye treatments by then... a lot can change in 30 years - with all the people undergoing refractive surgery, there will likely be a huge increase in dry eye patients, which means lots of money to be potentially made by any company that comes up with a good treatment... hence incentive for companies to try to come up with something good and make themselves rich (which is all fine and dandy if it leads to help for people like us)

And of course, all of my thoughts could totally not come true... but I think there's decent odds of at least one of them working out...