Confused - two different treatment plans - what would you choose?

[Ccoughlin]

I am 15 months along, LASIK treatment. I am very confused now, and need to know which direction to go in, so I can aggravate my pain and discomfort further.

I had my eye exam with Dr. Latkany in NYC 3 weeks ago, and he told me that I have mild ocular rosacea, and to give it time and basically do nothing (no drops, no anything) to my eyes and try to take my mind off of the pain. I tried this for a while, and it went well for a while, but then my eyes have flared up very badly in the past 10 days, and I'm in pain again, looking for answers. Dr. L thinks I don't technically have "dry eye" anymore, but got used to wearing contacts so much, and it acted like a "third eyelid". He thinks I could try Acuvue Moist 1-days, which I will be trying soon.

In pain a lot these past 10 days, I went again to my local doctor, who says that I have some dry patches on my eyes, nothing big, but he wants me to try:

Muro 128 ointment at night
Drops every hours - the thick, lubrative kind

So, I have two very different paths, and am not sure what to think! All I know is that I have some searing/burning pain much of the day, and hardly anything can take it away.

Rebecca, any ideas on what sounds more right, from your experience?
LauraK, your situation sounded a lot like mine - I was hoping to chat with you PM more about your experience.

This whole thing has freaked me out, and I continue to worry that it will never go away.....I guess my last straw here lately is to try pain meds, but that kind of scares me. Any advice/perspective would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Chandra

[browneyesblu]

Hi Chandra,

Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble. I had a similar experience with Dr. L. Tried the do-nothing approach and flare-up became worse. I went back to treating for MGD and felt much better. If you want to chat more about it feel free to PM me.

If your pain is really unbearable there is something you can try that is by no means a permanent solution but it won't harm you and you may at least get some temporary relief. Get a pair of swim goggles, the kind racers wear that cover just your eyes and form an airtight, watertight seal. Put them on, they should be comfortable but the seal has to be good. Pull the tops down and squirt a little sterile saline solution in each one, enough so it pools at the bottoms. Wear them for at least half an hour (they will fog and you won't be able to do much). Basically you are briefly putting your eyes in a totally moist environment. At the very least it should tell you if the pain is from dry eyes or if Dr. L. is right about you not having them, and maybe that will help you decide which course is better. If the pain eases it's from dry eyes.

Hope that helps.

[SDgirl2]

Hi,

Sorry to hear that you're still having issues. Interesting that Dr. L suggested using the Acuvue 1-days. Did he say this would help with the pain? Have you had the chance to try it yet?

--SDgirl