Help with Red, Dry Eyes, Rosacea and Plugs!

[tiff]

Hi everyone,

I'm 33 and have ocular rosacea, severe dry eyes, blocked meibomian glands, and blepharitis. Lucky me! I've been on Restasis for about 3 months and my doc just upped my dosage (doing the drops) to 4 times per day. I am on doxycycline 100mg twice per day, take omega 3 supplements, do lid scrubs twice a day and use Refresh artificial tears 5 times a day. I also do hot compresses once per day.

My eyes seem to be getting redder now that I started Restasis. Is this possible? The doc confirmed with a tear test that the dryness is not improving and wants to do plugs if there is no change in three more months. This thought scares the heck out of me. Is it painful? Are they visible? Is it reversible? What are your experiences with tear plugs?

I have a toddler who sometimes wakes up at night and, when I get up to tend to her, my eyes are so incredibly painful and unbelievably dry. I put artificial tears in when i get up at night and they hurt like crazy because I can barely open my eye to do it. Does this improve? We have a humidifier going 24 hours a day in our bedroom. I also use the eye goggles that supposedly improve eye moisture, but they seem to do nothing at all.

Two more questions--any tips for getting rid of some of the redness? My eyes are so red that it's embarrassing and it makes me really upset sometimes. Second thing, what more can I do for the blepharitis? I use Ocusoft Plus, but they still itch like crazy sometimes.

Please help any way you can--I'm in agony here and losing hope for improvement.

Thanks so much!

[Nanerpus]

We're here for you! It sounds miserable and I know where you are coming from with the dryness when you get up in the middle of the night (we have a puppy) and the redness causing anxiety and embarrasement (I have allergies in my eye and dry eye). It really dominates your life when this comes to the point it has, and normal functions are difficult.

You will get ALOT of great advice, but here are a few tips that may or may not help, but are worth a try!:

~ Cold Compresses
~Chilled Artificial Tears (stick a few PF vials in the fridge)
~Some sort of gel and eyemask at night
~Dr. Latkany's eye spa routine
~Closing your eyes in the afternoon for a bit. I took a nap yesterday afternoon because I wasn't feeling very well, and woke up to work - had the best evening with my eyes I've had in days and I think it may be because I let my eyes take a break from external factors and the tear layer got a bit more restored. If you find your eyes feel least dry in the morning hours (like me) then I think this would help.
~Experiment with different artificial tears. I have some that I don't like at all, some that are ok, and I found my perfect brand PF tear and use that now exclusively.

Don't give up! I know you are miserable and I know it seems like it will never change, but IT WILL. In the meantime, focus on being as comfortable as possible. And like my doctors and husband and parents always tell me, the redness looks a million times worse TO YOU and others barely notice. It's taken me months to start to realize they are right.

[tiff]

Thank you so much, Nanerpus!

I've not heard of PF tears--is that the brand name? Are these over the counter?

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm going to look up the eye spa routine as I've not heard of it before.

I have two kids and am working on my PhD, so it's nearly impossible to have a nap in the afternoon, but I should try this on the weekends.

I have foam eye goggles for at night, but they've not helped at all (I've been trying them for at least a month). They have various inserts for hot, cold, and different foam parts. Is there a type you'd recommend that helped most?

I really appreciate this forum. I don't personally know anyone whose gone through these issues and it's comforting to know I am not alone and that others can sympathize, but also offer help.

Tiffany

[Nanerpus]

PF = Preservative Free

I tried Tranquileyes goggles to sleep with, but it wouldn't stay on (or I took it off in my sleep!) but I find a simple flat sleep mask helps me at night.

[bp77]

hey, I am also 33 with 3 kids and dry eye, bleph. I know how u feel and it is very hard. I give u alot of credit that u are getting ur PHD with dry eye. some times I can not keep my eyes open to read. about the plugs, I have 2 on the bottom, I am very happy with them. u should try them if u feel very dry. If u do not like them they can take it out. it is painless. How long have u had this dry eye? do u know if u had any type of tear test by ur doc. Also at night u can asleep with a gel like celluvisc by refresh. u can pm me if u want.

[y-gwair]

My eyes seem to be getting redder now that I started Restasis. Is this possible? The doc confirmed with a tear test that the dryness is not improving and wants to do plugs if there is no change in three more months. This thought scares the heck out of me. Is it painful? Are they visible? Is it reversible? What are your experiences with tear plugs?

I don't use restasis (which isn't easily available in the UK) but I think a lot of people have had a similar reaction to it. I think some eye specialists use it in combination with steroid drops initially to reduce the irritation. You would have to discuss it with your eye specialist though. If you look through the archives on here I'm sure there are quite a lot of discussions about restasis.

Plugs are invisible, easily inserted and completely reversible if you find you don't get on with them. They don't involve any pain; the anaesthetic drops sting a little, you may feel a little tugging as they go in and they feel a bit odd for a few days until you get used to them, but really not anything to worry about. I've found they helped a lot to restore a functioning tear film, but my eyes remained very inflamed for a long time afterwards, and eventually needed steroid drops to calm them down. The lid inflammation, blepharitis actually seems to have got worse. Sounds like your specialist is trying to get on top of the inflammation before inserting plugs though.

[Margaret]

Hey there! I'm new, in a way, here as well. I had Lasik 10 months ago and they just now diagnosed me with Ocular Rosacea. I use Refresh PF (preservative free is what PF stands for, people shorten words through here all the time and I still don't know what half of them stand for), and Genteal Gel at night. It's funny, though, if I use too much gel, it makes the dryness worse. I actually use one drop of gel and one drop of Refresh and dab dry around my eyes and go to sleep. I use the silicone nighttime goggles and it doesn't seem to do much either. The goggles actually have condensation in them in the AM, so I know they hold in moisture, but I'm not sure that's actually a good thing for rosacea or bletharitis. What do I know though! Plugs are the easiest thing I've had done with my eyes. There are many choices, temp, permanent, etc. I thought permanent meant they were never coming out, but I learned that just means that they sit in your tear duct, you can see them (barely, you really need to look closely), and they only come out if they pop out by themselves (some people are prone to this, others not) or if the doc takes them out (or you - there are some steady handed people that can take them out themselves)! The temps are smaller, inserted down into your tear duct, you can't see them (which drives some docs crazy because aren't sure if they are still in or not, and they over time dissolve - hence, the temp name. none of it hurts, but I do think they contributed to my overall inflammation and will never go back to them! I can't believe you have kids and going for a PHD. I have three young kids, had to quit work and just concentrate on getting myself better and my family. Good for you. I too am on Doxy, day 7 or so so far. Hoping to feel something!!!

Margaret

[MBC]

Plugs...I get them put back in about once per month because they keep falling out. It is painless. I have had them placed both with and without numbing drops and I do fine without the drops. They are hard to fit. They can stay in for a few months or pop out the day after you get them. They are not a handy solution but I seem to get a lot of relief when they manage to stay in.