I hate it

[MyDryEyes]

Again, I wish you well and hope that we will all be out of this boat and on dry land before much longer.Ian

Don't you mean wet land? Ha, Ha. I definitely think you are correct about everybody healing at a different rate. I simply think that the medical community, researchers, etc. just don't know how long it takes for healing.

Thanks again for all of your support!!

[Kyle]

Wow!

Wow! I found this link and I actually had to go back and re-read the posts, because I could swear that I had written them myself! How strange...it's like someone was reading my thoughts. I agree....the guilt I have had surrounding this surgery has been unbearable. I constantly say "why did I do this to myself". Sometimes I just talk directly to my eyes and say "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry". I feel like I wrecked my life and did it willingly (yet unknowingly).

I did find a positive note in this thread of messages though....where did that info come from that sometimes it takes up to 5 years for our nerves to regenerate? Is that true? I have NEVER heard that. If it is true...I feel hope coming on again. I'm about 3 1/2 years in (with massive ups & downs), but if there's relief in sight (ha!) in about a year...I know I can hang in there.
Can someone explain that to me?
Thanks,
Kyle

[Guest]

Kyle

If I am not mistaken I think Dr Latkany suggests it in his book The Dry Eye Remedy.

It gives us all hope, but also that some of us post RS patients have experienced some degree of improvement (regardless of how small) since our surgery.

We have to maintain the hope otherwise I think we all would have lost our direction.

It is very difficult at times to maintain a positive attidue towards this when it effects our lives in so many ways. My view is that when it gets you down to deal with it as best you can (treat yourself in someway) but look for ways to regain your positive outlook otherwise I feel that I will lose the battle and I am determined that isn't going to happen.

Regards

Ian

[Scout]

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showthread.php?t=1041

Kyle,

It was from this study, published in 2005. Click on the above link.

[Kyle]

Thanks guys!

Hey Ian and Scout,
Thanks so much for the responses. Scout, I did go that post and read the info, plus what you recently posted there. I agree. If someone had told me right after my lasik surgery that I would still be dealing with these issues 3-5 years later I'm not sure what I would have done. My emotional state was so fragile then it's actually a scary thought to even think about.

Now tho, it gives me hope. Over 3 years in and thinking I might only have a year & a half (or less) more to go seems bearable. Hopefully it will happen for me as it did with you.

I think one of you guys did say though you weren't sure if you actually got better or if you were just more tolerable of the situation.

Scout, I do have a question for you....you say your eyes have improved significantly in the 5 years...what do you use on them now? I don't want to be impairing the healing process by using too much stuff, yet don't want to stop using them in case they are actually helping me. Do you understand my question? I guess simply...I know our bodies are similar to computers and they can actually repair themselves. At what point do we hinder that healing by trying to repair it ourselves? I'd be interested to hear your response.

Thanks again guys for getting back to me. I honestly forgot how helpful this website was for me.

Take care,
Kyle

[Caroline]

Hi

Sorry to hear of your suffering too Kyle, i hope things get better for you soon. I had read PRK is a safer than LASIK for dryness concerns as the nerves are not cut in operation, so I would have thought you have a better chance long term.

Thanks to those who gave information about the 5 year post LASIK nerve healing. I'm currently 3 and 3/4 years post LASIK. There has been some improvement in the 2nd and 3rd year compared to the first year (schmir initally 0 and now 3). I hope to see more.

I just wanted to throw a thought in the pot that could offer hope to those past the deadine for recovery. If they have found that the nerves grow fully back after several years then if someone is still suffering dry eyes maybe there is another cause of the dry eye, one that was brought about by the initial surgery's dryness but not because of the nerve damage. If we believe that after 5 years (or two years for PRK) that the nerve sensation is fully back in tact then maybe the cause is not lack of aqueous tears but evaporative dry eye. This could either be from over use of eye drops or a condition called blepharitus. I have been told from the eye hospital that i have blepharitus now, which makes sense to me as my dry eyes got worse in the 6 month to 12 month (and onward) stage. I think it took 6 months of dryness (= lack of antibodies that are in natural tears and me using a BAK eye drop) for my condition to develop. I'd like to bet my chances that blepharitus is more curable than permanent nerve damage! Anyway my blepharitus may clear up when i reach the 5 year mark or perhaps 6 months or more after (for healing time) if my aqueous volume is back to normal. In the mean time i am looking after my eyes the best i can with humidifiers at work and wrap around glasses of an evening. I have heard from this lady who had a friend that had another eye operation (other than LASIK) that it took her friends eye 2 years to heal and she commented the eyes are very slow to heal. Perhaps its because the eyes are so important that they want to repair properly, which takes a long time.

Don't give up hope, even if your eyes do not have a complete recovery they will get better than they are now and you will learn to accept and find ways to cope and continue along your path (a much wiser and self reliant individual).

[Rojzen]

blink reflex (and meibomians) and refractive surgery

Wish I knew lots, lots more about surgery's potential effects, but I did learn from one doctor whom I greatly respect that some researchers believe that the blink reflex is slowed after refractive surgery, possibly secondary to nerve damage to the ocular surface and associated corneal desensitization. . .In turn, the sub-optimal frequency of blinking not only may slow down the lacrimal gland's secretions, but may also appreciably slow and reduce the frequency of stimulation of the meibomians.. .This seems so logical to me. . .but I have no idea whether this has been studied carefully. . .

A propos of this, I recall that during the years I wore contacts, I rarely blinked when the lenses were in. . .I never had LASIK or other refractive surgery, but by 44 (at least 30 years of contact wear) I did have essentially atrophied meibomians. . .So I suspect that anything that covers the ocular surface and reduces corneal sensitivity can lead to reduced blink and neglected meibomians. . .