Travel and Dry Eyes (Yes, You Can Even Go to Developing Countries and Survive!)

[tealeaf]

SAAG,
Recently, I have put in 2 permanent umbrella plugs in my upper punctum together with lower punctums cauterised, I realised that the overflow actually reduced (as compared to have 1 temporary upper plug) I prefer the weeping days knowing that there are more tears.

Check with you. Do you feel any difference between all cauterised punctums vs 2 perm plugs and 2 cautery? Do you feel the drops going into the throat when you had the perm plugs? Thanks for your advise!

[Guest]

Hey there!

No, I did not feel drops in my throat with permanent plugs.

[tealeaf]

Hi SAAG,

It's me again! We are facing terrible haze in Singapore How are you and which part of the world are you in now?

You have been providing so much help in answering my questions, so I just have to come to you again on the eyes.
I have cautery and plugs in my eyes. It has been 2+ months since. My eyes are still over-tearing, which I don't mind. The problem is one of my eyes always feel sting, irritated and sticky. It the feeling like the sweat flowing into the eye. Have you encountered this problem before? I wonder is it due to MGD. My eye doctor keeps insisting no MGD and said the stickiness is due to insufficient tears in my eye but I am over-tearing.
Have you heard or encountered such problem before? How to resolve it?

By the way, can you share what is your current eye routine and are your eyes better than few years back?

Many many thanks again!!

[Guest]

Hi there!

My current routine:

Restasis in both eyes 3x daily
Refresh celluvisc as needed
Bion Tears to unstick my eyelids from eyeballs when I wake up (it's the only drop that doesn't sting during this time)
Genteal ointment for sleeping

Minimal air-conditioning - during the day we keep the windows open and fans running in every room - the high humidity levels that result from not running the air conditioning are heavenly for my eyes. (And I wear my moisture chamber glasses to prevent irritation from the fans.) It's hot and sweaty, especially at first, but the body adjusts to it within days and feels more comfortable (As I see it, if those people we saw in Cambodia can become so acclimated to the heat that if it drops to 31C they need sweatsuits to stay WARM, then I can train my body to tolerate 31C with no airconditioning, right?)

Dolphin Neurostim device (http://dolphinmps.com/) on acupuncture points around the eyes (this is based on treatments I received from a naturopath - he used a similar device to apply a microcurrent to accupuncture needles around my eyes - I don't use the needles obviously when self-treating, only the Dolphin Neurostim). It's a neat little device actually.

Disclaimer for Dolphin Neurostim for anyone reading this: Use at your own risk and your mileage may vary. No idea what the ideal treatment regime should be for anyone else - I'd consult with someone who has expertise in acupuncture before using this on your own especially since it has zero instruction in the manual for the treatment of dry eye. This treatment is nowhere in any official treatment guidelines, so I'd consider it experimental for this condition... no knowledge of long-term effects either. As I said, I took note of how my naturopath treated me with his device, and duplicated that on my own with no needles. I showed him the device and what I was doing, figuring if I was doing something waaaay off base, he'd tell me so. Also, in case anyone's imagination is running wild here, I do not touch this thing to my eyeball!! Only to the skin on the acupuncture points around the eye. I use the mildest setting for the current.

I'm in northern Thailand now... no haze here - apparently they get it BAD here in March, but we'll be long-gone by then. Sorry to hear that you're suffering with the haze in Singapore - we visited your city last year and loved it there... such a shame you guy get afflicted by that awful smoke!!!

re: stinging - sometimes I get this despite my eyes being wet and I don't know why. Some things that help:

1. shutting eyes tightly and rinsing off my lashes under running tap water (assuming maybe the stinging is due to a buildup of dried salts from tears or eyedrops on my lashes, which then re-dissove in my overflowing tears and wash into my eyes causing stinging??? Who knows... just my theory since rinsing lashes off often fixes the problem)

2. After step 1, if still no good, then flushing eyes out with preservative free drops - so maybe I'd use 3-4 drops of Refresh celluvisc in each eye

3. if still no good, then rest eyes, listen to audiobook for a good long while - that pretty much always fixes everything these days

Lastly, if you have a terrible haze in Singapore right now, I bet that's causing some of your problems - you're probably doing this already, but stay indoors with doors and windows closed as much as possible. When we were in Penang, if it got even a tiny bit hazy, my eyes reacted to it very strongly. Staying indoors was the only solution for me.

[alb1967]

Saag thank you for sharing your story. I think you are an inspiration to us all. When I read what you have gone through my heart breaks and then I feel bad that I have an issue having to put drops in over my scleral lenses (mostly because I paid a lot on $ for them and I have now started to use drops and moisture chambers out in the wind). Can I ask you when your eyes were at thier worse, did you have to travel ? I am going on a plane for the first time since this dreaded disease and I am so scared my eyes will get really bad. My Dr said not to wear my scleral lenses and use a lot of PF drops and my moisture chambers. Also since the flight is about 5 hours (we are flying from KY to Seattle for an Alaskan cruise) I will sleep so he suggested taking my tranquileyes for when I sleep. Does this sound like enough to keep them OK for the flight ?? Any info would be great !!

[tealeaf]

SAAG,
Thanks for your replies, they are helpful. Can I check if you have crust or flake in the morning on the eyes when you wake up? I have crust on mine daily and am trying to find out is it MGD problem or Normal for people with tear ducts all closed.

Do you have sticky eyelids?

Thanks again!!!

[Guest]

Can I ask you when your eyes were at thier worse, did you have to travel ? I am going on a plane for the first time since this dreaded disease and I am so scared my eyes will get really bad. My Dr said not to wear my scleral lenses and use a lot of PF drops and my moisture chambers. Also since the flight is about 5 hours (we are flying from KY to Seattle for an Alaskan cruise) I will sleep so he suggested taking my tranquileyes for when I sleep. Does this sound like enough to keep them OK for the flight ?? Any info would be great !!

I've had to travel when my eyes were pretty bad - the only way to survive the flight and travel time ok for me back then was to wear my moisture chambers (Wiley X's) for the entire journey, airport and all (of course, I'd remove them when asked so immigration and whoever else needed to could see my full face to verify it matched the photo on my passport!!!) Then on the flight, keep eyes shut as much as possible - do not read, do not watch a movie - just keep them shut behind your moisture chambers and listen to an audiobook or something. The benefit to staying awake as opposed to sleeping was that I could kind of mini-blink the whole time to continue lubricating my eyes somewhat... whereas if I sleep, they just dry out more. But if you do sleep, just put whatever goop in your eyes that you usually do when sleeping at home and it's not the end of the world.

Even if your eyes suck for a bit afterwards, they'll recover eventually so don't stress. Just take it as it comes, accept whatever happens, and make the best of it. And ENJOY YOUR TRIP no matter what!!! Worst case, even if you have to squint your way through the whole thing because your eyes are irritated as all hell, at least you're on an ALASKAN CRUISE lol I know... no-one should have to suffer... but sometimes it's worth a bit of temporary suffering to do something amazing, right?

SAAG,
Thanks for your replies, they are helpful. Can I check if you have crust or flake in the morning on the eyes when you wake up? I have crust on mine daily and am trying to find out is it MGD problem or Normal for people with tear ducts all closed.

Do you have sticky eyelids?

Thanks again!!!

I do have MGD, but no, do not have crust or flakes on the eyes when I wake up. So I do not think that's "normal" for people with all 4 ducts closed, but something that you should experiment with to try and figure out what's causing it so you can get rid of it

Not sure what you mean by sticky eyelids - do you mean mucous buildup there? If so, I've had that before and I learned that in my case, it went away if I made a point of never, EVER touching my lashes or lids with my bare fingers (unless freshly washed and dried with a clean cloth). So to blot excess tears or eyedrops away when out and about, I always use a fresh clean kleenex.

However, even IF what you have is the same sticky buildup I've had in the past, it could be from some other cause. So if my non-touching rule doesn't fix it, then try to look for other potential causes and rule them out one by one until you find the culprit.

[Guest]

Update on availability of artificial tears in Thailand.... in case this is of use to anyone...

The following only applies to Chiang Mai (where we are right now)... perhaps a larger city such as Bangkok would be different...

So far, there is not a single pharmacy I've checked that has preservative-free Refresh Celluvisc or Bion Tears for sale. Did not see the eye ointment I use (Genteal Ointment) either.

As for Restasis, no idea if they have it here either - if I end up seeing an eye doctor, I'll ask about it (but hopefully nothing happens and I don't need to see one!)

However, I did see one pharmacy carrying a brand of PF artificial tears that I don't use (can't remember the name, sorry... but they aren't terribly popular anyhow i don't think...)

So, if you need PF drops and are coming to Thailand, bring your own supply of drops!

[tealeaf]

Hi SAAG,
Can advise how do you treat your MGD? I am currently using SteriLid foam and warm compress. Seems not very helpful. In the past, I used lidwipes.

Sticky eyelids - I believe the sticky eyelid is caused by the tears. One of my eyes keeps having overflow, the tears seems to stick onto the eyelid and causes the lid to be sticky. I try to wipe it with warm water sometimes, however, as I have to keep blotting so many many times a day, the lid also get abit painful.

I am thinking to try flow control plug for this particular eye, however, so far, no doctor has such plug
May I know how often do you blot a day? Do you tend to blot more after using Restasis?

During the hazy days when you were in Penang, do you find your eyelids sticky (I suppose the dust settled on the tears and on the lids)? Am trying to find out the cause. My eye doctor somehow kept saying no problem with my eye, however, they are not comfortable.

SAAG, how do you rate the comfort of your eye now as compared to pre-lasik and as compared to few years post lasik? Am hoping that eyes can recover to a comfortable level.

Apologies for the many questions and many thanks for the replies again.

Have fun in Chang Mai!

[Guest]

re: painful lids from blotting so much - might be the brand of tissue you're using. Many brands are too rough, even though I dab carefully. I seem to be ok with brand name Kleenex though (the plain one, not with added lotion and all the other varieties... just plan, basic, Kleenex brand tissue.)

Yes, sometimes do blot more after Restasis.

Don't know how many times I blot in a day, but it's a LOT... too many times to count. Don't care though since the extra tears feel great! (That, and I have a brand of tissue that doesn't irritate!)

re: treatment of my MGD - honestly, I do nothing now other than avoid wheat and too much sugar. Used to use heat treatment, and it helps...also used to use oral antibiotics (doxycycline, or tetracyline) - don't use them anymore because my MGD is much improved.

re: compared to pre-LASIK... Pre-LASIK I was 100% normal. Normal as in never thought about my eyes... did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.. no drops, no moisture chambers, no irritation from dryness at all. Now, 9 years later, I'm obviously not normal at all. Sorry, wish I could give better news.

But how I"m doing compared to whenever means nothing... everyone is different so my results are no predictor of how you'll do, right?

[alb1967]

I've had to travel when my eyes were pretty bad - the only way to survive the flight and travel time ok for me back then was to wear my moisture chambers (Wiley X's) for the entire journey, airport and all (of course, I'd remove them when asked so immigration and whoever else needed to could see my full face to verify it matched the photo on my passport!!!) Then on the flight, keep eyes shut as much as possible - do not read, do not watch a movie - just keep them shut behind your moisture chambers and listen to an audiobook or something. The benefit to staying awake as opposed to sleeping was that I could kind of mini-blink the whole time to continue lubricating my eyes somewhat... whereas if I sleep, they just dry out more. But if you do sleep, just put whatever goop in your eyes that you usually do when sleeping at home and it's not the end of the world.

Even if your eyes suck for a bit afterwards, they'll recover eventually so don't stress. Just take it as it comes, accept whatever happens, and make the best of it. And ENJOY YOUR TRIP no matter what!!! Worst case, even if you have to squint your way through the whole thing because your eyes are irritated as all hell, at least you're on an ALASKAN CRUISE lol I know... no-one should have to suffer... but sometimes it's worth a bit of temporary suffering to do something amazing, right?



SAAG thanks for the reply. Yeah I know I should not stress about it easier said that done in all of our cases. Plus I am just like my mother, stress about everything LOL. So can I ask did you have your neuropathy pain in your eyes right after Lasik ? I really had not idea of such a complication. I wish we could all go back in time and undo this unnecessary thing we did to our eyes Andrea B

[Guest]

So can I ask did you have your neuropathy pain in your eyes right after Lasik ? I really had not idea of such a complication.

Not sure on that... my eyes were awful as soon as the local anesthetic wore off from the LASIK procedure. No idea if any of my issues then were neuropathic pain or not.

[alb1967]

re: treatment of my MGD - honestly, I do nothing now other than avoid wheat and too much sugar. Used to use heat treatment, and it helps...also used to use oral antibiotics (doxycycline, or tetracyline) - don't use them anymore because my MGD is much improved


SAAG when you say avoid wheat do you mean gluten free ? I am considering this but I take a heart med that has gluten in it so I cannot go totally gluten freee.

[Guest]

No, when I say wheat, I mean just wheat. Granted, an accidental effect of that is that it means I'm also cutting out probably 99% of the gluten in my diet... but it's purely an accident.

Truthfully, I have no idea if I have a problem with wheat, or gluten... however, by eliminating wheat (which also means most gluten by accident) almost 100% from my diet, my rosacea goes into remission, I no longer need prescription-strength heartburn meds, my chronic headaches are gone (and no meds for that either), my chronic stuffy nose/sneezing is gone (and no more meds needed for THAT), and my eyes are much improved (MG's specifically, and also a decrease in redness), and the skin on my face has way less breakouts (acne or rosacea).

All I know is that while I seem to be able to tolerate small amounts of wheat (which by accident means small amounts of gluten compared to a "normal" wheat-containing diet)... say once a week as a treat... I cannot have wheat every day or things flare up. Seems ok to indulge in it once a week or so with minimal noticeable effects, but more than that and things get bad enough that's it's not worth it.

Hope that helps!

[Guest]

Here are links to old threads of mine on the topic:

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/forum...nd-dysfunction

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/forum...-brady-barrows