Asthma and serum drops

[SusieD]

Does anyone know if having asthma would mean that you couldnt have the serum drops?

[dianat]

Why would you expect it to be a problem?

[SusieD]

I dont know - I just wondered from the allergy aspect. Probably wont be a problem.

[kitty]

The drops are made from your own tissue. I doubt there would be a problem, unless you develop an autoimmune response.

[dianat]

I couldn't imagine a problem with them...it's your own serum. My doctor mixes the serum with a basic preserved OTC drop. If your doc were doing the same, you certainly could develop an allergy to the drop. But it would seem odd to develop an intolerance to the serum.

I'm my kids' doctor, but only by default. The experts may say differently.

Diana

[Delilah]

Curious?

I really haven't paid much attention to these blood serum drops but I am very curious about them and do they use your own blood to make them? I don't quite understand why they would help with severe dry eye like we all suffer from? Can some one lead me to a good website so I can research about the blood serum drops and Diane can you please tell me how it makes you feel and has it helped you? Thanks a bunch Delilah

[sazy123]

can someone please tell me if you can use serum eye drops if your eyes are not 'severe' i know my eyes are not as bad as some. I mean how bad should your eyes be before it would warrent tring blood serum eye drops? Or does it not matter? thanks

[jcorbett]

I think that whether or not your eyes are 'severe' enough for serum or any other medical treatment would depend on how you view your eyes, how much discomfort you are in, and how much time/money you want to spend to try and get relief. Doctors vary....some will be very happy to try different things in spite of what any tests show, others are more reluctant. I don't think there is any industry standard for any treatment that all docs follow. (If I am wrong, I am sure someone will correct me.)
When making appointments, don't be afraid to ask these things up front. Tell them what you are interested in, and ask if the doctor is willing to prescribe it and ask if there is any set criteria the doctor has. It can save you a lot of time/money and narrow your doctor visits down to the doctors who are more willing to treat you.

[sazy123]

thanks im not sure whether to pursue this or the restasis first, how long does it take to notice an effect with these eye drops?

SusieD: have you managed to find a doctor who is willing to persricbe them?

They do them on the NHS, i dont know why my eye doctor didnt suggest them to me after two occasions of telling her that atrifial tears dont help me. And they clearly do this as a common procedure. it makes me soo mad ! just coz she cant see many signs. http://www.blood.co.uk/hospitals/lib.../eye_drops.pdf


some usefull info: http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:...ient=firefox-a

[SusieD]

Sazy, why do you want to get hold of restasis? Someone please correct me if Im wrong but is this drop only useful for generating more tears from the lacrimal gland? (and decreasing inflammation).

I just wondered as I saw in one of your previous posts that your schrimer scores were 20 - I know this is not conclusive but I didnt think aqueous deficiency was your problem. You cant get restasis here anyway - and I wouldnt jump through hoops to get it if it isnt likely to do you any good.

I have been told it could help me - but I may as well forget about it because I cant have it.

[sazy123]

SusieD: that is a good question and i dont really know the answer to it. I often wonder this mayself. But i don't consider myself to have much of an option. coz if i dont try, i get depressed. There are reasons why i think it wont help, like my (schimmer results), but there are other reasons why it might help. When i had my schimmer results i had plugs in, so it could of effected it, no signs of MGD, etc. And it has helped others with evaporative problems. You just never know. I feel like ive exhusted all the other options, so what else have i got left to loose, apart from 'money', i would just feel better if i have tried possibilities. But i may pursue the blood serum option, as this is supposed to be helpfull for evaporative dry eye, and the mucin cells. But i doubt i will be able to get hold of it. coz my eyes don't look that dry. I phoned the nurse in the eye department in the NHS and moaned about not being offered it, when they clearly do it, said i was going to make a complaint. She said she will speak to the doctor who dealt with me, dont hold out much hope though.

If you think it might help, you shouldnt just give up coz you can't get it in this country, In my opinion if you wait for things to be available in this country you will be waiting forever. And wasting your life.

You didn't say whether you had any luck finding a doc that would perscibe serum drops?

[SusieD]

I know what you mean - you just want to try anything you can get hold of.
Only problem if you get it in the states is you wont have any follow up or anything.

I saw a doctor today - he was actually the best one I have seen so far, and yes, he can make serum drops - but he wont for me!, at least not yet. Apparently Im not severe enough for it - (according to tests done) although they feel it and he did say they look very dry. I think he would do it if I had a lot of staining or scratches etc on the surface of my eye.

I also have a fast tear break up time (along with aqueous deficiency) of a couple of seconds. So Im thinking there must be a decrease in oil production or something because I dont have a problem with the glands themselves - they are not clogged or anything.

I would seem to me that again - you can get these a lot easier in the States. Or maybe its just that the criteria is different - here it would seem that you have to be at a certain stage of severity before they will justify going down this line.

[dianat]

I don't have any real corneal staining. I also have an oveflow of tears due to being cauterized in all four punctae. I am extremely uncomfortable, however, and suffer a great deal of burning. I'm also very, very sensitive to particulate matter in the air, smoke, any moving air... I'm just not bone dry any more since cautery. I had to build a case for the serum drops. It's not so extreme that it wasn't worth trying. I was mentally at my wits end. No doctor had ever felt they would help me, and wouldn't really commit to any real noticable problem with my eyes at all. Still, I've turned a corner and am in a manageable place. I'm not great, but manageable. I have felt manageable since starting the serum. I know I can't prove scientifically that they are helping, but I can assure you I will continue them as long as my doc will make them. I have asked if perhaps they act on inflammation. Perhaps I am reducing inflammation enough to offer noticeable improvement.

Everything is worth trying.

[sazy123]

Diana, so you say your eyes don't look that severe? coz obviouly you have lots of tears. But they feel severe to you thats why you tried them?

susie I think your few seconds TBUT and low schimmer constitues as severe. He said not at the moment, what is he going to wait and see if your eyes get damaged by the dry eye and then possibly perscribe them? or is he just trying other things first, then he might possibly? I don't care if they have a level of sverenity where they will persricbe something. I think its wrong, if theve got nothing else thats decent, they should look at the individual case and what impact it has on their life, and strech abit in some cases, In my case coz im 20 etc. The way i see it is Im no more likely to get an infection from these drops than someone who is severe, if anything probally less likely if your less severe you have more protective factors anyway. (sorry just venting)

Does anyone know if it would be possible to get serum drops from the states if you saw dry eye expert? coz they are more willing to try things. thanks

oh the floow up thing, i dont think its a problem with restasis markL on here hasnt had a problem, he does great. not sure about other things though.

[SusieD]

I know what you're saying - I have that opinion too. Im not about to give up on it though - I will have to make a stronger case when I see him again.