Autologus Serum - 101

[Margaret]

Can anyone tell me what they know about autologous serum? It might be the next thing on my list to try...

1. I have cold sores. Does that negate me from using them? I just seem to reason if I have the herpes virus in my blood, that wouldn't be good to transfer that blood into my eyes!

2. What is the percentage of blood in the drops that seems to help the most?

3. Is it hard to find pharmacies that make this stuff? are there important questions to ask them first to make sure they are the right pharmacy?

4. How long does it take to usually see results? Any warnings I should be aware of?

5. sounds like it might help to get a small fridge for my bedroom to keep these drops cold! Any other advice?

6. do these drops seem to help in combination with another particular drop?

Thanks,
Margaret

[PotatoCakes]

I use serum drops. I won't be able to answer all of your questions but hopefully I can answer some.

1. out of my league. Probably best to ask a physician although I know that my physician never asked me if I get cold sores or anything so I'm guessing it doesn't matter. I did get an ovarian cyst once and before the draw, I asked if that was a problem (he said no).

2. That's up to your doctor. A lot of people have 20% (that seems to be standard) but my physician prescribed 50% for me and I believe it's SAAG who is on 100%. I know there have been lots of studies done on 20%, 6 times a day with success.

3. I don't think pharmacies make serum drops. I get mine done at the Lion's Eye Bank but I believe hospitals make them too. Hopefully you're doctor will have some options for you. If not, I'd contact the local med school hospitals and Lion's Eye Bank in your area. It would be an unusual pharmacy that would have the capability of creating serum drops since they involve blood.

4. I think I had results fairly soon but didn't "feel" the results right away. I was seeing my specialist once a month at the time (now I get to wait 3 months between appts!). The corneal abrasions I had did go away according to one of my specialists. I don't know how bad they were though -- just that they were bad enough my specialist was seeing me a lot and wanted me to put drops in at least once an hour.
Warnings: There shouldn't be any side effects unless the drops are contaminated or not refrigerated for some reason. They are made with your blood so there should be no allergic reactions whatsoever.

5. I keep them in my kitchen fridge and do not use them at night. Unless your doctor requires you use them at night or you are bedridden, there's really no reason you need a fridge in your room.
Other advice: For days when I'm out and about a lot or traveling, I use a Thermos to keep my drops cold (see post http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...hlight=thermos) otherwise, I use regular preservative-free vials for convenience (when I'm going to be gone only a couple of hours or so at a time or for fancy evening events where I don't want to carry a Thermos around with me).

6. Not necessarily although I'd stick to preservative-free vials if you combine them with anything.
Different doctors will tell you different things about how often you need to use them and whether they want you to use serum drops solely or if it's ok to use them with other drops.
Most physicians seem to tell their patients 6 times per day and use other drops (patient-doctor choice) when not using the serum drops. One of my specialists wants me to use my serum drops every hour if at all possible, which I try to do but it's simply not possible for me to do all of the time and manage to lead any sort of normal life (when I tried to adhere to every rule he gave me, I found myself increasingly stressed and depressed which made my eyes worse, not better). I try to use them as often as I possibly can but when I can't, I use preservative-free vials and no longer feel guilt about "cheating" and my eyes have not gotten worse for it. My other specialist thinks 6 times per day is sufficient and understands that I have a life to maintain outside of my eyes.

One thing, serum drops are not the end all be all. They can help heal corneal abrasions and they are non-allergenic (big deal if you have lots of allergies like me) but they won't suddenly heal your glands and have you producing tears one day soon. I absolutely love mine because of the healing & non-allergenic properties but they aren't right for everyone and your insurance will not pay for them so they can be quite spendy.

More... before you get your blood draw, be sure to drink plenty of water in the upcoming days. The more hydrated you are, the more drops they will be able to make for you. The first time I got them, I was 10 for 10 -- 10 vials of blood got me 10 bottles of 50/50 drops. The second time I went in, I made sure I consumed plenty of water in the day before my draw and I got 12 bottles for 10 vials of blood. Next time, I'm going to try to be good about drinking water for a few days before the draw. It has other benefits too according to a nurse that was giving me a blood test, she told me the more hydrated you are, the less painful the draw is.

[Guest]

1. I haven't come across anything on that topic... not sure...

2. "Concentrations between 20% and 100% of serum have been used. The efficacy seems to be dose-dependent." from page 169 of the DEWS report. http://www.tearfilm.org/dewsreport/p...DEWS-noAds.pdf

This is consistent with a study that I'd found ages ago where they compared how patients did on 20, 50 and 100% serum drops... the 100% was the most effective. Can't for the life of me find the abstract again though... Anyhow, it was a small study, so who knows if the same result would be found in a larger study... but it's interesting all the same...

3. From what I can tell on the forums here, people have varying difficulty in finding a pharmacy to make it. Any pharmacy that prepares serum drops would need to have the right equipment for making sterile preparations - ie. a laminar flow hood. Specialty compounding pharmacies are the most likely ones to have this.

4. If I recall correctly, I read a study showing that patients noticed a difference within days, although their docs couldn't see any difference for a couple of weeks? For me, PRIOR to reading that study, I swore it made a difference within a couple of days... was glad to see the study afterwards though to confirm it's not just me! As for warnings, infection from contaminated serum is one, but if the pharmacy is careful, the lab is careful, and you are careful, I would think odds are that you'll be fine. There are other warnings too, but I don't remember what they were... seems to me they were pretty rare though...

5. Regular fridge should be fine. And a deep freezer to store the extra bottles... they're good in the deep freezer for 3 mo.

6. Haven't read about any particular combos that are extra special.

[irish eyes]

Margaret

Here in the UK, autologous serum is not manufactured in the same way as the US. I can attempt responses to some of your questions.

4. How long does it take to usually see results? Any warnings I should be aware of?

For me, improvement was immediate but it would depend on your starting point. Any improvement at all would have been significant but I can honestly say, it did not take long for them to start helping. My eyes had become indescribably sore .

5. sounds like it might help to get a small fridge for my bedroom to keep these drops cold! Any other advice?

The serum comes frozen in small bottles - about 2ml capacity. So, I keep them in the freezer and use a fresh bottle each day.

6. do these drops seem to help in combination with another particular drop?

I used serum on its own for quite some time but now I use a bit of Oasis Tears Plus. I couldn't tolerate the majority of tears on the market but Oasis isn't too bad.

One thing I must say about the serum; the initial improvement was dramatic. I felt better and the consultant said my eyes looked better. In my case, the improvement reached a plateau and it has stayed the same for quite some time now.

[Trac]

1. I have cold sores. Does that negate me from using them? I just seem to reason if I have the herpes virus in my blood, that wouldn't be good to transfer that blood into my eyes!
I was tested for HIV and hepatitis before the compounding pharmacy would make the tears for me.

2. What is the percentage of blood in the drops that seems to help the most?
Don't have a clue

3. Is it hard to find pharmacies that make this stuff? are there important questions to ask them first to make sure they are the right pharmacy?
Lieters pharmacy in San Jose Calif. will make these for you and ship them to you. They are great and fast. I just got my third different type of compounded eye drop from them last week. Your doctor just has to get a prescription and the blood to them.

4. How long does it take to usually see results? Any warnings I should be aware of?
I think my eyes felt better pretty quickly, but they still are not normal.

5. sounds like it might help to get a small fridge for my bedroom to keep these drops cold! Any other advice?
I keep my open bottle in the kitchen refrigerator and the unopen containers in the freezer. When I know I am going to be out for more than a few hours I take the vial in an insulated lunchbox with 2-3 ice packs. Some times the drops freeze, but it is easy enough to thaw them out by rolling the container in your hands.

6. do these drops seem to help in combination with another particular drop?
I use lots of medication, but I stopped using artificial tears because they wash out the serum