Need opinions: After 6 mnths is it time for me to stop serum tears?

[chimera]

hello there, Id like your opinion on serum tears.

i have been taking them now fr 6 months straight, 4 times a day, 50% platelet solution. So far I have not noticed any significant improvement compared to when I first got dry eye in May of 2010.

How do I measure "improvement"? well for over 2 years now I have been needing to use AT drops(refresh preserv free) every 30 min to an hour, usually I need to(or should) apply every 30 min but I try to stretch to an hour so that Im not using the drops so much(which I still am, every hour is insane). It often depends on environment & what Im doing with my eyes as to wether i can stand the pain for that long(1 hr). When i can start going from hourly dropping to hour & a half dropping thats when Ill start to consider that yes, whatever I am currently doing/taking is actually working...

ok so my question is after 6 months is it time for me to stop wasting my money/time on this? I was thinking of going for at least full year to make sure i give it enough time but I dont know....my doctor already wants me to stop & try schlerals next(whicg Im not crazy about.)In 2 weeks i see him again & will have to decide.

and just so you know my history:

I have evaporative dry eye with MGD

I never had Lasik,
no vison problems, healthy corneas
but do take synthroid for thyroid condition & have been on antidepressents for about 20 yrs.

I also take Restasis (since Sept. 2010)

appreciate any opinions & thanks for listening(reading)...

[sazy123]

Hi i think the question of stopping would be how much is it costing you and is it worth the money?

Most say it can take up to 6 months for serum drops to have an effect, but you are at 6 months and nothing. Yes you should notice a difference by now if was going to help you IMHO. If the drops arent costing much, id keep with it -you never know, ive heard of dry eye treatments taking a year to work (restasis)- but who knows if it was the restasis or something else.

I was using Kinerette eye drops from the boston mass ear and eye and they cost me $170/month as insurnace didnt pay for them. After no or minimal improvment after 6 months i decided they werent worth the money. However, if they were free i would have kept on them ''just in case'' for maybe a year before giving up. I am desperate for relief.

Another thing to consider- serum works best for people with corneal issues. If you have none, just MGD, i think its not as good. I have the samewith eyelid inflammation, no surface issues and 3 months on PRP serum did not help me.

[PotatoCakes]

Couple of questions... Are you closing your eyes for at least 2 minutes after application of the serum drops? and Have you tried using ONLY the serum drops, meaning, using them as needed, instead of other ATs?

I use my serum drops (75% but started with 50%) all of the time when I'm at home; sometimes that's a couple of times an hour, sometimes a lot less depending on a variety of factors. I only use AT when I'm on the go and carrying my serum tears is inconvenient.

Also, I find that I get a lot more relief from my serum drops if I use them properly (sometimes I'm lazy) and keep my eyes closed for a full 2 minutes, timed, after I put them in.

All that said, they may not work for you. I had some corneal damage / abrasions and the serum drops really helped with that. In addition, when I use the serum drops regularly, I find that I have less redness than when I don't, which is nice.

[chimera]

first of all thanks so much for responding, I was worried I wasnt going to get any replies!


sazy123, I do have the funds to try them for at least another 6 months. I mean I dont want to, you know... I just feel like Im throwing my money away at this point, money that I could use for other things. And if I stop now I can get started on some other treatment, though i have no idea what Im going to do next. The doc wants to try sclerals next but I really dont want to... yet. I wish he'd consider other meds or drops out there, there are so many, but I dont know if maybe he's just not aware of them.

BTW I forgot to mention I also do take fluorometholone, but only once a night for the horrible itching I was getting on my eyeball & lids. Its helped, though I still deal with itching.



Potatocakes, I wasnt keeping my eyes closed for 2 mins initially, but in the last month I started to...I would always do it for AT drops but for some reason I never thought of doing it for the serum drops(I know, duh!)

as for using only serum drops, the problem is that I need to use AT drops at least every hour and I was only told to use the serum 4x a day. And for the hour I was substituting the serum instead of the drops I noticed my eyes were much drier & more painful by the time the hour was up. So the serum also doesnt lubricate as well as the AT's do. I would like to try using more serum/less AT but Id have to ask my doctor. Also using more serum would mean it would be even more expensive as Id have to use up more bottles.

its weird, I have never had a redness problem...except when i use Restasis, my eyes do get a little red for a couple minutes but it goes away...

[chimera]

so I went back to my doc yesterday & it was very discouraging. He told me he was surprised that the serum tears havent helped me at all. Also that he's treated other people with worse dry eye but their symptoms dont seem to be as bad as mine.

He placed some collagen plugs, 6 of them, to see if it helps. Ive already tried silcon umbrella top style plugs b4 & those didnt work do I doubt these will either as I have very large punctum.

I asked him if I could have corneal neuralgia(which Im suspecting more & more,) he dismissed it & changed the subject. He told me to continue taking the serum tears & all the other stuff Ive been taking & to see him in 2 months.

I think its time to see yet another doctor(& this has been my 5th, or is it my 6th? Ive lost count by now.

[Tanner]

How do you have 6 plugs? My dr doing serum tears less than 8 times a day is a waste of time...

[Tanner]

I should have been clearer. I was typing quickly and obviously am not good at it I was told 8 times a day for nerve pain. Chimera go with your instincts on what you think you may have. That is my advice. A confocal although subjective can give you an idea about the condition of your nerves.

[chimera]

He placed 6 plugs, 4 & then 2 exta ones. I guess my punctum are big enough to accomodate them?

I want to get tested for corneal neuralgia but dont know where to get that done or if they even have it in my area. Is confocal the name of the test for it? I go to Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami- Id have to ask if they have it there.

Id also like to get tested for demodex mites.

[Tanner]

Yes it is called a confocal. Maybe if you call an eye bank they can tell you where you can do it? Bascom probably has it.

[jenny2008]

Chimera and whoever else --i wanted to say i have been on 20% 3 months and then 50% almost 3months (i have sjogrens and mgd).. and i havent noticed any difference either... however, i spoke with a few compounding pharmacists at Leiters in San Jose and they both said most people get help with 100% if youare albe to give that much blood.. I may at my next apt in a few weeks request that i get an rx for 100% adn try for 3 months.. if at that time there is no difference i will stop..

Chimera-let us know what you decide... like you said about your doc-the pharmacists were shocked when I said i felt no better--and my doc wasnt surprised=-he didnt think they would help but he lets me try things..

[abbygirl]

Hi all,
I just got my serum drops today and they must be 100% because they collected the bag of plasma and told me nothing would be added to the plasma to make the drops. I was connected to a machine that separated my blood and plasma and then returned my blood back into my system along with saline. They told me this is much easier on the body. They collected 1 unit and I got 400 vials and am to use 4x per day.

[Cali]

Machine to seperate serum from blood

Abbygirl - I've never heard of this - having a machine seperate the serum without centerfuging and pump my blood right back into my system. Can you explain further? I go to LabCorp in California. They draw the blood (about 7 vials in 10ml tubes, put the vials into a centrifuge to seperate out the serum, then ship the serum to the compounding pharmacy to make up the drops. I get around 20 vials of 50/50 solution. I think in 5ml droppers. It's about $17.00/dropper. Very curious how you got 400 vials - what are the vial sizes? At 400 vials that would cost me $6,800.00 WOW!

[abbygirl]

Hi Cali,
Yes, I went to the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas for the procedure. My doctor ordered 1 unit of blood. I was connected to a machine that took my blood, separated the plasma (I ended up with a good sized bag of plasma) and then the machine put the blood back into my body along with saline. This way, my body did not loose any blood and I also did not feel any effects. It took about 20 minutes for the actual procedure and 4 "cycles." I now have 400 small vials with about 6 drops per vial. I am to use it 4 x per day. I think it is 100% serum because they told me nothing is added to my plasma. I have never given blood before (I am small) and was very nervous about losing all that blood. This was no problem at all. I believe it is a new procedure and very few use it.

[farmgirl]

Really I love my serum drops because ever since I started using them my corneas have been pronounced healthy and before I started every time I had them checked they had damaged spots on them. Although I was still adding drops every 20 min to one hour for my own comfort I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were helping. It wasn't until I had the puncta plugged that I could use the drops much less frequently. If you have always had healthy corneas, then maybe you don't really need them....F/G

[Cali]

Wow. I am going to look into the procedure with the machine. Thanks Abbygirl.

Hi Cali,
Yes, I went to the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas for the procedure. My doctor ordered 1 unit of blood. I was connected to a machine that took my blood, separated the plasma (I ended up with a good sized bag of plasma) and then the machine put the blood back into my body along with saline. This way, my body did not loose any blood and I also did not feel any effects. It took about 20 minutes for the actual procedure and 4 "cycles." I now have 400 small vials with about 6 drops per vial. I am to use it 4 x per day. I think it is 100% serum because they told me nothing is added to my plasma. I have never given blood before (I am small) and was very nervous about losing all that blood. This was no problem at all. I believe it is a new procedure and very few use it.