serum drops and redness

[steveyez]

Hello, please update regarding your serum experience. I don't believe mine are 100% serum (folks at the pharmacy could not give me that information when I asked. But I began using a week ago to help with burning and stinging from steroids. I guess I expected a bigger 'miracle' as my eyes feel even drier and sting quite a bit. Still, I have 3 months worth of serum: I was advised to use each vial for two days. Since I can't even work due to the dry eyes, I'm just sitting at home using the serum and waiting for a miracle. Thanks. ~Gerri

Sorry for the long delay in replying - Im still going out to Alicante to get the PRP serum - 18 months use in total now - very slow but very definite progress - im going to Alicante again in 3 months time

My consultant in Birmingham is still battling NHS England for funding as they dont support new patients in the West Midlands so it looks high likely Im going to be sent to Moorfields for Autologous Serum under some other NHS England funding pot - 2 years and counting to get Autologous Serum in England - thanks heavens for PRP in Alicante ;-)

[Gerri55455]

! I am on my second bottle of serum and my eye is just great--no more swollen lid, stinging, itching, crusted over lids. .

Hello, please update regarding your serum experience. I don't believe mine are 100% serum (folks at the pharmacy could not give me that information when I asked. But I began using a week ago to help with burning and stinging from steroids. I guess I expected a bigger 'miracle' as my eyes feel even drier and sting quite a bit. Still, I have 3 months worth of serum: I was advised to use each vial for two days. Since I can't even work due to the dry eyes, I'm just sitting at home using the serum and waiting for a miracle. Thanks. ~Gerri

[steveyez]

Thanks for that info miki-mama

I agree Autologous Serum should not cost £1500 in the UK for 3 months supply so its good to know the alternative of Basel that you describe

I checked up and its 700 miles from Birmingham to Basel whereas as its 1400 miles from Birmingham to Alicante in Spain so we're definetly getting closer to where i live ;-)

Ive never tried Autologous Serum because i hit a real blockbuster of an administrative funding delay in the UK between my hospital in Brum ( which i would highly recommend ) and NHS BT ( http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/tissueservic...es/autologous/ )

As i was in so much pain i couldnt afford the time to wait for the funding delay to get sorted ( it took about 6 months after i was prescribed autologous serum for me to be able to book an appointment with NHS BT ) so in the meantime i ended up going to Spain to get the nearly equivalent PRP which seems to work well but its slow progress as ive been taking it for just over a year now but its real progress to me

Steve

[miki-mama]

Makes no sense why Autologous Serum drops should cost that much! From what I heard (from a technician at the hospital that produce it for me) it is a simple process that doesn't even require any unusual (i.e. expensive) equipments. When I was living in CH, a weekly vial cost me equivalent of $40, here in the US, the weekly vial costs about $15. The serum drops are not a covered item in the US either. Perhaps you should look into going to Switzerland to get yours made. I had mine made at Universitat Basel, eye center.

[steveyez]

I've been taking Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) for nearly a year now and its slowly as the months have gone by been reducing the pain and only in the last month has it had a significant impact on redness but this has also coincided with the corneal pain becoming significant less.

PRP is very similar to Autologous Serum - its 100% and is based on your own blood being spun in a centrifuge.

I travel to Spain to get mine but it would be great if i could get it in England as travel around this time of year to Spain is expensive because of holiday demand but even with the travel expense its still a lot cheaper going to Spain than the £1500 it would cost me for Autologous Serum in the UK for 3 months ( Ive been prescribed Autologous Serum by my Opthamologist in Birmingham but its not approved to be funded by the NHS in my area )

Steve

[miki-mama]

Hi. I know a guy in Germany who bought a centrifuge and produced his own serum drops without problem. I have been using the 20% formulation (produced by a hospital pharmacy) for over 7 years, never told to use antibiotics with it. But you must be very careful to keep the bottles sterile, in the refrigerator, protected from light, and your hands absolutely clean when you use the drops. I have benefitted tremendously from using it. It is great as an anti-inflammatory.

[Judi999]

The Orange County Dry Eye Support Group in Calif

California Pharmacy in Newport Beach does the compounding for serum eye drop and blood draw and UCI. Call and ask for Glen Olsheim

[Katewest]

When I asked for that they the tech said what I had 1 part blood 3 part tear was the most they do.

[hosanna13]

I was given serum tears from Moran Eye Center in SLC UT and they mentioned nothing about antibiotics so I dont think you need to be on them. I was given 1 part blood and 3 part tears. They said this is the highest they do. Does that mean I have to go somewhere else for 100% serum? The drops I have right now dont really help at all.

Thanks! From my research, 100% serum, 4x day works the best. Mixing it with saline water degrades the proteins faster and it's more dilute. I'd just ask them to give you 100% serum, right out of the tube of centrifuged blood.

[Katewest]

I was given serum tears from Moran Eye Center in SLC UT and they mentioned nothing about antibiotics so I dont think you need to be on them. I was given 1 part blood and 3 part tears. They said this is the highest they do. Does that mean I have to go somewhere else for 100% serum? The drops I have right now dont really help at all.

[hosanna13]

Hi everyone,

I'm gonna start making my own serum tears. I've been suffering from dry eyes and pain (possibly corneal neuropathy?) in my right eye for 6 months now. I'm a medical student with years of work experience in research labs, so hopefully I'll know what I'm doing..
I just bought my own centrifuge and necessary medical supply from the internet.

I found this document with instructions on how to isolate serum from whole blood. I'll have a med school friend draw my blood (this is how we practice phlebotomy in school anyway lol)
http://www.proimmune.com/ecommerce/pdf_files/PR31.pdf

I'm thinking of starting with 50% serum and working my way up to 100% if necessary.

My question is, do I need to be on antibiotics while I'm doing serum tears? Thanks.

[Katewest]

Faith -how long until you noticed the serum tears working? I think I have 25% the tech said its 1 part blood to 3 parts drops.

[StephenP99]

Well the good news is my eye doctor returned my call and said serum tears are a good idea. The not-as-good news is he doesn't know where in orange county is a reliable source. UCLA's a bit out of the way for me. Anyone know of somewhere in the OC that compounds this?

Faith1989: Yes I tried Alrex for 4 weeks, first 4x/day, then 3x/day, then 2x/day, then 1x/day. My eyes cleared up quite a bit, except for some vessels that are basically "permanent" in the corners of my eyes. But then the redness came back. I asked my eye doctor, can I use Alrex as needed and he said yes, although its not a good idea to do this and he would rather me just use more artificial tears.

So my current regimen is flax seed, warm compresses, restasis, and artificial tears. I assume the serum drops will substitute for the artificial tears, but maybe I will continue to use Alrex as needed. Basically I use it before important meetings when I need to look sharp.

Oddly enough, the worst time of redness is when I close my eyes for >20minutes. It doesn't even have to be a full nap, something about closing my eyes makes the vessels dilate a lot. Also after warm compresses my eyes always look very red and angry.

[Faith1989]

I have serum tears (100 percent). They have helped and r worth the effort. I still use Steriods three to four times per week and Restasis twice a day..sometimes only at night depending on how my eyes feel. If u have MGD and severe dry eye, serum tears MAY not be enough. But in addition to your regime I think they will help with the redness. Have you tried using any low dose steriod drops such as Alrex?

[StephenP99]

Thanks for the info! Glad to hear you had such success with serum drops.