Thinking of starting Serum Drops

[djlasik]

I had lasik 3 1/2 years ago. Its been a painful ride.

Eye pain, blepharitis, Floaters. Photophobia, blood vessels (especially when under fluorescent lights) a lot of drops (RX/OTC), dry eyes.

Rx currently using - doxy (50mg for a year), cliradex (from dr office)

My eye pain has dimished over the last 2-3 months... but not out of the woods by any means.

Had another visit to my eye dr yesterday with the thought of getting on serum drops. Dr advised against using serum drops as he felt it would not help. He said that my eye surfaces look pretty good. They normally use the drops on patients with surface problems. It seems like people on this forum have had positive results using serum drops.

Did serum help anyone with Photophobia?
Did anyone use this and had no cornea issues/ good surfaces?

[Cali]

Well I would do a bit of research. When you get LASIK (I did too), they sever your corneal nerves, most but not all grow back. Yeah, I didn’t know that – guess I didn’t read the really fine print.

Your corneal nerves impact your blink rate which impacts tear production, evaporation, your ocular surface, etc. So, although your surfaces look good, perhaps there is an issue with your cornea nerves/cornea neuralgia.

Starting serum shortly after LASIK improves nerve regrowth and density. That's per the clinical studies. If your nerves and cornea tissue grow back normally after LASIK, you’re good to go. If not, you may develop neuropathic pain that can become centralized in your brain. At that point, it’s not so much an eye issue as it is a neuropathic pain issue.

Here are two articles to read, one on serum and one on cornea neuralgia. I'd take your time to research both. Especially if you have eye pain, Here are two articles to start your research:

http://kenes.com/iser2012/abstractcd/pdf/O320.pdf
http://eyeworld.org/article-treating-unexplainable-pain

Oh, and for the eye pain, if you do have cornea neuralgia (which I don't think there is a sure-fire way to diagnose), I believe it is treated with mild, low-grade anti-depressants, which interrupt the pain signal. Your eyes are fine but your brain as a result of the LASIK, is sending signals to your nerves over and over saying there is something wrong thus sending pain signals. The anti-depressants interrupt that pain signal.

Somebody may know more but hopefully this info will start you thinking. You'll need to be your own advocate and research a lot of this stuff and then seek out the correct physicians.

[djlasik]

Thanks for the info Cali. I was on Lyrica for the pain last year but that starting causing other issues (numbness) so I stopped it after a month.

[djlasik]

I live in central NJ. Is there anyone that has the confocal microscope in the philadelphia -NJ - NYC area. If not I was thinking of shooting up to Boston. Is Dr Hamrah the guy to see? Are there any other drs that have expertise (philadelphia -NJ - NYC or Boston are)?

I found one office in Langhorne Pa that has the moicroscope but after talking with them on the phone it sounds like they don't have the expertise with the drops.

[spmcc]

Will's Eye Institute in Philly has a webpage on their tests (see https://www.willseye.org/diagnostic-testing-center). I don't see the word "confocal", but there are lots of strange words there... perhaps one is confocal in disguise? Or you can contact them directly to ask about confocal.

[djlasik]

Thanks spmcc for responding... one of my drs offices is located at wills eye (Corneal Associates). They gave me the langhorne pa contact as they (CA) did not have the microscope. I may be going to Bo$ton.

[Guest]

Did anyone use this and had no cornea issues/ good surfaces?

Me

My eyes typically looked good at dr. appt's. My corneal specialist suggested serum drops (and I was going to ask for them if he hadn't done that) to see if they helped me. If I recall correctly, I was noticing improvement in my comfort levels within a few days - it was very obvious and noticeable to me.

So, my advice would be to push for the chance to try them and see what happens... you'll never know unless you try.

(Note: I wasn't having issues with photophobia, so don't know anything about whether or not serum would help with that)

[djlasik]

Thanks SAAG

Are you still using serum/ how long?

In my correspondence with Dr Hamrah, I had asked "Would I just be using the serum drops If I were your patient"?

Dr Hamrah stated:

""No. The Regimen Includes, But Is Not Limited To, Serum Tears. Serum Tears Works For Nerve Regeneration Only Under Specific Circumstances. Our Studies Show That The Use Of Serum Tears Alone Does Not Work Longterm (May Work Short-Term) "

[Cali]

Thanks SAAG

Are you still using serum/ how long?

In my correspondence with Dr Hamrah, I had asked "Would I just be using the serum drops If I were your patient"?

Dr Hamrah stated:

""No. The Regimen Includes, But Is Not Limited To, Serum Tears. Serum Tears Works For Nerve Regeneration Only Under Specific Circumstances. Our Studies Show That The Use Of Serum Tears Alone Does Not Work Longterm (May Work Short-Term) "

Interesting djlasik. So what is your next plan, are you going up to see Dr. Hamrah, get a confocal?

[Guest]

Thanks SAAG

Are you still using serum/ how long?

Yes, still using serum. I've been on them since April 2010 and I use them 4 times daily. I also use other treatments... you can click on my blog entries to see them (upper right corner, under number of posts).

[djlasik]

Cali,

I was going to try and find someone local that had the same scope. Dr H informed that the Langhorne PA location (that I found) had an old scope not like the one he uses. He gave me the manufacturer info and said to contact them to find out who in my area bought one of their scopes. My plan was to get the drops and scope. I do have a concern with the scope (laser). Is it safe on the eye? I need to look into.

About a week plus ago my photophobia got noticeably better ( I still have it). Not sure why… too many variables. I think I will still add the serum drops.