Alright, so Tranquileyes - worth a crack?

[hamkins]

Hey there, I just have a quick question regarding Tranquileyes, and sleeping with your eyes open.

After a lot of research and some self-diagnosis these past few years, I've come to the conclusion that I have dry-eye due to corneal erosion from sleeping eyes open.

A quick rundown of my symptoms is as follows:

-Reddest (and most painful) first thing in the morning
-Red on the exposed part of the eye, much whiter under my lids
-Sensitive to temperature, wind, dust, water, being poked with cocktail sticks etc. etc. the usual

Recently I read an article on dry eye due to sleeping with your eyes open - something which my parents say I did as a child, and likely still do. The article recommended to tape your eyes shut nightly for 6 months, allowing your cornea to regrow, resulting in beautiful un-dry eyes. In reality though, I find taping your eyes a real pain and impractical at best.

So I'm wondering - does anyone out there have symptoms similar to mine? Caused by sleeping eyes open? More importantly, did Tranquileyes help you with this? Any improvement at all? Over how long?

I'd really like to try them, but I've tried so much now I'm getting sick of disappointment. My eyes have been like this soooo long (literally as long as I can remember, I'm 22 now), I genuinely don't know how it feels to wake up with clear, unpainful eyes.

I'd love for tranquileyes to be the solution - it seems to make sense that they'd help me out!

Cheers guys! Thanks a lot in advance for your input!

[LasikRelatedDES]

So I'm wondering - does anyone out there have symptoms similar to mine? Caused by sleeping eyes open? More importantly, did Tranquileyes help you with this? Any improvement at all? Over how long?

Hey, I have slept with my eyes open since I was a kid as well. Unfortunately, I did not know that this would be a problem when I had LASIK surgery. If only the eye surgeon would have asked me if I was known to sleep with my eyes open! Anyway...

The tranquileyes goggles have been a very important part of my recovery. I noticed an immediate improvement as soon as I started using them, even before I started any medication like restasis.

If I don't use them or they fall off during the night, I wake up in searing pain at about 3am.

They were worth the money, but don't feel like you need to get the deluxe kit. Just get the goggles to see if they work for you. FYI, I use them dry with Celluvisc drops right before bed. (Celluvisc seals my eyes shut when they dry and I've had really good results using them)

[Rebecca Petris]

This condition is called lagophthalmos. It's pretty common. However I'd like to urge you to not rely on self-diagnosis but see a doctor and discuss this. A lot of people have lagophthalmos with no dry eye symptoms so your symptoms might indicate there is also more going on that needs treatment. It would be best to know.

I think Tranquileyes is far and away the best product for night protection. Bearing in mind though that no one product works equally for everyone. I'd check out the night dry eye protection sections on dryeyezone.com and also in these forums.

[hamkins]

Hey cheers for the replies guys, thanks a lot.

I should have been more clear in my first post, I have actually been to a few doctors now, and even been referred to an opthamologist, with little luck. I usually receive the usual "Well yer not going blind, so man up sonny" response, with very little being diagnosed or useful treatment being prescribed.

I was prescribed FML for a while, with little success, maybe a slight reduction in redness, but so slight it was barely worth it at all. I also got prescribed some celluvisc, but this seems only to serve to soothe my eyes whyn things are really bad.

Thanks again for you replies guys, I think I'm going to give these things a shot.

And thanks also for setting up such a useful website Rebecca, it really is great.

[liz56]

Hi,

I have one more suggestion-- try seeing a corneal specialist rather than a general ophthalmologist. Even when I was referred to an ophthalmologist, he turned out to be a retina specialist, but he helped me find my first corneal specialist, who was too interested in LASIK to care about my problem. So, I looked around until I found one who specialized in diseases of the cornea.

I, too, have RCE's, and I noticed a real change when I started using TE's regularly. I was using them moistened, but it helped me more when I used them dry.

The last time I visited Dr. Francis Mah (at UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA), the assistant who checked my vision and wrote my history told me (when I mentioned how much things changed around for me once I started using TE's) that there were twin girls in the office recently who were suffering RCE's, so Dr. Mah ordered TE's for them, and they improved.

Not only do the TE's help me with the unbearable condition of RCE's, but they also make everything really dark at night, and now I will not sleep without them. My eyelids just are not enough!

Good luck,
Liz