Fantastic news for dry eye patients in Norway

[sunshinelover]

Thanks spmcc! Good info!
Joanna, I recommend them. The docs name is Sten Raeder.

[spmcc]

Hi again sunshinelover,

Yes, I think Blink Contacts and Blink Moisturizing Lubricant are different products. The packages are different. Online info shows:

Blink Contacts® Lubricating Eye Drops is a sterile, buffered, isotonic, preserved solution.
This aqueous formulation includes purified water, sodium hyaluronate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, boric acid and is preserved with OcuPure® preservative (stabilized oxychloro complex 0.005%). This preparation contains no chlorhexidine, no thimerosal and no other mercury containing ingredients.

Blink Tears: Active Ingredient - Polyethylene Glycol 400 0.25%
Inactive Ingredients- Boric Acid; Calcium Chloride; Magnesium Chloride: Potassium Chloride; Purified Water; Sodium Borate; Sodium Chloride; Sodium Chlorite (OcuPure® brand) as a preservative; Sodium Hyaluronate.

Here is a published article (Apr 2010) on TearLab's Osmolarity Test and OTC drops: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20153684. It looks like the TearLab people like polyethylene glycol or sodium hyaluronate (Blink Intensive Tears) to improve osmolarity. Perhaps discuss this with your doctor?

All the best.

[joanna]

Thanks for the update sunshinelover!
I think it should be my next step. What's the name of the doctor?

[sunshinelover]

Hi,
Is Blink Contacts Lubricants the same as Blink Moinsturizing Lubricants? I only find the Blink Contacts here, and I can't find if there is a difference. Are they suoposed to be better for osmoloarity then other drops? I use Viscotears gel now frequently throughout the day, as I do not get any relief from ordinary drops.
N, he didn't say anything about any special treatment regarding drops other than Viscotears. What I can't understand is why osmolarity is so much worse in the eye that have better Shrimers and TBUT...

[spmcc]

Well ,osmolarity test is said to be the best Dry Eye test and that must be true, since it correlate with the symptoms.

Hi sunshinelover,

Did the doctor give you a treatment to improve osmolarity? Here in North America, the locations that are performing the Tearlab Osmolarity Test are recommending Blink Moisturizing Lubricant Drops.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Toril]

Hi again, Sunshinelover!

Thanks for the update! Was very interesting reading! I will go there and get all the tests too in a while. As far as I know I've never done an osmolarity test, and I'm pretty sure my score will be very low (which is also the case with the Schirmer's test and the TBUT test). I've been on low dose Doxycycline for many years now for MGD (first I started out with 100 mg. per day, but now I use 100 mg. three times a week). When not using Doxycycline for a couple of weeks my eyes tend to get worse (they get more sensitive to wind, etc. and I get an "icy" feeling). I've also tried to manage without Restasis, which made my eyes feel worse again (and getting more inflamed). I also use Zaditen allegy drops on a daily basis, and these seem to have an anti inflammatory effect as well.

I don't know any doctors in Sweden prescribing Restasis, but maybe the secretary of Prof. Baudouin knows someone? Like I mentioned before, Prof. Baudouin mentioned there were a couple of "good guys" in Sweden when it came to dry eye doctors. Otherwise you could stick with your appointment in Paris, hope to get Restasis there and bring the boxes with you back home. A complicated way to go though (and expensive....).

I'm amazed that all these treatments are available in Norway all of a sudden. It's like a miracle. Would never ever have thought that would happen in a long long time yet.

[sunshinelover]

Hi! Here is an update on the Olso visit! I am cufused at a higher level!
I can really recommend this guy, he spend 1,5 hour with me, doing all sorts of tests (may be extra time since he had another doctor "trainee" in the room as well. The results is somewhat confusing though, so happy for comments on that:
Left eye (worse eye), Shirmer 15, TBUT 8, but BAD osmolarity. Right eye (better eye): Shirmer 5, TBUT 4 (better osmolarity!!)
Symptoms are at par with the osmolarity test, but I can unerstand how the othermeasurements fit into that! The left eye feels bone dry compared to the right!
Also: some dry spots on the corneas (level 2), nerve sensitivity normal (so no LASIK induced thing??), the meibum was clear but I had gland drop outs that didn't deliver anything.
So diagnose: BOTH lacrimal and meibomian dysfunction! I don't like that... He wanted to put me on Restasis but it is not possible unless I can get a Swedish doc to do it, it is not approved in Sweden - does anyone know of anyone in Sweden who prescribe it? And also wanted me to make tests to rule out Sjögrens since I had lacrimal dysfunction also. Could also be seborroic dermatisis so I also got Doxy and Azyter. Anyone tried that for MGD?

Well ,osmolarity test is said to be the best Dry Eye test and that must be true, since it correlate with the symptoms.

[Toril]

Keep us updated on how it goes in Oslo! Good luck!

About getting Restasis in France: I can only talk for myself and I have autoimmune related dry eyes, and I got a prescription of Restasis by Prof. Baudouin without any problems. I wouldn't have got it if he didn't think I could have benefit of it though. I don't know if there are any specific rules for getting Restasis related to diagnosis, or if it depends on if your eyes are very inflamed or not. Maybe his secretary can give an answer to that?

[sunshinelover]

I am so exited now that I am going to Olso on Monday! That will be my birhtday present to myself since it is my birthday. However - i got bad news today! A Norwegian doctor can not prescribe a license product like Restasis to me here in Sweden. For a normal prescription it would have been fine, but not license. And according to what Joanna wrote it also seems very hard to get a prescription i France. I can't understand why Europe is so behind in this with DES! When US docs say they treat Dry eye more aggresively, here we are left with lubricating drops which helps nothing! I use gel now Viscotears like 6 times a day, but most days I can do nothing after seven oclock because eyes are completely hurting, and I am sure it is due to inflammation.
Well, that said, it is still good to go and see an interested eye doc, may be to get a better diagnosis.

[Toril]

No need for prescription. Just a new form of tear substitute. I haven't seen them in any pharmacy here yet, but maybe they're sold at the optician? Not sure.

Most of the tear substitutes I use aren't available in Norway, and I either buy them from Denmark (www.theratears.dk) or from the UK (www.dry-eyes.co.uk). The latter has a big range of tear substitutes!

Toril :-)

[sunshinelover]

Are these OTC or only prescreption?
Of course they do not exist in Sweden....

[Toril]

By the way; I see that Cationorm is now available on the Norwegian market (an oil in water emulsion dedicated to the treatment of dry eye symptoms). I tried these 3 years ago or so when they were just released in France, but unfortunately they didn't give me any relief (as my eyes never seem to respond well to eyedrops containing oil). It might work well for others though, so thought it should be mentioned here.

Link to the product on the website of Santen Pharma:http://www.santen.eu/no/products/ter...Cationorm.aspx


Toril :-)

[spmcc]

yes thanks toril. I have sent them mail so we will see. iwas wondering after doing these hot compress thing my upper meibomian glands has stoped working to. Can someone pleas answar why?

Ugly-eyes... so good to see you're back here on this thread. I hope you get good news from new doctors.

I've had meibomian gland dysfunction for 17 years and my glands aren't dead. Try to be optimistic and find a good doctor to help you with a diagnosis and proper treatment.

Keep us posted, please.

[littlemermaid]

I don't know, ugly-eyes, but it is most important to be very gentle, and pay very careful attention and become sensitive to what makes your eyes better or worse. What works for one person is not necessarily going to be right for your different sensitivity problem. When we see the doc, s/he thinks about what's happening and suggests from the options what helps healing, from experience, and this is why some docs are better to work with, in mutual respect, to think about what to do.

What a relief to know that you are in touch with Toril and other friends in Norway about these new docs

I'm hoping that ugly-eyes is reading this thread. Ugly-eyes, are you here? Please post so that we know you've seen this thread.

[ugly-eyes]

yes thanks toril. I have sent them mail so we will see. iwas wondering after doing these hot compress thing my upper meibomian glands has stoped working to. Can someone pleas answar why?