Hello all,
I haven't posted much on this site...I'm more of an observer. A few months ago I started azasite, which appeared to work instantly on my eye symptoms, and for a month I was probably 65% better, which is amazing because prior to that I was in terrible pain almost constantly. Unfortunately, the symptoms began to come back. The only upside was that I had pushed through my chronic depression and was no longer a horrible mess about my situation. Because the pain was not subsiding, I finally decided to get IPL with Dr Hahn at Dupage Opthomology in the Chicago area, which is where I now live. I got it on October 19th, and it was 300$ (he gives a discount for the first session--all the others will cost 400$).
A little bit of background on me--I have had eye pain for several years, slowly getting worse. I wore contacts since I was 12 or 13. I had an eye infection in 2007, and after that I had a hard time wearing contacts, so I got lasik in Dec 2007. A year later I went to Iraq which exacerbated my symptoms, and here I am today. I have good aqueous tear production and a low TBUT. My eye site is technically excellent, it's either 20/25 or 20/20, but because of the dryness it's very blurred. I have permanent plugs in my lowers, I've been on restasis for almost a year, have tried doxy, steriods, warm compresses, every eye drop on the market, upper plugs, omega 3s, gluten-free diet, very healthy lifestyle, etc. The azasite pooping out was the last straw so I decided to go for the IPL and risk the financial loss.
I liked Dr Hahn. I was in the office for an hour or two and we talked quite a bit. He said my symptoms--constant burning, morning dry eye, occasional grittiness, etc--are consistent with MGD. He also examined my eyes and eyelids and said I had mild rosacea, which I always thought I had. Because my skin is so pale, a Fitzgerald 1, I was a perfect for the procedure.
The actual procedure was terrifying! I've done a lot of research and I've seen the pictures and horror stories of IPL gone wrong. In fact I brought all of this up to Dr. Hahn, and he helped calm my fears. He was trained by Dr. Toyos himself and he's had a great deal of experience, and he understands the risks.
First he put these little white things over my eyes. He spread a gel-like substance across my cheeks and nose and under my eyes. Then he began zapping away. I definitely wasn't expecting it, and I flinched quite a bit. I wouldn't say the zapping was very painful, it's just that I kept picturing myself leaving the office blind or with deformed eyes or something. I'm kind of an anxious person He went across my face once, then upped the setting and zapped harder the second time around. He says he does that to get more of a response in the treatment.
After that came the very painful part. He took the white coverings off my eyes and began squeezing my eyelids between two q-tips to get the oil out. He had a very hard time getting it out of my eye because my oil was thick like toothpaste. He finally got it going though.
I felt crummy afterwards--He warned me that I would though. I wouldn't recommend scheduling a hot date or an important meeting after getting this procedure done. My eyes were very sore and red afterwards.
My eyes burned the next day like they always do, and a week after that they were still hurting just as bad. I had to pray my anxiety away, as I was worrying that this would be yet another thing that wouldn't work. About ten days after the procedure, I felt better. The next day, too. It's been 3 weeks and I have been feeling very good. My eyes have not been much of a problem like they normally are. I feel that's saying a lot, too, considering I haven't been taking perfect care of my eyes (I've been staying up late, having sugar, drinking more alcohol than I usually do, working on the computer a lot, and I've re-started taking my adderall which normally dries me out). Dr. Hahn instructed me to continue doing lots of warm compresses to keep the oil working, which I have been diligent about--once or twice a day, three minutes of heat on the eyes.
The burning was intense and constant 3 weeks ago. Today, I still have burning, but it's not as intense, and it's much less frequent, to the point where I forget about it. My eye site is still blurry, I'm hoping it will eventually get better. If the rest of my life was like this, I can say I'd be very content.
I'm scared to post this because I always feel like I'm going to jinx myself, but I'm feeling good and very hopeful and I want to share my experience. I myself have been wishing for more posts from others who have had this done, as I've been wondering how long different people took to get relief. I will post after each session I have to let everyone know about my progress.
If anyone has any questions, please ask! I get online several times a week and I want to help others, because I know how awful eye pain is. Also if anyone has any comments or suggestions, please offer them up.
Thanks a bunch,
Desi
I haven't posted much on this site...I'm more of an observer. A few months ago I started azasite, which appeared to work instantly on my eye symptoms, and for a month I was probably 65% better, which is amazing because prior to that I was in terrible pain almost constantly. Unfortunately, the symptoms began to come back. The only upside was that I had pushed through my chronic depression and was no longer a horrible mess about my situation. Because the pain was not subsiding, I finally decided to get IPL with Dr Hahn at Dupage Opthomology in the Chicago area, which is where I now live. I got it on October 19th, and it was 300$ (he gives a discount for the first session--all the others will cost 400$).
A little bit of background on me--I have had eye pain for several years, slowly getting worse. I wore contacts since I was 12 or 13. I had an eye infection in 2007, and after that I had a hard time wearing contacts, so I got lasik in Dec 2007. A year later I went to Iraq which exacerbated my symptoms, and here I am today. I have good aqueous tear production and a low TBUT. My eye site is technically excellent, it's either 20/25 or 20/20, but because of the dryness it's very blurred. I have permanent plugs in my lowers, I've been on restasis for almost a year, have tried doxy, steriods, warm compresses, every eye drop on the market, upper plugs, omega 3s, gluten-free diet, very healthy lifestyle, etc. The azasite pooping out was the last straw so I decided to go for the IPL and risk the financial loss.
I liked Dr Hahn. I was in the office for an hour or two and we talked quite a bit. He said my symptoms--constant burning, morning dry eye, occasional grittiness, etc--are consistent with MGD. He also examined my eyes and eyelids and said I had mild rosacea, which I always thought I had. Because my skin is so pale, a Fitzgerald 1, I was a perfect for the procedure.
The actual procedure was terrifying! I've done a lot of research and I've seen the pictures and horror stories of IPL gone wrong. In fact I brought all of this up to Dr. Hahn, and he helped calm my fears. He was trained by Dr. Toyos himself and he's had a great deal of experience, and he understands the risks.
First he put these little white things over my eyes. He spread a gel-like substance across my cheeks and nose and under my eyes. Then he began zapping away. I definitely wasn't expecting it, and I flinched quite a bit. I wouldn't say the zapping was very painful, it's just that I kept picturing myself leaving the office blind or with deformed eyes or something. I'm kind of an anxious person He went across my face once, then upped the setting and zapped harder the second time around. He says he does that to get more of a response in the treatment.
After that came the very painful part. He took the white coverings off my eyes and began squeezing my eyelids between two q-tips to get the oil out. He had a very hard time getting it out of my eye because my oil was thick like toothpaste. He finally got it going though.
I felt crummy afterwards--He warned me that I would though. I wouldn't recommend scheduling a hot date or an important meeting after getting this procedure done. My eyes were very sore and red afterwards.
My eyes burned the next day like they always do, and a week after that they were still hurting just as bad. I had to pray my anxiety away, as I was worrying that this would be yet another thing that wouldn't work. About ten days after the procedure, I felt better. The next day, too. It's been 3 weeks and I have been feeling very good. My eyes have not been much of a problem like they normally are. I feel that's saying a lot, too, considering I haven't been taking perfect care of my eyes (I've been staying up late, having sugar, drinking more alcohol than I usually do, working on the computer a lot, and I've re-started taking my adderall which normally dries me out). Dr. Hahn instructed me to continue doing lots of warm compresses to keep the oil working, which I have been diligent about--once or twice a day, three minutes of heat on the eyes.
The burning was intense and constant 3 weeks ago. Today, I still have burning, but it's not as intense, and it's much less frequent, to the point where I forget about it. My eye site is still blurry, I'm hoping it will eventually get better. If the rest of my life was like this, I can say I'd be very content.
I'm scared to post this because I always feel like I'm going to jinx myself, but I'm feeling good and very hopeful and I want to share my experience. I myself have been wishing for more posts from others who have had this done, as I've been wondering how long different people took to get relief. I will post after each session I have to let everyone know about my progress.
If anyone has any questions, please ask! I get online several times a week and I want to help others, because I know how awful eye pain is. Also if anyone has any comments or suggestions, please offer them up.
Thanks a bunch,
Desi
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