VitaMedica

[Gogo]

I wish we could find Ophthamologists that would do an ad hoc study with VitaMedica. It is a mega vitamin supplement put together espcially for pre and post surgery. I used it a year ago and my eyes teared. Now I'm on it again for more surgery and my eyes are tearing. It could be coincidence but I don't think so. VitaMedica can only be purchased through doctors and its not inexpensive. It's about $50.00 for one months supply. If I were in Southern CA, I would ask the doctor at the Op school that was near me. I think he would be game.

[Cindy]

Hi Gogo,

I've never heard of VitaMedica but am reading about it now.
http://www.vitamedica.com/

I'm glad it's helped you and that you posted about it. I'm a supplement junkie . My latest interest is the acai berry. http://www.acaiforlife.com/

[Lucy]

Sort of like vitavetavegamin from the Lucy show?

They have (both sites) just about anything for everything, huh? Or everything for anything?

I'll let y'all go first. Only Americans would have so much time and money to be looking at stuff like this. Everybody is looking for our money, and we are willing to give it to them. For promise of better surgical healing?

Sorry I had to play devil's advocate for a minute. Do you realize (Cindy would for sure) just how gullible we have become while looking for fixes for our dry eyes? I know I'm as guilty in looking for my fix/cure. I think they (sharp sales people) can see us coming. I also think everyone is on the money bandwagon cashing in (pun intended) on our yearning to stay youthful and never age.

"We" must have a lot of clout! We, being the dry-eyed people. Five years ago there was little for us to try. Now someone on every street-corner is hawking dry eye drops, supplements to help dry eye, antioxidants for dry eye, etc......

Soapbox closed.

PS. Cindy, I'll bring you some raspberries from out back and they'll probably do as much as whatever kind of berries you are looking at.

[jcorbett]

Gogo - which vitamedica supplements are you taking? I went to the website...looks like there are several different products. I wonder why this is only available to health care people? At first glance, it looks like they are supplements like any other supplements....but I do notice they have some unusual ingredients.
I don't mind taking supplements. I figure they are probably good for the body anyway. You are the first person I have heard that actually says taking a supplement makes a noticeable difference on their eyes. Can you take this as long as you want, or is it only recommended for short term use?

[Gogo]

JCorbett. I'm not sure how long you can take them. They are specifically formulated to help prepare your body for surgery and with healing after surgery. I had elective surgery last year. Okay Okay I wanted the darn chin. LOL My doctor is friends with the man who formulated it after years of watching his patients use different things that worked and didn't. My doctor was VERY skeptical about it. He's a conservative surgeon and the President of the national association for Plastic Surgeons, or least he was. After a while he said okay I'll try it on a trial basis and see if I see a difference in swelling reduction without ice packing and bruising. His conculsion is that it does make a difference and it does prepare the body for the assault of any surgery. My swelling was down in days and my bruising was almost completely gone in a week and a half. Everyone is different. My eyes were just a side affect that I thought might be a benefit of the supplements. The healing does seem faster. I bruise very easy. I accidently slammed my hand into something just before the surgery and I didn't even bruise. I was very surprised.


I guess what I'm saying is my eyes just seemed to benefit. Maybe not everyone would. That's why I would like to see a study done with just that. I will also say that most herbal remedies are stopped prior to surgery and that certain vitamins such as Vitamin E must be stopped because it inhibits healing. I was surprised to hear that.

I know another lady who used it and she had a full face lift, neck lift, the whole nine yards and she was back and working in seven days and I couldn't see any bruising or swelling. Mine was a little more but like I say I bruise easily. Now that I'm having my second cataract surgery I thought I would try it again. My eyes are tearing again. Sooooo I just wonder.

[jcorbett]

If they were making your eyes tear, I was wondering why you would stop. I would be trying to stay with them as long as they worked!
Thanks for the info. It is interesting. As for your chin....go for it! Whatever makes you feel better!

[Lucy]

As for your chin....go for it! Whatever makes you feel better!

Be careful what you wish for, or what you do for that matter. Many of us had lasik with the very same thought. Prior to lasik, if someone said to me "I'll pay for cosmetic surgery if you want it,' I would have said how soon.

After the lasik fiasco, no one is taking a scalpel or a suction pump unless it's life threatening. I do learn quickly after being burned.

Gogo, good luck with your cataract surgery. I am a recent cataract patient and a long ago lasik patient. Lucy

[Gaye]

To GoGo regarding cataract surgery

Hi - I have cataracts in both my eyes, and when the time comes, I will definitely have them removed. I understand there are risks. I know more people who have had good luck with it than not, and when it comes to being blind from cataracts or being able to see, I opt for seeing. And as for a bit of chin surgery or whatever else someone might want to feel better about themselves, I say if it is important to you, than take the chance. Again, more people have good luck than bad. I personally have had a bit of "work" myself and am very happy I did it. I'm not sure if I would do anything else in the future, but a brow lift would be a possibility sometime down the road. No one wishes for bad things to happen and we certainly all hope for the best.

Good Luck!

[Lucy]

Gaye, you have cataracts now and had lasik in the past? How much are they bothering your vision? What was your pre-op lasik prescription? If you don't mind my asking. If you do, then ignore me.

I'm living proof and I know of a couple of others who have had cataract surgery after lasik, that it is not the simple cataract surgery it is/was on virgin eyes. I don't believe Gogo has had lasik, so her cataract surgery should be just fine. My cataract surgery caused me to give up my job and no one can understand what the problem is. The problem is/was my previous lasik surgery prevented me from having a decent iol implant.

[Gaye]

cataracts

I have never had lasik surgery - I had R.K. surgery back in 1993, before lasik was invented, so I know I don't fit the category that so many of you fall into. I do have dry eye syndrome, but it is unrelated to the R.K., as are my cataracts.

Actually, I really wasn't talking about cataract surgery or even lasik surgery in my last post at all. I was telling GoGo that she doesn't haven't to feel that she was wrong in wanting to have some cosmetic surgery. Sometimes, it seems that some of the members are too quick to judge what someone might chose to do. We are all here for support, understanding and maybe even some help. I don't think any of us log on to get a scolding about our choices.

P.S. That makes me realize that in my post to Delilah the other day about using Glaucoma medication, I was doing that very thing. So I need to apologize for that to her.

[dianat]

Gaye,

How can you be sure your RK isn't related to your dry eye? Your nerves were sliced up as ours were...not in the same way and maybe not as many...but you certainly lost some. I have an RK friend who is struggling with dry eyes and she's in her 20s. Nobody's doubting it was the RK.

Also, I cannot understand why you've taken offense to Lucy's comment about elective surgery. I didn't see any "scolding" in her words. Please keep in mind that us failed LASIk surgery patients feel a TREMENDOUS amount of guilt for opting for an elective surgery. We only wish that someone had been there to tell us just learn to be happy with what we have. And believe me, nobody feels stronger about it than Lucy. She's in the top one or two most handicapped among us...guaranteed.

I for one will not fight the urge to keep my mouth shut when I hear of someone contemplating elective surgery whether it be LASIK, gastric bypass, tummy tuck...whatever. I don't simply like to hear myself talk. I genuinely care about the well-being of others and do not want to see them suffer as I have and continue to do.

Diana

[Lucy]

For the record, I have no problem with others having elective surgery. After my eye surgeries, I would not do it myself. I have (husband's side) two neices who have had intestinal bypass operations. They were both 300 lbs. They are cousins, not sisters. The surgery has made a tremendous difference to these young women. On the other hand, I "worry" this surgery has been promoted like lasik. I cringe when I hear people who are 40-50 lbs overweight going in for this surgery. This is just my opinion......it means nothing to anyone else.

I also worry about hearing people talk about cataract surgery after lasik. Even the doctors do not know what they'll come up with post-op. This will be happening more and more. As one of the unlucky first recipients of same, it has thrown me in a total spin. Literally. I had to quit my job because I could not see to do detail work. As a result, I am housebound most of the time. For the first time in my adult life, I have nowhere to go when I get up. I also have no income as my short-term disability has been exhausted.

When I express my view, it's ok if you don't agree. No offense taken. However, I will continue to speak out about the evils of my surgeries. Obviously, we all have our own destiny in our hands. But there was no one there in the early days of lasik telling us what can happen. If there had been, perhaps there would be no LaserMyEye, DryEyeZone, or SurgicalEyes.

When a person knows the possibilities of how their surgery can turn out, it's one thing to go ahead and do it. When you were not leveled with.....and were completely blindsided, it's a different story. To actually pay someone to blind you is really rediculous when you think about it. That's what I ended up doing. Most people lose sight from natural causes. Not me, I had to empty my pockets for the privilege. Not only that, they are empty because of ongoing medical problems dealing with dry eyes and visual problems. I'm somewhere best corrected at 20/70 to 20/100. With glasses. With my -9.5 glasses, I was best corrected to 20/20 or 20/25. Now, which do you think I'd choose if I could?

[Gogo]

Elective surgery All Ready Done

Okay I can see I opened a hornet nest here. I have all ready had the elective surgery for the chin. I took the VitaMedica for that surgery. It seemed that I healed quickly as others I had seen prior to their elective surgeries who took the VitaMedica. I also noticed my eyes seemed to tear more taking it. I don't continue to take it because of the price and my eyes are fairly comfortable. I do go through bad periods but it seemed I went through a bad period recently with new medications added. Statins and Blood Pressure Meds. The Ophthalomogist thinks it the blood pressure meds.

I too warn people about any surgery. Just because 95% of the population have a walk in the park with some surgery doesn't mean we all will. I for one will not have a lid lift or brow lift with the eye problems, nor would I have lasik even if they considered me a good candidate (which I'm not). It's just too risky after what I've heard others go through.

I think we can all agree or disagree with any subject the trick is not being disagreeable when we do. My posts are based on my life experiences or those I know so I guess passion does come across sometimes. Thanks for all of you prayers today, August 1, Monday. I'm nervous but if I want to drive I have to take the chance.

[Lmchelle]

Just my 2 cents worth...

[QUOTE=Lucy] On the other hand, I "worry" this surgery has been promoted like lasik. I cringe when I hear people who are 40-50 lbs overweight going in for this surgery. This is just my opinion......it means nothing to anyone else.

Any surgeon who would do a gastric bypass on someone only 40-50 lbs overweight should be reported to the AMA. Also I don't know where you'd find an insurance company who'd cover it. Suppose a person could go self-pay, but I highly doubt anyone only 40-50 lbs overweight is getting gastric bypass. How do I know? Because I had it done in April 2003. I've lost 150 lbs and have kept it off for a year now. I've gone from a size 28 to an 8. I no longer have sleep apnea, and my diabetes is under control. My joints don't ache, I'm no longer out of breath running up a flight of stairs. It saved my life. Was there risk? Hell yes. Did I know about it? Yep. The risk to me was worth it. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. I'd lie down every year for my surgeon if I had to - to be this healthy. But...not all people are free from complications - so you do have to weigh the risks. I've also had plastic surgery to remove excess skin because of the weight loss. There were risks there too...but I chose to take that risk. I agree wholeheartedly with Lucy...everyone has an opinion and I hope we all continue to voice them, no matter if your opinion offends someone else. Take advice, leave advice...

As far as Lasik...I knew there was a risk of dry eye, but where I feel cheated is that they never questioned me about my eyes prior to surgery. I could never wear contacts - not even soft ones, they always bugged my eyes. I'm convinced I probably had dry eye prior to Lasik and should never have been a candidate.

But - I'm not going to beat myself up for making the Lasik decision. I'm just going to do my best to cope with the consequences...and I'm not going to recommend Lasik to any more of my friends. I always told people I had dry eyes because of it, but I never really bad-mouthed it....but after being on this board and hearing the terrible heartwrenching stories....I'm on the NO-Lasik bandwagon now.

I hope everyone keeps being honest on how they feel about any topic. Censorship sucks.

-Lori

[Lucy]

My two neices who had the gastric bypass are totally different people now. I saw both grow up as fat children. There is an obesity problem that seems to run through my husband's family. Genetics, practices, who knows..but these young women who are both around 125-150 are doing very well. They were 300 lbs. I'm glad people are helped by bypass.

I wish to God I had not had my eyes 'done'. I had no idea I could turn out like I did. 6 years ago, there was not much info about post-op problems...so we did not have the advantage of hearing about problems. I think people who have aesthetic surgery are doing what they want and have the money to pay for it.....so it really doesn't concern anyone else.

Prior to lasik, if I'd had the money to do this kind of thing, I would have. Not now. My sister in law......."Silicone"......had breast implants.......some years ago. She had them put in when she was married to a much younger man. After their divorce and she was on to the next husband, she had them taken out and claimed they made her sick. She is now on her fifth husband and flatter than a pancake, but doesn't seem to care. I'm sure no one else does either. I hope you all get a kick out of my sister in law story. I never know what to call her husband. She has had sooooooo many. I have to stop and think. Sorry this is so off topic. A little humor is good once in awhile.

PS. I have never felt guilty or feel like "I asked for trouble' by having lasik." I know some people feel this way and it's too bad. Many of our doctors were not upfront with us and that's where that particular blame lies. Not with the patient. I know, now, that I was not a good lasik candidate.