Refresh PM- Adverse reaction?

[kitty]

I started using Refresh PM two nights ago, in an effort to reduce my morning dryness. Each morning, I awake feeling just as dry if not drier than before I started using it. Also, my eyes are more red when I first wake up than they used to be. I was just diagnosed a few days ago and I am in an acute flare. Has anyone had a similar reaction to Refresh PM, or do you think this is just my disease process doing it's thing? Should I try something else or stay the course, or give up the ointment at night entirely? The gel drops at night don't really help with the morning dryness. Last night I used both Refresh Liquigel and Refresh PM, and the morning symptoms were no different than with the Refresh PM alone. Refresh Liquigel so far seems to be the best for me during the day.

[shells]

Hi Kitty,
I also used Refresh PM for a few weeks at nighttime, and I do not think my eyes responded well to it. Overall, my eyes did worse during the few week period I was on it, and I think it may have been responsible. My doctor told me that some peoples eyes just don't respond well to the "vaseline like" ointments. However, in some cases, I guess they are necessary depending on your situation.

Have you tried GenTeal gel ( for severe dry eye) yet? It is a little thicker than the regular gel drops, but not like an ointment. It does come in a tube though. That is what I use now, and I like it. It does not seem to irritate my eyes like the ointments did.

[Jeff]

Hi Kitty,

Welcome to the site. And I am sorry for the reasons that brought you here.
Have you ever tried Genteal Gel? It is a preservative free gel. There are alot of people here who have good luck with this. It is an over the counter product available at most drug store and grocery stores. You may want to give it a try. I hope you can find some relief.
Jeff

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi Kitty,

Each morning, I awake feeling just as dry if not drier than before I started using it. Also, my eyes are more red when I first wake up than they used to be.

If you are using Refresh PM at the direction of your doctor, I'd give him/her a call before stopping, just to be sure. But if it's just something you're trying out, well, it certainly sounds like it's not helping, in which case there's not much point continuing.

There are many patients who do not seem to be helped by "greasy" ointments. Some alternative products for nighttime use include Genteal Gel (a very popular product, and from what others are posting it now seems to be available in a small/economical 3.5mL size to try out) and our own product Dwelle (samples are available in our Dry Eye Shop). Some other suggestions - warm compresses before bed, and protection while sleeping (such as a soft eye mask).

p.s. Whoops, sorry to be so repetitive! Looks like three of us were posting at the same time

[virus]

Refresh PM and another ointment actually made made me use more artificial tears throughout the day. Once I started to use GenTeal Gel I noticed a dramatic drop in my usage throughout the day. Not to mention it was much more comfortable for my eyes.

[jcorbett]

I would say that if you are trying anything new, and your eyes feel worse, STOP! (Unless prescription - then make sure dr knows what you are doing)
See if your eyes feel better after you stop. You can always try again to see if the same thing occurs.
Eyes are very touchy and we all are different.

[kitty]

Thanks all. I will try the GenTeal gel you all recommend, and will stop the ointment for now. I will also do the moist heat and/or a hot shower before bed. My eye doctor said I could try anything I want. He also said he was not optimistic that anything would help that much either. I'm not quite ready to believe him yet!

[kitty]

I just wanted to check in and let you know that the GenTeal Gel (Severe) did very well for me the first night. I woke up this morning with barely noticeable gritty eyes, almost felt normal for the first time in many months. Time will tell! I actually have used it some during the day as well for times when dryness is most severe, and I find it really soothing. It gives me 1 1/2 to 2 hours relief, as compared to 15-30 minutes for the GenTeal Moderate (when dryness is really bad). Thank you very much for the recommendation! Hopefully this will work for me for a while.

[Kellye]

Hi everyone! First post on this board, but have been lurking for a couple of days, gleaning much info.

I'm 3 weeks 4 days out of LASIK surgery and dealing with severe dry eye. I went back to the dr. 4 days after surgery because I wasn't getting any relief from the Refresh Plus onsies and wanted to use just the Refresh drops. Dr. said that was fine, I was healing quite well, just be sure and continue to use the Refresh PM at night. The dry eye got progressively worse during the next week and I went back to the doctor again last Monday, begging for help. I'd tried several different brands of drops/gels and was going absolutely crazy. I was even at the point of using the Refresh PM during the day to get about 15 minutes of quasi-relief. He put in 3 temp plugs and one permanent one and suggested Systane onsies and another sample of Soothe. The only relief I got was from the anesthetic drops he used prior to the plug insertion. By Thursday I was a wreck. Came across a post about how some of the ointments aren't tolerated by some. On Thursday night, I didn't use the Refresh PM.

I stayed home from work on Friday, just to rest and baby my eyes. Lo and behold, I had a great day! Saturday was good, but riding in a heated car was not tolerated well and ended up with a banger of a headache last night. Today was spent in a heated house, it's unseasonably cold here (usually warm and humid, most ALL of the time) and I've used quite a few drops today. The Soothe drops seem to only make my eyes drier. Warm, moist compresses, and gently washing my lids with OcuSoft and splashing it off with warm water gives the most lasting relief.

My question is (I'll call the dr. in the AM)... should I continue to use the Refresh PM because it's still so soon after my LASIK and just deal with it? I'm really dreading putting that stuff back in my eyes....

[virus]

Absolutely not. Ointments generally cause more problems then they help. When I was usning Refresh Pm I was using 10+ vials a day of artificial tears. When I started using Genteal Gel at night, it went down to just about 3 a day. Not to mention the Genteal feels much better. I recently (2 weeks ago) started using Dwelle, Dakrina and Nutratear available from this site and my eyes finally feel like they are starting to heal. I use Dakrina in the morning, Nutratear if I need it during the day and Dwelle at night. Since starting on the above mentioned 3, I've finally use very little and I had sever dry eye.