Do you try stopping ALL eye drops to check progress ?

[Physician]

Yesterday I stopped all eye drops and my eyes are fine. ... normal acuity, no pooling, no tearing, so symptoms. Makes me wonder if I was creating a problem by regular use of drops.

So how many of you stop all drops to see if you're better or normal ?

[Mawsky]

tried somewhat

Yes though I am new to this, I did try stopping the Restasis at least, I found that my extreme dryness returned pretty quickly, was confussed because I would have good and bad days, shortly after beging it. and wanted to see myself If the drops were doing anything or not. I have comitted to using them now, and I'm faithfully using them morning and night, tho my eyes are still not producing adequate tears, I do feel better, dispite the side effects of burnig that accompanies the Restasis. I find that I use less of the artificial tears, now. I wasn't using any drops when my eyes went bad.

[Rebecca Petris]

Stopping drops briefly might be appropriate for some but certainly not most people with dry eye. It depends on the type of dryness and the severity. People who are severely aqueous deficient can't safely stop lubricating their eyes.

[Physician]

Stopping drops is appropriate for some but certainly not all people. It depends on the type of dryness and the severity. People who are severely aqueous deficient can't safely stop lubricating their eyes.

Really ? What are the consequences of brief cessation until symptomatic ?

[izzy3usa2002]

You are so right Rebecca! I read where if the cornea gets too bd can get permanment damage! /As for me I also use Restasis and still not producing ters much but when I go without it I get the extreme dryness and abrasians on my eyes which are very painful and I have read where that can cause damage. stopping eye drops would be a nightmre for me! NOT good advice at all to the person who wrote it.

[indrep]

I would assume the consequences are the same for any patient who stops their physicians recommended or prescribed treatment. Why give a progressive disease the opportunity to flare up?

[Rebecca Petris]

I want to clarify what I said before because I don't want to leave the impression that I think quitting drops is OK. I completely disagree with Physician's suggestion of stopping drops in order to "check progress" in most cases of true dry eye, MGD etc that we get here. It's counterproductive as IndRep says. I don't quit my thyroid supplements to "check progress" because I know exactly what will happen if I do.

There are certain specific situations where I think some people can benefit from a temporary break from (or substantial reduction in) OTC lubricants - such as (1) people who are self-treating in an inappropriate way, for example gross overuse of drops for pain management rather than lubrication or therapeutic use, in which case they can substitute other means to control pain (cold compresses, moisture chambers, etc) - or people using bad drops, with BAK, or vasoconstrictors etc - or (2) people who suspect they are experiencing an adverse reaction to ingredients in common OTC drops, though if they're truly dry they would test this by substituting not quitting.

[Guest]

Physician, for many people, some signs that one is improving include things such as
a) not feeling the need to use artificial tears as often
b) eyes "flare up" less and less over time
c) eyes can handle increased amounts of things like reading, computer use etc. without pain and discomfort

As for overnight, I can tell that my eyes are improving when they are "less stuck" upon awakening... it takes less time to "unstick" my eyelids from my eyeballs than than it used to (and no, it's not just because I've had more practice)

For myself, if I go too long without drops, I start to get sharp stabs of pain when I blink... if I am not able to get to drops asap, the sharp stabs of pain upon blinking increase in intensity and can end up becoming a problem that lasts for a day or two.

If I didn't have to work right now, I could go without drops and simply rest my eyes every time they got too dry... use lots of cool compresses etc. But this would mean zero computer use for me, zero television, zero reading, no activities requiring the slightest bit of concentration because the lowered blink rate would lead to further dryness, spending several of my waking hours with eyes shut etc.

Anyhow, in order to function like a somewhat normal, productive member of society, I NEED to use drops... it's a bummer, and no doubt hard to relate to for someone like yourself that can get away with using drops only a handful of times per day... but believe me, if severe enough, dry eye is like this...

Admittedly, I'm kind of a freak case no doubt... I've never met anyone "in real life" who is like me... but this forum seems to be full of the freak cases mind you... I feel right at home here!

Prior to experiencing this myself, I would have found it VERY difficult to understand or relate to this kind of thing... would have wondered if someone like me might be exaggerating, maybe is they are just getting all the wrong treatments... surely dry eye can't be THAT bad, right?

[Physician]

Don't misquote my post or intentions

I completely disagree with Physician's suggestion of stopping drops in order to "check progress" in most cases of true dry eye, MGD etc that we get here..

Ms. Petris: You have misquoted what I posted or intended.

THE QUESTION: "So how many of you stop all drops to see if you're better or normal ?"




At no time did I recommend that anyone stop anything !! My inquiry was related to PAST experiences.


I temporarily stopped drops and was better, so my post was related to finding out if:

• drops have caused symptoms in people, and if so, were those symptoms were being confused with disease

• did one of more members find they were better off reducing the drops or going without that particular drop ?


The "stopping" part was not defined, hence it could have been just a temporary cessation, for example, to see if visual blurring were related to the drops.

[Rebecca Petris]

Oh for goodness sake, please don't get bent out of shape. I did not say you recommended it. I was objecting to the idea and wanted to make myself clear. Please bear in mind that when you adopt a username like "Physician", and then say "I did X and it seemed to help. Anybody else?" there will be people who read it and do it. That's just reality and I was adding a little reality check because your condition appears to be somewhat different than the average user here.

[Súil Eile]

I have a friend who was diagnosed with DE post-Lasik (temporarily, thankfully!). She would regularly remark when she saw me putting in drops that she had forgotten to put hers in that morning.

I know for me, and a lot of people on this forum, that there is no chance of forgetting to put in drops as our DES is bad enough that there is a severe physical sensation when drops are required.

In that scenario, it becomes very clear on a daily basis as to how our eyes are progressing - do we feel the need to use more or less drops?

Therefore, when DES is severe, enduring the pain/ discomfort to prolong the time between eye drop use will only lead to more pain/ discomfort. Perhaps your idea would work better on mild - moderate DES, whereby the results of eye drop use are only evident at the end of the day or after a few days?

I am of course in no way suggesting people reduce their eye drop use unless on medical advice, but I can understand people's curiosity to explore the limits of their condition. I, for one, would never be able to experiment in that way!

[Physician]

Read again

Oh for goodness sake, please don't get bent out of shape. I did not say you recommended it..

Don't confuse enthusiasm and direct honest communication with being bent out of shape. You clearly stated "I completely disagree with Physician's suggestion of stopping drops..."

If you are an Admin or Moderator here people are more likely to believe you. I never suggested anyone should do this in the future. My post was to inquiry if they did so in the past.

[indrep]

Really ? What are the consequences of brief cessation until symptomatic ?

The consequences would be to start the inflammatory cycle again. Not knowing the specialty of your medical license, would it be in your patients benefit to stop a therapy that had their disease in check?

While I know a great deal about this disease I would never imply or suggest anyone stop a treatment plan that was working for them just to see if they would return to their previous state. I have seen patients of various diseases when their meds were reduced the disease came back with a vengence and then even an increase in meds did bring the patient back to the comfort level they enjoyed.

"Do no harm"

[Physician]

That sounds well and good, but often many humans are on topicals or systemics which are no longer needed. You are also working on the assumption that a reduction or cessation of therapy means an immediate return to a symptomatic state and/or no immediate recovery once the therapy is resumed.

[indrep]

Not an assumption..experience. I only speak from experience. A human life or pain is not worth the risk of assumption.