Lacrilube

[Ben]

Not sure if this will be helpful or not as it's a little negative.
Is the Forum only for items that have worked. ?

On last visit to the eye clinic, my doc advised me to purchase some Lacrilube, and use by placing a small amount in the eye overnight.

I had problems with this.

1. strange for a bloke, but i have quite long eyelashes, and i found that the ointment was dificult to get only in the eye, got caught in my lashes too. It's quite a sticky substance so is difficult to rub away.

2. On waking the next morning my eyes were very sore and irritated. Wanted to take them out and give them a good wash. They were stinging al the way to work Anyone know the feeling ?

As i say apologies, it may not be this way for everyone, not sure if you want the negative reports on stuff too. I have never used it since. and just rely on a hot compress just before going to sleep now, a little awkward at times, but doesn't hurt.

I find that my mood can be directly associated with how my eyes feel, that morning i was to say the least, a major grump!

cheers
ben

[Rebecca Petris]

Not sure if this will be helpful or not as it's a little negative.
Is the Forum only for items that have worked. ?

Hi Ben,

Thanks for taking the time to post! Not to worry, the forum is for experiences of all kinds, not just recommendations. People checking out potential products want to hear the whole range of experiences.

As a side note, I'm not surprised at your experience of Lacrilube. Absolutely can't stand the stuff myself (both because of the mess and how it made my eyes feel) and I worry about effects of long-term use. I used it for awhile during pregnancy till I found first Muro 128 and then Dwelle.

[Frank Holly PhD]

Lacrilube, oh!

In another forum I posted numerous times that any kind or type of lipid ointment interferes with the wettability of the ocular surface and thus with tear film stability.

Often doctors prescribe it to control tear evaporation at night especially when the eye lids do not close tightly. It does that but at a cost! Once the surface wets poorly, not only the acuity of the vision becomes poorer but also the lid lubrication is adversely affected. (it is a hydrodynamic lubrication requiring a continuous tear layer).

I myself would never use ointment consisting of lipids in my eyes even when they are apolar. They do interfere with vison and lid lubrication and they do not do any good for the well-being of the corneal surface epithelium.

Dr. Holly

[Gaye]

eye ointments

That is so interesting, and I have seen Dr. Holly write about this before. But there are doctors out there still telling patients to use it. A friend of mine had her eyelids 'done' and that is what the plastic surgeon prescribed for her to use in case she had a problem closing her eyes and they got dry. I of course, told her not to use that and to use GenTeal Gel or something like that. Amazing though, that is what most doctors suggest and not knowing any differently, this is what patients will use.

[markL]

I totally agree about the lacrilube. Its trully useless. it stings like hell and only irritates the eyes further. It seems like something invented in the 1920's. Its so thick/viscous its ridiculous. Its like engine oil. Talk about using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

[DrG]

S Afr Med J. 1989 Mar 4;75(5):233-5. Related Articles, Links

Irritation associated with tear-replacement ophthalmic drops. A pharmaceutical and subjective investigation.

Fassihi AR, Naidoo NT.

Department of Pharmacy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Artificial tears, commonly prescribed for correction of the dry-eye syndrome, are formulated with suitably preserved aqueous polymeric solutions to promote corneal wetting without causing such side-effects as burning, itching, blurred vision and scratchiness. Four of the most commonly used commercial tear-replacement solutions were investigated after complaints of irritation by some users.....CUT.......The irritant response was found to be caused by the presence of chlorobutanol in the formulation. An attempt is made to identify and explain formulation properties likely to elicit adverse responses.

Lacrilube is the only commercially available ophthalmic petrolatum ointment with a preservative, and that preservative is chlorobutanol. All are mixtures of white petrolatum and mineral oil.

With respect to the use of petrolatum ointments, I believe that there is a clinical place for them, and I have not seen adverse effects of them on the tear film in the form of decreased TBUT in most subjects. I find them mainly useful for recurrent corneal erosion syndrome to prevent epithelial-to-lid conjunctival adhesion, and for nocturnal exposure keratitis. In fact, I am currently involved in the care of a young lady with severe nocturnal exposure keratitis, scarring and severe pannus as a result of sleeping with her eyes open. Now that she is using a sleep mask and Refresh PM, she is not exhibiting any epithelial staining.

I had a similar experience with a woman who had severe keratopathy with bilateral exposure ulcers -- nearly penetrating -- caused by post-blepharoplasty lagophthalmos, and who subsequently healed just fine using Refresh PM along with lid taping. You would think that if the Refresh PM was "poison," she wouldn't have healed, considering that the ointment was being retained by the tape. I could go on, but you get the idea.

When you use something and it works you tend to keep using it until something better comes along. But then, I don't use Lacrilube.

DrG

[Rebecca Petris]

I think there are merits to both sides of this.

My personal impression is that the place for lacrilube type products is in protection in very serious cases, quite like DrG describes. Kind of a "gotta do what you gotta do" situation, where no drop can sufficiently protect the eye and the potential injury from leaving the cornea relatively unprotected greatly exceeds any possible imperfections of the product per se.

But general use in chronic dry eye patients is another matter. On the scientific side are Dr Holly's explanations, and on the practical side there are simply innumerable anecdotes out there of patients using it every night for a year and basically feeling worse the more they used it.

[DrG]

Now that's what I love about Rebecca. She has this wonderful knack of bridging the gaps.

DrG

[juninho]

lacrilube (and other stuff)

hello all, very interesting this.i live in the uk(north east)and my optician
and all the eye specialists ive seen advise the gel at night.been using it
since last november and on a morning my eyes always felt pretty bad.
for the last few nights ive stopped using the gel and put nothing in just
dong a hot compress and cleaning my lids with sterile supranettes.
my left eye has felt ok each morning and my right a little dry.
as an aside ive been prescribed doxycycline 100mgm twice daily since
15th sept. im on this initially for 4 weeks and review.what can i expect
,has this a chance of clearing my clearing my eyelids,when is any improvement likely or is it how long is a piece of string?
what supplements do folks take-could you list and ill check with
what ive been advised.
seems like a bit of a list there but would appreciate some help.
thanks to you all,juninho(graham)

[Missy]

Hi, I've been using Moisture Eyes PM for a couple of months now. After lasik surgery my eyes would get extremely dry at night and then feel horrible through the day. Moisture Eyes PM is a lubricant similar to Refresh PM and Lacrilube, it has no preservatives. I've tried to use some of the gels at night but they didn't last long enough and they made my eyes crusty and itchy. After reading your posts I'm concerned that it could hurt my eyes with long term use - but I can't find anything else that works for me right now. The gels just don't work well for me. Any suggestions?
Missy

[Rebecca Petris]

hello all, very interesting this.i live in the uk(north east)and my optician
and all the eye specialists ive seen advise the gel at night.been using it
since last november and on a morning my eyes always felt pretty bad.
for the last few nights ive stopped using the gel and put nothing in just
dong a hot compress and cleaning my lids with sterile supranettes.
my left eye has felt ok each morning and my right a little dry.
as an aside ive been prescribed doxycycline 100mgm twice daily since
15th sept. im on this initially for 4 weeks and review.what can i expect
,has this a chance of clearing my clearing my eyelids,when is any improvement likely or is it how long is a piece of string?
what supplements do folks take-could you list and ill check with
what ive been advised.
seems like a bit of a list there but would appreciate some help.
thanks to you all,juninho(graham)

Hi Graham,

Coincidentally I think you're about the 5th person I know from the north east with a similar experience of feeling better after stopping the greasy stuff. Maybe you're all seeing the same doctor

I'm hoping others will comment on the doxy (haven't used it personally) - possibly some comments already if you do a search on it. I think that generally the ramp-up time is expected to be some weeks though. If it were me personally I wouldn't stay on it beyond 3 months if I weren't getting a benefit (just my personal feeling).

Supplements - several opinions about this in the nutritional supplements forum. Personally I take organic flaxseed capsules. Fish or flaxseed oil are the most commonly used supplements I think. There are several proprietary preparations as well. I believe TheraTears Nutrition (a popular one though a bit pricey) is available through Mathesons Optometrists.

[DrG]

Hi, I've been using Moisture Eyes PM for a couple of months now. After lasik surgery my eyes would get extremely dry at night and then feel horrible through the day. Moisture Eyes PM is a lubricant similar to Refresh PM and Lacrilube, it has no preservatives. I've tried to use some of the gels at night but they didn't last long enough and they made my eyes crusty and itchy. After reading your posts I'm concerned that it could hurt my eyes with long term use - but I can't find anything else that works for me right now. The gels just don't work well for me. Any suggestions?
Missy

Missy, please email me privately.

Drg

[juninho]

Thank you very much Rebecca for that.With the doxycycline ,as ive only
been on it just over a week, I thought it might be a bit early for any
improvement.
Its strange about this lacrilube business,I just took their advice and
felt awful each morning.
I guess thats why you and your colleagues are so invaluable.
thanks again,juninho(graham)

[mspirk]

Eyedrops at night

I've been using Dwelle eyedrops at night for a couple of years. You can order them through this website. Dwelle is a thicker drop that seals my eyes shut so I can sleep. In the morning, my eyes are crusty, but the residue washes off easily with diluted baby shampoo or soap, and my eyes do not feel sore or hurt. The gels or ointments didn't work as well (for me) as Dwelle does.