Lacriserts Anyone???

[woman9469]

I recently started using Lacriserts and so far they seem to work (for a shorter time then they should however). I used Restasis for 3 years faithfully but I guess because of my Sjogren's the Restatsis was uneventful. I suppose if your body is destroying parts of your eyes there is only so much one can do to counteract that (except treat symptoms).

Anyone have any success/non-success stories or tips? I've learned so much from this website I think I know more about certain products than my doc does. I told him about Lacriserts -- he didn't know much about them). Well at least he's letting me try something......

I'm also going to check into scleral lenses (it would be nice to wear contacts again on occassion).

[Bonnie]

lacricerts!

I used them for years, and they were a miracle for me....however, they would "melt and start to feel "gooey" halfway thru the day, so I would take them out (I used my dry finger) use some drops (refresh plus) and put in a new one..so I used two a day. Then I had a period of irritation going on...and I discovered a new "miracle" acetylsistine drops..I know I spelled that wrong, but they remove the mucous strings off the eye..my doc called them filaments..it was blinding, irritating like sand in my eye..couldnt keep them open..the drops helped tremendously.., now I use the drops in the morn and at night, and I don't need the lacricerts anymore...I get by with refresh periodically thru the day and genteal eye gel at nite!...I recently got a scleral contact for one eye that has corneal scarring/damage from dryness..and am struggling with that. You're the first person I know besides me that used lacriserts!
Bonnie

[Lucy]

I've used Lacriserts. First about a year after lasik, probably about 7 years ago. Didn't do anything, made my vision blurry, like a glob of jello in the eye etc.

More recently, tried them with Boston Scleral Lens and don't think they did much. I can't wear the left lens which is the one I need so badly. They are worth a try, and in almost 9 years on boards like this, they rarely come up. I do believe they work for a select few. Lucy

[shells]

I also tried lacriserts without much luck. The first day or so I had a really good experience with them and my eyes actually felt moist. I felt by the end of the day though, my eyes were a bit more irritated. I think maybe I reacted badly to what they were made of. I also had the problem with blurred vision. I think I only made it about 4 horus or so before the lacrisert would start expanding out from where it was tucked down in my eyelid and then it would get uncomfortable and blur my vision.

As Lucy said, they seem to work for a few people, and for some they are a miracle. There is one woman who posts on here occasionally who has practically been cured by lacriserts. She wears them successfully everyday. If you are able to get access to them, they are worth a try. You never know if you will be in that small percentage they will help.

I see you are in State College. I went to school there ! Good luck with the lacriserts!

[woman9469]

A good word on Lacriserts!

Following up on my firsrt post, I have to tell you thank you for your insights on Lacriserts! I've been using them for a week now and they "seem" to be a miracle. I, however, get only about 7-9 hours out of them and I can almost tell immediately they they have dissolved and I put two new ones in (haven't told that to the doc yet but will have to when the rx needs to be renewed).

If anyone is using drops every 10 minutes like me, this might come as an unexpected treasure along the line of dry eyes! I used lubricant drops maybe 4 times during the time they were in!

If you have the ability to try these, I would say it might be worth the try!

[shells]

Wow! I'm so glad to hear that they are helping you! I really hope it continutes. This makes me think maybe I should give them another try at some point, as my eyes have probably changed in the last 18 months since I tried them. I do agree with you that if you are able to get them, it is certainly worth a try. They are a low risk, and as you are finding out, work wonders for some! For me, they were even in the lower tier of pricing for my prescription plan, which was a shocker. Usually most of the drops I have to get filled are in the highest tier, unless there is a generic. I'm so glad you like them.

-Shells

[sparrow]

advice for using lacriserts

just tried lacriserts for the first time yesterday and really liked them. Problem is, I'm really scared of trying to insert them (was at the eye dr yesterday and he put them in for me but even he had a really tough time). Any tips for a smooth and easy process? I'd rather not use that applicator if possible. But how on earth do you put it in the right spot if you can't look in the mirror and follow it w/ your eye? don't want to touch my cornea.

[Lucy]

Sparrow, the most important thing to remember is to have clean hands. After that, not much damage can be done. I didn't use the applicator either. I would get one of the little things on my index finger (not the end because I have long nails.) I would get the Lacrisert on the pad of my index finger, then pull the eyelid down with the other hand and take the finger and sort of scrape the Lacrisert in the lower eyepad. I'm not giving a good description, but after you wash your hands, almost anythng you do will not hurt you.

Lucy

[MyDryEyes]

Can someone explain in detail what a lacrisert is and what it does? How does it treat dryness?

[Rebecca Petris]

It's an alternative method of applying artificial tears... Hypromellose in a pellet if you will.

There is detailed information and a video on the Lacriserts website.

[Lucy]

Interesting Lacriserts Incident

Just a few days ago, I received a mailing from the Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation of which I am a former member.

The mailing was totally to lament the good points of Lacriserts, along with a Lacriserts patient info brochure. Also included was a $25 rebate coupon for the purchase of Lacriserts. It said the SSF has a "partnership" with Aton Pharma to be able to send out this info.

It also mentions Lacriserts have been around "two decades" approximately. I wonder if this is a reflex of the recent dry eye "explosion" patients. They are moving to make patients aware of their product. I've never hears any advertising of Lacriserts before. In fact, they are often hard to obtain and must be done so by special order. Perhaps a number of patients will benefit from exposure to this product. I hope so. Lucy

[Guest]

Lacricerts as Rebecca says are hypromellose based.

The theory is that they slowly release hypromellose until the pellet dissolves. Unfortunately, I could never leave the pellet in until it completely dissolved, I discovered during their use that I was sensitive to Hypromellose.

With this aside, I found them rather challenging to get used to. Inserting them was a bit of a challenge but once you got used to it, I would liken it to the simplicity of installing a contact lens. It did take a little while to get to this stage though, you have a special applicator and have to place the pellet in a specific location.

My suggestion would be to try hypromellose based products to rule out sensitivity to it first, then by all means try lacricerts.

Cheers

Ian

[kimby2007]

Lacriserts

I retried Lacriserts over the long weekend and it was a complete no go. The things either didn't dissolve or my eyes are so dry it didn't help. However, for some people it is a miracle drug. Best to try it out to see where u stand. Best of luck.