Trying Lacrisert

[lboogie]

Okay, giving them another shot today. I added extra drops to "get them going." But I'm still having that parched sensation. It's like they are soaking up what little tears I have, and then not dispersing them properly. Could that be the case? Geez, I must have so few tears that they cannon disolve at all.

Every spare wish or prayer I have I hope and hope for my eyes to get better.....I'm creeping up on 2 years posk LASIK and still uncomfortable. And I still wonder why me, and why aren't I better yet.

Thanks for listening -- we'll see how the day progresses. But so far, lacriserts are not the answer for me.

[izzy3usa2002]

still trying Lacriserts

I also get fustrated with the Lacriserts but in times where i have the severe pain for me it is a quick fix for it. My doctor has suggested cautery but after reading some on here about it i just don't want to make my eyes work. I have zero tears in my left eye and 3 in my right eye. So I guess going to keep tryin them cause i would be scared to death to do the cautery lol

[marcalans]

Lacriserts increase gooey sensation

My LASIK surgeon, who I consider to be ethically retarded, performed surgery knowing that my pre-operative evaluation revealed a 4mm Schirmer test result, OU (I never wore contacts). Before surgery, I did complain about eye fatigue. Now, in retrospect, I realize that it was dry eye I was experiencing. I obtained my med records after surgery and confronted him about his judgment. He tried to rationalize his decision with various excuses: 1) The Schirmer test is unreliable (So why do it in the first place?). 2) 4mm is not that bad. He said if the result were zero, he'd be concerned. 3) There have been no reliable studies indicating that pre-treatment for dry eye will improve post-LASIK dry eye (Not true. Study by Mauguerite McDonald, et al.). 4) In his practice, no males ever suffered from chronic dry eye post-LASIK (I guess I threw a wrench into that theory).

Okay, so I'm 3.5 years post-LASIK and my Schirmer test result is consistently between 3mm - 5mm, OU. I have posterior blepharitis (MGD). After trying numerous therapies, I decided to give Lacrisert a try. I put it in one eye and noticed that the tearfilm remained very gooey throughout the day and made the dry eye sensation worse. I had no problem with the Lacrisert itself. It was placed properly and did not move around or cause a foreign-object sensation.

I'm wondering if my acqueous tear production is just too low to make the Lacrisert effective. I finally removed it after about 6 hours, but perhaps I should have used it in conjunction with more application of artificial tears; but then I thought the whole purpose of it was to avoid frequent application of artificial tears.

[Sammy B.]

Marcalans -

Try using more drops with the Lacrisert to get it going.

And give Lacrisert a real 'college try' too. If you have a crappy corneal surface or a poor TBUT, it's not going to work on the first try, maybe even the second or third. The insert says to try it for at least two weeks before giving up.

- Rose

[skygoddess]

I bought a little spray bottle at Walmart, put some bottled water in, and spritz my open eyes.
It gives me enough moisture to jump-start the Lacrisert. You can buy a eye spray called Natures Tears , but it is just expensive water.
You may have to buy a few spray bottles before you find one that mist lightly versus squirts. But they only cost a dollar or so.

[Lucy]

Would saline work the same? Or would the salty water irritate the eye?

[skygoddess]

Good question, I know some people rinse with saline.
I just happened to have a sample of Evian spray in a hotel room once, and it seemed to work well.
It was almost as expensive as the Natures Tears though. So I just went to distilled or bottled water in my spray bottles.
Its my understanding in Ocular rosacea and Mgd the tear film saponifies, or actually turns soapy.
I also use the spray to wash out the soapy film from my eyes.

[Rebecca Petris]

I suspect unpreserved saline is probably the best (safe & effective) way to help dissolve it. If I remember right the optometrist who recently did the Lacrisert Q&A for us in chat suggested this as an option too.

[marcalans]

Using drops and sprays with Lacrisert

MGD does soapify the tearfilm, which contributes to discomfort, and that is why I always wondered why patients are advised many times to use diluted baby shampoo for lid scrubs. My ophthalmologist advised me to avoid using baby shampoo because it will just augment the soapification associated with MGD.

I spoke with the people at Bio-Logic Aqua Technologies (the manufacturer of Nature's Tears) and was told that the canisters are irradiated with gamma rays to kill any potential bacteria in the water (basically irradiated tap water). I've purchased quite a few over time and noticed that the quality control of the spray nozzle is very poor. Sometimes the nozzle produces a fine mist, as intended, but other times the nozzle actually squirts with enough force to really blast the cornea. I would strongly urge that you test the nozzle before aiming it at your eye, if you decide to purchase this product. The company sent me 10 free samples after I complained about the nozzle, but I can't say that the product offers any real benefit other than psychological. There is a video on YouTube featuring an ophthalmologist who claims that Nature's Tears is just a scam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-O_9r9PRXE).

[marcalans]

Using drops and sprays with Lacrisert

MGD does soapify the tearfilm, which contributes to discomfort, and that is why I always wondered why patients are advised many times to use diluted baby shampoo for lid scrubs. My ophthalmologist advised me to avoid using baby shampoo because it will just augment the soapification associated with MGD.

I spoke with the people at Bio-Logic Aqua Technologies (the manufacturer of Nature's Tears) and was told that the the canisters are irradiated with gamma rays to kill any potential bacteria in the water (basically irradiated tap water). I've purchased quite a few over time and noticed that the quality control of the spray nozzle is very poor. Sometimes the nozzle produces a fine mist, as intended, but other times the nozzle actually squirts with enough force to really blast the cornea. I would strongly urge that you test the nozzle before aiming it at your eye, if you decide to purchase this product. The company sent me 10 free samples after I complained about the nozzle, but I can't say that the product offers any real benefit other than psychological. There is a video on YouTube featuring an ophthalmologist who claims that Nature's Tears is just a scam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-O_9r9PRXE).

[B-Eye]

Hello, reviving an older thread a bit here. I started Lacriserts a few days ago and after high-hopes, am feeling a bit disappointed. Generally I feel worse with them than without.

I have no problem putting them in, and can tolerate them sitting in my lid pocket. However they feel very similar to Genteel nightime gel. It feels like they are clogging my lid margins which are already inflamed (caused DES). So whatever little oil was coming out before is stopped. I would guess that my TBUT has gone down while wearing these, within a few minutes of putting them in I get the terrible "menthol" effect much more then without them.

I wore them for 9 hours today and just took them out, they didnt look much smaller.
I used Blink drops throughout the day.

Some people have spoken of general discomfort with Lacriserts, by this do you mean physically sitting against the eye, or more systemic (like mine), where they are making your symptoms worse?

Thanks in advance!