Has Restasis/Plugs helped anyone?

[MNJen]

I am 4 months into my DES diagnosis. My only issue is I do not produce tears.
Although for about 3 weeks in December there was an improvement in my tear production, but now I am back to next to nothing.

So my doc wants me to try Restasis & plugs. I have read so many posts here where Restasis & plugs have not helped and I am finding myself very discouraged & hopeless.

I cannot imagine dealing with this pain for the rest of my life.

Jen

[alisonW]

Hi Jen - while neither has been a "cure" for me, both Restasis and plugs have helped me. It did take 6 months of using the Restasis before I noticed any improvement though - it does not work overnight. (My eye doc also has dry eyes and says Restasis has been "a miracle" for her.)

I definitely noticed an immediate difference when I first had my plugs put in.

I think most here will agree that what works for one dry eye patient, may not work for another, but I truly believe it's in your best interest not to rule any treatment out. "It" may be the one that brings you the most relief. Alison

[msny]

I am 4 months into my DES diagnosis. My only issue is I do not produce tears.
Although for about 3 weeks in December there was an improvement in my tear production, but now I am back to next to nothing.

So my doc wants me to try Restasis & plugs. I have read so many posts here where Restasis & plugs have not helped and I am finding myself very discouraged & hopeless.

I cannot imagine dealing with this pain for the rest of my life.

Jen

Yes , for me I have used both for about 4 years.

When I lose a plug in either eye, I notice that eye
dry up right away. When I get a new one, its
moist right away.

For me Restasis is the only thing that freshens my eyes,
I use one vile a day between both eyes.

These can be pricey, so I buy online a 90 day supply
using my insurance prescription plan. I get mine from
nextRX/Anthem online pharmacy. My insurance changes me
only for a 30 day supply.

See your doctor, he can help.

[FWM]

It havent helped me.. nor restasis or plugs

You should try to reach the cause of your Dry eye.

[Aaron77]

My dry eyes were caused by lasik and I have since been plugged and have been using Restasis for about 4 months. The plugs helped a bit but I'm not sure about the Restasis. I know that Restasis does aggitate my eyes somewhat.

[willwork4tears]

I tried plugs but they didn't work for me b/c I have "inward turning puncta" which means the holes where they put the plugs don't point up they point in towards the eyeball. This meant the plugs were constantly rubbing on my eyes - aaargghh! One fell out within a few days. I tolerated the other one for a week, but couldn't stand it anymore - I extracted it with tweezers! If they hadn't been so irritating I would have definitely kept them in longer.

I used Restasis for years (4+) and I was totally convinced it "wasn't working." Then when I had to do a 2 week washout period for the recent [failed] Prolacria clinical trial, I was shocked when I GOT WORSE!

After the trial I went back on the Restasis and when I still felt miserable I started getting custom eye drops compounded with a higher concentration of cyclosporin .

My advice: Try them both - one at a time. Take it from a scientist, you can't tell which one is working if you change two variables simultaneously! You'll never know until you try it.

[Sammy B.]

Jen,

Through the encouragement of the people on this board, I had 90-day dissolvable plugs put in on 1/13/10. I am happy to report that my left eye feels FINE.

My right has been pesky in the past year and I believe it just may take more time to feel better than the left.

I am post-LASIK though so my story/cause is probably different from yours.

Two things:

1) Try the 90-day dissolvables instead of the other offerings if possible. They are supposed to last longer so you will get an idea of the real benefit that plugs can offer.

2) Don't expect some major improvement on the day they are put in. In my case I was expecting my eyes to feel awesome that very same day and it took over a week for the left eye to get where it's at. I think this is especially true if you have dry spots on the corneas.

If your only problem is not producing enough tears, I don't see how plugs could hurt. Definitely do what WillWork says though and try one possible 'solution' at a time. Otherwise you will not know what is working and what is not.

[Guest]

Hi Jen!

Give the Restasis and plugs a try... if they work, awesome. Worst case, if they don't, well, then on to the next thing.

If your problem is insufficient quantity of tears, then odds are, you'll get at least SOME improvement from the plugs for sure... and something is better than nothing, right?

Regarding the thing we all fear, having to deal with this for the rest of our lives, I have hope that we will all get better at coping mentally with this as time goes on. Even if at this moment we are totally depressed over this, I think there is a high likelihood that we will not always feel that way - we WILL find a way to be happy, even though our eye problems royally suck! For myself, as time goes on, I seem to be able to "recover" from my attacks of
depression over this more easily than I used to...

Anyhow, there I go rambling on again...

Be aggressive in trying all reasonable treatments for your eyes... don't procrastinate... you just never know which treatment will give you a bit (or maybe a LOT) of relief until you try it...

Sheralyn

[MNJen]

Thank you everyone for your inputs! I appreciate hearing others experiences.
It has been a rough few years for me; first severe hyperemesis during my pregnancy in 2007 (hence only having 1 child) which caused severe depression. The severe depressions manifested into insomnia. Got on citalophram & was good through July09 when I went off it. Depression came back & then the dry eye.

I have an appt tomorrow to get the plus & I will ask about the 90 days ones. I was told 10-14 days, but it does make sense that they would need too be in longer to notice a benefit.

Jen

[msny]

Not sure if this is everywhere, but when I visited my
eye doctor yesterday he had a booklet of Restasis
eye drop coupons.