Do you think my eye doctor is out of line?

[matt357]

When I first got diagnosed with dry eye he told me to come back in 2 weeks, I came back in 2 or 3 days becasue
I had more questions and my eyes were not feeling better with the drops he gave me. At the end of the second appointment he said "the next step for you is punctual plugs and if you come back thats whats going to happen" and said to come back in 3 months. It's been a couple weeks and now I have developed "snowy vision" and more questions but I don't want punctual plugs and am scared to make a appointment. This doctor always seems depressed and kind of moody but everyone in my family goes to him and says hes very good. Do you think he was out of line and what do you think I should do?

[William53]

I'd find another Dr who's more responsive to your needs, your condition.

[lizlou29]

I think there is a frustration with treating dry eye as there is no cure and this leads to some eye doctors appearing uncaring, unhelpful etc. Of course some just genuinely don't care...

You need to find someone you are comfortable with seeing and can guide you through the dry eye journey. Definitely see someone else sooner rather than later if you are having any vision issues.

[Rebecca Petris]

It really depends how much effort you're willing to expend trying to figure out if there is more value to be had from this doctor before making the call to move on. If having someone more immediately responsive and communicative is the best way to meet your needs right now, then definitely move on. Or, if you have reason to believe this doctor is not qualified enough, definitely move on. VERY IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND that your family may find him super for all their needs - but what are their needs? Glasses, contacts, cataracts, glaucoma, conjunctivitis, allergies? No matter how "GOOD" this doctor is for THOSE things, it does NOT mean he's very good at or even competent in dry eye. A dry eye dr can be surprisingly hard to come by.

Some doctors are actually better than they seem, though. For example, they might dole out some generic "dry eye" diagnosis, but if you take the trouble to get a copy of your records you might find they actually did more detailed diagnosis than you were even aware (just didn't tell you). Often happens actually with these slightly taciturn types.

PERSONALLY, I do not care for this ""the next step for you is punctual plugs and if you come back thats whats going to happen" business. I don't know how to read that. Does it mean you are severely aqueous deficient, in which case yes, plugs are probably a good approach (but not necessarily the only approach and it is something you should be able to talk about... lots of people have qualms about having plugs put in). Or does it mean he's a cookier cutter guy that has a standard approach: drops, then plugs, then maybe restasis... irrespective of what's really going on. You don't want to be one of the people that got all the standard treatments thrown at them before anybody even bothered to figure out that, for example, your key problem is posterior blepharitis or something.

[matt357]

So today I tried to make a appointment with him about my eye lashes curling inwards (which I talked about in another post) and they said he couldent see me for 3 weeks and he wanted me to see a doctor who was new to the practice who is right out of medical school and that she was out of town and couldn't see me until next week. Can you believe this? I have been seeing this guy since I was a kid now I feel like he wants nothing to do with me. Where I live there is only a few eye doctors in the whole city. Its pretty much this practice and another group that has a couple locations across the city, sounds almost like a franchise. I went to a different eye doctor there before who I didnt feel was as good. How do you guys feel about the franchise type ophthalmologists? Do they push for unnecessary treatment to make money?

[LaDiva]

When I first began having serious dry eye symptoms, I quickly realized I needed a doctor who was knowledgable in dry eye and could give me an accurate diagnosis. At the time, I belonged to a large, well-known health plan and my coverage included eye care. Every time I went to see someone in my covered group, I felt like I was given the routine list of try this first, try this next, and then I was shoved out the door. I always ended up crying, and always felt like "don't call us, we'll call you", and they never did call or say "make an appointment for six months". I felt that they viewed the problem as something they could not fix, so that was that and they really didn't care. I felt hopeless, helpless and sick.

The next step was to find a specialist who really knew about dry eye, and it involved driving a couple of hours each way to see him, but it was worth it. He gave me a thorough checkup with all the necessary equipment, and then told me exactly what was wrong, and my tear breakup time. We tried several new prescriptions that my original health provider did not suggest, nor cover. None of the new prescriptions worked, BUT I had a diagnosis. I have since changed care providers and returned to my long-time eye doctor. He is not very good at explaining things, or giving information about the current status of my condition. When I ask, he sometimes gets gruff, but sometimes not. He is knowledgable, so I will continue to see him, but the doctor who is two hours away is still on my physician's list. Someone mentioned going to more than one doctor. I think sometimes that is a good idea, especially when you have a disease like this one. Good luck to you. Whatever you do, find someone, or several someones, who listen and with whom you feel comfortable. Best of luck to you.

PS- The young doctors can see well, think quickly, and sometimes come with new ideas. I am old enough so pretty much everyone is younger than I, but maybe that isn't such a bad thing!

[bitbybug]

La Diva,
Can you give us the name/location of your dry eye specialist? How did you go about finding him?
If on the Internet, what search terms did you use, etc.
Or was it on an eye organizations's website?
Thanks!

[LaDiva]

Hi bitbybug,
I will email you. I think that I got his name from this website under "Plug a Doc": http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/forum...108-Plug-a-Doc

[spmcc]

Here is a very recent article by Dr. Marguerite McDonald (well-known "dry eye" ophthalmologist). Perhaps it can help us compare doctors/services. Or even, perhaps a print-out given to an ophthalmologist might help him/her see how we are "valuable"? Anyway, here it is:

http://www.ophthalmologymanagement.c...ticleID=108879