Temporary plugs done eyes more blurred now

[TonyKftl]

Not exactly the way I wanted to introduce myself. Good morning and salutations from Fort Lauderdale. So I have been ghost cruising these forums for a while. The short of it is that I have been dealing with dry eyes for a few years, tried many different things (I cannot doe restasis it burned to badly after the first few months) among other things.

I have been termed as having severe dry eye. I am kind of running out of options at this point. I had temporary collagen plugs put in both eyes yesterday. My vision seems to be off this morning and except for the "forgeign object" feeling in the eyes and a headache I am wondering if this is something anyone else has had happen.

I should add in that I was also being treated with Tobradex for blepharitis. I was told to continue using the Tobradex for another 5 days (I was on day 7 of using ointment at bedtime).

The vision is slightly off and I woke with a headache that won't go away. I plan on calling the Doc's office if the vision stays this way but thought this may be a good time to finally make an appearance on the forums.

Some of you appear to have a ton of knowledge on things. Thank you for any response of info or your own experience of having plugs. Hoping this is just a temp thing and that this actually works.

[waterbee]

Hiya, welcome to the forums
Do you have mgd too? Or just a tear deficiency?
If you don't have mgd it could be your vision is just a bit cloudy due to the extra tears mixing with your oil, it's prob a bit of a surprise to your ocular surface to of gained the extra moisture. it's just a theory though! I would call them regardless as changes in vision are always worth getting checked. I have lower plugs (ultra) and it was a good two to three weeks before they felt comfortable, now I don't even notice I have them but it was testing
At first as it made my eyes feel really irritated and I just wanted them out after the first week! So Do persist.

[TonyKftl]

Thank you for the reply. It has been a week and it seemed like I had a few days where the pain/discomfort blurred vision eased. I am not sure what to do next, my eye doc seems to be out of ideas to help. As far as I have been told it is only severe dry eye. The last two days/night have been extremely rough. Not so much that the plugs seem to be bothering me but the dry eye symptoms seems to be back. Even drops are not helping much now. I am at a point where I will either be getting a second opinion by me or check and see if I can get into Bascom Palmer down in Miami. Nothing against my eye doc but doing more reading I am realizing that perhaps all tests have not been done yet to confirm if there are not other problems.

Not sure what else to do at this point.

[indrep]

If they were truly collagen plugs those only last about 3-5 days. So the early relief and now back to feeling the discomfort would indicate the the plugs were helping.

[waterbee]

There are quite a few different types of plugs too, so I would try a different one, temp plugs some times are not as effective to and some plugs also have drainage holes in them. Find out if there are other plugs you can try, also some get on best with upper plugs or having 4 plugs done. Don't give up on plugs just yet.

[TonyKftl]

Doc had said 7 to 10 days for the collagen plugs. Going back next week. Left eye seems to be worse now. I am a bit leery to try "permanent" plugs now though. Both eyes seem to be worse now with the left actually hurting more. Eye drops had helped before - not so much now. To be honest I had not known about the various types (i.e umbrella, tapered, ect) until last week. I do know she usually only uses the hydrogel material ones. I may seek out a second opinion about this before it is done. Sounds stupid but I was also unaware about 4 plugs being done. I am curious for things like MDG haven't been mentioned or done. Granted I should be a bit more educated on these things. I seem to be a bit late on that but I am catching up now.

Thank you I am hoping this either eases up or ends soon.

[meibomian]

Difficult to know your clinical situation without an exam and this is not medical advice but from a general clinical perspective, punctal plugs in the setting of MGD can make dry-eye symptoms worse. Most cases of DES are not due to true aqueous "tear" deficiency but rather from meibomian gland dysfunction. And if there is a pre-existing nasolacrimal stenosis or obstruction that is causing dry eye symptoms, this problem would need to be addressed. It's generally a good idea to probe and irrigate the nasaolacrimal ducts before putting in any punctal plugs and in the setting of MGD, avoid punctal plugs and treat the MGD. Lid hygiene and a course of low-dose oral doxy along with a brief course of topical steroid/antibiotics can help to relieve acute MGD exacerbation. MGD sufferers may want to remove the plugs, flush the ducts, and treat the MGD to see if the symptoms improve. Hope this helps and hope you feel better soon. Keep us posted.