New to site and looking for advice on cautery

[specialk2213]

Good afternoon everyone! I have had red eyes for the past 8 years. I am a 31 year old male. About 4 months ago I finally saw an eye doctor to do something about it. I was diagnosed with dry eyes. I have had bottom plugs in for about 4 months. I use restasis twice a day and preservative-free Systane. I also use an allergy drop called Pataday. I have allergies year round. I also take flaxseed / omega 3 daily. I also use warm compresses on my eye lids twice a day. I even tried lid taping for about a month, which did NOT help. About 1 month ago I went in for blood tests to make sure it wasn't an auto immune disease. I was given a clean bill of health. I follow a very healthy diet ( 90% of the time ) and drink water throughout the day.

About a month ago the doctor also put upper plugs in, and the tears were way too uncomfortable, and had him take them out after about 7 days. I was wiping my eyes about 40 times a day. He stated the next step is to have eye cautery on the bottom punctae. Has anyone had this? I am frustated with always having red eyes and my lids always feeling heavy. Can anyone out there offer any advice or has gone through a similiar situation??

[bassfan]

My first thought is that you might want to try eagle flow controller plugs in your uppers if total occlussion was too much. They have a small hole so some tears drain. That said, upper plugs may not be the answer for you to begin with, but its worth a shot.

I don't think you are going to see much benefit from cautery. I have lower plugs, no cautery, but there cant be that much difference in the "total occlusion" of a solid plug versus torching your skin together to close the hole. Obviously I can't say for sure but its logical.

If the plugs bother you, then maybe cautery is a good idea. If they don't i would say wait a while until you get a better handle on your eyes before you do something semi-permanent like cautery. You're very early on in your DES, there are plenty of treatments/coping tactics that you probably haven't tried yet.

I would also recommend if you have the time/location/finances to see Dr Latkany in New York for a second opinion (not just the cautery, but your whole treatment plan). I have a pretty sour attitude towards most opthamologists anymore though due to numerous substantial misdiagnoses and poor patient care from my experiences...none of them had a clue about treatment of DES until I visited Latkany.

good luck!

bassfan

[Lucy]

Hi SpecialK:
Bass gave you good advice on waiting for cauterization. That's not always a slam dunk. Unfortunately, plugs aren't either. I believe you said you had the uppers removed after 7 days, and now you're still sporting lower plugs.

As Bass already told you, check into Flow controller plugs, or some other kind. If they are comfortable, think twice before letting the doctor pull them, though. I have one duct that the doc pulled the plug because we thought it was irritating my eye, but it was something else. He could never get another plug in that duct. He ordered the Flow controller plug for me, but it wouldn't go in. So, I ended up with cautery in that duct only.

One thing that you haven't mentioned is trying to wear a mask at night. Many of us have become fans of this. Tranquileyes is by far the best, in my estimation. You can find information about it on this site. It's also available to buy on this site. It's available from other venues also.

Good luck and try holding off on the cauterization. Bass is also obviously a "fan" of Dr. Latkany's and that might be worth considering as he mentioned.
Lucy

[specialk2213]

Thanks Bassman & Lucy for your feedback. My doctor actually brought up Tranquileyes last time I visited him. I decided at that time not to purchase them. After looking through this site it seems they actually are a big hit and I actually might purchase them. I appreciate the recommendation on the doctor out in New York, however I am in the northwest suburbs of IL. That might be alittle difficult to get out there : ) I have tried a couple different doctors and the one I am currently using was recommended highly. I feel pretty comfortable with him.

[dianat]

Hi there, Special. Welcome. Sorry you have to be here.

I've been cauterized in all four punctae for probably three years now. I would agree with Bassfan that it may be a bit early to jump into something semi-permanent. You can probably find a few more things to try first.

Incidentally, I would expect lower cautery to feel no different than lower plugs. I had lower plugs only for a while and I had lower cautery for a while. It didn't change things in terms of tear damming. It wasn't until I was cauterized in my uppers that it made a difference. I could not tolerate upper plugs and really needed to find more tears. Now I have too many and I blot a heck of a lot, but I can still function.

You might consider lower plugs and flow-control plugs on the uppers. Flow-control plugs would allow for some drainage, hopefully eliminating the overflow you were experiencing.

On the main Dry Eye Talk page, you can scroll down to a plugs/cautery forum and peruse other posts.

Here's my complete story on plugs vs cautery. I posted it a very long time ago and dig it out now and then for folks like you.

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showthread.php?t=115

By the way, the thread you've started here is located in the "polls" forum and probably isn't getting the views you deserve. Consider reposting your questions in the open forum or under the plugs and cautery forum.

Diana

[Rebecca Petris]

Just moved the thread. Thanks, Diana, I didn't notice it at first.