I did it! Cautery was finally done

[dianat]

I assume the Lotemax is making a difference for you then?

[rkralman]

My doc was concerned about glaucoma, not cataracts. He explained the "soft" steroids such as Lotemax or Alrex will not cause cataracts, He is also keeping close tabs on my eye pressure. Eyes are kinda glassy and burning today...could be allergies. Right eye that was cauterized is the one that is burning. I tried one of the EyeFeel patches last night and while it felt good, when I woke up this morning, my eyes seems irritated and they've been burning since. Maybe I am one of those rare birds whose eyes don't like hot compresses. I'm gonna stick with the Alrex and Restasis combo and stay away from the compresses for awhile to see what the heck is going on. Robin

[rkralman]

What the heck? Yet another NEW symptom!

For the last two days, my right eye has been "TWITCHING"!! Has anyone had this? I can look in the mirror and watch my upper lid twitch as well as right under the lower lid. It is the strangest feeling! The only thing I have done different is start Restasis and tried hot compresses for the first time. Any ideas what this new development is? Has anyone else experience this? Robin

[rkralman]

Man oh man! What's the deal with the docs?

I am tired to the bone today of dealing with my dry eyes! The cautery I had a few weeks ago "broke open" and I just had to have the whole thing re-done. The doc thinks I am crazy, I think...I told him the punctum had opened and I could see the tears flowing so I knew the hole had opened up. he admitted he was "gentle" with the first cautery, stating he was 'cautious' to not close it all of the way. I'm like..."what????? I paid you alot of money to close it permanently and I want it closed!!!" He reluctantly burned it closed AGAIN but was not very happy with me. he wanted it partialy left open and I said absolutely NOT, I cannot function without 100% occlusion. I told him I appreciated his caution but I will NEVER want it open again..NEVER!!!! Has anyone had this resistance with their doc? My eye is pretty red and irritated because he burned it really good this time, even down into the punctum...(I think he gave me a few extra shots of the laser just to shut me up!) HA! I have lost 8 plugs in the eye, got 3 plugs squeezed out of the punctum that were lodged.. I am POSITIVE I will never want to open it again! What part of that does he not understand? Sometimes, we just have to be pro-active in our treatment and stand up for ourselves. A cookie cutter approach to all patients with dry eyes does not work! I wish the docs would LISTEN more to us and design a treatment plan to fit each INDIVIDUAL need and NOT just provide whatever free samples he/she has laying in the drawer that week. For those docs to whom dry eye is not their specialty, they tend to resort to doing the same thing over and over and producing little results, without taking the time to listen to our thoughts about new treatment options. I feel discussing new treatment options with my doc offends him in some way and he has to put me back in my place by poo-pooing any new ideas for treatment I have researched about. Ok, I will now come down from my soapbox and go put more drops in because I have now typed for too long and my eyes are burning like crazy! Robin

[kurt]

He reluctantly burned it closed AGAIN but was not very happy with me. he wanted it partialy left open and I said absolutely NOT, I cannot function without 100% occlusion.

The first so-called dry eye doctor I went to did partial cauterization of the upper after closing the lowers.

The next doctor I went to did full closure. I didn't need to hassle him either.