Current Progress/Status (Restasis question)

[DryInUpstateNY]

saw my ophthalmologist today. i'm ATD and started Restasis exactly 2 months ago.

- corneas "look very healthy" per his exam and,
- no MGD. they looked good under the slit lamp examination.

I've gone from wanting to hide in a dark room all day to tolerating the dry eyes.

I'm no longer putting drops ever 20 mins and working on computer is no issue right now as long as I'm diligent about taking breaks every 15 mins or so, which I am.

2 months ago I also went on gluten and lactose free (i.e. no bread and no milk/cheese) diet. I'm eating lots of veggies, fruits, and a little bit of lean meats. also on Hydro Eye supplement. don't know if it's contributed to eyes getting better but I have dropped 20 lbs. or so...

I also resumed my allergy shots 5 weeks ago.

overall I'm a lot better than prior but not "normal" again. I've accepted that this is just the way it's going to be forever, at least given what's available now.

My Restasis question is this: Although I'm feeling better now, does it get even better w/ prolonged exposure to the drug? for instance, have people w/ good results from the drug experienced better results months after first experiencing benefit from it?

[DryInUpstateNY]

my drops are Systane Ultra Preservative Free.

i'm down to about four to five times a day w/ the drops. only need it due to computer work.

I will get the moisture chamber goggles once this Gov't Shutdown is over as I'm worried to spend the money w/ a potential furlough looming for me.

And I asked my pharmacist the cost out of pocket for Restasis (60 vials/droperettes): 334 U.S. Dollars.

It's important to know since I may need to go from an HMO to a high deductible plan next year.

[dryeyedave]

In my personal experience I have continued to improve on it. I am now almost 7 months on Restasis. I noticed jumps in improvement at 2 and 4 months. 6 months I experienced another small improvement. I am 80% better now at 6.5 months than I was before I started the drug. All of my improvements have been durable, in other words I have not regressed.

[MartyM1985]

In my personal experience I have continued to improve on it. I am now almost 7 months on Restasis. I noticed jumps in improvement at 2 and 4 months. 6 months I experienced another small improvement. I am 80% better now at 6.5 months than I was before I started the drug. All of my improvements have been durable, in other words I have not regressed.

I echo this. It took me 5 months to become a functional human being. After another 3, I got about 75% of my life back. Now I'm trying to get back that last 25%, but who knows. It's been about 10 months.

I'll be writing a triumph soon. Stay on Restasis!

[dryeyedave]

I have had another improvement on my seven month anniversary that I noticed a few days ago. I can now walk around in the cold air outside and in and my right eye is pretty normal my left has a scleral but I have noticed it has some minor improvement as well. This morning Nov 14 I woke up and my right eye immediately started lubricating and my left of course is still crap in the am. I use only four applications per day of lubricant now. I wear my moisture glasses inside some when my slceral is in but I don't have too. At night when my scleral is out I have to wear my glasses most of the time because of my left eye but my eyes are doing better later in the evening.

[Faith1989]

Congrats! Lately, I have been toying around with the idea of stopping it but I know its not a good idea. I can tolerate it, but find it irritates my veins in my eyes and makes them look worse

Did you ever have any redness from it? or did it take any away eventually? I have both MGD and aqueous no sjogrens or anything, steamed from overuse of visine for years/minor rosacea

[dryeyedave]

Congrats! Lately, I have been toying around with the idea of stopping it but I know its not a good idea. I can tolerate it, but find it irritates my veins in my eyes and makes them look worse

Did you ever have any redness from it? or did it take any away eventually? I have both MGD and aqueous no sjogrens or anything, steamed from overuse of visine for years/minor rosacea

Yes I have redness after I use it. As my eyes have improved my redness has improved substantially but when my bad eye, my left one, is irritated by what ever the cause it is red but not overly so. I would not let eye redness stop you from using the drug.

[Faith1989]

I know your right. I'm just a young girl so the redness bugs me, it's a perfectionist thing..

Glad to hear you are improving! Keep us updated, it gives the rest of us hope