Need Advice - Scleral Lenses, or Wait & See??

[Ccoughlin]

Hi friends,

I'm about 9 1/2 post Lasik, and I went in to the dr. again yesterday. I have MGB and a mild-moderate case he said. It seems like it was getting better, but now with the bitter chill of winter, it's worse (blurriness, some pain, etc.) He said I could go with scleral lenses, but they cost a lot don't they ($350??) - is there a place I can get them cheaper?

In short, I don't have good healthcare coverage, since we're self-insured, and I have already paid several thousand for the LASIK and Restasis, the list goes on, yada, yada, yada. Do you think I should try the sclerals, or do you think there is still time for this situation to improve (and I can save the $$ on sclerals)? It's not unbearable right now, just very frustrating, as I had hoped to be out of glasses with LASIK. Also, do you see lots of improvement using sclerals? With that kind of cost, I sure hope they work well.

I'd appreciate your advice.

Thanks,
Chandra

[patientpatrick]

are you 9 1/2 weeks or months post lasik? scleral lenses seem to be for more severe or permanent cases. I wonder why your dr. thinks you should be on them so soon. I personally have never used them but i'm thinking about them, none of the drs i've seen have said i should use them. They keep saying use artificial tears. And the problem the drops only last a few min, and to be honest sometimes make my eyes feel drier afterwards. I have MGD and an Aquaeous def. from lasik. I'm not 14 months post-op and Im very sad.

I know that wasn't exactly advice, but from what i have read some people have found the lenses to be a god-send. I just haven't found a dr who seems to think I should use them. What did your doc say? are you at the point where you are out of other options?

[Faith1989]

I have never had LASIK but do have MGD and quite dry eyes as well. I have just acquired serum tears and they really seem to be helping my eyes out. have u considered these as an option yet? Also how do you guys help out ur MGD? mine is outta control rn...

[DCRdryeye]

Often mgd and dry eye is a chronic condition. So scleral lenses seem like a good idea to avoid the ongoing application of drops during the day and basically prevent evaporation due to mgd. They are not perfect though, and if you can't afford to go to BFS or see Dr. Gem (whom are the only two worthwhile seeing from what I've read here), then forget about sclerals. Save for them, and meanwhile try other treatments not yet explored. I hold hope for you that your symptoms will improve.

[gichamp]

Sceleral lenses

I disagree with the comment that if you can't afford to go to BFS to forget it. I am in Jupiter scelerals fitted by a doctor in Charleston, SC, and they have been the single most beneficial thing I have found in my 6+ year struggle with dry eye. This physician fit me on the first try in November, and I am now at a little over two months of daily wear and I could not be more pleased. He did have to order a second set of lenses for me that were plasma treated to stop the fogging, but from day one with the plasma treated lenses, I have been perfect. Insurance paid for my fitting and my lenses and I paid less than $100 (mainly because I had met my deductible after 10 months of restasis, lotemax, azasite, etc.). I wear my lenses from 7:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. every day of the week and I don't even know I have them in except that I can see (since they are vision correcting also). I am so glad I was not discouraged by the comments I have read here and elsewhere that BFS is the only way to go. I have gone from putting drops in every 15 minutes (from my collection of every type of drop made) to now using rewetting drops maybe twice a day at work, but none on weekends. My eyes have gone from red all day to white - although I have noticed that at the end of the day, my eyes are starting to get red again (for me the end of the day redness is relieved if I take them out and refill them with saline about 2:00, but I get lazy). Just fyi, I have not had lasik or any eye surgery and I have no other health issues, but I have evaportive dry eye and mgd. I would say I am, unfortunately, an "experienced" patient having done Lipiflow and IPL in addition to every dry eye medication available, and I appreciate what those treatments did for me, but nothing compares to my scelerals. Good luck to all and I am sure scelerals do not work for everyone, but I wouldn't dismiss other eye doctors who fit these lenses and have great results (my doctor has been fitting scelerals for over 20 years - as he says before the materials were as good as they are today).

[Ccoughlin]

Thanks everyone - I am 9 1/2 months post-LASIK, and definitely suffering through this wintertime. Is there hope that, once the winter dryness & heating subsides, things could get better for me? That's why I'm wondering if I should wait on scleral lenses - it's a big investment and I like to retain hope that this thing still has time to improve.