Last option, do Sclera Lenses help with severe dry eye

[sisimis]

Hello there,
I am writing from Germany. I am suffering since 3 years of a major Meibaom Gland Dysfunction.
I am using twice a day an electric eyelid warming device, brand name Blephasteam for 10 minutes each
and every 2 1/2 hours I use an eye ointment only consisting of mineral oil and white vaselin called vit-A pos.
Sometimes I can make it for 3, maximum 4 hours without ointment. But the ointment helps me far better and longer than any drops I used, where I had to drop every hour. At night, before bedtime I squeeze in as much as my eyes hold and that lasts me all night through. There are no preservatives in the ointment (preservatives make my eyes feel much worse) and it costs me only about 3euro per
ointment. I believe in the USA you got something similar calles refreshing ointment (make sure it is without preservatives too and mineral oil and vaselin as ingredients are all it needs).
I can live with 4-6 times putting ointment into my eyes a day.And I hope it will stay like this.
Also I take fishoil or flaxseed oil additonally.
Greetings sisimis

[DryInDenver]

DryInDenver have you found a drop that goes good over your sclera lenses? I have had to start using drops sometimes when I am out in wind an a/c over my lens and I have tried a few but they do seem to blur my vision a little as well. Do you like the Refresh Plus ? is it PF ?


Also for anyone else. I have MGD and ocular rosacea and scelra lens has helped me. My TBUT is 4 in the left eye and 6 in the right but I do have functioning glands they just get clogged. My Dr said on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being bad my disease is about a 4. I also have to wear the lens for Vision from my irregularity in my cornea from lasik (which I has never gotten that done !!! ). Andrea B

I use Refresh Plus PF. I buy the box with 100 PF vials on Amazon. They worked best for me prior to getting lenses as well. I know Refresh also makes the Refresh Optive Advanced drops that may work better for someone with MGD because they have an oil component (for some reason they felt gritty in my eyes and weren't for me). I don't have problems with my lens blurring, but the drops may not be the longest lasting ones out there.

[alb1967]

I too was pleasantly suprised by the costs. It was less than half of what I figured I'd end up paying all in for lenses. Personally, I think he'll have to raise the price at some point because of the time involved to craft each lens - especially if he is able to grow to more locations than Dallas.

Yes, you can purchase extra lenses via mail order. I will be doing so when I order my back up pair.

I use Unisol 4. It's a preservative free saline. I've seen others on this forum writing about success with similar preservative free saline used in slcerals.

I use the same drops as I used before, Refresh Plus, and plan to experiment with others to see if one is better than the other. (I used to be a systane ultra guy when I first came down with this, but for some reason those started to feel grainy for me - I tried them again with the slerals and they help but make my vision a little blury for a minute or two).

Yes, I use the clear care system for storage overnight.

DryInDenver have you found a drop that goes good over your sclera lenses? I have had to start using drops sometimes when I am out in wind an a/c over my lens and I have tried a few but they do seem to blur my vision a little as well. Do you like the Refresh Plus ? is it PF ?


Also for anyone else. I have MGD and ocular rosacea and scelra lens has helped me. My TBUT is 4 in the left eye and 6 in the right but I do have functioning glands they just get clogged. My Dr said on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being bad my disease is about a 4. I also have to wear the lens for Vision from my irregularity in my cornea from lasik (which I has never gotten that done !!! ). Andrea B

[Gerri55455]

I think if its just the tears you are low on then they have a good chance of helping. But if your MG glands are messed up they may not. I went to Boston but because my glands were not producing and I possibly have corneal neuralgia they did not help me.

-Katewest, have you found something that helps with the corneal neuralgia? Serum tears seem to be helping me somewhat. Did you ever try that?
-bonedrye60, sorry about your pain. have you found anything that works? If so, please share.

Thanks and good luck to all. ~Gerri

[Almondiyz]

Any input from users here who have severe MGD (along with some aqueous deficiency) that have been helped with scleral lenses?

I like your nickname. MGD HELL. If hell is anything like severe MGD w/AD...I'm right there/here with you. I'm scheduled to see my doctor this week. Planned to ask about sclerals. I'll be back to let you know what my doc says about them for my eyes.

[MGD666]

Tears of Joy: Any update yet on your sclerals?

[DCRdryeye]

I have MG drop out in my left eye and scleral lenses work to a degree. I still cannot go without moisture chamber glasses since the eyelids and sclera not covered by the lenses will hurt (due to evaporation caused by MG dropout). So I wear my moisture chambers over the scleral lenses. I recall before using scleral lenses, in a heated room whilst using my computer (and wearing moisture chambers) my left eye would hurt so much I'd have to keep it shut. Now, with the scleral lens my left eye doesn't hurt at all and can enjoy long computer hours as long as the moisture chamber glasses are on and I'm using a lubricant over the scleral lenses hourly or every two hours. So yes, I still think they are worth trying for MGD.

[MGD666]

TearsofJoy - YES, please do! I have seen Dr. Garrett at Casey Eye so am particularly interested in your experiences there, and especially with the fittings and the new lenses. What kind exactly are you going to try? Was there an option? Are they similar to Prose or more like the Dr. G "laser fit" kind? Thank you for letting me (us) know. Feel free to PM if you'd like.

[Tears of Joy]

Hi MGD 666,

After reading through these posts, I considered going to Chicago (Prose) or Texas for lenses, but finally decided to see Dr. Louie (an O.D.) Casey Eye. I will get my lenses in a week from tomorrow (the 19th). I'll let you know how it goes. TOG

[MGD666]

Portland, Oregon (although I have relatives in Wisconsin) - there must be some doctors here, I just haven't looked into it yet, but will do so soon. Perhaps Gemoules would know and can recommend. Thanks a lot for the follow-up info. I can empathize with the bi-focal problem you might be presented with, but I'm sure you'll find a work-around, even if not optimum. Thanks again. Also, nice use of the word "warpyness" - don't think I have ever seen that one before, but I like it

[L8rgator]

I think the cost is the same. Although my prescription is fairly simple. Dr G suggested the corrective lenses when I had mine done, but I opted no because I almost never wore my glasses before then (only to drive at night) - they just didn't fit over my patches, even with the nose pieces broken off on one side. Now however, I just got new glasses and really started to wear them all the time, and found that astigmatism correction doesn't really work under a full faced motorcycle helmet because the glasses move with the helmet more than with my face, causing warpyness. So we've decided to try a prescription scleral in one eye, and a regular contact in the other (something I've never tried before). My biggest concern is that I'm constantly looking at my phone and electronic devices, and with my glasses on that is painful. So I'll probably have to put glasses on to UNDO the prescription contacts when I want to read (doh!). Not sure if that's really going to work, but affordable enough to give it a try.

What area are you in? I talked to some doctors in the US in Miami, Illinois, and I think Minnesota that all sounded promising before I found Dr. G. You might want to check with Jupiter or other distributors directly, and ask them if there are any clients in your area that carry the lenses.

[MGD666]

Great info - thank you both. I will indeed start looking for a fitter in my area. These may be the only thing that end up helping my condition in a long-term sense. I take it then that neither of you chose the corrective rx-type lenses? I would definitely need them to be prescription (near-sighted), so I imagine that the cost would go up (but hopefully not significantly).

[L8rgator]

I have purchased spares from him through the mail. They arrive in like 1 or 2 days. Same great fit as the original.

For over the lens I think Dr. Gemoules recommends Blink for contacts because while it has a preservative, the preservate is very mild. I think the other option was Refresh preservative free (don't quote me on that)? I've been using mostly theratears preservative free or preservative free in the eye. And I'll use the Blink sometimes. Later in the day the Refresh drops sometimes caused clouding, so might be an allergy issue for me (I'm allergic to sulfa, latex, adhesives, hair mousse, etc etc so wouldn't be surprising). Or I'll just grab a vial of cheap Addipak sterile saline and use it like drops when I'm at home (since it doesn't reclose, and I have to leave it on a table next to me). Unisol 4 works as drops also.

I just made an impromtu video of my lens routine, and the products I'm currently using:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxs3cu3Ws0Y .

My eye problem is due to an injury, so I know nothing about glands and things like that. But if you are unsure whether a scleral would apply to your situation, you can write to Dr G. He is excellent about answering questions, and will give you a straight and honest answer - and he'll tell you his concerns (he did have some for my situation). I asked a MILLION questions before I went, and he must have been exhausted with me - but never showed it! I'm STILL emailing questions (this time about possibility changing to a corrective lens, which I probably should have chosen in the first place instead of a clear lens) and he is still answering them - usually the same day.

I didn't see where you are from, but if you have a local fitter in your area it might be worth it just to visit them. I went to the U of Illinois and tried out both a test PROSE lens, and a Jupiter lens. The doctor had me walk around with unfitted sample lenses for hours, just to see what they were like. Although I didn't end up going there for my final lens, it was certainly worth the trip. I knew that was the solution I needed. Then it was just a matter of finding the best fitter, and a time to be fitted. I was surprised to find various fitters in different places - but it definitely took some digging to unearth them. Dr. G's process of custom fitting lenses, great communication, and prices aren't duplicated anywhere else though - so for me the choice was easy. Nerve-wracking and exciting, but easy!

[DryInDenver]

I too was pleasantly suprised by the costs. It was less than half of what I figured I'd end up paying all in for lenses. Personally, I think he'll have to raise the price at some point because of the time involved to craft each lens - especially if he is able to grow to more locations than Dallas.

Yes, you can purchase extra lenses via mail order. I will be doing so when I order my back up pair.

I use Unisol 4. It's a preservative free saline. I've seen others on this forum writing about success with similar preservative free saline used in slcerals.

I use the same drops as I used before, Refresh Plus, and plan to experiment with others to see if one is better than the other. (I used to be a systane ultra guy when I first came down with this, but for some reason those started to feel grainy for me - I tried them again with the slerals and they help but make my vision a little blury for a minute or two).

Yes, I use the clear care system for storage overnight.

[MGD666]

Thanks for the price breakdown DInD. Not as bad as I thought. Can you purchase extra lenses through him in the future via mail order? And, forgive me if I did not read back through your posts, but what kind of solution do you use when putting them in (Unisol?) - and which drops were you then advised to use throughout the day to keep the uncovered areas of the eyes lubricated? Finally, do you use the Clear Care™ system for storage overnight?