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I had RCEs for almost a yr straight, then had a hiatus of about 6-8 months with none. They started up again 8 weeks ago. I was in denial for 3 weeks, though I had significant pain and greatly decreased acuity. Finally, I went to a new doc, an OD, and she suggested bandage contact lenses BCL. I have worn them now for about 5 weeks, 24/7. The erosions healed after about 2 weeks, the cornea looked much better after 3 wks. She said the cornea was still to fragile yet, so she said to wear them another 4 weeks to give the cornea a long time to heal well. She replaces the BCL every wk to 7 d.
Yesterday, I fell asleep on the sofa unexpectedly, and when I awoke, the eye was bone dry, and the scraping of the eyelid helped the BCL to pop out. It looked like a wrinkled, many folded piece of cellophane. I kept using alot of lubrication, even waking up in middle of nite to apply ointment for a 2nd time. Well, of course, when I woke up, I had another erosion, and abrasions. I was also in alot of pain.
I called Wilmer, because I knew the situation would only get worse. Got the corneal specialist on call, and he was almost distressed to hear that I'd been wearing the BCL at all, much less 5 wks straight, and to continue another 2 wks. He said ulcers can form under them, and it makes cornea prone to infections. He was also surpised that I was not on topical antibiotics with RCEs (when acute). He suggested that since the RCEs were so longstanding, (the 1 1/2 yr total), that he thought PTK was indicated. I said I wasn't too hot on the idea.
He also said I had numerous microcysts across cornea. He didn't tell me that was from BCL worn 24/7. I did some research on the web, and found some studies which stated that when worn for such long time pds, that microcysts form because of hypoxia from 24/7 wear. I will have to ask my doc whether I had the microcysts before I started wearing BCL.
Anybody gotten microcysts from 24/7 BCL wear? Could anyone who's had PTK please post? Many thanks.
Yesterday, I fell asleep on the sofa unexpectedly, and when I awoke, the eye was bone dry, and the scraping of the eyelid helped the BCL to pop out. It looked like a wrinkled, many folded piece of cellophane. I kept using alot of lubrication, even waking up in middle of nite to apply ointment for a 2nd time. Well, of course, when I woke up, I had another erosion, and abrasions. I was also in alot of pain.
I called Wilmer, because I knew the situation would only get worse. Got the corneal specialist on call, and he was almost distressed to hear that I'd been wearing the BCL at all, much less 5 wks straight, and to continue another 2 wks. He said ulcers can form under them, and it makes cornea prone to infections. He was also surpised that I was not on topical antibiotics with RCEs (when acute). He suggested that since the RCEs were so longstanding, (the 1 1/2 yr total), that he thought PTK was indicated. I said I wasn't too hot on the idea.
He also said I had numerous microcysts across cornea. He didn't tell me that was from BCL worn 24/7. I did some research on the web, and found some studies which stated that when worn for such long time pds, that microcysts form because of hypoxia from 24/7 wear. I will have to ask my doc whether I had the microcysts before I started wearing BCL.
Anybody gotten microcysts from 24/7 BCL wear? Could anyone who's had PTK please post? Many thanks.
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