Poll:What are you doing/not doing for your eyes now?

[alisonW]

Me:

Not doing anymore - Restasis, nighttime ointment, warm compresses, fish oil or other supplements, night goggles/masks.

Doing - Doxycline 100 mg. 1x a day. Lacriserts, Tears Naturale Free if needed during the day, Celluvisc if needed at night.

I have to say this is the best my eyes have felt in 5 years. Still not great, but better. The only nusance is that with my plugs & the lacriserts, my eyes can be runny a bit too.

[msienkiewicz]

Alison,

Do you have any ill effects from the doxy?
I haven't tried it yet, and I don't have plugs yet either.

Melissa

[alisonW]

Hi Melissa...

No, no ill effects from the doxy at all thankfully. Not sure if it actually helps a significant amount though or not. Hth!

[msienkiewicz]

Doing:
Warm compress in morning and night in shower
Restasis morning and night
Lacriserts
Frozen sleep mask to bed at night
Fish oil
GOGGLES

Not doing:
Scrubs and plugs

Melissa

[Aaron77]

Taking time off work
Plugs
Getting plenty of sleep
Trying to drink lots of water
Flax seed oil 2000-4000mg per day
Artificial tears
Visiting a doc every week trying to get help, hopefully one can give me doxy

Steroids and allergy drops seem to make my eyes worse
Computer use makes the eyes extra sore

[Aaron77]

Warm compresses seem to aggitate my eyes

[msienkiewicz]

Aaron,

A warm compress doesn't bother me too badly in the morning, and I simply run the hot water over my eyes in my evening shower. I know what you mean about the heat aggravating the eyes. I definitely prefer the nice frozen eye mask that I use at bedtime. Cold is much nicer to my eyes.

Melissa

[Aaron77]

My eyes feel great when I'm in the shower!

When I'm in the steam room they feel pretty good too, only problem is I can't stay in the steam room forever and when I get out I think they end up drier then before.

[kitty]

Lotemax, looks like it will be for the foreseeable future
TheraTears during the day, Genteal gel at night.

[calli66]

Morning: warm rice baggy, ocu-foam plus lid scrubs/massage, FreshKote drops.
During the day: Dwelle or FreshKote once if needed. Also, I wipe lids with cool tap water on a tissue when lids and lashes get temporarily crusty or agitated.
Evening: FreshKote Drops
Bedtime and night: eye wash with Burt's Bees Baby Shampoo, Genteal Gel+ Tranquileyes for sleeping, Tears Naturale Free or more GGel during the night.
I take 3000 mg Omega-3 fish oil per day.

Occasional (maybe 3 times a year): Thin layer of Blephamide ointment on lower lids for inflammation control---usually only one night of this relieves the symptoms.

Not doing: plugs, Restasis, steroid drops, humidifiers, eye makeup.

[rubyslippers]

Continuing with Flaxseed Oil (fish oil made acid reflux unbearable).

Use Refresh Plus drops as needed--sometimes none for days and other days 4-5 times particularly if using the computer.

My 3 duct plugs are still helping too.

Synergeyes contacts. Without them I cannot stand bare eyes very long. With them my symptoms are 95% gone, 95% of the time. Even an hour or two with glasses and the dry eye returns with a vengance. Within 10 minutes of putting the contacts in all symptoms go away. They are a gas permeable with a soft skirt and constructed to hold moisture on the eye. Worth every dime I paid. I would pay 10 times for them if I had to.

No longer doing:

Hot compresses, lid scrubs, or bedtime Genteal gel in eyes. No longer running a humidifier at home, but I do need one at work.

[bvendig]

doing & not doing for eyes

doing:
plugs in upper & lower
fish oil, flax oil, primrose oil, biotears
lots and lots and lots of water
restasis
bion tears
warm compress on eyes twice a day

not doing:
used to drink a ton of diet 7up...don't do that anymore

[SallyP]

Doing:

Warm compress and express eyelids every morning.
systane eye drops 3 x daily
flaxseed oil
evening primrose oil
resveratrol
sillica (just trying that one)
trying to maintain a healthier diet.

Not doing:

Taking so many pain killers - they definitely aggrevate things.

[LasikRelatedDES]

DOING:
1.) Hot shower followed by Sterilid cleaning with lid massage and cold preservative-free eye drops
2.) Restasis
3.) Alrex
4.) Celluvisc at night
5.) TranquilEyes without water
6.) Prednisone (for both inflammation and eustachian tube dysfunction. Man, my eyes felt great after a day on this... but it did not last.. and it's not helping my ear problem.)
7.) Flax Oil 2tbsp/day
8.) Resveratrol supplements
9.) Acupuncture once a week (Starting a blue poppy herb treatment next week. My acupuncturist works in conjunction with my primary care doc.)
10.) Had an IPL treatment today

Wow, I'm really doing a lot when I list it out like that. Must be where all my money has gone the last 6 months since this got really bad.

NOT DOING:
1.) Not using drops throughout day unless urgently needed
2.) Doxycycline (my gut needed a break)
3.) Soothe XP, Optive, NutraTear, Genteal, and so on and so on...
4.) Placing my future in the hands of physicians that don't really care (sorry, little bit bitter right now...)

[VirginiaDryEye]

Doing:

lacriserts
1 drop lotemax per day
restasis
tranquil eyes
night time gel
systane as needed
lower plugs

I'm a post lasik, post accutane patient. The above recipe makes the DES very tolerable. (knock on wood)