I'm baaaaack!

[willwork4tears]

Sorry for the lengthy hiatus from participating in the DEZ. I feel bad that I haven't been on in close to a year but I'm going to try to get on here and there.

The good news is that one of the reasons I've been away is that I haven't needed the DEZ as much for advice on my dry eyes because I'm doing much better. I had lower punctal cautery in September 2010 and started using Lacriserts shortly thereafter and this combination along with the 1% cyclosporine I had been using for a while has been a life changer!

Of course, for those of you that know me, you know I have Sjogren's, so I'm still dealing with all those issues as well. Life is not perfect, but at least I don't feel like clawing my dry/gritty/sore eyes out of my eyesockets any longer!

But I still want to be around to be a support to others. So I'll try not to be such a stranger.

[Rebecca Petris]

The good news is that one of the reasons I've been away is that I haven't needed the DEZ as much for advice on my dry eyes because I'm doing much better.

Hoooooray!!! Welcome back, missed you - but I'm so glad you're back in spite of being better, rather than because of being worse!

[willwork4tears]

Thank you Rebecca. Even if I haven't been on in a while I haven't stopped spreading the word about what a wonderful resource the Dry Eye Zone is!

[SunshineinCalgary]

I'm new to this website. But it's exciting to see people feeling better and get their life back !! It's even better that you decided to stick around to be a support to others. We all need it, at some point of our lives. Could you tell me:

1. Is Lacrisert easy and safe to use? I've heard a lot about lacrisert.
2. How did you get the 1% cyclosporine? I assume it's not Restasis.

Thank you.

[farmgirl]

Hi Willwork4tears: I too am a Sjogrens sufferer and have never heard of Lacrisert. Obviously it has worked wonders for you. I am curious and will await your response to the above questions. Also Sunshine Calgary I too am from Calgary, what is the nature of your dry eye problems. It seems that a good majority of dry eye sufferers are failed Lasik victums. Thank God it won't work for me or I probably would have done it by now...yikes!

[robster]

Sunshineincalgary Restasis is a common brand name under which cyclosporine is sold. It can be bought online from various sites, I know it's not approved in Europe and is in the US. I honestly have no idea whether it's approved in Canada.

[katiedid]

I have been using lacriserts for over a year with remarkable results. Prior to that I was wearing swimming goggles in my home and at work to keep air off my eyes and using 5-6 single-use drops every day. Now I put the lacricerts in and can walk outside on a windy day. I've had no complications from their use. They do get bigger as the day progresses and by late evening i will remove them and put a drop in each eye. BTW, I don't use the insertion tool they provide - too bulky and awkward. I put it in on my very clean finger and drop it right into the pouch at the bottom of my eye and don't think about them again (unless I laugh really hard - squinting tends to move them up to the lid and that can be uncomfortable! Just put a drop of eye drops in and they settle back down.)

[SunshineinCalgary]

Thanks for the reply Robster. Restasis is available in Canada, but they only come in .05% concentration.

[willwork4tears]

Ack! My apologies to SunshineinCalgary and farmgirl for only now seeing your replies. I have been on DEZ very intermittently so if you ever have a question for me, feel free to PM...the messages get sent to my regular email and I'm more likely to reply that way.

SunshineinCalgary: Lacrisert is completely safe to use. It's like have a steady supply of lubricant constantly rewetting your eyes without having to constantly put in drops. Easy? Well that's completely subjective. My eye Dr. says a lot of his patients don't like to use them because they have trouble putting them in (i.e. people with arthritis, elderly who don't see well, etc). I, personally, don't have a problem inserting them. I agree with katiedid that they are much easier to insert without the insertion tool (just pinch between your fingers and drop them under the lid). There is a long adjustment period in learning how to deal with them (how to fetch them if they slip under the upper eyelid, how to avoid popping them out, getting used to the foreign body sensation). But I think they're marvelous!

The 1% cyclosporin is custom compounded. There is currently only 1 dose of cyclosporin commercially available (0.05% Restasis), but I think 0.1% has been in clinical trials for a while and should be available soon. Do an advanced search for my old threads by my screenname and look for the cyclosporin thread started on 1.6.10. I think I provide a link to U.S. pharmacies that do custom compounding. I have no idea how compounding works or the availability of compounded products outside the U.S.