Tweet
Greetings!
This is a re-edited (and shortened) version of a vastly edited and expanded article that I posted on healthboards.com forums.
While the new version of the text is made up of approximetly 28 pages, I will be cutting-out most of it here, leaving the forum members of DryEyeZone (fellow patients and PRO's alike are very welcome to reply) only 6-7 pages to read, which I think will suffice.
While this post is mostly LASIK-FOCUSED, both I and all the doctors that I have visited (so-far) agree that I have very dry eyes as well, ESPECIALLY my right eye is suffering from that problem (More will be explained below).
**If requested, I can post/email/PM you the entire article, as well.**
PS!
Oh, and the reason I'm looking for help ’’in London’’ is because (as the text below suggests), I - for the past 7+ months - have not been able to get an efficient form of treatment where I live. Even after all these months, I am still suffering from the same amout of eye pain and dicomfort, more or less. But England is pretty close-by to where I live, and I have several relatives living in London, hence the title and the question
Maybe you – yourself used to suffer from post-lasik complications and have found help in London?
Maybe a loved-one of yours (a family member or a friend etc) have been suffering from a similar issue and found their salvation in the captial of United Kingdom eh?
In any case, don't be afraid. You DON’T have to give me any guarantees, lol.
ALL I AM ASKING FOR IS SUGGESTIONS ABOUT WHICH DOCTOR(S)/CLINIC(S) AND/OR HOSPITAL(S) THAT I SHOULD VISIT IN LONDON WHILE I AM THERE.
Heck, you might even be saving my life in the process! Seriously!
Thank you kindly in advance for any and all possible suggestions.
So, I will be pasting in the text below, now.
Please be aware;
…. That basically, this article is an extensively edited version of a rather haphazardly written thread of mine posted on Healthboards.com that can be found here; http://www.healthboards.com/boards/l...ease-help.html
Foreword:
This article is meant to be an informative text written to familiarize prospective doctors (such as lasik/cornea experts etcatera) about the post-lasik complaints, complications and the symptoms therein that I have been experiencing ever since the surgery.
I am writing this long article becuase so far -with the exception of Ulf Stenevi ( & Tommy Andersson) - the vast majority of the doctors that I have visited often dissmissed my explanations and after only listening to me for a mere 30-45 seconds or so, they proceed to the slit-lamp examination and -practically - notice nothing more than the ''good old dry eyes'' as the culprit behind all my woes, which in-turn encourages them to give me regular (mostly over-the-counter) lubricating eye drops. I have been using such eye drops (Systane Balance, Optive, etcatera) for the past 7+ months, and so far - I haven't been feeling any particularly better because of it. And my problems/symptoms (in form of pain, foreign body sensation and dry eyes) haven not been dissipated or cured in accordance to such periscriptions. Sure, the situation would be much worse (without a doubt) IF I wasn’t using the eye drops that have been recommended by my doctors, but this alone (using such eyedrops etc) hasnt been able to rid me of my pain or other symptoms. They only make my maladies more tolerable - at most - but provide me with no final solution in sight.
With that being said; this is going to be a very long post, (perhaps the longest in the history of mankind lol) so im going to divide it up into smaller chapters.
IF you don't wanna read everything (which would be understandable, but than again you risk missing the bigger-picture), than you should at-least read the; (1)INTRODUCTION and (2)THE SHORT STORY chapters, along with the two chapters following those, entitled: (3)MY SYMPTOMS AND CONCERNS, and (4)THE CORE OF THE PROBLEM.. in order to get a somewhat clear idea of my predicament. Finally, I would also recommend that you read one of the last chapters in this long saga, entitled; (28) MY UNPROFESSIONAL SELF DIAGNOSIS. These chapters - 5 in total, should constitute no more than 5-6 pages to read and ought to give you a rather lucid and definitive idea about my ailment, symptoms, and how (and if) you can help me with my problems. Whenever you feel like you require further information, you can simply delve deeper into the ”book” to get it. And if you need to have a clear overview of all the medication that I’ve been using throughout the past 7+ months, than you should probably also take a look at the very last chapter of this article called; (30)A LIST OF MEDICATION THAT I’VE BEEN USING SINCE THE SURGERY.
Thank you for your time and patience.
PS!
Due to the nature of this article (which is very long) there may (ehem,, definetly) have been some spelling errors etc, and I shall strive to edit/correct such mistakes in due course.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- INTRODUCTION
Greetings!
My name is Jan and I am a lasik patient who is suffering from ’’post-lasik complications’’…. even though I had the surgery more than 7 months ago.
Immediately after the surgery, I was told by the doctor who operated on my eyes that I had some very ’’loose epithelium”, but back than I was informed that it was nothing to worry about.
But so far, MY PRIMARY CONCERN HAS BEEN the ”PAIN” associated with my right eye, and I have been told by other doctors who examined my eyes (about 1.5-2 months) after the surgery that it is also precisely my right eye which have been OPERATED ON INCORRECTLY during the lasik-surgery (a.k.a faulty surgery or a surgical error).
But how come the surgery ’’went wrong’’, so to say? I have been told that nowadays the flaps are made ”thinner”, which allows for faster nerve regeneration and thus recovery times after the surgery. BUT WHEN THE FLAP IS MADE TOO THIN, it can cause problems.
And unfortunately – for me – in my case; the first eye that the lasik surgeon had operated on, a.k.a my right eye, had been done so with a slightly faulty flap (that ended up being too thin); which initially caused a corneal erosion on my right eye about 3 days after the surgery, which in turn ALMOST RESULTED IN ME LOOSING ALL OF MY EYE-SIGHT/VISION WITH MY RIGHT EYE (TEMPORARILY) UNTIL ACUTE TREATMENT AT MÖLNDAL HOSPITAL when I was back in Sweden (Gothenburg).
…and I (and some of my doctors) believe that I have been suffering from a very mild form of recurrent epithelial erosion ever since. Mind you, besides the pain, I have also been having quite a prominet (and disturbing) feeling of having an ”eyelash” / foreign object in my right eye, which forms the basis of this post.
PS! But whereas the eye pain tends to occur more often and is more constant, the ’’eyelash/foreign body feeling’’ has been happening more rarely over the course of these past 7(ish) months. Unfortunately, it has only gotten more obtrusively noticable (as in; I began feeling it/suffering from it more often) over the course of these last month.
But, im getting ahead of myself. So first of all, for those of you who are uninterested in reading my entire lasik story; here is the SHORT version:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2- THE SHORT STORY
As I stated above, it has been somewhat more than 7 months since I had the surgery.
After all these months, my vision is now (mostly) stable and I don’t have any such problems (thank god) regarding visual acuity and/or haze, etc. I STILL DO experience some halos, starbursting (and so on) with my right eye (and sometimes -albeit not too often - slight blurriness with both my eyes), but at least they are not very noticable.
NEVERTHELESS, after all this time, I am *STILL* suffering from **EYE PAIN** (and even a foreign body sensation in my eye). More SPECIFICALLY, it is my RIGHT eye that I am having these problems with.
The pain isn't devastating, but its there (most of the time), is very noticable, distroughting and psychologically disturbing... and worrying.
I am also somewhat suffering from eye fatigue and slightly fluctuating vision in addition to the pain. By ”fatigue” I mean that my eyes can feel tired, and by ’’fluctuating vision’’ I mean that some days (or even hours) I feel like my eyes are seeing slightly better, and yet other days I feel like they are seeing slightly worse..
But nevertheless, the pain remains as my primary concern. (And unfortunately, even my left eye has started to hurt just a little, lately).
And as I beriefly mentioned above, this pain (in my right eye) is usually (but not always) either preceeded, accompanied and/or followed by the rather discomfortable feeling of having an eye-lash in my right eye.
So far, more than anything, the key to solving the problem has simply been to CLOSE MY EYE.
’’Closing my eye’’? What ever could I mean by that?
I don’t know the medical term for it.. (occulation… something?). But basically; (and in accordance with the advice of some of my doctors) when the pain gets too noticable/intense, I close my (right) eye (by that, I mean I keep it CONSTANTLY closed for a period of time – WITH THE EXCEPTION OF WHEN I APPLY MY DAILY SALVES) for 3 to 4 days, and it usually (ALBEIT TEMPORARILY) alleviates the pain (also gets rids of the ’’foreign body sensation’’ if there was any to begin with) and solves the problem.
Sometimes it relieves the pain for only 2-3 days, yet most other times it gets rid of the pain (or at least reduces it to more bearable/less disturbing levels) for about one to three weeks (at most),
BUT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, closing my (right) eye ALWAYS seems to allievate the pain to some degree and helps it heal, as well......
BUT eventually, I open my eye again (naturally) and than gradually it gets worse.... yet again... until the pain starts and becomes more noticable/severe….. than rinse & repeat. (And lately, even this solution has been rendered somewhat ”ineffective” because of my ’’left eye pain’’ while trying to hold my right eye closed).
** The doctor's dont know what to do. So far, they have prescribed various sorts of eye drops and a myriad of eye-gels BUT no-dice! The problem persists. **
So.. what do I need help with? Why am I posting here?
Well, clearly (as you would'a guessed by now), I need help with ending the pain and the discomfort associated with the symptoms mentioned above - preferably WITHOUT having to close my eye for 2-4 days every other week for the rest of my life or by pulling my eye out of its socket to make it stop hurting
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3- MY SYMPTOMS AND CONCERNS
a) REDNESS = My right eye is usually more ”reddish” than my left eye, and it usually gets worse/more noticable as the day comes close to an end. But just because it sometimes has a red hue doesn’t mean that the pain always intensifies in association with that.
b) PAIN = This is the most common symptom that I am experiencing, as well as the most disturbing one. Its also very erratic. Sometimes the pain can be worse when I wake up, YET othertimes it gets worse in the evening, or before I hit the sack late at night. The pain also varies drastically in its ”level”; meaning that – depending on several factors and conditions such as; how much sleep I have gotten and how recently I ’’kept my right eye closed’’ (as mentioned above) to how long it has been since I woke up and how diligent I have been in using my eyedrops throughout the day etcatera, the pain can be barely noticable (or non-existen) OR it can be rather powerful and disturbing.
These last few days, I think that I have even been experiencing a little pain (feels like dryness) in my supposedly healthy left-eye, as well. But the pain/discomfort has been so vague that so far it’s been difficult to tell if I have really been experiencing any actual pain or if I was simply imagining it. Why would I suddenly start feeling a little discomfort/pain with that particular eye more than half-a-year after the surgery, anyways? Nevertheless, the feeling still persists as of today, and it also happens to be a tad bit worrisome, as well. Since having actual ”damage” in both my eyes would be devastating to my already crippled morale.
I have never tried painkiller to reduce my eye-ache, primarily because; 1- I have read on the internet that painkillers and such drugs wouldnt help with alleviating aches associated with the cornea in any case, and 2- I have indeed been feeling eye pain (which can be very noticable and disturbing), but it has never been agonizing enough to prompt the use of a painkiller.
c) FOREIGN BODY SENSATION = Apart from the obvious pain, I sometimes (but not always) also get a foreign body sensation in my right eye, as if I had an eyelash stuck under my eyelid on top/outermost layer of my eyeball. This unpleasent sensation is most usually located & focused under the upper lid of my right eye. This feeling – which is disturbing – usually doesnt result in pain in and out of itself, BUT if it continues for longer periods of time (like for more than 30-60 minutes or so), it can either increase my already existent eye pain/discomfort, OR it can trigger pain in my eye by itself, even if I wasn’t feeling any pain in my eye prior to that. I AM NOT SURE, but I believe that if I keep on feeling the ”painful” version of ’’eyelash feeling’’ in my eye for longer periods of time, WHEN I LOOK AT THE MIRROR CLOSELY, I can see a very, VERY TINY abnormality in the ’’light reflection’’ of my cornea, as if there was an extremly tiny ”dot/point” of irregularity on the surface of the eye. Than again, im not entirely sure of it myself. And it could just be that my mind (and paranoia) playing tricks on me.
UPDATE: After my recent observations, I am now fairly certain that the ’’foreign body/eyelash’’ feeling in my right eye is usually followed by an irregularity on the ocular surface such as a tiny dot as I already alleged above. Nevertheless, I am also aware of the fact that logical or analytical conclusions made by an individual in the absence of truly-scientific evidence as it can be repeatedly observed by other human beings, should be taken with a grain of salt, at best. Yet, I did feel like I had to voice my thoughts about the subject, as I am getting more certain of the validity of my observations over time, and the ’’foreign body sensetion’’ problem is becoming a more serious problem as it begins to occor more and more often.
d) DRY EYE = All of my doctors agree that I have dry eyes (been told that ESPECIALLY my right-eye has this problem), and personally I tend to agree with them. They all seem to think that getting rid of my dry eye problem would also help me get better and reduce my eye-pain, and far be it for me to disagree with them,, YET I wonder, would solely curing my ’’dry eye’’ really solve all my other problems, as well?
e) RECURRENT CORNEAL/EPITHELIAL EROSION = This has been hesistantly-mentioned by a few of my doctors a few times. I have been told that I might indeed have a ’’very mild form’’ of recurrent corneal erosion. Perhaps this is why the accosional ’’eye patcing/closing’’ helps me so much? YET, the pain always seems to return after this ”treatment” (patching my eye)… eventually.
f) FLUCTUATING VISUAL QUALITY = My left eye tends to see slightly better than my right eye.. NOT all the time, BUT at least some of the time…. And yet – sometimes (albeit more rarely) it can ALSO be my left eye that sees even better than the right one IF its having one of it’s ’’good eye days’’. But as I said; IT’S NOT COMMON.
g) USUALLY, INCREASED PAIN IS ACCOMPANIED BY SLIGHTLY REDUCED VISUAL QUALITY = Most of the time (but not always) the increased pain that I feel in my right eye is accompanied by reduced visual quality with the very same eye as well (which as usual – happens to be my right eye), in the form off; ’’SLIGHTLY lesser overall-resolution’’, increased amount of starbursts and halos and such. PATCHING/CLOSING MY (right) eye gets rid of such ’’visual problems (IF there have been any at all) UNTIL such a time that the pain (and the visual problems) rear their heads again in about 3-4 days (at least) to 2-3 weeks (at most).
So, when I have increased pain + foreign body sensation + lesser visual quality (in a few days in a row) = it is when I know that the time has come to ’’close my eye and let it rest’’.
h) LACK OF SLEEP= Any lack of sleep also seems to be a powerful agent in very adversly effecting my condition, as sleep deprivation is usually (and almost certainly) followed by more noticable eye pain and discomfort.
i) TOUCH-SENSITIVITY= No, I am not talking about the properties of my Ipad. As you could have probably guessed by know, my eye (more it’s cornea) is very sensitive to touch, meaning that even touching it with the tip of one of my fingers can not only cause my eye to get red, but it can also (later on) lead to the ’’foreign body sensation’’ in my eye (with very, very tiny visible traces of it which can be seen on the mirror). Thus, accidently touching my eye with the tip of an eye-dropper can effect the ocular surface very adversely, indeed.
4- THE CORE OF THE PROBLEM
Now that you have a general idea about my symptoms and worries, I can tell you the hearth of the problem.
For the last 7+ months, I have been having these issues (as mentioned above), and almost all the doctors I have visited (throughout the entirety of those 7+ months) have usually CUT MY DESCRIPTIONS SHORT (a.k.a they dont have time to/and thus dont want to LISTEN TO ME), than they proceed to use a slit lamp examination in cohesion with the use of some color-drops to examine my eye, than they notice a ’’MINOR DAMAGE IN THE FLAP’’. Afterwards they all tell me that its NOT CENTRAL, and that I can see fine (according to their tests), AND than they proceed to tell me THAT I HAVE DRY-EYE (especially in the right eye) and that is the real culprit of all my problems.
So, they all come to the conclusion that what I should do is to have patience and to use (basically) over-the-counter eye-drops to resolve the issue (a.k.a to get rid of the pain) such as Systane Balance, etcatera. A list of all the drops and medications have been posted in chapter 30, as I previously indicated.
YET, IN ALL THOSE 7+ MONTHS, **NONE** of those (mostly-if not all) over-the-counter eyedrops that I have been prescribed (such as Oculentum Simplex, Optive Fusion and Xanternet etc) HAVE TRULY AND HONESTLY BEEN **EFFECTIVE** in alleviating my eye pain (and the other symptoms & problems that I have mentioned) in the long run. They all still persist.
SO, WHAT I AM SAYING IS =
PAST 7 MONTHS MARK – THERE IS NO NOTICABLE EMBTTERMENT OF MY EYE (despite the fact tha I have been trying to follow my doctors instructions rigorously), AND I AM *STILL* FORCED TO ’’CLOSE/PATCH’’ MY RIGHT EYE OCCOSIONALLY (every once in a while for 3-4 days) IN ORDER TO LIVE A ”NORMAL” LIFE, *IF* YOU CAN CALL IT NORMAL… AND THE PAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ISSUE IS NOWHERE NEAR GONE.
A short list of things I have done so far that didn't help:
*Using protective computer glassess when watching tv or using a computer
*Patching my eye continuously for 2 weeks
*Patching my eye for 3-4 days every clouple of weeks
*Sleeping at least 6-8 hours a day and than still lying on the bed (with my eyes closed) up to 14 hours
*Regularly closing and resting both my eyes for up to 10 seconds
*Using my daily eye gels/drops 4-8 times a day (tried dozens of eye-drops – a complete list is available in Chapter 30)
*Using an eye salve before i hit the sack
*Avoiding smoke
*Avoiding dust
*Avoiding sultry air/closed spaces
*Using an air humidifier
*Regular doctor visits
*Acupuncture (Naturally; NO NEEDLES IN/NEAR THE EYE)
*Omega 7 pills
*Flax Seed Oil pills
*Membrasin (berry?) pills
*Daily doze of ”Gojibär”
*Vitamin B pills
*How wet flannel x2 times a day for 10 mins.
While all of the things mentioned above have been more or less helpful in reducing my pain and discomfort, NONE of them have been effective in permanently getting rid of my woes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28- MY UNPROFESSIONAL SELF-DIAGNOSIS
I have degrees in theology and international relations, but I am no ophthalmologist. I can’t really diagnose myself, and frantically reading texts on the internet about my lasik complications can only lead to cyberchondria, if nothing else.
Nevertheless, I would like to humbly present my own self-diagnosis here (with what little knowledge I have about the issue).
Personally, I do believe that - besides the peripherial corneal chafe/abrasion that the doctors have been noticing on my eye in their slit-lamp examinations - I am NOT ONLY suffering from a milder form of recurrent epithelial erosion(s) (on top of that particular abrasion or elsewhere on my eye, im not sure), BUT I am ALSO (possibly) suffering from a weak/mild version of corneal neupathy (in unision with my RCE’s), and thats why regular night salves and eye drops (on their own) haven’t been able to cure me of my ailments yet. Since *IF* (that’s a rather big if) I’m already suffering from corneal neupathy, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine how a recurrent epithelial erosion could exacerbate the problem.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30- A LIST OF MEDICATION THAT I HAVE BEEN USING SINCE THE SURGERY
So far, I have tried using the following eye gels, drops and salves:
Optive (without preservatives)
Vigamox
Maxidex
Optive (regular with preservatives)
Optive Plus
Optive Fusion
Oculentum Simplex
Chloromecytin
Systane Balance (without preservatives)
Zylet
Vita Pos
Visco Tears
Visudrop
Xanternet
+ One more eyedrop whose name I cant remember
Along with (oral) pills such as:
Omega 7
Flax Seed Oil
Membrasin
If there are any doctors who think that they might be able to help me with my post-lasik problems,
or any patients who had good experiences and/or results with such, please contact me!
I will most definetly be replying to posts here.
Let me know if you want to PM me (im new here, don't know if that is possible) or if you want; I can provide you with an email adress.
It is very difficult to live like this.
I haven't been able to work, OR even workout these last 8 months. My whole life is on haitus,
and it feels like im stuck in limbo.
Any help or assistance would be much appriciated!
This is a re-edited (and shortened) version of a vastly edited and expanded article that I posted on healthboards.com forums.
While the new version of the text is made up of approximetly 28 pages, I will be cutting-out most of it here, leaving the forum members of DryEyeZone (fellow patients and PRO's alike are very welcome to reply) only 6-7 pages to read, which I think will suffice.
While this post is mostly LASIK-FOCUSED, both I and all the doctors that I have visited (so-far) agree that I have very dry eyes as well, ESPECIALLY my right eye is suffering from that problem (More will be explained below).
**If requested, I can post/email/PM you the entire article, as well.**
PS!
Oh, and the reason I'm looking for help ’’in London’’ is because (as the text below suggests), I - for the past 7+ months - have not been able to get an efficient form of treatment where I live. Even after all these months, I am still suffering from the same amout of eye pain and dicomfort, more or less. But England is pretty close-by to where I live, and I have several relatives living in London, hence the title and the question
Maybe you – yourself used to suffer from post-lasik complications and have found help in London?
Maybe a loved-one of yours (a family member or a friend etc) have been suffering from a similar issue and found their salvation in the captial of United Kingdom eh?
In any case, don't be afraid. You DON’T have to give me any guarantees, lol.
ALL I AM ASKING FOR IS SUGGESTIONS ABOUT WHICH DOCTOR(S)/CLINIC(S) AND/OR HOSPITAL(S) THAT I SHOULD VISIT IN LONDON WHILE I AM THERE.
Heck, you might even be saving my life in the process! Seriously!
Thank you kindly in advance for any and all possible suggestions.
So, I will be pasting in the text below, now.
Please be aware;
…. That basically, this article is an extensively edited version of a rather haphazardly written thread of mine posted on Healthboards.com that can be found here; http://www.healthboards.com/boards/l...ease-help.html
Foreword:
This article is meant to be an informative text written to familiarize prospective doctors (such as lasik/cornea experts etcatera) about the post-lasik complaints, complications and the symptoms therein that I have been experiencing ever since the surgery.
I am writing this long article becuase so far -with the exception of Ulf Stenevi ( & Tommy Andersson) - the vast majority of the doctors that I have visited often dissmissed my explanations and after only listening to me for a mere 30-45 seconds or so, they proceed to the slit-lamp examination and -practically - notice nothing more than the ''good old dry eyes'' as the culprit behind all my woes, which in-turn encourages them to give me regular (mostly over-the-counter) lubricating eye drops. I have been using such eye drops (Systane Balance, Optive, etcatera) for the past 7+ months, and so far - I haven't been feeling any particularly better because of it. And my problems/symptoms (in form of pain, foreign body sensation and dry eyes) haven not been dissipated or cured in accordance to such periscriptions. Sure, the situation would be much worse (without a doubt) IF I wasn’t using the eye drops that have been recommended by my doctors, but this alone (using such eyedrops etc) hasnt been able to rid me of my pain or other symptoms. They only make my maladies more tolerable - at most - but provide me with no final solution in sight.
With that being said; this is going to be a very long post, (perhaps the longest in the history of mankind lol) so im going to divide it up into smaller chapters.
IF you don't wanna read everything (which would be understandable, but than again you risk missing the bigger-picture), than you should at-least read the; (1)INTRODUCTION and (2)THE SHORT STORY chapters, along with the two chapters following those, entitled: (3)MY SYMPTOMS AND CONCERNS, and (4)THE CORE OF THE PROBLEM.. in order to get a somewhat clear idea of my predicament. Finally, I would also recommend that you read one of the last chapters in this long saga, entitled; (28) MY UNPROFESSIONAL SELF DIAGNOSIS. These chapters - 5 in total, should constitute no more than 5-6 pages to read and ought to give you a rather lucid and definitive idea about my ailment, symptoms, and how (and if) you can help me with my problems. Whenever you feel like you require further information, you can simply delve deeper into the ”book” to get it. And if you need to have a clear overview of all the medication that I’ve been using throughout the past 7+ months, than you should probably also take a look at the very last chapter of this article called; (30)A LIST OF MEDICATION THAT I’VE BEEN USING SINCE THE SURGERY.
Thank you for your time and patience.
PS!
Due to the nature of this article (which is very long) there may (ehem,, definetly) have been some spelling errors etc, and I shall strive to edit/correct such mistakes in due course.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- INTRODUCTION
Greetings!
My name is Jan and I am a lasik patient who is suffering from ’’post-lasik complications’’…. even though I had the surgery more than 7 months ago.
Immediately after the surgery, I was told by the doctor who operated on my eyes that I had some very ’’loose epithelium”, but back than I was informed that it was nothing to worry about.
But so far, MY PRIMARY CONCERN HAS BEEN the ”PAIN” associated with my right eye, and I have been told by other doctors who examined my eyes (about 1.5-2 months) after the surgery that it is also precisely my right eye which have been OPERATED ON INCORRECTLY during the lasik-surgery (a.k.a faulty surgery or a surgical error).
But how come the surgery ’’went wrong’’, so to say? I have been told that nowadays the flaps are made ”thinner”, which allows for faster nerve regeneration and thus recovery times after the surgery. BUT WHEN THE FLAP IS MADE TOO THIN, it can cause problems.
And unfortunately – for me – in my case; the first eye that the lasik surgeon had operated on, a.k.a my right eye, had been done so with a slightly faulty flap (that ended up being too thin); which initially caused a corneal erosion on my right eye about 3 days after the surgery, which in turn ALMOST RESULTED IN ME LOOSING ALL OF MY EYE-SIGHT/VISION WITH MY RIGHT EYE (TEMPORARILY) UNTIL ACUTE TREATMENT AT MÖLNDAL HOSPITAL when I was back in Sweden (Gothenburg).
…and I (and some of my doctors) believe that I have been suffering from a very mild form of recurrent epithelial erosion ever since. Mind you, besides the pain, I have also been having quite a prominet (and disturbing) feeling of having an ”eyelash” / foreign object in my right eye, which forms the basis of this post.
PS! But whereas the eye pain tends to occur more often and is more constant, the ’’eyelash/foreign body feeling’’ has been happening more rarely over the course of these past 7(ish) months. Unfortunately, it has only gotten more obtrusively noticable (as in; I began feeling it/suffering from it more often) over the course of these last month.
But, im getting ahead of myself. So first of all, for those of you who are uninterested in reading my entire lasik story; here is the SHORT version:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2- THE SHORT STORY
As I stated above, it has been somewhat more than 7 months since I had the surgery.
After all these months, my vision is now (mostly) stable and I don’t have any such problems (thank god) regarding visual acuity and/or haze, etc. I STILL DO experience some halos, starbursting (and so on) with my right eye (and sometimes -albeit not too often - slight blurriness with both my eyes), but at least they are not very noticable.
NEVERTHELESS, after all this time, I am *STILL* suffering from **EYE PAIN** (and even a foreign body sensation in my eye). More SPECIFICALLY, it is my RIGHT eye that I am having these problems with.
The pain isn't devastating, but its there (most of the time), is very noticable, distroughting and psychologically disturbing... and worrying.
I am also somewhat suffering from eye fatigue and slightly fluctuating vision in addition to the pain. By ”fatigue” I mean that my eyes can feel tired, and by ’’fluctuating vision’’ I mean that some days (or even hours) I feel like my eyes are seeing slightly better, and yet other days I feel like they are seeing slightly worse..
But nevertheless, the pain remains as my primary concern. (And unfortunately, even my left eye has started to hurt just a little, lately).
And as I beriefly mentioned above, this pain (in my right eye) is usually (but not always) either preceeded, accompanied and/or followed by the rather discomfortable feeling of having an eye-lash in my right eye.
So far, more than anything, the key to solving the problem has simply been to CLOSE MY EYE.
’’Closing my eye’’? What ever could I mean by that?
I don’t know the medical term for it.. (occulation… something?). But basically; (and in accordance with the advice of some of my doctors) when the pain gets too noticable/intense, I close my (right) eye (by that, I mean I keep it CONSTANTLY closed for a period of time – WITH THE EXCEPTION OF WHEN I APPLY MY DAILY SALVES) for 3 to 4 days, and it usually (ALBEIT TEMPORARILY) alleviates the pain (also gets rids of the ’’foreign body sensation’’ if there was any to begin with) and solves the problem.
Sometimes it relieves the pain for only 2-3 days, yet most other times it gets rid of the pain (or at least reduces it to more bearable/less disturbing levels) for about one to three weeks (at most),
BUT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, closing my (right) eye ALWAYS seems to allievate the pain to some degree and helps it heal, as well......
BUT eventually, I open my eye again (naturally) and than gradually it gets worse.... yet again... until the pain starts and becomes more noticable/severe….. than rinse & repeat. (And lately, even this solution has been rendered somewhat ”ineffective” because of my ’’left eye pain’’ while trying to hold my right eye closed).
** The doctor's dont know what to do. So far, they have prescribed various sorts of eye drops and a myriad of eye-gels BUT no-dice! The problem persists. **
So.. what do I need help with? Why am I posting here?
Well, clearly (as you would'a guessed by now), I need help with ending the pain and the discomfort associated with the symptoms mentioned above - preferably WITHOUT having to close my eye for 2-4 days every other week for the rest of my life or by pulling my eye out of its socket to make it stop hurting
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3- MY SYMPTOMS AND CONCERNS
a) REDNESS = My right eye is usually more ”reddish” than my left eye, and it usually gets worse/more noticable as the day comes close to an end. But just because it sometimes has a red hue doesn’t mean that the pain always intensifies in association with that.
b) PAIN = This is the most common symptom that I am experiencing, as well as the most disturbing one. Its also very erratic. Sometimes the pain can be worse when I wake up, YET othertimes it gets worse in the evening, or before I hit the sack late at night. The pain also varies drastically in its ”level”; meaning that – depending on several factors and conditions such as; how much sleep I have gotten and how recently I ’’kept my right eye closed’’ (as mentioned above) to how long it has been since I woke up and how diligent I have been in using my eyedrops throughout the day etcatera, the pain can be barely noticable (or non-existen) OR it can be rather powerful and disturbing.
These last few days, I think that I have even been experiencing a little pain (feels like dryness) in my supposedly healthy left-eye, as well. But the pain/discomfort has been so vague that so far it’s been difficult to tell if I have really been experiencing any actual pain or if I was simply imagining it. Why would I suddenly start feeling a little discomfort/pain with that particular eye more than half-a-year after the surgery, anyways? Nevertheless, the feeling still persists as of today, and it also happens to be a tad bit worrisome, as well. Since having actual ”damage” in both my eyes would be devastating to my already crippled morale.
I have never tried painkiller to reduce my eye-ache, primarily because; 1- I have read on the internet that painkillers and such drugs wouldnt help with alleviating aches associated with the cornea in any case, and 2- I have indeed been feeling eye pain (which can be very noticable and disturbing), but it has never been agonizing enough to prompt the use of a painkiller.
c) FOREIGN BODY SENSATION = Apart from the obvious pain, I sometimes (but not always) also get a foreign body sensation in my right eye, as if I had an eyelash stuck under my eyelid on top/outermost layer of my eyeball. This unpleasent sensation is most usually located & focused under the upper lid of my right eye. This feeling – which is disturbing – usually doesnt result in pain in and out of itself, BUT if it continues for longer periods of time (like for more than 30-60 minutes or so), it can either increase my already existent eye pain/discomfort, OR it can trigger pain in my eye by itself, even if I wasn’t feeling any pain in my eye prior to that. I AM NOT SURE, but I believe that if I keep on feeling the ”painful” version of ’’eyelash feeling’’ in my eye for longer periods of time, WHEN I LOOK AT THE MIRROR CLOSELY, I can see a very, VERY TINY abnormality in the ’’light reflection’’ of my cornea, as if there was an extremly tiny ”dot/point” of irregularity on the surface of the eye. Than again, im not entirely sure of it myself. And it could just be that my mind (and paranoia) playing tricks on me.
UPDATE: After my recent observations, I am now fairly certain that the ’’foreign body/eyelash’’ feeling in my right eye is usually followed by an irregularity on the ocular surface such as a tiny dot as I already alleged above. Nevertheless, I am also aware of the fact that logical or analytical conclusions made by an individual in the absence of truly-scientific evidence as it can be repeatedly observed by other human beings, should be taken with a grain of salt, at best. Yet, I did feel like I had to voice my thoughts about the subject, as I am getting more certain of the validity of my observations over time, and the ’’foreign body sensetion’’ problem is becoming a more serious problem as it begins to occor more and more often.
d) DRY EYE = All of my doctors agree that I have dry eyes (been told that ESPECIALLY my right-eye has this problem), and personally I tend to agree with them. They all seem to think that getting rid of my dry eye problem would also help me get better and reduce my eye-pain, and far be it for me to disagree with them,, YET I wonder, would solely curing my ’’dry eye’’ really solve all my other problems, as well?
e) RECURRENT CORNEAL/EPITHELIAL EROSION = This has been hesistantly-mentioned by a few of my doctors a few times. I have been told that I might indeed have a ’’very mild form’’ of recurrent corneal erosion. Perhaps this is why the accosional ’’eye patcing/closing’’ helps me so much? YET, the pain always seems to return after this ”treatment” (patching my eye)… eventually.
f) FLUCTUATING VISUAL QUALITY = My left eye tends to see slightly better than my right eye.. NOT all the time, BUT at least some of the time…. And yet – sometimes (albeit more rarely) it can ALSO be my left eye that sees even better than the right one IF its having one of it’s ’’good eye days’’. But as I said; IT’S NOT COMMON.
g) USUALLY, INCREASED PAIN IS ACCOMPANIED BY SLIGHTLY REDUCED VISUAL QUALITY = Most of the time (but not always) the increased pain that I feel in my right eye is accompanied by reduced visual quality with the very same eye as well (which as usual – happens to be my right eye), in the form off; ’’SLIGHTLY lesser overall-resolution’’, increased amount of starbursts and halos and such. PATCHING/CLOSING MY (right) eye gets rid of such ’’visual problems (IF there have been any at all) UNTIL such a time that the pain (and the visual problems) rear their heads again in about 3-4 days (at least) to 2-3 weeks (at most).
So, when I have increased pain + foreign body sensation + lesser visual quality (in a few days in a row) = it is when I know that the time has come to ’’close my eye and let it rest’’.
h) LACK OF SLEEP= Any lack of sleep also seems to be a powerful agent in very adversly effecting my condition, as sleep deprivation is usually (and almost certainly) followed by more noticable eye pain and discomfort.
i) TOUCH-SENSITIVITY= No, I am not talking about the properties of my Ipad. As you could have probably guessed by know, my eye (more it’s cornea) is very sensitive to touch, meaning that even touching it with the tip of one of my fingers can not only cause my eye to get red, but it can also (later on) lead to the ’’foreign body sensation’’ in my eye (with very, very tiny visible traces of it which can be seen on the mirror). Thus, accidently touching my eye with the tip of an eye-dropper can effect the ocular surface very adversely, indeed.
4- THE CORE OF THE PROBLEM
Now that you have a general idea about my symptoms and worries, I can tell you the hearth of the problem.
For the last 7+ months, I have been having these issues (as mentioned above), and almost all the doctors I have visited (throughout the entirety of those 7+ months) have usually CUT MY DESCRIPTIONS SHORT (a.k.a they dont have time to/and thus dont want to LISTEN TO ME), than they proceed to use a slit lamp examination in cohesion with the use of some color-drops to examine my eye, than they notice a ’’MINOR DAMAGE IN THE FLAP’’. Afterwards they all tell me that its NOT CENTRAL, and that I can see fine (according to their tests), AND than they proceed to tell me THAT I HAVE DRY-EYE (especially in the right eye) and that is the real culprit of all my problems.
So, they all come to the conclusion that what I should do is to have patience and to use (basically) over-the-counter eye-drops to resolve the issue (a.k.a to get rid of the pain) such as Systane Balance, etcatera. A list of all the drops and medications have been posted in chapter 30, as I previously indicated.
YET, IN ALL THOSE 7+ MONTHS, **NONE** of those (mostly-if not all) over-the-counter eyedrops that I have been prescribed (such as Oculentum Simplex, Optive Fusion and Xanternet etc) HAVE TRULY AND HONESTLY BEEN **EFFECTIVE** in alleviating my eye pain (and the other symptoms & problems that I have mentioned) in the long run. They all still persist.
SO, WHAT I AM SAYING IS =
PAST 7 MONTHS MARK – THERE IS NO NOTICABLE EMBTTERMENT OF MY EYE (despite the fact tha I have been trying to follow my doctors instructions rigorously), AND I AM *STILL* FORCED TO ’’CLOSE/PATCH’’ MY RIGHT EYE OCCOSIONALLY (every once in a while for 3-4 days) IN ORDER TO LIVE A ”NORMAL” LIFE, *IF* YOU CAN CALL IT NORMAL… AND THE PAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ISSUE IS NOWHERE NEAR GONE.
A short list of things I have done so far that didn't help:
*Using protective computer glassess when watching tv or using a computer
*Patching my eye continuously for 2 weeks
*Patching my eye for 3-4 days every clouple of weeks
*Sleeping at least 6-8 hours a day and than still lying on the bed (with my eyes closed) up to 14 hours
*Regularly closing and resting both my eyes for up to 10 seconds
*Using my daily eye gels/drops 4-8 times a day (tried dozens of eye-drops – a complete list is available in Chapter 30)
*Using an eye salve before i hit the sack
*Avoiding smoke
*Avoiding dust
*Avoiding sultry air/closed spaces
*Using an air humidifier
*Regular doctor visits
*Acupuncture (Naturally; NO NEEDLES IN/NEAR THE EYE)
*Omega 7 pills
*Flax Seed Oil pills
*Membrasin (berry?) pills
*Daily doze of ”Gojibär”
*Vitamin B pills
*How wet flannel x2 times a day for 10 mins.
While all of the things mentioned above have been more or less helpful in reducing my pain and discomfort, NONE of them have been effective in permanently getting rid of my woes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28- MY UNPROFESSIONAL SELF-DIAGNOSIS
I have degrees in theology and international relations, but I am no ophthalmologist. I can’t really diagnose myself, and frantically reading texts on the internet about my lasik complications can only lead to cyberchondria, if nothing else.
Nevertheless, I would like to humbly present my own self-diagnosis here (with what little knowledge I have about the issue).
Personally, I do believe that - besides the peripherial corneal chafe/abrasion that the doctors have been noticing on my eye in their slit-lamp examinations - I am NOT ONLY suffering from a milder form of recurrent epithelial erosion(s) (on top of that particular abrasion or elsewhere on my eye, im not sure), BUT I am ALSO (possibly) suffering from a weak/mild version of corneal neupathy (in unision with my RCE’s), and thats why regular night salves and eye drops (on their own) haven’t been able to cure me of my ailments yet. Since *IF* (that’s a rather big if) I’m already suffering from corneal neupathy, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine how a recurrent epithelial erosion could exacerbate the problem.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30- A LIST OF MEDICATION THAT I HAVE BEEN USING SINCE THE SURGERY
So far, I have tried using the following eye gels, drops and salves:
Optive (without preservatives)
Vigamox
Maxidex
Optive (regular with preservatives)
Optive Plus
Optive Fusion
Oculentum Simplex
Chloromecytin
Systane Balance (without preservatives)
Zylet
Vita Pos
Visco Tears
Visudrop
Xanternet
+ One more eyedrop whose name I cant remember
Along with (oral) pills such as:
Omega 7
Flax Seed Oil
Membrasin
If there are any doctors who think that they might be able to help me with my post-lasik problems,
or any patients who had good experiences and/or results with such, please contact me!
I will most definetly be replying to posts here.
Let me know if you want to PM me (im new here, don't know if that is possible) or if you want; I can provide you with an email adress.
It is very difficult to live like this.
I haven't been able to work, OR even workout these last 8 months. My whole life is on haitus,
and it feels like im stuck in limbo.
Any help or assistance would be much appriciated!
(
Comment