Progesterone & Testosterone eye drops

[heyjude0701]

Yoyobee I am waiting to hear if anyone answers you too! I have also done the treatments that you have tried (except for Lipiflow, I haven't tried that yet). I was not able to tolerate the testosterone eyedrops from Leiter's compounding pharmacy in San Jose, but I have not given up on the idea that testosterone may be able to help. I was tested and have zero circulating testosterone (though I understand that this number is variable and may be different on subsequent tests), and I have other signs of low testosterone- no earwax, no more hair on my arms, underarms or legs (I used to be very hairy). I live on the Monterey peninsula now; I am also interested to hear of any northern CA doctors. My driving is very limited now due to my dry eyes, so unless there is transportation, I can't get everywhere anymore.

[Yoyobee]

Hello fellow dry eyes,
I'm so thankful for this forum. I first noticed my dry eyes about three years ago. They've progressively gotten worse over the years. After reading Dr. Latkany's "The Dry Eye Remedy", I realized that I have done many things to lead up to my predicament. I wore hard contact lenses for years, had PRK corrective surgery, went into surgical menopause at an early age (38 years), took hormone replacement therapy and finally was diagnosed with Grave's disease. I was also an avide benedryl and ambien user.
About 3 weeks ago I did Lipiflow. I don't know if it helped at all but I appreciated the thorough exam. I have many atrophied glands and am not producing much oil. I've weaned myself off all sleeping medications and am weaning myself off the HRT. i am babying my eyes and doing everything recommended-----you all know the routine--- warm compresses, blinking excercises, tranquileyes and ointment at night, drops as needed, panoptics glasses, blah blah blah. I keep reading about low testosterone in women who have gone through menopause as a causative factor for dry eyes. None of my doctors have heard anything about this. I even called the local compounding pharmacy to see if they had any patients who used testosterone cream on their eyelids. No luck. My questions are: 1) is there anyone who has had succes with either eyelid testosterone cream or or testosterone replacement? 2) What exactly were you prescribed?
3) I'm in the Sacramento area.......any Northern Californina docs that are recommended? 4) Did you experience any negative side effects?
Thank you!

[LiliS]

please tell me how can i obtain these creams? posting this 2015...i live in Europe....i have severe dry eyes,Sogren and menopause and i rewlly rhink rhey could help me...

[heyjude0701]

Hi,
I've been on C-DHEA 0.5 % P.F. CMPD OPH. eye drops for a week. They sting & I'm not sure if they work yet. Might be a bad batch. They are compounded by a firm called Leiter's in San Jose, California. Tried Progesterone drops last month. I'm 45. Noticed my DES about 6 months ago but it may have existed prior. Can't say the prog. drops worked well since I am also on progesterone only birth control (for hot flashes etc). I'M NOT MENOPAUSAL. I've explained this to many doctors. low hormone levels & perimenopausal. Never had lasik, never done contacts, have no idea why I have MGD. I have atrophied glands in one eye. no tears at ALL. trying everything since there are crazy pollen levels here. basically burning my face with this eye mask to get oil out. I do have crazy allergies which are under control by various drugs. or I thought they were. This is frustrating to mein that some of these "cures" have been around since 2004, but 2 ophthalmologists I saw have no idea about the DES/MGD field & did not care. they just want to cut on cataracts. * Why isn't more research being done to make our lives better? Is it because it's not sexy or lethal like breast cancer???!! I can barely drive my kids to soccer practice due to blurry vision. Maybe we should get car insurance companies to pay for our cures?! ok rant over. I was hoping to find more info on effectiveness of these hormone eye drops, but nobody seems to know much. At least I found an ophthalmologist that attacks this on multiple fronts. (since she has DES!) I am scheduled for lipiflow later. It will cost me $1700. insurance does't pay for it. why? again, there is no $$ behind research or advocacy for DES or MGD. very frustrated with rich, lazy ophthalmologists these days. and the FDA. new to this arena, but geeky enough to read as much as possible & not go down without a fight. - s

Good luck with the DHEA drops Suzy. I tried them a while back (also from Leiter in San Jose) and I could not tolerate them, they burned too much and I did not notice any improvement in my DES. I hope you have better luck than I did.

The reason insurance doesn't cover Lipiflow is because there is no evidence that it works. A few people say they had some success with it, but it required many treatments and the improvement was short-lived. I have had some success with PROSE scleral lenses. It doesn't get rid of DES, but it alleviates some of the symptoms, and lets me drive and read without getting blurry vision. Also, since I have been wearing the PROSE devices, the scratches on my cornea have healed and I have not developed any new ones. Insurance paid for most of the cost of my PROSE scleral lenses. They helped at first with light sensitivity, but lately the light sensitivity has been getting a lot worse. I recently got a pair of amber glasses to filter out the high frequency light, they help a lot in big box stores and supermarkets, but still not perfect; also I wear a visor all the time.

I am still wondering if there is some formulation of testosterone that could help increase the tears (both the aqueous and the oil layer, I am deficient in both). Hang in there, I hope you will find something that helps (or more like a combination of things). I agree, why is there not more research on this!!!!! Judy

[Dry-eyed-suzy]

Hi,
I've been on C-DHEA 0.5 % P.F. CMPD OPH. eye drops for a week. They sting & I'm not sure if they work yet. Might be a bad batch. They are compounded by a firm called Leiter's in San Jose, California. Tried Progesterone drops last month. I'm 45. Noticed my DES about 6 months ago but it may have existed prior. Can't say the prog. drops worked well since I am also on progesterone only birth control (for hot flashes etc). I'M NOT MENOPAUSAL. I've explained this to many doctors. low hormone levels & perimenopausal. Never had lasik, never done contacts, have no idea why I have MGD. I have atrophied glands in one eye. no tears at ALL. trying everything since there are crazy pollen levels here. basically burning my face with this eye mask to get oil out. I do have crazy allergies which are under control by various drugs. or I thought they were. This is frustrating to mein that some of these "cures" have been around since 2004, but 2 ophthalmologists I saw have no idea about the DES/MGD field & did not care. they just want to cut on cataracts. * Why isn't more research being done to make our lives better? Is it because it's not sexy or lethal like breast cancer???!! I can barely drive my kids to soccer practice due to blurry vision. Maybe we should get car insurance companies to pay for our cures?! ok rant over. I was hoping to find more info on effectiveness of these hormone eye drops, but nobody seems to know much. At least I found an ophthalmologist that attacks this on multiple fronts. (since she has DES!) I am scheduled for lipiflow later. It will cost me $1700. insurance does't pay for it. why? again, there is no $$ behind research or advocacy for DES or MGD. very frustrated with rich, lazy ophthalmologists these days. and the FDA. new to this arena, but geeky enough to read as much as possible & not go down without a fight. - s

[patientpatrick]

Jenny, did the hormone drops help?

p

[patientpatrick]

[QUOTE=Bekkestad;54854]Some treatments directed at hormones in the pipelines:

http://www.argentisrx.com/content/show.asp?mne=pipeline

ARG102 is a progesterone cream or gel formulation used to treat DES in men and younger women. The cross-reactivity between progesterone and corticosteroid receptors in the ocular region is believed to activate corticosteroid anti-inflammatory activity in the glands and on the ocular surface, restoring normal aqueous and lipid production. ARG102 is also applied to the upper and lower eyelids for transdermal delivery of progesterone directly to the affected glands.

Patient data from clinical practice at SCO has shown that patients using ARG102 had a 34% increase in tear breakup time (p=0.01) and a 20% decrease in symptom severity (p=0.05) after only three weeks of use versus baseline measurements. There were no reported adverse events or increases in intraocular pressure. These results were presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Optometrists.



-

Interesting... anyone try this treatment with success?

[jenny2008]

any luck anyone??? i go to the doc next wed so i will see how clogged up i am.... my glands that is.. still using the .05% prog/test drops 2x daily....

[abbygirl]

Here is a video I found about testosterone cream for dry eyes and Blepharitis. This seems to be coming from a reputable doctor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGYhsa01New
I find this very interesting and think that dry eye does have a hormonal component.

[jenny2008]

i was prescribed the .05% prog/test drops... started using them friday... i will everyone posted..so far nothing.. i am not sure how long they take to work???

[jenny2008]

wow.. thanks disl.. maybe it takes a month or so. i am going to my doc today (who is retiring end of next month) to see if he will rx them..are using the combo prog/test?

[disl334]

NO luck

has anyone had any luck with progresterone/testosterone drops? i called Leiters and they said that drop made in .05% concentration was more popular for dry eye than testosterone at .5% ...
any feedback from anyone??i am going to try to convince my doc to let me try one but dont know which one??? can anybody offer any advice?? i really appreciate if so! thanks ..Jenny.

Ive been using the drops from Leiters for about two weeks with no results. I have MGD and evaporative dry eye

[jenny2008]

has anyone had any luck with progresterone/testosterone drops? i called Leiters and they said that drop made in .05% concentration was more popular for dry eye than testosterone at .5% ...
any feedback from anyone??i am going to try to convince my doc to let me try one but dont know which one??? can anybody offer any advice?? i really appreciate if so! thanks ..Jenny.

[heyjude0701]

The DHEA drops are still not helping with the dryness at one week. But I am getting used to the stinging so I will continue to use them. I discovered an eyelid gel that soothes the itchiness and scaliness in my eyelids. It is called Yes to Cucumber. At least my eyelids have been more comfortable these last few days.
Judy

[jenny2008]

thanks judy..i dont know either... keep us posted.and good luck..i hope ur new way of putting in drops doesnt irritate ur skin anymore.ouch..