Post Lasik - 6 weeks. Scared. Need Advice.

[strobers]

I had my lasik surgery on January 14, 2011. I had one of the best MD's in my county do it. I came out of the surgery fine with no problems. A week or so after my surgery I started to get dry eyes. I will admit that I was not putting in artificial drops very frequently because my eyes felt fine and I was seeing like an eagle. I saw the doctor and he capped all four of my tear ducts. Although my eyes were watery, it was much more comfortable.

A few days later my eyes started to get dry again and I started feeling panicky. I went back to the doctor and he said that my upper punctual plugs had come out, so he put them in again. I was fine for an entire day and then my eyes suddenly went dry again. I didn't want to bother the doctor again so I just started putting in tons of preservative free drops, but it was like putting water on a sand dune. It still felt dry. My eyes got progressively dryer to the point that I was wearing swimming goggles almost every waking minute and in the evening was sleeping with Tranquileyes. I was so miserable I was besides myself.

Last Saturday I went back to the doctor and I told him I was really scared. He felt that a big part of my problem was my panic and anxiety and that it was contributing to the problem and he strongly urged me to get on anti-anxiety medications. I have an appointment with my therapist this afternoon. He again replugged my upper eyelid ducts and I felt the blessed relief of moisture again.

Since last Saturday my eyes have been moist and watery, but at times it almost seems that they still feel dry. I look at them in the mirror and it looks like I'm ready to cry. However, the majority of time they feel O.K. i.e. lubricated.

If I watch even ten minutes of T.V. my eyes go bone dry. On the computer I use a dark park of swimming goggles and try not to look at the computer too often. Either way my eyes often sting afterward until I put in more drops. What's weird is that the outside light really does not bother me. It's just a tad too bright, but nothing I can't handle. With sunglasses I'm fine.

When I use a rice bag to help out my glands, they actually dry out my eyes. This happens sometimes also if I'm using a warm, wet compress. It's so anxiety provoking.

Right now the doctor has me on Restasis (it sometimes seems to dry out my eyes as well) Doxy 200 mg am and pm. and Lotomax two drops per day am. and p.m. I'm also taking about 7000 mg of fish oil daily.

I'm hopeful because my eyes are tearing, they are wet and moist, but I am very concerned about the secondary symptoms I'm experiencing. Cooking food on the stove, opening the dryer to get my clothes, watching TV all cause major discomfort and make my eyes go almost instantly dry and it takes me fifteen or twenty minutes of yawning to get them moist again. The doctor feels that I'm not over the hump yet, but that when I get myself calmed down my body will react accordingly and I'll be fine. He's a caring doctor. He called me from her personal cell two days in a row to check up on me.

Questions:

Is the fact that I'm tearing as much as a I am a good sign?
How long is Doxy typically administered?
Is is still too early for me to be concerned and worried being six weeks post op?
Do you think that my anxiety (I do have an anxiety disorder) is contributing to my problem?

Any other comments and advise would be much appreciated.

S

[bp77]

please becareful with the medications that therapist gives u, they can make u more dry. ask ur doc if u have mgd. I hope u feel better soon.

[VirginiaDryEye]

I know it's difficult; it will take time to feel better

I had lasik in in 2007. I got dry eyes a year and a half later in Nov 2008. It was very scary, traumatic. I went though all kinds of treatments; plugs, cautery, restatis, lotemax, tranquille eyes.

My eyes really started feeling munch better at the end of 2010. I really think that Restasis can take over a couple of years to provide a full effect. I think that anyone with dry eyes has probably had the problem for years. Then, environmental factors like Lasik, dry conditions, etc; can push someone into a constant stinging. Because it takes a long time to actually feel the symptoms, I think it also takes a long time to reverse the symptoms.

Keep up the Restasis and the Lotemax. Use goggles whenever you can. The tranquille eyes help too.

I'm quite certain you'll begin to feel better at some point.

Here's another point to help you feel better. I've noticed most of the people on this board have had dry eyes for just a few years...I'm hopeful that people w/ this issue eventually start feeling better and no longer come out to this site.

Be patient! Try to relax. Find a DRY EYE SPECIALIST. Stick to Restasis and Lotemax.

[strobers]

I had lasik in in 2007. I got dry eyes a year and a half later in Nov 2008. It was very scary, traumatic. I went though all kinds of treatments; plugs, cautery, restatis, lotemax, tranquille eyes.

My eyes really started feeling munch better at the end of 2010. I really think that Restasis can take over a couple of years to provide a full effect. I think that anyone with dry eyes has probably had the problem for years. Then, environmental factors like Lasik, dry conditions, etc; can push someone into a constant stinging. Because it takes a long time to actually feel the symptoms, I think it also takes a long time to reverse the symptoms.

Keep up the Restasis and the Lotemax. Use goggles whenever you can. The tranquille eyes help too.

I'm quite certain you'll begin to feel better at some point.

Here's another point to help you feel better. I've noticed most of the people on this board have had dry eyes for just a few years...I'm hopeful that people w/ this issue eventually start feeling better and no longer come out to this site.

Be patient! Try to relax. Find a DRY EYE SPECIALIST. Stick to Restasis and Lotemax.

Thank you for your reply. My therapist put me on some benzos and an anti-depressent. I'm starting to get a twitch in my left eye when I put the Lotemax. I'm concerned that it's going to continue. Does anybody else have that symptom and can it become chronic?

[VirginiaDryEye]

Thank you for your reply. My therapist put me on some benzos and an anti-depressent. I'm starting to get a twitch in my left eye when I put the Lotemax. I'm concerned that it's going to continue. Does anybody else have that symptom and can it become chronic?

I believe the eyelid twitching is from the eyelids getting strained. I had that issue much more prevalently in the past along w/ the foreign object sensation. While I still get these symptoms from time to time....they occur much less frequently.

My doc says that dry eye is def a chronic problem. However, THANKFULLY, I've gotten to a point where I hardly think about it any more. The first year is AWFUL. I remember thinking about my situation every second of evey hour of every day.

I'd say life is much much better. Sure, I still feel some symptoms...but, if I was told I could be in my current situation for the rest of my life, I'd take it in a heart beat. Again, everything is a "knock on wood". Symptoms still come and go.

[Sammy B.]

Is the fact that I'm tearing as much as a I am a good sign?
How long is Doxy typically administered?
Is is still too early for me to be concerned and worried being six weeks post op?
Do you think that my anxiety (I do have an anxiety disorder) is contributing to my problem?


Overtearing can mean you are too plugged. Do the tears feel good or bad?

Doxy can be administered for an entire lifetime, from what I understand.

IMO it is really too early for you to be freaking out. You need to try to get a handle on your mind first before you even BEGIN to work on your eyes.

Anxiety/stress contribute to every physical problem we have so yes, anxiety is going to make you think your situation is worse when in essence, it could just be mild.

Take the anti-anxiety meds on your doctor's recommended regimen. You will start feeling more positive. As your mind improves your eyes will improve.

[Adam22]

The over-tearing could be mgd your tears are not adequate enough so you produce more or simply that because your eyes are plugged and are not being filtered. Did your eye doctor do a schirmer test?

Anxiety is definitely contributing to the problem but the thing is it is unavoidable...it took me 6 months to get over my anxiety of one day waking up with this and all of a sudden I have to use drops daily, i can't do certain things or stay up late because if I don't get 8hrs of sleep my eyes are terrible all day. I didn't resort to any medication but the mental affects were bad.

One thing about restasis. It takes 2 - 3 months for it to even start working so keep this in mind. Lotemax you can only use 2 months at most because it is a steroid and can cause glaucoma or cataracts.

Out of curiosity is the doctor a he or she!? He called me from her cellphone

I wish you good luck on your road to recovery.

[Margaret]

hey there, I'm 9mos out post Lasik and going through the same anxiety issues too. I'm better now than I was in the beginning but have a LONG way to go. I have been given a lot of great advice along the way and I think in the end what helps the most is time. If you are like me, you want to fix it now, but that probably won't happen as soon as you'd like. There are many people that figure out what helps much more quickly than me, so don't despair, just take it week by week, hour by hour if you need to. I take Lorazepam every now and then and I can assure you it doesn't dry out my eyes.

If you ever want to talk you can drop me a private message.

Margaret

[strobers]

Thank you everyone...

For your feedback and advise.

At this point I am now almost 3 months out of surgery. My surgeon has been doing a pretty good job taking care of me, but I don't see much difference between now and a month ago.

I was super comfortable with the plugs, albeit my eyes were very watery, but they are always coming out. I think it's annoying my doctor (male). I've already had eight put in. The last time I saw him he told me I needed to "wean" myself off of them so he declined to put in the one on my top right eye.

At this point I only have a top plug in my left eye and the bottom plug in my right eye, but in terms of dryness they both feel relatively the same. I live in California and the weather is heating up, so my eyes have been that much more uncomfortable. I bought a pair of Harley goggles that were recommended on this site that I wear at work intermittently and they help a lot. I think it's ironic that I had surgery so I wouldn't have to wear glasses and now I'm wearing goggles. lol.

I get burning throughout the day, most notably on the right eye. I put drops in five to six times per day. I'm finally able to read and work on the computer for much longer time periods than before so I feel blessed about that. Light outside does not bother me, but watching movies does. I have to wear my goggles and my eyes still burn and feel uncomfortable.

I have a lot of plants in my house, so I rarely have to put the goggles on.

At this point I know I still have a lot of time to improve, and I'm hoping that in the next three months things get better. I see my surgeon on the 19 of April and I'm going to ask him to please re-plug my right eye (top) and use a flow plug on the bottom of the left eye since with both plugged I had an over abundance of tears. However, I would MUCH rather have Wet Eye than Dry Eye.

I'm also seeing another doctor on a consultant basis and he feels that my surgeon is on top of things.

My anxiety is much better, even though I have days that I feel panicky. What has helped me a lot is reading a book that was recommended to me by my girlfriend called, "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle. I can't recommend it enough. It's all about being in the Now and surrendering yourself to the universe. I'm learning a lot about myself and how I've always dealt with things; catastrophic thinking, obsessing about the future, etc.

Still taking the Doxy and using Ristasis as prescribed. I'm also cleaning my lids religiously and using warm compress one or two times per day. I was diagnosed by my consultant doctor with a mild case of Blepheritis. He states that Lasik surgery does not cause Blepheritis, but that it could have been what triggered it to come out of dormancy. I've always had red eyelids, but only after the Lasik did I began to see the tell-tale postules on the lids.

I'm also taking 7000 mg of fish oil, 1,500 mg of GLA and a few other supplements that I understand are good for DES.

I'm glad I found this site. It has helped me get through some dark days.

S