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This is my first post so bear with me. I have strabismus (eyes do not work together) and that is a long story except to say that 5 surgeries were unsuccessful, most as a child. I had farsighted Lasik done in late April of this year (2011) so am 14 weeks post-op. I am in my late 40’s and my prescription was (R) +6.00 -2.75 and (L) +5.75 -2.75 so lots of farsightedness and astigmatism. Outcome was good, I have no measurable Rx remaining in my left eye and only some astigmatism (-.75) in the right. I had custom wavefront Lasik, no blades.
Complication is severe dry eye mostly in my left eye causing dramatic changes in vision from day to day. Last week (7/22) I was 20/15 in both eyes. My left vision goes from phenomenal when moist and feeling normal to 20/40 or “complete blowout” when dry. Other symptoms are burning and waking in the night to have to put in artificial tears. Strabismus makes this worse since the right eye can’t compensate and the left eye becomes unusable. Colorado is dry as a bone too which doesn’t help.
What I've tried: Refresh Plus and/or Systane every hour. Punctal plugs in both bottom ducts along with a flow controller plug in the left eye upper duct. I have had the vented flow controller removed when I thought I was over the hump due to excess tearing. Then, things went downhill and I had it put back in. I have 1 good left eye day out of every 4 on average. Some days tears run down my face, the next it is dry. Vision is fuzzy when dry and eye often drops into “near-sighted mode” where up close is clear and anything beyond 3 feet is blurry. When it is good, it is remarkable at all distances. Sometimes my tears feel like olive oil, other times like acid. Right eye vision is rarely off, just some burning sensation and it has been stable since 3 weeks post op.
Restasis (60 day mark was Aug 2), Vornado humidifier at night, cold compresses (offers short term/5 min relief only), GenTeal PM gel at night. Systane every couple hours. Artificial tears are essentially useless. There is no correlation on “good days” with anything I’m doing, in other words, there is no treatment that “leads to a good day.”.
I have sought second opinions. One OD tried Azasite and Pred Forte, to no avail. A tear break-up test was done and my tear film breaks up ASAP with essentially no coverage. An Air Force opthamologist stated it will “take up to a year to heal back to normal tear production” and recommended Autologous Serum Tears. He claims all but one of his dozen or so patients report success with these. Today was the 16 vial blood draw. The original post-Lasik Dr recommended plugs and “ride it out” and thinks serum tears is “overkill” and not a long term solution.
So, here I am. Extremely frustrated and looking for a solution. Not to mention the quality of life and expense this is now causing. Good life days are now only related to good vision days. Any advice is appreciated. It seems like I’ve tried it all except serum tears.
Complication is severe dry eye mostly in my left eye causing dramatic changes in vision from day to day. Last week (7/22) I was 20/15 in both eyes. My left vision goes from phenomenal when moist and feeling normal to 20/40 or “complete blowout” when dry. Other symptoms are burning and waking in the night to have to put in artificial tears. Strabismus makes this worse since the right eye can’t compensate and the left eye becomes unusable. Colorado is dry as a bone too which doesn’t help.
What I've tried: Refresh Plus and/or Systane every hour. Punctal plugs in both bottom ducts along with a flow controller plug in the left eye upper duct. I have had the vented flow controller removed when I thought I was over the hump due to excess tearing. Then, things went downhill and I had it put back in. I have 1 good left eye day out of every 4 on average. Some days tears run down my face, the next it is dry. Vision is fuzzy when dry and eye often drops into “near-sighted mode” where up close is clear and anything beyond 3 feet is blurry. When it is good, it is remarkable at all distances. Sometimes my tears feel like olive oil, other times like acid. Right eye vision is rarely off, just some burning sensation and it has been stable since 3 weeks post op.
Restasis (60 day mark was Aug 2), Vornado humidifier at night, cold compresses (offers short term/5 min relief only), GenTeal PM gel at night. Systane every couple hours. Artificial tears are essentially useless. There is no correlation on “good days” with anything I’m doing, in other words, there is no treatment that “leads to a good day.”.
I have sought second opinions. One OD tried Azasite and Pred Forte, to no avail. A tear break-up test was done and my tear film breaks up ASAP with essentially no coverage. An Air Force opthamologist stated it will “take up to a year to heal back to normal tear production” and recommended Autologous Serum Tears. He claims all but one of his dozen or so patients report success with these. Today was the 16 vial blood draw. The original post-Lasik Dr recommended plugs and “ride it out” and thinks serum tears is “overkill” and not a long term solution.
So, here I am. Extremely frustrated and looking for a solution. Not to mention the quality of life and expense this is now causing. Good life days are now only related to good vision days. Any advice is appreciated. It seems like I’ve tried it all except serum tears.
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