Lasik 2 Months Ago - Dry Eyes

[LauraK]

I had Lasik surgery done approximately 2 months ago. Since then I have been battling dry eyes. My initial two weeks were very bad that I wasn't able to get through a full days work. I have felt some progress however I am very fearful I will be battling dry eyes forever.

I wore contacts for nearly twenty years and never had issues with dry eyes; other than seasonal allergies in the spring. I had the intralase procedure done which was supposedly doesn't cause dry eyes as much.

I have been taking restasis for two months and still have to do eye drops 3 to 4 times a day. I am looking for words of encouragement this will get better. I was hopeful with weather warming up that my condition would get better.

[jax8it]

Laura, you and I are in the exact same situation. I am going to bed now, but would love to talk to you about EVERYTHING post lasik.I will send you a post tomorrow.

[LauraK]

Sounds good. Look forward to hearing from you.

[jax8it]

Hi Laura,
I am glad you found this site. There is a wealth of information here. I had lasik 2 months ago and still struggling with burning, stinging, dry eyes. Some days I feel as if my eyes may be getting better and then the next day they feel horrible. I feel like I am on a roller coaster. We are still really early in the healing process and apparently we still have a lot of healing to do. I am just now feeling slightly better emotionally. I think I cried everyday for the first month and most of the second. Some things I found to be effective are the onion goggles and cold compresses. I have lower plugs and I take Theratears omega 3's. I don't know what else to do expect give it time. My doctor keeps telling me my eyes will heal. My eyes have gotten better since the first month, I don't have the foreign body sensation anymore. I want believe they will continue getting better. I have not tried Restasis yet. My doc did not feel I needed it. Keep me updated on your progress if you don't mind.

Bianca

[LauraK]

Hi Bianca:

Thank you for sharing your story. It seems you are dealing with a similar story. I have had feelings of anxiety since I had the surgery and on an emotional roller coaster as well. I did go to another opthamologist yesterday that specializes in dry eyes. She too has given me hope it will get better. She did suggest lower plugs to see if that would help.

I think the Restasis has been helping; although it can take up to 2 to 3 months to actually start to work.

My concern is that my vision in my one eye has degraded from what it was initially. It could be a result from dry eye that's not making it as clear. I hope.

Best of luck to you. I hope in a few months we can look back and be glad we had the surgery done. Did you have problem with dry eye before surgery? I did not.

[Jenn1]

I'm sorry to hear that there are newer and newer cases of people battling dry eyes daily, all because of corporate greed.

[jax8it]

@ jenn1 you are so right.

@ Laura
I think I might have had some dry eye before the surgery. My contacts would become bothersome as the day wore on, but I never associated it with dry eye. I had all the dry eye tests before my surgery and I guess they were ok because I was a "perfect candidate".
I have seen another doctor and he told me he would be surprised if the dry eye is permanent. His words did give me encouragement, but the way my eyes feel now saddens me. We just have to stay positive that our eyes will heal in time.

[LauraK]

Hi Bianca

Fir they run any tests to see if you are producing any tears. They ran the schirmrr test this week and said I am producing very little tears. This concerns me as I have also been on restasis tor two.months

[jax8it]

At five weeks, I went back to my lasik doctor because of dry eyes and he performed a tear breakup test with eye numbing drops. At that time my doctor said my tbut was about 10 seconds which is close to normal (my eyes certainly did not feel normal) and he saw dry spots. He put lower plugs in and put me back on Lotamax for two weeks. A week later I got my second opinion. This doctor did a tbut without numbing drops and he said my tbut was normal. I can tell you definitively my eyes did not feel normal. Neither of the doctors performed a shrimer test.

I have read that Restasis can take up to three to six months for a person to start getting positive results. So don't get discouraged. If you are not getting any of the negative side effects, I would continue with it. Do you use any artificial tears during the day? If so, how often are you applying drops?

[LauraK]

I take drops about 4 to 5 times a day. I also wonder if allergies could be playing a part of dry eyes? Not sure as tree pollen is very bad right now and I am highly allergic to pollen.

[jax8it]

I am sure they do. I never really had a problem with allergies, so I cant say if they are affecting my eyes. Drop usage sounds good compared to me. If I do not wear goggles at work, I place drops in my eyes every 30-45 minutes. I can go longer w/o drops on the weekends (no constant ac on at home). I can only hope our eyes will continue to heal.

[LauraK]

Hi Bianca:

Is there any reason why you haven't tried Restasis? I am talking to my doctor tomorrow about plugs. I know you mentioned goggles. Do they seem to help. What brand/kind do you use?

[jax8it]

At my five week visit, my doctor did not think I needed Restasis. I go back to the doctor in four weeks. If things have not improved, I will ask him about it. I bought the onions goggles on this site. They are a bit odd looking,but to me they help enormously. I wear them mostly at home and at work during really bad days.

[LauraK]

Hi Bianca:

Do you know what time of day you had your TBUT? I had mine around noon and they were 5 and 8. He seemed concerned how low they were and said I was defnitely on the low end of other post-lasik patients he sees. He also doesn't think plugs would help. I am going for a second opinion next week. How are you doing?

Laura