New here!

[monicat]

Hi all,

Thanks for letting me into the community! I'm new, had LASIK 8 months ago and I have some moderate dry eye... I want to say ever since, but it hasn't really been! I had it for the first couple of months and was on Restasis, then summer hit and I had 0 problems again (Restasis-free!) for 4 blissful months until the end of August, and ever since then I've been suffering again with the cooling temps. I've had an insurance change and I am having a huge battle with my new ins. company to cover Restasis - had no idea it was so expensive.

Looking back, it's obvious I had some dry eye symptoms before and never knew what they were. I had contact lens intolerance, would get incredibly bloodshot eyes whenever I went swimming, and in winter or with A/C on full blast, I would wake up in the middle of the night with my eyes bright red and streaming. Nobody asked about this at my LASIK consultation (they just said "do you have dry eye" and I said NO because I thought my eyes were "sensitive" not dry...) but I know they DID test my tear production and I came up fully normal, so I am trying to maintain a positive attitude about it all. I don't have any visual distortions at all and my vision is actually fantastic, so that helps...

My surgeon still thinks I'll get back to normal ("baseline") eventually, but that it might take me longer than most people. I am really into the idea of any nutritional support that will make this happen, as well as symptom relief, of course. I've been lurking these forums and like many of you, artificial tears don't help me much. I am in particular looking for nighttime strategies, as nighttime is the hardest. I've been wearing a sleep mask to keep my eyes closed (OH YEAH - I don't keep them fully closed at night!!!) and prevent tear evaporation, but I always take it off around 3am because I get paranoid about that warm, moist environment causing infection!

Any tips on ANYTHING would be greatly appreciated. I've already learned a lot from this forum and I'm grateful to you guys for being here!

[m4shore]

Hi all,

Thanks for letting me into the community! I'm new, had LASIK 8 months ago and I have some moderate dry eye... I want to say ever since, but it hasn't really been! I had it for the first couple of months and was on Restasis, then summer hit and I had 0 problems again (Restasis-free!) for 4 blissful months until the end of August, and ever since then I've been suffering again with the cooling temps. I've had an insurance change and I am having a huge battle with my new ins. company to cover Restasis - had no idea it was so expensive.

Looking back, it's obvious I had some dry eye symptoms before and never knew what they were. I had contact lens intolerance, would get incredibly bloodshot eyes whenever I went swimming, and in winter or with A/C on full blast, I would wake up in the middle of the night with my eyes bright red and streaming. Nobody asked about this at my LASIK consultation (they just said "do you have dry eye" and I said NO because I thought my eyes were "sensitive" not dry...) but I know they DID test my tear production and I came up fully normal, so I am trying to maintain a positive attitude about it all. I don't have any visual distortions at all and my vision is actually fantastic, so that helps...

My surgeon still thinks I'll get back to normal ("baseline") eventually, but that it might take me longer than most people. I am really into the idea of any nutritional support that will make this happen, as well as symptom relief, of course. I've been lurking these forums and like many of you, artificial tears don't help me much. I am in particular looking for nighttime strategies, as nighttime is the hardest. I've been wearing a sleep mask to keep my eyes closed (OH YEAH - I don't keep them fully closed at night!!!) and prevent tear evaporation, but I always take it off around 3am because I get paranoid about that warm, moist environment causing infection!

Any tips on ANYTHING would be greatly appreciated. I've already learned a lot from this forum and I'm grateful to you guys for being here!

Hey,

Welcome to the forum. It's never a good sign when one themselves on these forums, but then again, it's a fantastic resource.
I've gotten more information on here than from all the doctors I've seen combined.

I too had Lasik 6 years ago, and am still dealing with dry eye. I too believe my eyes were border line dry, and the surgeon said nothing about it.
The sad reality is that there a concerning lack of transparency in the Lasik industry.

The first step is to get a proper diagnosis, as there are many types of dry eye. I would suggest not doing this with your Lasik surgeon, but rather seeking out a good ophthalmologist, preferably a dry eye specialist.

The fact that this seems to be a seasonal thing for you suggests there may be allergies involved. This is another avenue worth exploring. Allergies and dry eye are separate issues, although they can exacerbate each other.

In terms of night dryness: I wouldn't worry about infection in the moist environment. The protection your'e getting most likely outweighs that risk, one which does not seem to be reported often.
It's also worth looking into a gel drop such as "Genteal." Many dry eyers seem to find them helpful for over night protection.
A humidifier in your bedroom might help as well, although if there are allergies it might be an issue.

As for nutritional support: Omega 3 supplements are thought to be good for dry eyes; so fish oil or flax seed oil are worth trying.

Hope this helps.

Feel free to ask anything!

Mike.