18 years of pain after RK

[Richard_R]

Hi fellow Sufferers,

This board is a great resource, thanks to all who contribute.

Eighteen years ago I had RK surgery. Vision came out just OK. From day one, I have had dry irritated eyes. Just the thought of riding in a convertible, taking a walk, going anywhere where there might be dust.....you get the idea...makes me think twice. That surgery was the worst choice of my life.

After much thinking and reading, I have come to the conclusion that my eye's feedback system that tells the water glands to send more water has been disconnected.....i.e. the nerves have been severed. If I could advise someone just one thing it would be to avoid any of these ELECTIVE corrective eye surgeries at all cost. If there is even a 1% chance you will get dry eye, DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will curse it for the rest of your life.

I have not given up. I do feel relief with some things and maybe there is a way to get a handle on this. I believe my problem is with the quantity of tears. If I splash my eyes with cool water, things are OK for a few minutes. If I am eating, the symptoms disappear. This must be due to the saliva flow and some accompanying tear flow. I do have tears but they don't automatically feed into my eyes at the right rate.

After seeing a few doctors over the years and getting very little relief, I had pretty much come to the conclusion I was on my own. While I believe this is still probably the case, I have started to see a doctor again. I am currently doing the lid scrub thing and have not really seen much improvement, but I am determined to stick with it and see if given enough time I can get some relief.

Richard.

[Lucy]

Richard, although many of us have seen a multitude of doctors, we're still on our own. If you take a little time to read through the board, you'll know all there is to know about dry eyes.

I am serious. Not everything works for everybody. Some things don't work at all - and that's a lot of the stuff we know already. It's a hit and miss, see what works BEST for you. Not what will FIX or CURE your problem. It's not likely going to occur. At not at least in the next 7 days or 7 months. Artificial tears, goggles, hot compresses, lid scrubs, omega 3's, Restatis and that's just the beginning. Get enough sleep and close and rest your eyes when you can.

[Guest]

Richard

I read your story with great interest. Particularly because at one stage after my epi-lasek proceedure my DR was suggested performing AK (RK on one axis) to correct my induced astigmatism.

I decided not to go ahead with it but he categorically assured me that there was no link between this procedure and dry eye syndrome. I also remember similar assurances between by epi-lasek proceedure and DES.

I was almost sick when I read that you had this 18 years ago, I have just passed the 12 month mark and keep hoping that it will improve. I sometimes lose hope and wonder how on earth will I deal with this if I am going to have it for the rest of my life, but there are some inspiring people on this board that help me get through my dark days.

No doubt you still have your really tough days, I guess the key to managing this to aim for more good days than bad days.

Like you I feel this was the worst decision of my life and the fact that I chose to do it haunts me on a daily basis.

No doubt you have tried lots of things over the past 18 years. Have a hunt around in the archives and you may just find something that works for you that you haven't yet tried.

I wish you well

Ian

[Richard_R]

Thanks Ian,

I read your story and somehow wish I could have warned you, but that is all water under the bridge. I see that you are taking a very proactive approach to solving your problem. I was never that aggressive, but rather have suffered more in silence and have felt shame about my decision. My family told me not to mess with my eyes, but I didn't listen.

On a more positive note, do you think that your problem stems from a lack of water in your eyes as opposed to the oil glands etc? My doctor says that some of my meibomian glands are plugged up so I am working on that now. I think that the lack of water triggers a much more unheathy environment in the eyes that makes the MGD worse but that I would not have a problem it the water works functioned correctly. Having clear meibomian glands can't hurt, we'll see.

I get significant relief from the following:

1. Splashing my eyes (closed), with cool water - good for about 10-15 minutes.

2. Eating. Strange as it may seem, my eyes return to normal function while I am eating and after for about 15 minutes. I have noticed that there are often small squirts of water entering my eyes when I chew or swallow cold drinks etc. I've tried chewing gum but this does not seem to work.

3. Exercise. While exercising, things feel much better. Probably associated with the moisture associated with sweat etc. This does not work as well as eating.

4. Getting lots of sleep. Probably builds up the tissue layers on the eye and gives the body time to repair damage.

Do you get any relief from any of these or other activities?

Best Regards, Richard.

[Guest]

Richard

I don't think my problem is aqueous and this has been confirmed by 1 Dr. The same Dr also suggested it wasn't a lipid problem either as I showed no sign of blepharitis or MGD, so this leave the mucin layer which seems consistent with what my surgeon has indicated.

I was also quadra plugged on Wednesday of last week and have had hideous overflow ever since (particularly my right eye - which is always my problem eye).

I don't find exercise helps as my gym is air conditioned and I just seem to dread it everytime I go there, although this week has been bearable with the overflow issue - so I don't know anymore.

My major problem is night time dryness and recurrent corneal erosions. I seem to be powering along and then a RCE sets me back (both visually and my mood).

I don't see any point laying blame although I do stuggle with my decision from time to time but I didn't choose this and neither did you - we are simply consequences of a decision.

I had epi-lasek which is supposed to be less invasive than Lasik but obviously both have dry eye implications, as I said previously, my DR told me that dry eyes is not a known complication of RK, but again, I am a little cautious of the statistics these eye factories produce - once you get on the production line, you feel like you are in a sausage factory.

I am off to the DR again tomorrow and think I will ask to have the top plugs removed. For some strange reason, I was never really confident of the temporary plugs and felt some relief from the two bottom plugs alone.

I find that the best thing for my relief is an icepack wrapped in a wet face cloth - can't bear the ice straight on my eyes.

I am determined that this is transitory and that I am just a slow healer. I have read that it can take 12-18 months for full recovery of the corneal nerves (although I am dubious now that they heal to the extent we are lead to believe).

Whilst I sleep a lot now (I put that down to the depression), I am always very worried that I will wake with a RCE so don't sleep very well. I always have a steripod of saline beside the bed to put in my eyes before I even try to open them.

Your courage to deal with this for so long inspires me to persevere and find a workable solution. I hope to that you find some suggestions on this site that can help you bring this under control.

Ian

[Richard_R]

Ian,

You're still early in this, you can see significant improvement as the healing process proceeds. In my case, where I had 12 deep incisions in each eye, things gradually improved over the subsequent 2-3 years. This is where things stabalized, unfortunately still with a crappy tear film. Hang in there, you still have a good chance for things to get better.

Richard.

[Dotanne]

Hi Richard
It is just over 2 years since I had Lasik and how I regret that decision. I have found that the same things that give you relief also work for me. Cold water on my eye lids is great(seems to cool the heat in them), eating is one thing that not many mention but it does help and I have to work more slimming strategies so I don't put on more weight. I also think eating stimulates the salivary glands too which could help as well. I do know that one eats more to relieve depression symptoms. Eating tasty food gives so much enjoyment too!!! Exercise also produces seretonin which helps lift the spirits and relieves depression.
I find that having company helps. It keeps the mind thinking about something else although I know it is nearly impossible not to think all the time about one's sore eyes and that they need more drops or you suffer the consequences! Social times are great when the eyes do not need to focus on anything close. Better still if in a swimming pool or spa pool or somewhere steamy! The main thing is not to get over tired. I wear protective glasses all the time too.
I only hope, as we all do, that we get something better for our eyes before too long as the thought of this problem when I get old and lose my memory or have a stroke or what ever is too awful to think about!
We need to do as many enjoyable activities as we can!
Cheers
Dot

[Silverlady]

Getting old with this problem

Dot,
I spoke with Suzanne Davis, CEO at Eyeeco this evening. She assures me that they are working on getting the goggles into nursing homes. I told her I hope they are a part of the medical requirement for people with dry eyes. She says they will be there long before you and I need them. This is a small satisfaction for me because I can't do without them. Having a progressive eye disease and knowing this is only going to get worse for me, I couldn't bear not having the goggles in a situation like that. I don't know how I would cope. So getting the email from Suzanne was a great stress reliever for me.

Billye

[Dotanne]

That is good news Billlye. I hope they get ones that can take a prescription too. I know my goggles save me quite a few drops and increase my comfort although I look like an alien.
Also I hope that the rest home people are careful with the heating and airconditioning too and keep the humidity up a bit. Maybe they could get spa pools too. How about a resthome just for dry eye patients!? Could be quite a demand as all the Lasik and PRK patients get older.
Dot

[Silverlady]

Long time in coming

Dotanne,
The nursing homes are so understaffed and a lot of the care is just substandard. I think changes will be a long time coming. The heating systems in a lot of them are antiquated. And with Medicare like it is, getting anything that is medically unnecessary accomplished, unless a large group of people need it, I don't think these things will happen. But then..it never hurts to wish.

Billye