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Me: male, 30's
Been lurking on the boards now for several months following PRK that I had done roughly 10 months ago to correct minor nearsightedness (L 1.25, R 1.50). I was hoping that my DE would be a temporary condition as I've learned that roughly 60% of laser vision patients experience some degree of dry eye during healing and only a very small percentage experience DE beyond 6 months. At the 3 month post-PRK check-up I was still putting in eye drops about once every hour and occasionally waking up with a stuck eye lid (hurts like hell). I was told by my optometrist to increase my omega-3, use warm compress, and switch from regular eye drops to Refresh Advanced. By following this advice, I was eventually able to improve my dry eye from putting in drops once an hour to about 6 times a day.
At the 6 month check-up I was still having dry eye discomfort and putting in drops about 6 times a day, so I was put on Restasis. At first, the Restasis really seemed to be improving my DE. I was eventually able to go most of the day without needing any eye drops at all, though my eyes never felt the way they did pre-PRK. The eye sticking mostly stopped except for a couple of times, though my eyes always felt off (almost like they were numb) when I would wake up. After a couple of months on the Restasis I decided to stop taking it because I noticed that it would make my eyes burn in the morning after putting in the drops and the burning would sometimes last into the afternoon. I also decided to quit the omega 3 around this time because the 3,000 mg dose was upsetting my stomach.
One thing I had discovered over the past few months is that the surface of my eyes would feel numb in the evening - almost like they would just shut down and decide to stop producing tears. I wouldn't get any burning sensation or redness, it was just a weird numbness. I found that if I lightly pressed on my eyes and rolled the eyes in the sockets up, down, left, and right I would get a very painful surface sensation and then a flood of tears, which would lubricate the eye and kick-start them again. I would do this eye rubbing exercise nightly and found that I could avoid having to use the drops if I did this.
Flash forward to about 3 weeks ago (no more Restasis, no omega-3, no warm compress) and I had spent the last 2 days working day and night staring at my computer screen with few breaks. Sunday afternoon I finish up my work and I notice my eyes are incredibly dried out. I try the rubbing eye trick I had been using and that isn't working anymore. That night, for the first time in months, my eyes are red and burning like crazy. I wake up the next morning with a stuck eye lid. As I'm working on the computer, I keep noticing what looks like a piece of hair or dust on my right eye lid. After trying to rub the piece of dust or hair several times I realize that it's in my vision. I've come to find out that the excessive eye rubbing likely caused a PVD in my right eye.
I've since started the Restasis and omega-3 again. Unfortunately, both of these take time to work so the last couple weeks have been absolute hell for me. I am back to where I was at the beginning of the PRK healing - only now I also have a floater in my otherwise perfect vision. I've become very depressed by this as I believed I was on the road to recovery only to find out that the DE is still very much an issue and at this point I believe it will be a chronic life-long condition for me.
I went to an ophthalmologist this week who diagnosed my floater as a PVD and told me that I have evaporative dry eye (left eye: 5 sec, right eye: 8) coupled with low tear production in my left eye (Schirmer: 7 in left, 13 in right). I had punctal plugs inserted in the lower ducts of both eyes. Fortunately, I've been getting some relief from the plugs; I just wish I had them done sooner and didn't resort to rubbing my eyes like an idiot
I'm doing my best to try to stay positive and hope that starting the Restasis again, taking omega-3, punctal plugs, and also starting warm compress at night will get me back to where I was or even better. I'm also hoping, though I know it's highly unlikely at this point, that there will still be some residual healing from the procedure that might improve my DE condition naturally. It took me nearly 4 months for my left eye (the drier eye) to get to the visual acuity it's at now, so maybe the dryness has slowed down the healing process?
Prior to PRK, the only times my eyes ever felt dry was in the winter when using the computer for too long. In 2009 after complaining to my optometrist that I couldn't wear my contacts comfortably anymore, I was told that I had very low oil secretion and a TBUT of 6 second in both eyes. The doc told me to start taking fish oil and I thought to myself 'what does fish oil have to do with wearing contact lenses?'. The same doc is the one I went to for my PRK pre-screening and told me that there was nothing that would put me at risk for having PRK. I guess she felt that the MGD issue wasn't all that serious and I had no signs of dry eye at the time. I think that the doctors performing these procedures should be required to thoroughly test patients for DE issues prior to surgery considering it is the #1 complication. If I would have been tested, I am sure they would have noticed the MGD issue and perhaps the low tear production in my left eye. Now I get to live out the rest of my life trying to keep this condition under control. Just glad that there is a community of fellow DE sufferers out there to share my experience with and keep hope alive. Thanks for anyone still reading this
Been lurking on the boards now for several months following PRK that I had done roughly 10 months ago to correct minor nearsightedness (L 1.25, R 1.50). I was hoping that my DE would be a temporary condition as I've learned that roughly 60% of laser vision patients experience some degree of dry eye during healing and only a very small percentage experience DE beyond 6 months. At the 3 month post-PRK check-up I was still putting in eye drops about once every hour and occasionally waking up with a stuck eye lid (hurts like hell). I was told by my optometrist to increase my omega-3, use warm compress, and switch from regular eye drops to Refresh Advanced. By following this advice, I was eventually able to improve my dry eye from putting in drops once an hour to about 6 times a day.
At the 6 month check-up I was still having dry eye discomfort and putting in drops about 6 times a day, so I was put on Restasis. At first, the Restasis really seemed to be improving my DE. I was eventually able to go most of the day without needing any eye drops at all, though my eyes never felt the way they did pre-PRK. The eye sticking mostly stopped except for a couple of times, though my eyes always felt off (almost like they were numb) when I would wake up. After a couple of months on the Restasis I decided to stop taking it because I noticed that it would make my eyes burn in the morning after putting in the drops and the burning would sometimes last into the afternoon. I also decided to quit the omega 3 around this time because the 3,000 mg dose was upsetting my stomach.
One thing I had discovered over the past few months is that the surface of my eyes would feel numb in the evening - almost like they would just shut down and decide to stop producing tears. I wouldn't get any burning sensation or redness, it was just a weird numbness. I found that if I lightly pressed on my eyes and rolled the eyes in the sockets up, down, left, and right I would get a very painful surface sensation and then a flood of tears, which would lubricate the eye and kick-start them again. I would do this eye rubbing exercise nightly and found that I could avoid having to use the drops if I did this.
Flash forward to about 3 weeks ago (no more Restasis, no omega-3, no warm compress) and I had spent the last 2 days working day and night staring at my computer screen with few breaks. Sunday afternoon I finish up my work and I notice my eyes are incredibly dried out. I try the rubbing eye trick I had been using and that isn't working anymore. That night, for the first time in months, my eyes are red and burning like crazy. I wake up the next morning with a stuck eye lid. As I'm working on the computer, I keep noticing what looks like a piece of hair or dust on my right eye lid. After trying to rub the piece of dust or hair several times I realize that it's in my vision. I've come to find out that the excessive eye rubbing likely caused a PVD in my right eye.
I've since started the Restasis and omega-3 again. Unfortunately, both of these take time to work so the last couple weeks have been absolute hell for me. I am back to where I was at the beginning of the PRK healing - only now I also have a floater in my otherwise perfect vision. I've become very depressed by this as I believed I was on the road to recovery only to find out that the DE is still very much an issue and at this point I believe it will be a chronic life-long condition for me.
I went to an ophthalmologist this week who diagnosed my floater as a PVD and told me that I have evaporative dry eye (left eye: 5 sec, right eye: 8) coupled with low tear production in my left eye (Schirmer: 7 in left, 13 in right). I had punctal plugs inserted in the lower ducts of both eyes. Fortunately, I've been getting some relief from the plugs; I just wish I had them done sooner and didn't resort to rubbing my eyes like an idiot
I'm doing my best to try to stay positive and hope that starting the Restasis again, taking omega-3, punctal plugs, and also starting warm compress at night will get me back to where I was or even better. I'm also hoping, though I know it's highly unlikely at this point, that there will still be some residual healing from the procedure that might improve my DE condition naturally. It took me nearly 4 months for my left eye (the drier eye) to get to the visual acuity it's at now, so maybe the dryness has slowed down the healing process?
Prior to PRK, the only times my eyes ever felt dry was in the winter when using the computer for too long. In 2009 after complaining to my optometrist that I couldn't wear my contacts comfortably anymore, I was told that I had very low oil secretion and a TBUT of 6 second in both eyes. The doc told me to start taking fish oil and I thought to myself 'what does fish oil have to do with wearing contact lenses?'. The same doc is the one I went to for my PRK pre-screening and told me that there was nothing that would put me at risk for having PRK. I guess she felt that the MGD issue wasn't all that serious and I had no signs of dry eye at the time. I think that the doctors performing these procedures should be required to thoroughly test patients for DE issues prior to surgery considering it is the #1 complication. If I would have been tested, I am sure they would have noticed the MGD issue and perhaps the low tear production in my left eye. Now I get to live out the rest of my life trying to keep this condition under control. Just glad that there is a community of fellow DE sufferers out there to share my experience with and keep hope alive. Thanks for anyone still reading this
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