Hi!

[blueeyes]

This is so difficult to write. I have been suffering from dry eyes for almost two years now. Up until that point I wore gas perm contact lenses with little problem. One morning in Jan of 2005 I woke up with what was diagnosed as blepharoconjuntivitis. I couldn't imagine where it came from. I always took great care of my eyes and never thought I could end up where I am now. I tried to go back into my contact lenses after the infection was gone, but could not tolerate them. My eyes had become so dry due to the infection. I spent the next 4 months doing warm compresses, lid scrubs, theratears, and restasis. By the end of May 2005 my opthamalogist said my eyes looked great and why not have lasik surgery since I had been out of my contacts so long. Well, I did it not only May of 2005, but I also had an enhancement of my left eye in Nov 2005 and my right eye in April of 2006. I must have been crazy! What a mistake and I beat my self up everyday because of it. I wish so much I could redo those decisions.
Now it is Jan 2007 and I have seen 5 different doctors in the hope that one will be able to help. I live in the Phila suburbs and have the best eye physicians in the country available to me. I swear they all belong to the same club. To compound the problem menopause is at my doorstep and the hormone situation is wreaking havoc with my eyes.
My present regimen is warm compresses twice daily, lid scrubs twice daily. I try to use restasis twice daily, but I seem to have become slightly intolerant of it. My eyes get more red after I use it. I have used it for about 18 months now. I use theratears and theratears gel. I have also tried the genteal liquid gel drops to replace the systane that was recalled. I use an ointment in my eyes at night.
My vision deteriorates as the day goes on and by night I am very uncomfortable. This rules my life and I have two beautiful children and a husband that need me. How do I cope with this? I thought after two years I would be better and it just seems like I am getting worse. That's it, I can't write anymore now, it is too upsetting. Thanks for listening.
Terri

[YGB]

Terri - you may want to ask your MD (or a new MD) about doxycycline. It is an oral tablet that can reduce eyelid inflammation. Some MD's start the patient on 200 mg and reduce it to 100 mg or 50 mg or ... as time goes on.

Also, I like you have dry issues that get worse as the day goes on. My dry eye problems are typically not too bad when I sleep. I am not sure how bad your eyes are at night, but you may want to consider stopping the pre-bed ointment and replacing it with a humidifier and/or tranquileyes. Sometimes tweaking your routine (and that at times means less is more), can help. Just monitor changes and adjust as needed.

I know that in my case, the night time ointment was definitely not helping my eyes. However, for others, it does.

Also, a good omega 3 supplement may help. I use the following ...

Fish Oil/omega 3's - http://www.vitacost.com/Carlson-The...Finest-Fish-Oil or
https://secure5.nexternal.com/share...ount2=175422310

Resting your eyes when possible and Panoptyx goggles may help as well.

Visit the Dry Eye Shop at ... http://www.dryeyeshop.com

This site is like a pro-shop for dry eye sufferers. It provides info. on the Panoptyx and Tranquileyes Eye Hydrating Therapy that I mentioned above.

[neil0502]

Welcome, Terri. I'm so sorry for your story and your struggles, but I absolutely understand.

To me, you sound like the kind of person who should consider being seen by the Boston Foundation for Sight to be evaluated for their scleral lens.

I just got back from there on Friday evening. My story can be found here.

I talked with the doctors at the clinic and asked THEM to describe what kind of dry eye patients THEY thought would be candidates. What I typed in bold text represents THEIR view on who should come.

You may be one of these candidates. You sound pretty debilitated by your symptoms. Again, I understand.

I wish you all the best.

Neil

[Judy]

Hi Terri,

Welcome. Please hang in there and know that being a member with all of the other dry eye buds will help you immensely. Don't ever blame yourself for choosing Lasik with already having had dry eyes. The majority of Lasik surgeons definitely don't warn of the possibility of dry eye resulting from Lasik surgery or they tend to minimize the risk. I have very dry eyes and did not even do Lasik. There are so many people in this group who really DO NOT EVEN KNOW for sure why they have dry eyes. Keep the faith, keep researching, and take control of your eye management as best you can.

God Bless!

[blueeyes]

Thanks for replys

I guess I failed to mention because by first posting became overwhelming after a time. I am taking low dose doxycycline after months of taking oral erythromycin. In addition, I take theratears nutritions, although I need to find something else due to high concentration of Vitamin E. I do use a humidifier in my bedroom at night.
Thank you all for responding and for your suggestions. Any ideas on how to alleviate the bloodshot eyes that I have. Is that a result of the dryness or the blepharitis or both. I can't seem to get rid of it.
Thanks,
Terri

[Judy]

Terri,

I really think your eyes will get better with more time on the Doxy, along with continuing the warm compresses and lid scrubs. I went thru 6 months where I thought I would never get better (particularly the RED EYES and RED EYELIDS) and finally things seemed to settle down.

The two things I recently added to my various routines, eyedrops, etc. were:

1) Carlson's Very Finest Fish Oil (orange capsules)
&
2) Rinsing my eyes every morning in the shower with Unisol Saline (no preservatives). Rebecca offered this tip and it feels great and I feel as tho it really cleans the scum out of my eyes. I use a q-tip after the shower sometimes also and gently run it over both eyelids, both upper and lower before putting my face cream and makeup on (which I"M sure does not help, but I'm too vain to go without makeup at this point).

[blueeyes]

Judy,
Thanks I am going to try the fish oil you suggested and get some of the saline. I hope the doxy works, I have been on it around 9 weeks. It is low dose though. I wonder if I should be taking at least 100mg.
Terri

[YGB]

Of course, what works for me may not work for you, but since you asked about redness in the eyes, here was my experience.

I had lots of redness when my eyes were severely dry post-LASIK. They weren't constantly red, but they were frequently red. My eyes still get red on occasion, but much less frequently.

I went to one of my former MD's, and she gave me a prescription for Alrex (steroid drop). Up until this point, I had followed every MD's instructions and I felt like I was just getting worse and worse. At that time, I had 4 plugs, was using systane drops every 5-15 minutes, doing lid scrubs with baby shampoo, doing warm compresses 4x/day, and taking doxy 200 mg/day.

I decided to not stop everything, but instead to use what I had learned by talking to various MD's and reading about dry eyes on this BB and other places. I first started with the things that seemed to be irritating my eyes to at least some degree. The 2 things in my case were the lid scrubs with baby shampoo and the night-time/sleep gel. When I dropped those 2 things out of my routine, the redness was significantly reduced. Many days, my eyes look nice and white (although they still don't feel as good as I'd like).

After a few more weeks, I then experimented with different drops and found that TheraTears worked best on what I feel are my "sensitive eyes". I also now mostly use Nature's Tears that is a water mist.

When I felt like my eyes were feeling a little better and that I was comfortable in knowing I had drops/mist that relieved my eyes when needed (albeit temporarily) I had 2 plugs pulled to help reduce inflammation in my eyelids (and it did) and then the other 2 plugs fell out (likely due to the lid massages that I do). I took life slow when I had the plugs pulled since the MD told me that she figured she'd see me back within a week with me asking to have the plugs put back in. In my effort to prove her wrong (and help my eyes), I kept my eyes wet with drops/mist so that my eyes could transition back to a no plug state. In my case, the transition was not too difficult since the plugs did little to help me to begin with. Now I'm plugless and feeling better than I did with all 4 plugs!

In the end, the best advice that I can give is do not change everything you are doing at once. However, obviously you are not at a good point right now and your body/eyes is sending you a message (i.e. pain and irritation). Usually this message is a way of asking that changes be made. In the world of dry eye, these changes require careful thought, patience, and diligence. I'm not suggesting that you follow my changes noted above (that took about 3 months in various stages to fully play out). However, think about your routine and tweak things that don't seem to be working well. I know that vaseline based night-time gels can be irritating to eyes. The same is true for baby shampoo. Best. YGB

[dianat]

Yes, I would be concerned about the type of gel you are using at night. Anything with petrolatum is a no-no. Lubrication you will have, but it will ultimately do your tear film no good.

Also, I know someone who had a tough time tolerating Restasis. I do as well. He decided to just use it at night, and definitely after extended us it did help him somewhat. Some people don't see an improvement with Restasis for a very, very long time. Months...maybe even a year or more. Stick with it if you can. There is a treatment out there where one can use a steriod drop in conjunction with Restasis. I believe it is supposed to jump-start the effects of restasis, probably by acting on inflammation. You might be able to get a doc to pull away from a "club" meeting long enough to prescribe this for you. They should be familiar with the treatment. I've considered trying this myself.

Humifiier in your home and bedroom are great. I am noticeably worse when it's not humid in my house.

Try using Tranquileyes or face mask at night to keep your eyes gently closed. Check out the dry eye shop for the Tranquileyes.

Also consider trying the eye drops offered at the Dry Eye Shop. Many people feel they are better than the regular OTC drops out there. Every bit of comfort we can find matters!

I am also the resident caregiver: three kids, a hubby and a 75 gallon tank full of fish. They all need me badly. (Those ungrateful fish just can't understand this dry eye thing.) I have been where you are and have managed for four-and-a-half years of post-LASIK dryness. I empathize with you and wish you the best in all this.

Feel free to "private message" me if you like.

Diana

[heather g]

Hi Terri. I am sorry to see you here but am glad you are posting on this site. It has helped me so much. Especially when my eyes were at their worst and I was frustrated and hopeless. I am 9 months post lasik and was diagnosed with blepharitis in November. I have been on restasis for 9 months and though I see little help from that alone I continue to use it because I feel it is a combination of the things I use. When I began the doxy and lid scrubs in November I didn't see a huge change. However, just in the last week or so have noticed a slow improvement. Discontinuing the ointment at night was huge. Within a few days I felt better. I use genteal gel at night and a humidifier in the house and the bedroom. I had a fear of giving the ointment up because I had had 2 corneal abrasions previously. The genteal really helped though.
Hang in there and find what works for you. I know it can be hard to take care of the kids and life in general when you have so much discomfort.
Heather

[skygoddess]

Hi,
You are in the right place now. I feel exactly the same way you do, but I have been encouraged and helped by all the advice and understanding that I found here. I am sure you will be too.
Keep you chin up.

[Rojzen]

it is all very real; would you consider a prosthetic (moisture chambers or panoptyx)?

Dear Terri - - I remember what it was like not to be able to get the words out. I am sounding like a broken record, but I wanted to be sure that you have considered a mechanical barrier to the air that is constantly irritating your ocular surface. . .I use multiple solutions, but moisture chamber glasses, custom-fitted for me, got me out of chronic unemployability to a job in which I must do computer work 8 hours daily. . .There really is hope. . .I have been to the wonderful Wills Eye Hospital, but the kind docs there were just not adding anything to the picture. . .This has been true everywhere I've been. . .Most docs still think we are exaggerating things, because our corneas have not yet rotted out of our sockets. . .Our reality is pain and sensitivity that makes us unable to think of anything else. . .Please see my post on moisture chambers and amitriptyline. . .Also, I am experimenting now with a lovely gel (from GNC) made of pure glycerin and Vita E. . .dabbed on the EXTERIOR of the lids, like eye shadow ("supracutaneously"). . .You are going to get better. . .No matter how it all happened. . .Of this I"m sure. . .

[blueeyes]

Rojzen,
Can you give me more details on who fit you for the moisture chambers? Did you see the corneal group at Wills? Who do you see now, perhaps it's close to where I live?
Thanks,
Terri

[Silverlady]

Custom Moisture Chamber Eyeglasses

Blue Eyes,
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. makes these frames. I'm not sure about other places.

Billye