Hello everyone!

[ouch]

My name is Donna and I just found out today that I have Anterior Basement Membrane Dystrophy with Recurrent Corneal Erosion. What a mouth full, huh? About a year ago I had opened my eyes during the night and thought someone had thrown glass in my eye. OUCH! Ended up in the ER but they couldn't tell me anything. So for about a year now I've been putting lubricants and drops in my eyes to no avail. I went to an optician and he couldn't tell me anything. Finally, I went to an Opthamologist, MD this morning and this was his diagnosis. Has anyone else gone through this and how are you doing now? I look forward to reading your experiences!

[liz56]

Same here.

Hi, Donna.

I'm sorry to hear about your erosions. I suffered from them for eight months before I started to really heal up. Now, I manage the problem, and it has lessened for me to the point where I feel like I might be able to avoid surgical options.

There are lots of things to try. Cindy's posts and recommendations helped me a lot. It is also helpful to read Rojzen's posts on Dr. Holly's drops. There are lots of other people here with that condition, so if you run a search for ebmd or rce, you will find lots of good tips and suggestions.

What has helped me is to use Dr. Holly's Dwelle during the day and about an hour before bedtime. (Dr. Holly has a couple of threads on ebmd / rce under his discussion area, and he explains that he helped trial lawyers who had this problem with his drops.) Then, I use Genteal Gel at night. I also use Tranquileyes goggles. Using the moistened goggles helped me to get to a point where the erosions were most dramatically reduced. Now, I use them dry. They keep my eyes closed at night, and when I get up, I have time to employ Cindy's suggestion to apply bland drops (I use Refresh, preservative free vials, Tears Naturale II, or Theratears) to my closed eyes, right in the corner of the eye by the nose. Then, if the eye is stuck, the drops will seep in and help to ease the eye open, avoiding an erosion. This gives the corneal epithelium more time to heal up, so that it will stop being re-injured.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress. As you will hear a lot on this discussion board, "Things will get better." It's not just a line. It is true.

Best,
Liz

[ouch]

To Liz56

Thank you so much for your encouragement! I thought I was going nuts! I appreciate your references for Dr. Holly's drops...my doctor prescribed Restasis, Lotemax and Muro 128 ointment (boy is that stuff expensive!). I hope all goes well with your recovery! I really don't want the surgery so I will be doing what the doctor tells me too.

[liz56]

Muro 128 5%

Hi, Donna.

Dr. Holly has some feedback on using Muro 128 5%. I was on it for a month. It did what it needed to do, I suppose, but it stung. I was happy when I was able to give it up for a more comfortable-feeling eye drop. You may want to look at Dr. Holly's posts on it.

--Liz

[Mcgoldilocks]

Hi Donna

Yep, me too. Have been having erosions every few months for years but I never knew what they were until I found this site. I'm waiting to see a corneal specialist in May (in the UK the doctors keep you waiting) but I am pretty sure there is some dystrophy type problem, as it happens in both eyes.

It's such a pain but I'm glad there are so many things out there for us to try and relieve the severity of episodes. Good luck and let me know what works for you, I am thinking about shipping over some Dwelle as that seems to be what everyone raves about, and perhaps some Tranquileyes (I'm currently taping my eyes at night).