Yes I am the dry eye newbie

[woman9469]

It's wonderful I found this site today! I've had problems with dry eyes for 3 years with no diagnoses until last week. Finally it was figured out to be Sjogren's. I've tried every eye drop imaginable. Restatsis, Optivar, Pataday, Lotemax, every over the counter drop/gel, punctal plugs -- you name it. Nothing helps. Sadly, also the contact lens days are over.

Can anyone tell me their experience with Lacriserts? I'm picking them up tomorrow for one last ditch effort to not go thru a whole bottle of lubricating eye drops per day.

Thanks!

[eva]

please read the threads "goops and ointments" - something like that.

I found something there that helped.

good luck

eva

[Terri]

I used Lacriserts for about a month. I was encouraged at first because I got about five hours of relief from them. That was a big improvement over the every 10 to 20 minutes that I was using drops. After five hours, though, the Lacriserts caused very blurred vision due to breakdown of the capsule. At that point, I would remove the remaining insert by pushing upward on my lower eyelid and either insert another one or go back to drops for the rest of the day. (I usually got another couple of hours of relief after removal due to residual film on the eye, which got me through most of the workday.)

However, my eye was also plugged at the time, which I think helped the Lacriserts dissolve. When I had the plug removed, the Lacriserts ceased to work. They wouldn't dissolve, even three hours after insertion.

I didn't like the process of inserting them. I believe there's a significant risk of eye injury. I tried Dwelle a couple of months after Lacriserts, and I found that Dwelle provides even longer-lasting protection than Lacriserts, without blurring vision or risking eye injury.