Seeking relief...

[amo124]

I am posting on behalf of my husband. He had Lasik just about 1 year ago. He has dealt with dryness since his surgery and used Restasis + Systane for relief. He definitely had bad days, but it was manageable.

In the past 2 weeks his dryness has gotten much more severe. He had his 1 year post surgery check-up right around the time that the dryness worsened. He was told his meibomian glands were clogged and to use Ocusoft wipes or baby shampoo to wipe inside his eyelids. That made it much worse it seemed.

After reading this board he was trying to unclog the glands with warm compresses and massage. However today he went to a different opthamologist who said his glands are not clogged and there is no obvious reason for the dryness. He was given a steroid drop to try and was referred to a dry eye expert in this area.

I did order Dwelle and Nutratears but they haven't arrived yet. He also scheduled punctal plugs to be put in.

Anyway, I am looking for any possible way to help ease his pain. He is absolutely in agony most of the time.

I'd be interested in hearing if any of you have good tips to help on very bad days. I've been reading through these boards and it seems like a lot is just trial and error.

[liz56]

Hi, amo124. I'm sorry to hear about your husband's struggles with dry eye. You are right that it often is trial and error that lead us to what works best for each of us.

You did a great job of explaining the symptoms and steps that he is taking. Does he note a particular time of the day or night when his eyes are better or worse? That is something that seems to help me. I can often fend off my 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. painful eyes by drinking some water before then and using Dwelle drops. One weird thing that has helped my bad nights, too, is eating something soaked in olive oil or pouring an extra tablespoon of olive oil on a dinner salad or on pasta. It sounds so strange, and I don't do it all the time, but when my eyes are feeling really badly, it seems to help. Also, does your husband use any kind of moisture-chamber glasses or goggles? Knowing when the symptoms are worse might help to choose what kind of eye wear would help.

I hope that you can find some things that work.

--Liz

[amo124]

Thank you for your response. He does seem to notice that the dryness gets worse around 3-5 pm. However the past couple of days it has been very bad.

He is very concerned that he hasn't been able to find anything that will give him relief (no drops or gels). The good news is they were able to squeeze him in for plugs this morning. Please let this help!

[MyDryEyes]

I am so sorry to hear of your husband's suffering. I too am a refractive surgery dry eye casualty. A lot of folks have indicated that they were at their worst at 1 year post-op. Do not despair, there is lots of room for improvement.

I am about 10 months out from surgery and I have been terribly flared up for the past three weeks because of allergy season. From what I understand, spring can be a very hard time for us dry eye folks. Especially newbies who don't have a good management routine. Does he have any itching or burning sensations? If he does, he might want to have his doctor check for signs of allergies.

Just a thought!

MDE

[amo124]

I'll have to ask him if he has any itchiness, but I don't think he does. He does have some seasonal allergy issues, but he hasn't had a lot of redness or runny eyes so none of the doctors seem to think it is related (although I'm sure the high pollen counts don't help).

He did get the lower plugs inserted this morning and said his eyes are still very irritated but he can feel the tears pooling. I'm hoping it provides some relief over the next few days.

He asked the doctor not to use the yellow drops she had used in the past because that's one possible reason it worsened after his appointment 2 weeks ago.

He also said she could see some dry areas closer to his nose in both eyes.

Can I ask where you heard about dry eyes peaking at one year out? I haven't heard that so I'd be curious to read more about it. Most of what I've read seems to say that the first 6 months is usually the worst.

[MyDryEyes]

I have just heard from a few folks on this website that at one year they were still struggling. And that there is lots of room for improvement after one year. I think the 6-month thing is what the refractive surgery industry tells all of us is normal, but not necessarily true in all cases. Also, lots of the newer research indicates that it can take up to five years for corneal nerves to regenerate after LASIK. This is mentioned in the book by Dr. Latkany (who answers questions on this website). The book is "The Dry Eye Remedy" and I really encourage you and your hubby to read it. There is lots of good information in the book. AND, if you have questions for Dr. L, I encourage you to ask him. He might have a pearl of wisdom that could really help.

MDE

[amo124]

Gotcha - I did order Dr. Latkany's book - hopefully it will arrive today!

[Lois]

I know exactly what your husband is going through

I had Lasik surgery 10 year ago. I will make a long story short by saying I know have 2 plugs in one eye and 1 plug in the other. Within the last year my eyes took a turn for the worse. I have done the baby shampoo wash 3 times a day using liquid soap, Lotemax (a steroid), Doxycycline (for the glands in the upper eyelid, Pataday (for allergy of the eye), Restasit, and more recently a perscription drop called FreshKote. I started using FreshKote about 4 wks ago & immediately had some relief. About 5 days ago I quit taking the Restasis, after 6 months of using it, and find even more relief.

I am currently still taking the Doxycycline twice daily, Pataday once daily, Lotemax 4 times daily but will be cutting back on that to 3 than 2, and FreshKote 4 time daily. I feel the FreshKote is going to be my lifesaver

[Caroline]

Had to write

Hello. I just had to write because you husbands case sounds so similar to mine. I had LASIK 4 years ago and initially it was not too bad , then nearly a year later it was at its worst when my schmir result (a dry eye test) was O in both eyes. They are now 3 mm (15 is normal) and are much better.

The plugs will help but may not be noticable at first. I gave up on them and then went back to them. Glad i did as any moisture in my eyes stay in longer. Just make sure he gets the right size, i insisted on medium or large as know small ones can get lost down the tear duct, but everyone has different sizes.

It makes sense your husband find its worst between 3 and 5. Thats when i do and its because the temperature is at its highest and more importantly the humidity at its lowest. I know this because i now work in a small office that i monitor the humidity and humidify as necessary. I keep the humidity at at least 45- 50% and temp try below 22C. IT WORKS! I feel very lucky to live in England where it is cooler and more wet. I know i would suffer more badly otherwise as on very hot dry days (rare over here) I get pain around my eyes, burning and grittiness. Today its warm but humid and i have had no dry eye pain.

I do not get on well with any dry eye drops. I use them when needed but i find them leave a residue on my eyelashes which seems to make my eyes burn more. Like your husband i have been told by SOME doctors that i have inflammed meiobian glands and need to clean them. It is called blepharitus,basically means build up of germs on the eyelashes which block the meiobian glands. I believe LASIK causes this because the tears contain natural antibodies which kill germs and LASIK reduces tears, hence less antibodies. I clean with baby lotion once or twice daily. But I do NOT massage or use heat therapy. If i do the latter then it can give immediate relief but rubbing my eyes or the heat irritates my eyes and makes them worse in the long run. This is why i think you husband is now finding they have worsened, along with trying new eye drops.

From my experience i would encourage him trying a weak baby shampoo cleaning eyelashes routine, but avoid massage or heat, morning and night. It can take two weeks to see improvement. Get him to stay in the coolest room in the house with humidification, use wrap around glasses (sunglasses with day to night lenses are good). I also find when i gave up eye drops i noticed an improvement at the 1 year stage. I had been using viscotears before which are bad (contain preservatives). I sometimes use a little saline solution maybe once a day. Tell him it will most likely improve but it does take time to see what works best.

I think you are great for being so supportive and doing a very intelligent thing such as writing on a forum to ask sufferers. Doctors know a fair bit but having regulary gone to the eye hospital they know 10% of what i have learn't to help. They don't even suggest wrap around glasses!

All the best of luck to you and your husband.

[Caroline]

..also

I forgot to say that i agree with previous writer that spring is worst. Its when the humidity is at its lowest. Winter is dry but the cooler air helps. Summer is more humid and warm air can contain more moisture. I think what happens in Spring is that the air is still dry from the winter and with sunnier days the air just gets even dryer. Its not until the Sun heats up the sea that water evaporates more into the air. That why they say hay fever sufferes are better in latter summer as the moist air dampens down the pollen. Spring is always worst for me, that and winter indoor heating. I also need to avoid air conditioned places as it creates too much air flow movement for me. But if i avoid air con and dry air generally i can live most days pain free.

Alsi it can take 5 years or more for LASIKED eyes to recover apparently and as your husband is a man he is less likely to suffer as he ages than a woman.

[amo124]

Thank you for your response Caroline. I feel like his eyes have been through so much trauma lately and unfortunately several things that were supposed to help may have done more bad than good.

I read Dr. Latkany's book last night and got a few tips out of it. I'm going to buy him a gel mask that can be cooled (or heated) so he can see if the cold helps with inflammation.

I'm also going to buy some preservative free drops (he uses Systane but I'm not sure that it's preservative free) and store them in the refrigerator. I'm hoping the cold drops can provide some relief when he needs some additional help.

Our bedroom has a very high ceiling so our humidifier doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I might try sleeping in our guest room (smaller) with the humidifier to see if that helps.

He said he doesn't seem to notice much of a difference with the bottom plugs. I'm thinking he still needs more time with them because his eyes are still recovering from everything else.

[Caroline]

Hi

Your welcome.

Yes i think cool things will sooth the eyes when they feel like they are burning.

Humidifcation is easier in a smaller room. Your humidifer should say in the instructions the size of the room it can humidify but a small room with work quicker. If you don't already, just as important, is to get a hygrometer which shows the humidity of the room. I recomend over 45% but make sure the temperature is below 22C if you can. Which country are you in? Hopefully not too hot and arid! Don't use air coolers, they can create too much air flow movement.

I think it is good he is staying away from presverative eye drops, at least that he is trying that.

Also I have learn't with dry eye that there is what i call an accumalative effect. In that what even you do during the day adds up to whether you have dry eye later on. So say if I have a poor sleep, am in air con places for a couple of hours (shopping or something) and its a hot day then i would suffer a bit more later in the day. So prevention is better than cure sometimes. I don't know if your husband works or where he spends most of his time, but myself i gave up a good job that was in air conditioned environment and it really made all the difference. I now do not work in any open planned office and only in a small humidifable office. I know that to a lot of people that will seem like a luxury but we have stand up for our rights. We have a disability with respect to environment because our eyes do not produce enough tears and dry eye is painful and no one should have to tollerate that on a daily basis if it is avoidable. I personally found once the "lifestyle" is altered a bit then healing can take place (maybe not completley straight away but certaintly an improvement in the short term).

Best wishes. Please let us know how he is doing over the coming weeks and give him our regards as we have been there and know what he is going through.

Caroline

[amo124]

I'm happy to report that my husband is doing much better in the past few days. I'm not sure why really (it could be the lower plugs, new preservative-free drops, Dwelle, not being on the computer or just time for his eyes to recover). He definitely still has dryness, but there are periods here and there where he said he feels relatively normal. (which is a HUGE improvement from the agony he was in last weekend). He does have an appointment with a specialist this week and an appointment to get upper plugs in.

[Caroline]

Hi

Thats great news. Hope he is continuing to improve! Keep us posted.

[bernmee]

That is great to hear...has he tried Genteal pm Gel, not ointment, it was recommened to me by others on the site and in addition to the plugs i find it works great. Rebecca's rice baggy is also amazing for pain relief.

Good luck.

B.