New here, hello:)

[Crowesgirl]

Hello,

I had all laser custom wavefront LASIK almost 5 weeks ago. Since then my eyes are very dry and I've developed a nice artificial tears habit! I know I am early on in the process so hopefully this will resolve...it was very disconcerting to watch a sad movie about a week out from the surgery and have the emotion of crying but physically not being able to do so. Is that common? I couldn't shed a tear right now if my dog died.

I knew going in that dry eye is a common side effect but now that I've been researching, I realize that I had dry eye before surgery. I hope I haven't pushed myself over the edge into a chronic condition. I wore contacts for 25 years and had typical symptoms of dry eye which I attributed to my contacts. On the good side, my vision is perfect and I don't have many blurry moments.

My main question at this point is how can I get through more than two hours of sleep at night? I am using the Refresh PM ointment and wake at 12:00, 2:00 and 4:00. At 4:00 I just put in some gel drops which gets me through to 5:30. At that point I give up and get up! At least I'm getting a headstart on my mornings (trying to keep a positive attitude). I just ordered the Tranquileyes and am looking forward to trying them.

Thanks for such a great board.

CG

[lboogie]

Hi sorry you're here -- search "lasik" if you want to find other people's stories and trials and triumphs. I'm 11 months post-lasik and still struggling -- although I must admit....better. I too couldn't cry at first -- crazy. But I can cry now -- oh boy.....can I ever.

good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[Jen72]

I had a similar experience, I could even cut onions with no tears. I am 4 mos. post Lasek and I can cry now, so its probably temporary. Is your Dr. treating the dry eyes? You may want to consider other options ie, plugs, Restasis etc. if its so bad that you cant get through a night. As you will see on this board there are a lot of suggestions re. comfort that helped me immensely.

[Lucy]

CG, I'm guessing you paid big bucks to your doctor for this surgery.. You need to take these problems to him and not suffer in silence. Most docs have followup care in their global fee.

As the others said, he can discuss the option of plugs, see if you have an infection and advise you of other things available. (No secret cures around.) There is much info available here in this forum. Ring up your doc and tell him you are hurting. Good luck in your healing. Lucy

[Crowesgirl]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I have been back to see the optometrist every week since the surgery. I have not seen the surgeon since the surgery but am thinking I need to ask to see her. I am on Pataday for an allergic response in my right eye, he said he saw "mild bumps" on the underside of the lid which is what I am feeling. The Pataday is helping in that regard.

I will call again and pursue the issue of plugs or Restasis. I asked about plugs at week three but he said something about that if he plugged the tear ducts I wouldn't be able to remove the allergens...however I think that since I have so few tears as it is, I'm not really cleaning those out anyway.

I have ordered HydroEye supplements as well.

I am due for a check up with my regular optometrist. Do you think that is something I should pursue? It would be a second opinion and I have a long stand relationship with him.

Thanks again,
CG

[Crowesgirl]

Ok, just made an appt with my regular optometrist for Friday. Apparently he does lots of post Lasik follow ups and since I'm so comfortable with him I will bombard him with questions until I feel satisfied

[Dotanne]

In NZ when I had Lasik the surgeon paid the optometrist(about $200) to do the follow up work. Little did they know what they took on with me. But I still felt it necessary to hound the Lasik surgeon as they make all the big bucks and need to know what they have done!!!

In fact I did pester the surgeon as I wasn't getting a lot of joy from my optometrist(though he was sympathetic but didn't know much about dry eye). The surgeon wasn't much help either and it took ages to hear back from him too. This board was my biggest saviour!

I am finding this - the surgeons do the operations and then pass all the little? worries onto the lower levels (optometrists and GPs). Though that didn't happen with my husband's cataract opthalmologist - he was very good and took me under his wing too but I had to pay for it. He wasn't up to the play totally with dry eye either. I have educated him a bit! BUT he was concerned enough to ring me up on a Sunday morning to talk to me about my pain that I had then. He was contactible and could fit you in to his schedule if it was urgent. He is originally from South Africa.
Dot

[Guest]

My opinion is that you need to speak with the original surgeon.

They need to be made aware of the problems being created by this surgery.

Sure they will try and palm you off to someone else, after all if it is swept under the carpet it isn't their problem.

I would be making a little more noise and getting an appointment with the original surgeon.

Just my thoughts but it certainly worked for me.

Warm regards
Ian

[Crowesgirl]

Thanks everyone...I have called and made an appt with the surgeon as well. I tend to not be a very assertive person so thank you for the push in the right direction.

[Lucy]

After my lasik, many years ago, my lasik surgeon did send me to his optometrist. They are in the same office and the opt works for Mr. Butcher.

Well, after a couple of appointments, guess who was ushered off to the Butcher's office? Yep. And forever more. I told the optometrist flat-out that he was lying when he said my plug was still in place. It was not.

Good luck on this CG.....the squeaky wheel.............