Dexamethazone

[Ericska]

My opto wants me to try PF dexamethazone drops for two weeks. I haven't read very good things about it. Has anyone tried it and what is/was your experience?

[grant555]

its a pretty powerful steroid. if you have inflammation, it should make your eyes feel wonderful, if only for a very brief period of time. you definitely cannot rely on it long-term, but it may help calm things down.

[PeterBelgian]

Use it if you have inflammation , in my case i didnot had any inflammation ( one doctor told me i had , two others saying me i dont have it). I trusrt the one saying i had inflammation and use it. After the first drop i feel like all my moisture left my eyes in both eyes , just after the FIRST drop. Read some post here where steroids wrosen things. I hope you will not be in this case. But be careful.

Since then , no doctors believed me about what dexamethasone did to my eyes. But i'm sure it is , 10 mn after the first drop , i suffer from side effects. I regret so much not having listened the others two doctors.. but who can know how this powerfull steroids can destroy eyes. Be careful Ericska

[Ericska]

Thank you. I actually haven't tried it because I don't believe I have inflammation. I had a bad experience with lotemax so I wasn't willing to give this one a try ...He wants me to use it with the Restasis ..... but I chose not to.

[grant555]

steroids definitely have a rebound effect where things might feel worse after you stop using it. as peter says, some people believe they can do more long-term damage, although I don't think that's been proven at this point.

[bunnyrabbit123]

, Ericska,. Does your doctor think you have inflammation? Some doctors "jump-start" use of restasis with a short course of steroids- I never liked lotemax either but did use lose dose compounded pf dexamethasone for a while with good result. . It came from Leiter's in California. 2 weeks isn't a long time to try this.. I had to quit the dexamethasone because my pressure levels started to go up-

[Ericska]

Thanks Bunny - no, actually he prescribed it so that the Restasis doesn't burn when I use it and hopefully speed up the process. With the bad experience I had with lotemax, I'm not really keen on trying this one. it is the PF dexamethasone but still ...I was supposed to start it this past Saturday 4x a day for two weeks but I haven't done it yet. My appointment with my opto is on the 12th. He also said it would help with the pain I am feeling on the top of my eyeballs, as if someone or something is pushing down on them ...

[bunnyrabbit123]

Oh, I see-So he's hopeful that the burn from the restasis will subside after a bit? I didn't get burning from restasis but didn't get much help either- I hope your experience will be different E. This just gets very wearying after a while- My thought is this-if you go back to opto without even trying the dexa, he may see you as uncooperative- think about at least giving it a try?

[Ericska]

HI Bunny - Yes, I have certainly thought about that and am intending to try it for a few days at least. He is a wonderful doctor who I feel understands dry eyes so I don't want to piss him off!

I actually don't get much burning either because I keep the Restasis in the fridge. And before I started doing that, I used Systane Ultra 15 minutes before and after and that helped too.

I'm worried about the redness on my eyes. They are getting worse, no matter how hard I try to comply with everything. You are so right - it is very wearying! And worrisome!

[Ericska]

Hi Bunny - How long were you on Restasis? I can't say I've noticed a difference yet but I just started in September and I understand it could take 2 - 4 months to help ... I've noticed a lot of posts here where people say it didn't actually help ...

[bunnyrabbit123]

E- I gave restasis 2 years before throwing in the towel. Restasis didn't help my inflammation but the dexa did. I wish I could have stayed on the dexa but I had to cut it back from 3 x a day to 1x every other day because my pressure levels went up to low 20's and doctor didn't like that. At that dose it was a waste of time. I think, aside from blocked glands which make it impossible to keep tears on the eye, my big problem is night time- eyes don't close all the way and there just isn't a good way to make this happen- I think you have night problems too, yes?

[Ericska]

YES!! I have tried tape, goggles, everything. I still use ointment because I need something but I need to get up at least 3x a night or by the time I wake up my eyes are worse than sandpaper. My eyes open during my sleep. I wake up with blood red and dry eyes so now I've just myself trained to wake up 3-4x a night for the ointment and drops. I did finally find a tape/patch that kept my eyes closed but I didn't find that it helped the tear issue so I stopped that because it was just as dry as not using it.

I am aqueous deficient and my glands are blocked. Each morning I do the warm compress, wash my eyes and then my lashes before I shower. Then I start with my drops, etc., etc. and that's the rest of my day basically. Work is torture because my job is 95% computer work so I take breaks often, close my eyes every chance I can, tinted my glasses and have the lights dimmed in my office. Not helping much but hey, can't hurt either.

So you've completely stopped the dexa now?

My Schirmer test was very low again My opto will test this again on the 12th. I will have been on Restasis for 3 months so I think he's just curious ...

[Ericska]

Hi Bunny - I forgot to ask, how do you get through the day? You said your big problem is the night time, which is mine as well but during the day I need drops OFTEN. I also do cool compresses while at work and warm ones at home ...

[bunnyrabbit123]

Ericska, I'm retired so not forced to stare at a computer all day anymore, which would be impossible for me now. I'm on the computer very little anymore. Right now, I do my best with soothe ointment and 2 pieces of glad press and seal at night. This is far from perfect but it's better than the drawer full of goggles, sleep masks and so on. I quit warm compresses-my glands are blocked and short of scalding myself don't see any benefit from this-heat only makes things worse for me, I have oblong gel packs in the freezer and I use those a couple times a day- the rest of the time it's the serum tears and pf tears-
At my visit last week to eye doc, he didn't do the schirmer but put 2 dyes in (it took days to get over this) 1 yellow and 1 green- I asked what he saw-he said "very low tear film" .He also says my corneas look fine-
What was your optos' reaction to the specialists arrogant behavior? I've seen a few of these myself- it gets discouraging.

[bunnyrabbit123]

Oh, another thing- I run a humidifier in the bedroom at night, not sure how much this is helping but I'm doing it anyway-in rereading your morning routine, E- is it possible you are doing too much? what do you mean by "wash your eyes" sometimes less is more-I understand the need to get rid of nighttime ointments but carefully cleaning lids with a q-tip or wet pad of some sort might suffice?
more later-