Eyes at night time (ointments not working)

[teddy1324]

I have suffered dry eyes for about four years now since the age of 17. I still haven't been able to find a regime which keeps my eyes from desiccation at night, as traditional ointments like lacrilube/vitapos do nothing to prevent extreme dryness - my corneas stick to my kids and my eyes feel very sore. I have also tried tranquil eyes as well as onyx shields. The former do absolutely nothing and the latter consistently came off and caused a lot of irritation behind my ears. All the preservative free gels I have tried (including xailin gel, lubristil, the thea ones with tehalose, imported genteal severe gel, to name a few) all dry up in my eyes overnight, leaving a crusty residue in them which only makes everything worse.

The only product that has worked for me in keeping my eyes moist all night is Artelac night time gel. Invariably, it has the preservative cetrimide in it, so I can't use it.

And so my question is this: is there any gel that anyone here knows of or uses that is effective in keeping eyes healthy and moist overnight that is preservative free? And if there really isn't an alternative to Artelac night time gel, do the benefits of keeping my eyes moist at night outweigh the toxic effects of the preservative?

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to help!

[elbliss]

I don't have any advice, but I too am looking for a good night time option. Genteal gel makes me worse, and I don't like using ointments like refresh PM. What I have been using is just preservative free Celluvisc gel, but it requires more than one application throughout the night so it's not long lasting enough. I also just wear a regular sleep mask as I also did not have any luck with the goggles.

[meibomian]

Trying to keep "dry eyes" moist during sleep with the thickest or smoothest ointment/gel likely will not help and may worsen the problem. The underlying cause is generally not due to excess evaporation or inadequate water/aqueous production. It's the oil secretion along your lids during sleep that leads to the cascade of inflammation that cause dry eye symptoms. Ointments will block the flow of inflammatory components that must drain through the lacrimal system, since they won't clear by evaporation like water to any great degree. Try letting warm water run across your closed eyelids for 2 minutes at night and scrub the lash line of the closed eyelids for 15-20 seconds with a mild shampoo. The running warm water removes the dirt, oil residue, and bacteria on your eyelids in addition to warming them. Heating pads just warm the lids.

[Bill Sonoma County]

Teddy,

Hypertonic drops and ointments such as Muro128 have been used to treat corneal erosions. Some of us believe that some DED pain is due to micro erosions, not seen by slit lamp, and sometimes the hypertonic approach will work. The seeming contradiction of using a potentially "drying" agent in DED has been discussed before in these forums. Of course, check with MD first to see if this might be an option.

[m4shore]

I have suffered dry eyes for about four years now since the age of 17. I still haven't been able to find a regime which keeps my eyes from desiccation at night, as traditional ointments like lacrilube/vitapos do nothing to prevent extreme dryness - my corneas stick to my kids and my eyes feel very sore. I have also tried tranquil eyes as well as onyx shields. The former do absolutely nothing and the latter consistently came off and caused a lot of irritation behind my ears. All the preservative free gels I have tried (including xailin gel, lubristil, the thea ones with tehalose, imported genteal severe gel, to name a few) all dry up in my eyes overnight, leaving a crusty residue in them which only makes everything worse.

The only product that has worked for mte in keeping my eyes moist all night is Artelac night time gel. Invariably, it has the preservative cetrimide in it, so I can't use it.

And so my question is this: is there any gel that anyone here knows of or uses that is effective in keeping eyes healthy and moist overnight that is preservative free? And if there really isn't an alternative to Artelac night time gel, do the benefits of keeping my eyes moist at night outweigh the toxic effects of the preservative?

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to help!

Many patients get good results with eye masks. Have you tried any?
They create a moisture chamber and prevent tear evaporation.

Popular choices are the EyeSeals, Onyix, TranquilEyes.

[MGD1701]

...........