Starbursts and ghosting, dry eye sensation without actual dryness.. HELP

[zuminin]

Hi phenix01 I'm also from Canada thinking of getting probing done. What's the name of the doctor that did your probing? Would you recommend him/ her? Did it hurt?

Dowork123

I do not know how I missed your comment.

I have ordered tape from dry eye shop but am still waiting to receive them. I ask my doctor to prescribe serum but he said I need an Ophthalmologist to prescribe that.

Does this serum has any side effect? Not that I care that much at this stage.

If the serum is prepared right, no side effects except pure bliss when inserted into your eye. Plus, you’re not going to be allergic to these drops...that’s why I use them 12+ times a day. They just feel sooooo good...keep pushing for them.

[ebi1368]

So Ebi, I have a theory about the partial blink. I believe corneal sensation/pain effects your ability to blink. For example, I injured my cornea, and I continue to sleep eyes open partially. What’s interesting is the left eye, for whatever reason, is shutting pretty well. So my cornea in that side feels pretty good, no gritty, sandpaper feeling. So the cornea is much healthier, so is my blink on that side. On my right side, for whatever reason I’m still trying to figure out, my blink is poor. I’d almost call my lid partially paralyzed on the right side. It perpetuates this cycle...the eye doesn’t shut well, the inflammation and pain cause the lid to malfunction, which makes it hard to blink and keep eyes closed at night...vicious cycle.

i have no clue how I broke that cycle in the left eye. It was my worse eye for most of this injury. There’s only two things different...the left eye had a debridement, and I had a 10 day course of moxifloxacin after a few erosions, that’s it. I’m almost tempted to run the antibiotic in the right eye and see if it helps. As I sit here, my left eye feels pretty normal, the right eye feels sore, pressure and burning. I’m going to take them shut again, forever if need be. It’s the only ting helping me heal...and the steroids of course.

i hope you can get on some serum and get some more comfort soon. Doxy only took 3 weeks to work for me and I started producing clear oil from my glands. That’s was 100mg 2x a day monohydrate tablets. I HATE the capsules, they destroy my stomach. The serum felt good immediately but I didn’t notice much until I went up to 50% concentration and that took 4-6 weeks to really see a difference.

Dowork123

I do not know how I missed your comment.

I have ordered tape from dry eye shop but am still waiting to receive them. I ask my doctor to prescribe serum but he said I need an Ophthalmologist to prescribe that.

Does this serum has any side effect? Not that I care that much at this stage.

[ebi1368]

I am living in Canada, Calgary. Thursday and Friday were my worse days. The past 3 day has been good. Still no much difference in ghosting and etc.

[phenix01]

In Canada, could be the weather but the past days I have been inside in full blown AC, including today which is a not-so-bad day so far, 7/10 comfort.

[ebi1368]

PROBING UPDATE

Sorry for all the updates, it is evolving quite fast.
To summarize:
Week 1 and 2 = awesome, eyes feeling 8-9/10 depending on days.
Week 3 = pretty bad, mainly my left eye, could barely tolerate the computer screen at night, it was burning, depressing week.
End of week 3 = it's been two days where the situation got better (I don't know why!). right eye is near perfect, left eye burns a bit at time, I have to use drop, but overall I can function well. Hopefully the left eye catches up next week. I'm doing warm compresses 2-3x/day. Also doing lid massages and scrubs once in a while.

Which city are you living in? It could be due to humidity that you are feeling this way.

[phenix01]

PROBING UPDATE

Sorry for all the updates, it is evolving quite fast.
To summarize:
Week 1 and 2 = awesome, eyes feeling 8-9/10 depending on days.
Week 3 = pretty bad, mainly my left eye, could barely tolerate the computer screen at night, it was burning, depressing week.
End of week 3 = it's been two days where the situation got better (I don't know why!). right eye is near perfect, left eye burns a bit at time, I have to use drop, but overall I can function well. Hopefully the left eye catches up next week. I'm doing warm compresses 2-3x/day. Also doing lid massages and scrubs once in a while.

[phenix01]

It is steadily bad ever since I had dry eyes. No rosacea in my case. I'm unsure what is the cause of it (everything fine for 3 months post lasik then delayed start of bursts). Starubrsts have been bad ever since. White fonts on dark backgorunds are also doubled downwards. Can barely drive at night. Thanks to Lasik ! It's been less than a year and a half but it feels like it's been forever.

[ebi1368]

We'll see. I once read of someone with similar condition as us (starbursts mainly shooting down, started with dryness) which resolved 2 years post lasik. I'm almost at the 2y mark. We'll see.

Since your dry eye started, have you noticed any improvement?
I am 6 month out and it’s just getting worse. I have rosacea though

[phenix01]

Mine get a bit better when I open wide. I think that is due to the quality of oil. When I look at my lower lid there is some fluid/lipid on it. But I think it is not good quality. When I open wide, the oil is not covering the bottom portion of my cornea and starburst get a bit better. That is my theory.

I still think dry eye is the reason for our visual symptoms. Of course our cornea has more HOA compared to non lasik people. If we could get dryness under control we have a good chance.

We'll see. I once read of someone with similar condition as us (starbursts mainly shooting down, started with dryness) which resolved 2 years post lasik. I'm almost at the 2y mark. We'll see.

[ebi1368]

Yes, longer leg towards the bottom. In dim environments, I may only see the bottom leg actually. As it gets darker, the whole starburst shapes itself. On other occasions, such as bright car light during daytime, I will see the full glare on all sides.

When I open my eyes wide, it doesn't change anything. I read that a few times but don't understand how that would make a difference to some people.

Mine get a bit better when I open wide. I think that is due to the quality of oil. When I look at my lower lid there is some fluid/lipid on it. But I think it is not good quality. When I open wide, the oil is not covering the bottom portion of my cornea and starburst get a bit better. That is my theory.

I still think dry eye is the reason for our visual symptoms. Of course our cornea has more HOA compared to non lasik people. If we could get dryness under control we have a good chance.

[phenix01]

Do you have starburst which has a longer leg toward the bottom? And if you open your eyes wide, the starburst get better?

Yes, longer leg towards the bottom. In dim environments, I may only see the bottom leg actually. As it gets darker, the whole starburst shapes itself. On other occasions, such as bright car light during daytime, I will see the full glare on all sides.

When I open my eyes wide, it doesn't change anything. I read that a few times but don't understand how that would make a difference to some people.

[ebi1368]

Hokucat thanks for all the advice you've been providing. I will be looking into this Ocusoft product.

Dowork123 I was checked for astigmatism which didn't yield any positive results. It really does seem like HOA on the surface of my cornea. A drop masks the aberrations for a few seconds. According to my probing Dr there are microscopic irregularities on top of my flap due to Lasik which distort light reflection. I don't know how that happened.. but it took a few months before I had symptoms so it happened during healing. Yet another risk of Lasik which I had not idea of walking into the operation room. My Lasik Dr. to this day does not agree with this diagnosis and wants to lift my flap again and perform some kind of corrective action although he says he doesnt know if it will help. With my dry eye condition theres no way this flap will be lifted again. He doesn't seem to care about my wellbeing.

Do you have starburst which has a longer leg toward the bottom? And if you open your eyes wide, the starburst get better?

[phenix01]

Hokucat thanks for all the advice you've been providing. I will be looking into this Ocusoft product.

Dowork123 I was checked for astigmatism which didn't yield any positive results. It really does seem like HOA on the surface of my cornea. A drop masks the aberrations for a few seconds. According to my probing Dr there are microscopic irregularities on top of my flap due to Lasik which distort light reflection. I don't know how that happened.. but it took a few months before I had symptoms so it happened during healing. Yet another risk of Lasik which I had not idea of walking into the operation room. My Lasik Dr. to this day does not agree with this diagnosis and wants to lift my flap again and perform some kind of corrective action although he says he doesnt know if it will help. With my dry eye condition theres no way this flap will be lifted again. He doesn't seem to care about my wellbeing.

Has it been suggested in this thread yet that your issue may be related to an astigmatism caused by the surgery? I know after my debridement, I was told I had an irregular astigmatism. The reason I saw double, glare and halos, was the fact that light was entering from different points onto the back of the eye. This can occur without dryness..dryness will make it worse for sure.