New here..Nighttime dryness is severe!

[Mishl101]

I wake up with my upper eyelids stuck to my corneas. I am interested in ANY suggestions for products that are thick and yet still slimy enough to stay under my eyelids at night to protect my corneas.

A little about me: I am 51yo female who is 22 years post-RK; am in menopause and using hormone replacement; I am on celexa 20mg a day to help with migraines; have had Bels Palsey 3 times and have residual problems with keeping my eyes closed during sleep; and have seasonal allergies.

I have tried Restasis to no avail. I have lacrimal plugs in lower lids, tried the upper but they became inflamed and had to be removed. I was trying to use Lacricert at night but my eyes are SO dry that the pellet would not dissolve and was causing abrasions.

I currently use Soothe XP every 2 hours during the day. For nighttime I have tried gels, ointments and drops. I also sleep with Tranquil-Eyes moistened. The gels don't seem to stay under my eyelids and the ointment doesn't get "slick" enough to stop the sticking and the drops don't last long enough.

ALL this and I still wake up to my cornea stuck to my eyelid! Anybody...Anybody at all...got suggestions for a night-time product that could assist me?

Also, my eyes are always bloodshot and for the last two months even the rims of my eyes are quite red. My eyes always looks like I have been on a crying jag. Suggestions for that, too, would be appreciated.

[spmcc]

Sounds like you're getting corneal erosions. Most people here who get RCEs (recurrent corneal erosions) report that they use Muro 128 ointment. It's not Rx, but it's usually behind the pharmacy counter. You'll need to ask a pharmacist for it. Where I live, a small tube costs ~$15.

There is also generic sodium chloride 5% ointment (e.g., from amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Chloride-perce...o+128+ointment)

I also like Muro 128 solution which is drops, not ointment. It is also usually behind the pharmacy counter. Generic sodium chloride 5% drops are also available on amazon.

I'm happy to read that you're using eye cover. I never sleep without it. Perhaps you can try wetting a makeup round and putting it in the Tranquileyes. I prefer this to the insert because I found that the inserts "push" on my lids too much. In fact, I found that anything that applies any pressure to my closed lids make my lids stick to my eyes. Alternatively, some people have written that they cut the TE inserts in half so that they don't apply pressure to closed lids... this also means they get twice the amount/use from each insert!

Do you have a good ophthalmologist/corneal specialist helping you? It's so important to break the cycle of big or little rips/erosions to your eyes. You can also search here using the terms "Muro" or "erosion" to see what others have posted on these.

As for redness to eyes and/or lids, I would make sure that your doctor knows of and notes/charts any progression/changes in your eye problems. Perhaps tackling the nighttime issues will help reduce redness. In any event, a doctor needs to monitor all this.

Good luck.

[Mishl101]

Thank you SPMCC for replying. I have used Muro 128 in the past... Can't remember if it worked well or not. It was years ago when this all began. I do remember it was expensive so I will look into the generic you suggested. I was referred out to Dr. Becker in Westlake Village, CA for the punctal plugs. To be honest he seemed to lose interest in treating me any further than the plugs. I tried to ask him questions, again this was about 4 years ago, and he would not answer anything directly... Just said to shop around for drops I liked and use them every couple hours. He was the one that prescribed the Lacrisert pellets too. When I told him they didn't melt he offered no suggestions just told me to keep trying! He is supposed to be a dry eye specialist but I have not returned to him in a couple years. My ophthalmologist told me that I needed to work on my dry eyes to help my corneas... Like DUH!! So, the short answer is that I don't currently have a good eye doctor.

I kind of like the little push the eye mask puts on my eyes because it keeps my lids closed. I do notice that the pads get rather dry sometime during the night but I don't wake up enough to re-wet them. It would help a lot if they stayed moist all night and I could find an ointment that stayed under my lids and remained slimey all night.

I have begun to see through a foggy lens all day now. I know it is the dryness because every once in awhile I have a good two nights of moisture and my fog disappears!

[L8rgator]

I'm sorry I don't have any good solutions. Nothing worked for me either -and anything that wasn't fastened to my face just fell off at night (tranquileyes included). So every night I put a nexcare absolute waterproof knee and elbow bandage over my eye to seal it. I put theratears in it first, wet around the eye with saline, and wet the bandage's pad with as much sterile saline as it will hold.

It's not a good solution, because the bandages are sticky. Normally people can't tell. But when I get hot or flush, my face turns red and you can see weird lines in a rentangle where I've torn the bandage off previously - I think because the skin is a little raw.

I also keep a humidifier next to the bed. near my head.

I hope you figure out something more effective!

[peter56]

Hi Mish,
I do know here 3 patients, that suffer from the same problems like you do.

Befrore going to bed, they prepare a thermos bottle with warm-hot water - Saline solution.
In the early morning, they place then a compress in the warm water and then onto their eye lids for ten min.
That does liquify the ointment and does reliese the attachments of the lids on the corneas.

Did you try Puralube from Fera - 85% White petrolatum and 15% mineral oil?

Please don't mix up the ointment with the Puralube for animals.



We do here have available 8 different ointments.
All 3 Patients do apply Co-Liquifilm ointment and eye Vaseline.

But there are many patients, that can't tolerate any of this ointments.
Many people do react allergic to Lanolin-wool wax etc.

So these patients do apply eye vaseline ointment.

A pharmacy has to refill under sterile conditions the eye Vaseline from the 50g container into 3-5g tubes.
Then placing the eye Vaseline ointment into the eyes before going to sleep and also a Little bit during day time
to grease the ocular surface corneas.
Eye Vaseline is also good for the skin around the eyes and on top of the lids.

A good jojoba oil creame for the face is also possible.

If it will not be possible restoring a good tear film, you may be forced wearing Bandage or scleral lenses!

[spmcc]

Thank you SPMCC for replying. I have used Muro 128 in the past... Can't remember if it worked well or not. It was years ago when this all began. I do remember it was expensive so I will look into the generic you suggested. I was referred out to Dr. Becker in Westlake Village, CA for the punctal plugs. To be honest he seemed to lose interest in treating me any further than the plugs. I tried to ask him questions, again this was about 4 years ago, and he would not answer anything directly... Just said to shop around for drops I liked and use them every couple hours. He was the one that prescribed the Lacrisert pellets too. When I told him they didn't melt he offered no suggestions just told me to keep trying! He is supposed to be a dry eye specialist but I have not returned to him in a couple years. My ophthalmologist told me that I needed to work on my dry eyes to help my corneas... Like DUH!! So, the short answer is that I don't currently have a good eye doctor.

I kind of like the little push the eye mask puts on my eyes because it keeps my lids closed. I do notice that the pads get rather dry sometime during the night but I don't wake up enough to re-wet them. It would help a lot if they stayed moist all night and I could find an ointment that stayed under my lids and remained slimey all night.

I have begun to see through a foggy lens all day now. I know it is the dryness because every once in awhile I have a good two nights of moisture and my fog disappears!

It's really important to stop the cycle of erosions/tears to your corneas. And you should really have someone monitoring you. I hope someone here can recommend a doctor close to you who is good with dry eye. Anyone?

Perhaps you could experiment with your eye cover at night... For e.g., try ointment/gel, then some plastic wrap, then your TE goggles without inserts? That way you have the lids "forced" closed without the pressure on the eyeballs. Personally, I find Glad Press N Seal traps my gel (HyloGel -- not available in the US yet) enough so that I can often get thru the night without waking in dry pain.

Lacriserts never dissolved for me either. Some people report that they get them to dissolve by applying drops/saline often, but that's not really possible while sleeping! If you search here using the term "lacrisert", you'll probably find some other tricks that people have discovered to help them with these pesky pellets!

Good luck.

[Guest]

Did you try Puralube from Fera - 85% White petrolatum and 15% mineral oil?

Is Puralube lanolin-free?

[Mishl101]

I will try the Glad product tonight! Very excited to see if it helps. I would LOVE a suggestion for a Doctor in my area. Dr. Becker apparently invented some of the tools for punctual plugs...you would think he was actually interested in DES patients. Then again, I can imagine how difficult it must be to have many patients suffering and not have a whole lot of solutions. I could give him another try....but would still love any referrals y'all could give me!!!