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So I had lasik 10 weeks ago and I promised myself if my symptoms improved I would share my experience with recovery on this site since I had become a manic daily visitor early on. I was constantly searching for any post that would make me feel better about my current situation and there were several days I felt like I had made the biggest mistake of my life and that my life was changed forever. First and foremost if you have these symptoms below please be patient and don't get obsessed with the message boards, it will only make you more upset. I understand this board is a great resource, but for those early in lasik recovery it can be overwhelming and scary. Second, some people who make posts with issues get better and do not take the time to return to board to update their progress. Anyways here is my story.
Before the surgery: -5.50 in left eye and -5.25 in my right, no dry eye issues before surgery, I could wear my contacts for 10-12 hrs at a time with no issues. Dr. said I was a great candidate and should not have dry issues long term.
Immediately after surgery I experienced a bad burning sandy gritty feeling but this went away after after a few hours. The next morning I woke up with what felt like an eyelash in my left eye. This was bothersome since this was the same eye the Dr. had to redo the suction cup twice. When I saw the Dr. about the feeling he said every looked good and eye lash feeling was a dry spot and should go away. He was correct, this feeling went away around the 2 week mark.
Around day 4 I started experiencing sinus head pressure and mild headaches. After waking up with this feeling every day all day for 6 weeks I visited ENT's, 2 Lasik Dr's, and my general Dr. but no one could diagnose what the issue was. I was told it was most likely allergy related and was told to take Zyrtec which did not help at all. After viewing this forum and others I was very discouraged and depressed only finding stories of people suffering with the same issues but not finding any posts or followups that things had improved. All I wanted to read was someone with the same symptoms as me eventually got better, I was looking for any kind of hope.
For me I'm happy to report the pressure and headaches went away around the 8 week mark which IMO coincided with my dry eyes improving. The first month post op I was using drops every 2-3 hrs. By the second month I was down to 3-4 times a day. Now at 10 weeks I maybe take 1 drop at night if I'm feeling a little dry.
I know how scary and depressing recovery can be for some patients so like I said, try to stay positive and don't become obsessed with boards during recovery; there is still a good chance your symptoms will improve. I realize not everyone has a successful surgery and some have life lasting complications. For those of you on here who have long term issues I'm truly sorry you are still going through that. I hope reading this helps for some of you who are early in the recovery process. If anyone has any questions about my recovery feel free to message me.
Before the surgery: -5.50 in left eye and -5.25 in my right, no dry eye issues before surgery, I could wear my contacts for 10-12 hrs at a time with no issues. Dr. said I was a great candidate and should not have dry issues long term.
Immediately after surgery I experienced a bad burning sandy gritty feeling but this went away after after a few hours. The next morning I woke up with what felt like an eyelash in my left eye. This was bothersome since this was the same eye the Dr. had to redo the suction cup twice. When I saw the Dr. about the feeling he said every looked good and eye lash feeling was a dry spot and should go away. He was correct, this feeling went away around the 2 week mark.
Around day 4 I started experiencing sinus head pressure and mild headaches. After waking up with this feeling every day all day for 6 weeks I visited ENT's, 2 Lasik Dr's, and my general Dr. but no one could diagnose what the issue was. I was told it was most likely allergy related and was told to take Zyrtec which did not help at all. After viewing this forum and others I was very discouraged and depressed only finding stories of people suffering with the same issues but not finding any posts or followups that things had improved. All I wanted to read was someone with the same symptoms as me eventually got better, I was looking for any kind of hope.
For me I'm happy to report the pressure and headaches went away around the 8 week mark which IMO coincided with my dry eyes improving. The first month post op I was using drops every 2-3 hrs. By the second month I was down to 3-4 times a day. Now at 10 weeks I maybe take 1 drop at night if I'm feeling a little dry.
I know how scary and depressing recovery can be for some patients so like I said, try to stay positive and don't become obsessed with boards during recovery; there is still a good chance your symptoms will improve. I realize not everyone has a successful surgery and some have life lasting complications. For those of you on here who have long term issues I'm truly sorry you are still going through that. I hope reading this helps for some of you who are early in the recovery process. If anyone has any questions about my recovery feel free to message me.