Dry eye therapy?

[lavender's green]

Has anyone here had dry eye therapy? Is it worth the hassle and expense of the appointment(s)?

[solascriptura]

I'm currently using Restasis. Is that what you mean by therapy?

[Pawz4me]

What do you mean by therapy?

 

DH tried Restasis but it didn't help him. He uses drops throughout the day and gel at night. So far I've been able to control mine (somewhat) just with drops.

[lavender's green]

By therapy my eye doctor means an appointment or set of appointments to figure out exactly what is going on with my eyes that make them dry, and then, I think, developing a multi-prong approach to treating them. I don't want to shell out that much time, money, and childcare just to get some eyedrops and fish oil supplements, kwim?

 

Did you guys get your eyedrops right at your regular appointment? This is kind of confirming my suspicion that these special therapy appointments are just a money-maker for their office.

[TravelingChris]

I have Sjogren's and use a lot for my eyes.  Restasis is the main one.  Other things I am on also include Plaquenil and Medrol.  I use over the counter eye drops when needed or with eye exams.

[Lady Florida.]

I had tear duct plugs inserted and when that didn't work my eye doctor put me on Restasis. It takes a few months for the drops to really work, but they do help. I also use drops from the eye doctor called Fresh Kote that I put in throughout the day. They cost more but I tried others that you can get from any pharmacy and they don't help as much as Fresh Kote does.

 

 

Edited June 23, 2017 by Lady Florida.

[solascriptura]

The Restasis has helped me so much. I didn't realize I even had it because the optometrists always just told me to use otc drops.

 

I was at a point where I thought I needed to start bifocals, but after the Restasis my abraded corneas healed and my vision is like before. Literally, my dry eye was tearing my corneas little by little.

[Lady Florida.]

 

 

Did you guys get your eyedrops right at your regular appointment? This is kind of confirming my suspicion that these special therapy appointments are just a money-maker for their office.

 

Restasis is by prescription so I get them like anything else at the pharmacy. The other eye drops I mentioned, I just swing by the office and buy a bottle when I need more. The special therapy appointments might be a money maker, but not necessarily. My eye doctor tried other things first. First, the otc eye drops, then the tear duct plugs, and finally Restasis.

 

I also wear contacts and have lenses with a high water content. They actually help with my dry eye syndrome because when I wear them my eyes aren't so dry. I often don't wear them when I'll be home all day because their daily wear and I hate to "waste" a pair at home. I really should though because my eyes actually feel better when I do. I've worn contacts on and off for 40 years (had to take a long break when my dry eye syndrome first appeared) and these are the first lenses that make my eyes actually feel good.

[Lady Florida.]

 but after the Restasis my abraded corneas healed and my vision is like before. Literally, my dry eye was tearing my corneas little by little.

 

I forgot about this! It felt like my eyes were constantly gritty. I was shocked when my eye doctor told me that grittiness was actually my own cornea flaking off.

[solascriptura]

My doctor just examined my eyes really carefully and told me I had chronic dry eye. She then prescribed the drops and told me to come in for a follow up in 2 months or so. It takes a while for them to work.

 

The killer is the cost. Without insurance it's hundreds of dollars a month. It was okay for me because my insurances covered it, but they changed coverage in 2017. I'm going to ask my doctor to change my prescription to Xiidra. I heard it's very similar and my insurance covered that now. Again, without insurance it's hundreds of dollars a month.

[Pawz4me]

The Restasis has helped me so much. I didn't realize I even had it because the optometrists always just told me to use otc drops.

 

I was at a point where I thought I needed to start bifocals, but after the Restasis my abraded corneas healed and my vision is like before. Literally, my dry eye was tearing my corneas little by little.

 

DH's corneal issues were more than little by little -- he had SO many corneal tears, really bad ones that required immediate treatment. We were really hoping Restatis would help him but he used it for the recommended time and saw no improvement. His doctor said it helps some people a lot and others not at all and that there was no use in continuing. Thankfully he's usually okay and long as he faithfully uses his OTC drops and gel at night. If he forgets the gel even once he can end up back at the doc's with a bad tear.

Edited June 23, 2017 by Pawz4me

[lavender's green]

Thanks for all the great information, ladies! I had no idea that dry eyes could cause such bad problems.  :scared:  Here I thought it was this irritating thing that happens every evening. I did just upgrade my contacts to the top-of-the-line for dry eyes type, so that should help too. I've declined them in the past because I buy them out-of-pocket, but I've reached the point where I'm sure it's worth it.

 

Thanks for the heads-up about the Restasis cost, too. My eye insurance is a little on the bare-bones side so I'll be sure to research exactly what's covered and what's not.

[Tap]

I have Sjogrens. 

 

My eye doctor thinks that Restasis helps but doesn't recommend it a lot because it is $$$.  And it takes a month or two to see if it helps and if you miss a week or two, you have to restart and it takes a month or two again to get max benefit.

 

I tried OTC drops like Restore Balance which helped but not enough.

 

I got Punctal Plugs a few years back and I LOVE them.  They made the difference for me.

 

Going to a clinic can help you figure out what part of your tear is missing, so the treatment can be targeted.  Most people just try a few things and see what works. So, while going to a clinic may cost more, you are more likely to get the right treatment ASAP and get relief fast too. 

 

[6wildhorses]

I healed my dry eyes by changing my diet, taking supplements, and using an eye mask. My dry eyes were a symptom of inflammation. I eliminated dairy, gluten, and white sugar from my diet. I take bilberry and astaxanthin. I use a Thermalon sinus compress at night when my eyes get irritated, usually from allergies. I use eye drops if my eyes get really dry. The key is to use drops before they get really irritated. I use Similasan eye drops or eye drops for contact lenses. I used FreshKote drops when they were really bad. Anti-histamine eye drops made for allergies helped initially, but actually ended up drying my eyes out even worse.

 

Following this protocol healed my eyes and other symptoms of inflammation that I was having. I went from not being able to even wear contacts due to irritation to feeling normal again. My eye doctor's solution was steroid eye drops, which did not treat the root of the problem. My eye doctor did recommend some of the things that helped, though, like the eye mask and the FreshKote drops.

Edited June 23, 2017 by 6wildhorses

[Suzanne in ABQ]

My mom has been dealing with severe dry eye for almost a year.  Her opthamologist used Prokera in each eye (a piece of placenta held in place against the cornea by a ring inserted into the eye socket, which protects the cornea and provides healing properties). That helped for awhile, and he put her on Xiidra (which her Medicaid doesn't cover fully, so it was $500 some months ($200 on the months they covered). But then her eyes got much worse.  He put plugs in her tear ducts, but they wouldn't stay in.  He referred her to a cornea specialist.

 

Her cornea cells were flaking off (Corneal Dystrophy), causing ulcers on her eye that got infected.  After a couple weeks of antibiotic drops, he put her on a steroid drop and an oral antibiotic.  Another round of plugs in the tear ducts fell out as well, so most recent treatment was cauterizing all four tear ducts.  She also uses Systane Ultra gel drops through the day as needed and Muro ointment at night.  

 

Her eyes are doing great.  She's down to a very simple regimen to maintain, and she's very happy.

 

I had no idea a year ago that dry eyes could be such a problem, but yes.  It can be very serious.

[luuknam]

Thanks for all the great information, ladies! I had no idea that dry eyes could cause such bad problems.  :scared:  Here I thought it was this irritating thing that happens every evening. I did just upgrade my contacts to the top-of-the-line for dry eyes type, so that should help too. I've declined them in the past because I buy them out-of-pocket, but I've reached the point where I'm sure it's worth it.

 

Thanks for the heads-up about the Restasis cost, too. My eye insurance is a little on the bare-bones side so I'll be sure to research exactly what's covered and what's not.

 

 

If you can wear contacts at all, it's probably not at that severe of a level (yet). I've never been able to wear contacts.

 

I'm currently about 1 month in on Restasis - I haven't noticed a big difference yet, but like the others said, it's too soon to tell. I've got a follow-up appointment in another month. My doc gave me a coupon for Restasis, which said that it usually makes your copay $30 for a one month supply, or $0 for a 90 day supply... of course, my insurance won't fill 90 days at once, so it's $30/month, which was my copay anyway, but it might help some people. That was my just health insurance, btw... not eye insurance.