UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi there,

Im new to the forum, but i have had the condition in both eyes for a long time now, im a post graph patient, using one contact lens at the moment in the left eye as the optician is struggling to get a fit for the right eye.

Recently i have developed an itchiness in both eyes, feels like hayfever but i have had it well before the season has started. Ive taken all manner of anti histamines, and i am now using eye drops called Optimal.

The itchiness is generally in the mornings and evenings and i would appreciate if anyone out there has the same problem or has a solution.

Hope you can all help.

Many Thanks

Ravi

rav

Welcome to the forum

My eyes are pretty well always itchy. this seems to be associated with dryness and I address the problem by using artificial tears. I know some people use systane. I use hypermelamose. I used to use carbomber gel.

I'm afraid it's a 'suck it and see' approach.

How long since your grafts?

Andrew

ps if you find a solution that suits you, could you post it so we can all share your experience?

Ravi

Welcome to the forum!

Issues like these are very annoying yet very hard to pin down and address.....an example of recent was Gareths Log / Journal where he took it upon himself to address an issue he was experiencing

Dry and itchy eyes, in my opinion falls in to a similar category......Systane; as Andrew mentioned, is a solution you may want to try...many,including myself, have had great successs with this product.......but as always do check its suitability with your optometrist it is over the counter and info can be found at http://www.systane.com......many of the high street chemists now sell this product as it seems it has done very well over the past 12 months....which may be a good inidcation of its use....

Hope that helps

J

Hi Rav,

Will go along with Andrews comments.

Seems KC and itchy eyes go hand in hand.

I am one of the Systane crew, but as Andrew says, it is a case of suck it and see.

Some eye drops need to be used for about a week before the full benefit is realised. So in the suck it and see stakes, it can be a rather drawn out process. For me it took a couple of months to find the drops that helped best and then another month to determin what frequency was best. Found at first sign of itching or lens discomfort, take the lenses out and use the drops. Lenses go straight back in and on the whole are quite comfortable.

Cheers for the help guys and girls, ill see if i can get some systaine in the system.

The surgeon addvised me to get off the maxidex i was using, for some reason i came addicted to it and thought i needed it all the time. Im now off that and as i said in my previous post, i use Opatanol which is a replacement for opticrom.

I also used Fluorometholone that has helped but i think the eyes have got used to that.

To top that all off, hayfever season is only round the corner.

Had the left eye done in November 2004 and the right eye was done june 2004. The operation was a success to a point as its all a bit of guess work and luck on the surgeons part. I was unfortunate that i had to have corrective eye wear afterwards, glasses would not have helped as the eyes were still a little distorted, therefore i had a lens for the left eye made.

its been well over a year now that i have been seeing out of just the one eye as the contact lens guy has had 8 attempts to get a lens for the right eye with still no success. Maybe the next port of call is to have suttiers done to even the right eye out for a lens.

I feel very frustrated as with all of you out there to having this condition, but i just feel that the whole process of seeing again takes so long. But i never use it as an excuse not to do things though, i will not be defeated in that way. Hopefully all will come good this year.

Many thanks once again

Ravi

Ravi

Thats an excellent attitude you have there!...Its that kind of attitude that really does keep you sane and gets you back on track! I firmly beleive that state of mind and recovery are directly linked in these kinds of situations (actually in majority!)..if you start doubting and becoming unstable and fretting uncontrollably..then you can kick yourself off into a downward spiral!......but from you last sentence I doubt this will apply to you!!

I noticed that you had two grafts very close to each other!!...Were they full Penetrating grafts? Do you still have Sutures?....How old are you? What kind of vision was you getting prior to the graft?

J

Cheers for thet jayuk,

yep, they were full penetrating graphs, the left eye was 11mm and the right eye was just over 7mm.

Im 30 years old this April, and the vison without any aid is very poor, can't see anything on the old opticians alphabet chart at normal distance of 20feet or so. need to be about 10cm away before i can see anything.

The left lens helps a great deal and the vision is 5/6 or i can see from the third line up.

the optician has tried a right lens and the vision was ni on perfect, but the problem was when taking the lens out, the pain is unbelievable, so i limit use of the right lens for when i play snooker or something, can only get a max of 2 hours use.

The lens i use are gas permables, but i know some of my friends who have had more succesful graphs do use soft lens.

If you can recomend any othe optician then that might help. My optician is based in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

many thanks

Ravi

jayuk wrote:Ravi

Thats an excellent attitude you have there!...Its that kind of attitude that really does keep you sane and gets you back on track! I firmly beleive that state of mind and recovery are directly linked in these kinds of situations (actually in majority!)..if you start doubting and becoming unstable and fretting uncontrollably..then you can kick yourself off into a downward spiral!......but from you last sentence I doubt this will apply to you!!

I noticed that you had two grafts very close to each other!!...Were they full Penetrating grafts? Do you still have Sutures?....How old are you? What kind of vision was you getting prior to the graft?

J

There is a page you access from the home page where we are able to post recommended optometrists.

I think it's in the members zone. You can find out about it by contacting the Moderator (John Smith)

I posted a recommednation for a Glasgow optom.

Andrew

Hello

I haven't had a graft however, I wear scleral lenses and found I had problems with dry and irritated eyes.
My scleral lens wear probably isn't anywhere near as good as some achieve however, despite the limited wearing time I manage to get by. And whilst I have been offred a graft, I have up to now put this on hold and in a way I am glad I did for me personally as around 6 months after if was offered the eye in question suddenly decided it would see better for me than my other one (well they always said I was odd! ).

To try to get some comfort I too tried systane however, didn't really seem to see much benefit.
I then moved on to 'Celluvisc' and now put a drop of this into my scleral lens along with my saline before I insert it - the result for me being much more comfortable wearing.
I have also been asked by my optom to use the celluvisc when I remove my lenses and in doing both these I am now up to 7 hours wear time for 5 days a week for both eyes, which for me is a great improvement.

best wishes

Susan

Susan,

That is excellent wear time considering what you were going through.

Well done