Calling out to all Dry Eye sufferers

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jay87
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Calling out to all Dry Eye sufferers

Postby jay87 » Sat 09 Apr 2016 4:51 pm

Hi All,

I have been wearing GP lenses since 2011, and most of this time I worked in an office. Heating/Cooling, dry air, all the worst things for contact lens wearers!

I started with hypromellose standard eye drops, bought some lacrilube i'd heard of from this forum, yet still was having terrible lens wear time and comfort. Falling out lenses as there was no tear layer!

4 GP visits resulted in viscotears (the GP described it as what 'old ladies wear', and other thick, viscous atrocities that did nothing to help.

Then I changed optometrist. We discussed the dry eye issue, and came to the conclusion that GPs didnt know much, and even less about KC!

The CAUSE was that I was not producing a suitable tear layer, and it was evaporating quickly. The drops were just for the symptoms.

I was then given Hyabak nutritional supplement capsules, rich in omega 3, 6, and essential occular vitamins.

Within 1 month of taking 2 daily with breakfast my tear layer was noticeably thicker with a large decrease in rubbing and redness of eyes.

Hyabak also offer preservative free eye drops. Hyaluronic sodium in 30 single unit doses.

The drops are not on the NHS's computer so if your GP tells you computer says no, ask them to properly look!

They have changed my life.

Jake.
Jake 8)
______________________________________________________
-4.75D Left eye -9.25D Right eye Specs. No change since 2011.
Dx with KC Oct 2011. Rose K2 lenses & specs for vision, using Peroxide & Pres. Free Eye Drops

Jjoe
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Re: Calling out to all Dry Eye sufferers

Postby Jjoe » Sat 09 Apr 2016 6:42 pm

?Any chance you could go into further detail

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jay87
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Re: Calling out to all Dry Eye sufferers

Postby jay87 » Sun 10 Apr 2016 11:53 am

Sure, I'll separate this thread into themes and sections, feel free to contribute people!

What is Dry Eye?

Having dry eye often means that your eyes are irritated and sore. You may have a lack of tears that can be observed through a slit lamp, or the tears that you produce may be of poor quality, lacking viscosity. Another characteristic of dry eye is that your tears although produced, evaporate quickly and are unable to sufficiently lubricate the eye. This is again visible by an optometrist.

The normal function of tears is to keep the eye wet and lubricated all day. Any reduction in this can lead to a gritty, burning sensation and the 'blurry cloudy lens' common to KC sufferers.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Dry Eye?

Dry Sensation
Excessive Watering
Gritty Feeling/Foreign Body Sensations
Pain
Blurring of Vision
Redness
Tired Eyes/Wanting to Rub Eyes Frequently
Photosensitivity/phobia
Contact Lens Intolerance/Discomfort
Stinging
Irritation from wind/smoke/air conditioning

What are the CAUSES of Dry Eye?

Ageing
Blepharitis
Dry Environment
Pollution
Computer Use
Hormonal Changes, especially upon menopause in women
LASIK Surgery, hopefully most of us haven't been so unfortunate and had LASIK with KC!
The good old Preservatives in Eye Drops (always use single unit doses guys ;-P)
Alcohol
Medications, including but not limited to;
Anti-Acne, Beta Blockers, Anti Histamines, Diuretics, Decongestants and Anti Depressants.
Dry Eye can also be symptomatic of general health problems or disease, for example there is a link between arthritis and dry eye.

How can Dry Eye be Managed?

By changing environmental factors, avoiding dehydrating environments, air conditioning, minimising central heating, protecting the air from wind using glasses, drinking at least 2 litres of water a day to keep hydrated. Taking regular breaks at work, staring at a distant object and making concerted efforts to do a full blink, rather than a partial one.

So Why Treat the CAUSE and not just throw eyedrop after eyedrop at the eye?

There is growing scientific evidence that diet plays a significant role in tear quality and production. If you are treating the cause of your dry eye, you are less reliant, if at all reliant on eye drops.

Here is NEOVision's website detailing the exact nutrients and how essential they are in ocular health

[url]http://www.neovisiongroup.com/eye-health/nutrition-and-dry-eyes.html/url]

FOODS RICH WITH DHA/EPA - Essential for Great Eye Lubrication!
Salmon (cooked)
Tuna (cooked)
Mackerel (cooked)
Anchovy (canned in oil)
Trout (cooked)
Halibut (cooked)
Scallops (cooked)
Snapper (cooked)

Hyabak Caps

These are a dietary supplement that looks like a cod liver oil cap. You take 2 a day, at once, split, with a meal.

They contain high amounts of these nutrients essential for tear quality and production. Omega 3, Omega 6 essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals with anti oxidative properties to help maintain vision. They contain Fish Oil with 70% Omega 3 and Borage Oil with 22% Omega 6 and are designed to help compensate for the imbalance of Omega rich foods commonly found in UK diets.

The caps i buy , 60 caps for 30 days are from Specsavers for £13.

The drops I get on script they are; Hyabak UD 0.15% eye drops 0.4ml unit dose preservative free (Thea Pharmaceuticals Ltd)
30 unit dose - use as directed. That is from my repeat so your doc can prescribe from that.

You may be able to get the caps on the NHS too, I haven't tried.


What are your Dry eye success stories? Anyone tried or going to try the Hyabak challenge?
Jake 8)
______________________________________________________
-4.75D Left eye -9.25D Right eye Specs. No change since 2011.
Dx with KC Oct 2011. Rose K2 lenses & specs for vision, using Peroxide & Pres. Free Eye Drops

Jjoe
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Re: Calling out to all Dry Eye sufferers

Postby Jjoe » Mon 11 Apr 2016 8:58 pm

The good old Preservatives in Eye Drops (always use single unit doses guys ;-P) -
I usually use a mix of both, do the capsules really get infected with stuff easy? My family has a tendacy to be careless to my placement of my eye drops in the fridge (e.g. putting food on them) though I have plenty of single dose units too.


Staring at a distant object -
Any idea if pinhole glasses cause a similar effect? Out of curiosity more than anything since I can make time for looking at a distance.

Protecting the air from wind - The wind helps tear my eyes up which soothes them, as i get a good amount of tears released, arguably more effective than eyedrops (certainly more effective sometimes).

Hyabak Caps - Any idea if you can get them on prescription, as I have belpharitis my eye drops are Aretlac Rebalance, also on prescription.


Nice and informative though, thanks.

P.s. If you don't already get f.lux it helps a bunch when using the pc.

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jay87
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Re: Calling out to all Dry Eye sufferers

Postby jay87 » Tue 12 Apr 2016 11:15 am

I would have thought that as long as the tip of the preservative eye drop remains sterile, capped and refrigerated, there shouldn't be an issue. They also have to be thrown within 3 months I think?

My preservative free drops I do not refrigerate. I hate the feeling of coldness on my eye, although I know some love it! I use it, then throw it.

Pinhole glasses focus your vision within your central field. I do not know whether they help eye dryness.

The idea behind looking at distance is particularly important if you do close up work, computer screens, you forget to blink.

Looking away gives your eye a break and you can blink away! lol

The air advice is more prevalent in summer or on holiday. Many people on here will attest to how sandy and dusty environments cause dry eye and irritation.

Thanks, i will take a look. Is it software of a screen over? I use macs so they may be odd sized lol.

I don't know if you can get Hyabak caps on script. Say you've had a meeting with you optom and they have suggested Hyabak Caps.

Most times GPs just go with whatever optoms/optholms say!
Jake 8)
______________________________________________________
-4.75D Left eye -9.25D Right eye Specs. No change since 2011.
Dx with KC Oct 2011. Rose K2 lenses & specs for vision, using Peroxide & Pres. Free Eye Drops

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jay87
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INFORMATION PAGE for all Dry Eye sufferers

Postby jay87 » Fri 15 Apr 2016 7:24 am

Also, many hard contact lens solutions, salines, and multipurpose solutions have preservatives in them.

I am allergic to these, and it wasn't until I tried a peroxide based system that I couldn't even feel the lenses in my eyes they were so clean!

I still clean with RGP cleaner, but rinse with peroxide and disinfect with AO Sept or Bausch and Lomb EasySept.

The 3% peroxide has to be left for 6 hours to neutralise within the case, and NEVER use the solution directly into your eye or rinse your eye with it. I use preservative free eye drops for rinsing, again avoiding preservatives.

This is one of the oldest and best ways of protein removal, cleaning and thorough disinfection in my opinion.

Probably not suitable for larger diameter RGPs though as the lens may crack in the holder.

There is nothing to stop you placing them both in the pot with the disc, providing you have a 'hole' or tint to designate which is left and right :-)

I hope this helps you all,

It is terrible to have dry eye, especially when you rely on them so much for vision.
Jake 8)
______________________________________________________
-4.75D Left eye -9.25D Right eye Specs. No change since 2011.
Dx with KC Oct 2011. Rose K2 lenses & specs for vision, using Peroxide & Pres. Free Eye Drops

HarryR
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Re: Calling out to all Dry Eye sufferers

Postby HarryR » Thu 21 Apr 2016 8:40 am

Thank you for this great write up. I've been struggling with my RGP lenses and found this really useful! Just bought myself some of the drops from Amazon to try out. Here's the link of anyone else needs it: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&key ... ah4d1zuc_b

User avatar
jay87
Regular contributor
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Posts: 146
Joined: Tue 11 Oct 2011 9:24 am
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
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Re: Calling out to all Dry Eye sufferers

Postby jay87 » Thu 21 Apr 2016 9:29 am

Glad i could be of help!!

The caps of fish oil do make difference, im just going to try cod liver oil for 99p for a while, cheaper than £13 a month!
Jake 8)
______________________________________________________
-4.75D Left eye -9.25D Right eye Specs. No change since 2011.
Dx with KC Oct 2011. Rose K2 lenses & specs for vision, using Peroxide & Pres. Free Eye Drops

User avatar
jay87
Regular contributor
Regular contributor
Posts: 146
Joined: Tue 11 Oct 2011 9:24 am
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: Contact lenses
Location: Peterborough, Cambs, UK

Re: Calling out to all Dry Eye sufferers

Postby jay87 » Sat 14 May 2016 7:15 am

I take 2 Hyabak Caps and 2 Cod Liver and eat as much fish as i can lol
Jake 8)
______________________________________________________
-4.75D Left eye -9.25D Right eye Specs. No change since 2011.
Dx with KC Oct 2011. Rose K2 lenses & specs for vision, using Peroxide & Pres. Free Eye Drops

Jjoe
Contributor
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Posts: 22
Joined: Wed 13 Mar 2013 9:11 pm
Keratoconus: Yes, I have KC
Vision: I'm coping with no aids

Re: Calling out to all Dry Eye sufferers

Postby Jjoe » Tue 17 May 2016 4:55 pm

I've been using the tablets for a few weeks now, difficult to say if it has mdae a difference but hopefully after some more time the difference will be noticable.


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