Have you experienced waking up with dry eye symptoms? Are eye drops a cure?
Posted , 7 users are following.
I ask this as I have an issue of blurry vision in one eye when I wake up since my catarct surgery in this eye. It has been 1 year now, and it does not seem to be going away. It is not super serious, as it seems to only last 10 minutes or so after waking up. I notice it because I use a CPAP and always check it first thing when I wake up to see what my AHI score was for the night. I also notice it when I look at my digital clock if I wake up in the night. This is my close eye in a mini-monovision configuration and the clock and CPAP should be at the ideal distance for clear vision. In fact in the night when I wake up, I see the clock more clearly with my distance eye, which is not optimized for this distance.
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This same eye is the one that a Lasik surgeon has said I have keratoconus in (irregular astigmatism caused by a thin cornea). Not sure if it is related or not.
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I am thinking it may be the result of one of a couple of the more probable causes. One is just night time dry eye disease, and possibly addressed by night time dry eye drops. The other is that I am opening that eye at night while sleeping (nocturnal lagophthalmos). Not sure how one would diagnose the latter, so currently I am pursuing dry eye drops for night time use. Not sure there is a practical solution to the opening the eye thing...
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Do you have any experience with this issue, and have you been able to resolve it? For what it is worth I have found what looks like a very good article on the various eye drops sold for dry eye disease. It is written by a Canadian optometrist and seem fairly well researched. You should be able to find it by googling this phrase:
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Dr. Mike NG COMPARING PRESERVATIVE-FREE EYE DROP PRODUCTS IN CANADA & LOOKING BEYOND March 4, 2020
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Based on this article and a few others, I am going to try using HydraSense Advanced for Dry Eyes drops for the daytime (0.15% HA), and HydraSense Gel Ultra Night time drops (0.3% HA) at bedtime to see if that helps. I am not totally optimistic it is going to work, but I think it may be worth a try. Interestingly I have not had this issue with my other eye which had cataract surgery about 2.5 years ago now...
0 likes, 24 replies
melodyNYC RonAKA
Posted
I have dry eye -- but I had it even before the cataract surgery. I take Restasis drops for it, which seem to work well.
RonAKA melodyNYC
Posted
I have not tried that one yet. I will keep it in mind.
melodyNYC RonAKA
Posted
It needs a prescription - and insurance companies make you go through many hoops to get it approved because it's really expensive. I had to have my ophthalmologist write letters and show data to my health insurance co that I had dry eye before it was approved. If you get it approved though, it's worth it. Works really well.
amy99928 RonAKA
Posted
The surgeon and optometrist are pushing the brand they get in their office. It is Refresh Optive or Plus and it is not at Costco. It supposedly has the 'oil' replacement, not just the saline solution. The surgeon and optometrist said get preservative free so I can put them in all day because frequent preservatives can irritate. I am using Blink tears because I already had them on-hand (my dad swears by Blink he says they are the only brand that feels comfortable for his eyes and he by the way has I think what your IOL set-up is, one far, one near, with prescriptions). I have not invested in any eye drops yet. They also both told me to spend the time to do a TEN minute steamy hot wet washcloth/compresses held to my eyes TWICE daily to restore moisture and I am not doing this yet but I sort of do it when I shower.
maura04015 RonAKA
Edited
Saw an article today about the drug resistant bacterial infection associated with some dry eye drops. Maybe you can find it with a search on:
CDC: Artificial Tears Products Linked to Drug-Resistant Infection, Some Cases Resulting in Death, Eye Removal
A couple paragraphs from the article:
"EzriCare or Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Tears have been identified as a common exposure, and the CDC advised consumers and physicians to discontinue the use of these products for now. However, the agency noted that over ten other brands have been associated with the cases it has found.
"NBC News reported the manufacturer of the EziCare brand product has issued a recall, admitting in its recall announcement, 'The product was distributed nationwide in the USA over the internet.'"
Of course they don't identify the "ten other brands."
RonAKA maura04015
Edited
Yes, that is why there has been some discussion as to where eye drops are actually manufactured. The problem bacteria is rare in North America, but very common in India. The problem eye drops were made in India, based on the information I have seen.
karbonbee RonAKA
Posted
I was thinking about this article when @Analytica was talking about going to India for surgery on her second eye. I don't know if the bacteria is common there these days in general, or it was just a problem with the manufacturer of those particular eye drops. Looking at the swathe it has cut in the USA in such a short time though, I don't know if I'd want to take a chance until it's been looked into more.
maura04015 RonAKA
Edited
Yes, I saw that info re: India originally, but also find no info about where drops are made on packaging, and right now I have Optive, Systane, and hydraSense drops in the house. At a guess no manufacturer admits their product is made in India or China unless forced to by regulation or law. Scary.
RonAKA maura04015
Posted
HYLO drops are clearly marked that they are made in Germany. Amazon says the HyraSense drops are made in Germany, but to date I have not found any clear statement on where they are actually made.