New patient, feeling a bit screwed by OTC eye goop companies
(Apologies to those who already read this screed as a comment on another thread. The thread was then promptly locked; so no advice about sourcing please!)
I’m 71 years old and recently had a horrific dry eyes episode followed by another and another. Biotrue was obviously not working. So, I go to the Optometrist and they say la, la, la … it’s just dry eyes; buy this stuff and use it - here are some coupons and a corporate handout from Bausch & Lomb. Everything will be just fine.
I tell them that I have a history of having had four separate corneal injuries in my life on separate occasions some of them years apart. Apparently in my youth I lacked some instinct that the majority of people have to close my eyes or turn my head when something is headed for my eye.
Doctor says she sees nothing amiss related to these historical injuries and that I just have reduced tear production. This happens to some people apparently. But! I say this feels exactly like my eyes felt after being injured, like when I open my eye or look a certain way to the side I get the sensation that something is being torn off. No, no, it’s fine .. just buy this stuff. Sorry, no it’s not available as a prescription.
The products?
Refresh PM - petroleum bases goop that makes you so that you cannot see. Ok, fine I’m going to sleep anyway - though heaven help me if I need get up and go to the bathroom, tripping over the dogs is a genuine concern. Sleep overnight with eye mask and this non-water soluble goop in my eyes and wake up to it still being there. Takes about 2 hours for it to clear away and even then there are fuzzy zones. (See earlier mentioned problems navigating around my dogs). So, I wake up and somehow get to the kitchen to heat the eye compresses, then just lay in bed for 2 hours with the dogs jumping up and down on me, unable to understand why the food is not forthcoming. Before you suggest that I used two much - as instructed I used a tiny pinhead sized dot under each eye. This is also not to mention that it doesn’t feel to me like it’s covering the whole surface, there are sensitive areas still. So, I hate this stuff, and I think that it doesn’t feel like it’s doing anything useful at all.
Refresh Mega-3 PF - I’m supposed to use this every hour. The only result that I am getting from it is a sharp sting followed by 20 minutes or so of blurry vision. Surely that’s not the intended result.
Refresh Optive Gel Drops - suggested as an alternative to the Vaseline-like goop. Results are basically identical except that I can get the gel out of my eyes somewhat faster by flushing them with Physician’s Care Eye Wash, which also incidentally is the only thing that soothes at all. Note that it is not a B&L product.
I talk to the doctor on the phone, non, no, no just do what you have been directed to do.
It’s making me feel like I’m going insane.