Lacri-Lube dry eyes Help!

[smartbrain]

My eyelids only close half way while I sleep. This causes my eyes to become severely dry and irritated. My doc recommended lacri-lube at night. It's like putting a grease coating on your eyes and causes severe blurred vision.

I can deal with it while asleep and it does a good job of preventing dryness which is very painful. Problem is, I can't get all the lubricant out the next day. My vision is blurred no matter how many times my eyes are washed with eye drops.

This is a serious problem for me as eye gaze is my only form of communication. All day my vision changes from clear and with a blink of an eye becomes blurred as the lube once again covers an eye.

Any suggestions?

 

[marypat]

my eye dryness is helped by having a humidifier on while i sleep. it also helps my breathing. if someone closes ur lids do they stay down?

 

[jb63]

I use Genteel gel for severe dry eyes. The ointment is good for night when vision can be cloudy, but the gels work best for daytime clarity.

 

[asantiago]

Is it possible to wear a mask to keep them closed or maybe cotton balls with some medical tape?

 

[smartbrain]

thanks for humidifier suggestion. worth a try. my eyelids wont remain shut if someone physically shut them.

 

[smartbrain]

I use Genteel gel for severe dry eyes. The ointment is good for night when vision can be cloudy, but the gels work best for daytime clarity.

Thank you. Will give it a try.

 

[smartbrain]

good suggestion but eye gaze only way I can signal for help. I have no physical way to remove myself.

 

[glupavomomiche]

I remember seeing a video of a pALS (who was a doctor) and he had an interesting solution for this problem. His cALS would put vaseline on his skin... forehead, beside eyes, and across the cheeks and nose. They would then put a piece of Saran wrap over this area... the vaseline would seal it off. And then they topped it off with a wet washcloth. You might want to check into something like that!

~ Sarah

 

[asantiago]

What about taping one eye shut at night and putting the goop on the other and alternating nights? could you still signal for help with one eye and that way you would have at least one eye every day that had clear vision. I'm wondering if you can still signal for help if you eye is full of goop? I can't think of anything else but I"m going to keep thinking, there has to be a good solution we just need to find it or develop it.

 

[glrogers1]

Lacrilube is a great product but you only need a very small amount. Try using an amount equivalent to a grain of rice. It should sustain you through the night then be gone by the time you get up. Hope this helps.

 

[rose]

I have tried so many products. Recently I've been using castor oil. (NOT the type sold as a laxitive, but the cold pressed type sold for skin care at places like Whole Foods, or can be purchased online at Amazon.)

For during the day I use only a tiny tiny amount. If you want to use for daytime use, have your carer break off one end of a q-tip. Dip it in castor oil, and just touch it to the inner corner of the eye. That's how little is needed to be effective. The combination of adding this after just a regular "dry eye" drop seems to extend the life of moisture for quite a while, and there is almost no blurring. It allows me to even wear contact lenses for the entire day, and I don't have blurry vision.

For nightime use, more than this should be used, but even a generous amount won't cause blur for an extended time, At first I'd tried massaging some onto my lashes and under eye for moisturization, but it seemed to clog my eyelash follicles, because I kept getting these "stye" red bumps, so had to discontinue that. Just the small amount I describe causes not problems with plugging the follicle at all.

The castor oil by itself does not seem to be that effective, but, if I add it after the moisture drop, it seems to seal in the moisture drop, adding another barrier to keep the moisture on the eye instead of evaporating, if that makes sense.

Here is a good source for other options to consider.

http://www.dryeyepain.com/StandardTreatments.htm

Good luck to you, I hope you find some sort of combination that will work. (perhaps ask doc about getting the "plugs" into tearducts and maybe a custom prescription eyedrop such as described in article I linked to)