Night Time Dry Eyes

[dvhfjr]

I had epi-lasiks in January. Everything went fine, but as time has gone on, I have been getting severe bouts of dry eyes at night. I never had dry eyes before, and still don't get dry eyes during the day. I am told that it is likely because my eyes are not completely shuting at night allowing them to dry out. It can be quite painful (like needles) and sometimes I can't see at all until I put some drops in. Is it possible that the muscles that keep my eyes closed were damaged or strained in some way during the proceedure? Has anyone had similar experiences? Will this pass? Advise? Thank you. :?

Dave

[Mr.UnPerfect]

I had the same thing this morning. Dry eyes when I woke up. I would say moderate to severe. But no pins and needles. Let me preface my comments. I am 5+ months LASIK. My eyes for the first 4-5 months were very dry in the morning and midly dry thru the day. There has been an improvement over time as it should be with LASIK. Where we now meet, is that now during the day my eyes are almost normal and only in the morning are they dry. That said, I am curious also. I did not have dry eye in the morning before surgery. I sleep the same. I think. So why now. My guess is that the eye has been traumatized and is not functioning normally. Remember! They had to put a device on the eye, and STRETCH the eye lids open and hold them there, while they shot the eye with a laser. DUH! At my 1 month post-op appt. the Doctor said " your eyes are not dry and they are normal now" Yeah RIGHT. These guys crack me up. I understand they do not have all the answers, and these issues should usually resolve over time I suspect, so they just throw something out there. The dryness seens to fluctuate some mornings better than others.
So I suspect it is the eye healing and conditions ( caffine intake, quality of sleep, diet, etc.) Since I have been taking some Quality nutrients and eye glandular extracts, I have seen my vision improve and reduced dryness. How much is related to time as opposed to my supplements is debatable. I think it's both. What kind of drops are you using? Are you putting things in at night? I am starting to think that the drops serve a purpose, however they gum up some of the action. I will continue to experiment with different drops and see. Good luck Bob

If the eyes are the window to the soul, not that I don't wear glasses I may have to clean up the soul ---a little....

[dvhfjr]

Thanks for the reply Bob, it's good to get another perspective. I have also been questioning the actual proceedure and the possible stretching. To anwswer your question, I am using Systane artificial tears as recommended by the folks who perfomed the epi-lasiks. They also suggested I try putting an ointment in before bed, but it blurs my vision to the point I only used it once. So for now, just the drops and I have started using them immediately before bed every night. However, I don't know that there has been any improvement.

Dave

[JPD]

Remember! They had to put a device on the eye, and STRETCH the eye lids open and hold them there, while they shot the eye with a laser. DUH!

I don't know how your procedure was done, but with me a small springy clip was used to "hold" my eye lids open, but nothing was ever even close to "streched", or forced open. If your procedure was anything like mine, then I highly doubt any streching of the eye lid is your problem. This same device is used to hold the eye lids open for PRK patients too, but you don't here them report this same morning dryness problem. The truth is, you probably have always had an issue with your eye lids not being closed all the way when asleep, it's just that before your tear production was sufficient enough to compensate for the problem. And as the nerves in your cornea continue to heal, you'll return to that point in the future.

[rosecmd]

I am 7 weeks post Lasik. I've had significant issues with night time dry eye that are only just in the past day or so are getting a bit better. I'm on Restasis (for 3 weeks) which I think is starting to kick in. I take Thera Tears flax oil, 3 capsules a day, which might be helping. But, every night before I get into bed I put the Refresh PM ointment in my eyes. Sure it makes them blurry, but who cares, you are going to sleep. It really does help with comfort. I still do use the Refresh Plus drops at night if I wake up. But the ointment really has staying power which keeps my eyes more moist all night long. I suggest giving the ointment another try.

[LasikExpert]

If you eyes are okay during the day when open and blinking normally, but dry in the morning, then it may be too much of a good thing.

Tears have a lot of salt in them. Salt on tissue can cause dehydration. If you have a large tear buildup during the night (do you have punctal plugs?), it is possible that the salt within the tears is dehydrating the cornea. This may also cause vision quality to be a little different in the morning.

As recommended by others, use a lubricating gel before going to bed (don't use Muro 128 as it has saline in it). The gel will displace the salty tears and help lubricate. The gels do make vision smeary, but you should be sleeping anyway!

[dvhfjr]

Thanks all for your advise. Sounds like I really need to get used to the lubricating gel. At least until my eyes are completely healed.

[lvziggy]

Glenn, it's funny that you mention the salt that tears have in them and punctal plugs. I guess I was having too much of a good thing. My surgeon put plugs in immediately after my surgery, and I've since had a problem with my eyes watering all the time. (I guess that's better than dry eyes!) It finally bothered me enough that last week I went in and asked him to remove the plugs, which he did. The very next morning was the first time since my surgery that I woke up without that scratchy feeling in my eyes. Now I can take naps and not have to reach for drops as soon as I wake up. Plus, like I said, when I get up in the morning my eyes feel fine. I still put drops in more out of habit than anything.

I guess the lesson is, like you said, too much tears may be too much of a good thing!

~Alison