My Sister has Sjogrens need help with dry eyes

[ladybug]

My sister has sjogrens and I'm so happy to have been introduced to this forum. She suffers so much and it hurts me. One of many symptoms she has is dry eyes. She went to a optromoligist and had plugs put in her eyes, It hurt her alot and after 2 weeks she had them removed. Has anyone had plugs in their eyes and found that it worked.

[Sadie963]

Hi Ladybug,

I have had plugs in my lower eyelids over ten years and they help me a lot. It can be a trial and error process trying to find ones that fit well. Some people can tolerate the punctal plugs and for others, they are too uncomfortable and irritating. 

It's great that you are checking out our web site to be helpful and supportive to your sister. It's extremely difficult when a loved one is sick and you just want to help as much as possible.

We are here whenever you or your sister wants to check our web site for more information.

Sadie

[SueAnn]

Hi Ladybug,

Welcome and I am sorry your sister is having problems with dry eyes.  I have had good results with plugs but they don't stay in long, two months at the most.  I have had a couple of friends that had plugs and had to have them out due to discomfort/pain issues.  One of my friends just had her tear ducts cauterized because she couldn't wear the plugs.

Has your sister tried restasis?  I have found it to be very helpful, along with drops during the day and gel or ointment at night.  She also might want to get wrap around glasses to wear.  Onion eye goggles are cheap and can be worn at home you just end up looking funny.  Some people get moisture chamber sunglasses and have them made into prescription glasses.

I have a pair of Seefit Megs that help a bunch and don't look to bad that I wear to work. 

You can search the site and find good information on eyes as well as other topics.

SueAnn

[Jellyb]

Hi Ladybug.
It is so kind of you to be searching for answers for your sister. My little sister has been my best friend during this sjogrens journey.

Ask your sister if her eye doctor recommended Restasis eye drops.
I have been on them since last spring, and after about three months I started to see a huge difference in my dry eyes. Its kind od expensive but sooooo worth it.

Welcome to the forum! You will find lots of kind wonderful and smart people here who can help.

[Joe S.]

Welcome to the forum

[TripleC]

Welcome... I had bottom plugs put in.  They worked for awhile but then I did not feel a difference.  One of them worked it's way out and irritated my eye, I dont know what happen to the other one.... it is not there anymore.

I would not do it again. 

[A66eyroad]

What a wonderful sister you are! 

Welcome, and I hope you find everything you need here. My suggestion would be to use the search engine on the top right-hand corner of the page. You'll want to click on the Sjogrens World Forums flag at the top to get to the main page, then enter your search topic (e.g. "plugs") and you'll get a boatload of great information!

I recall we had a thread about plugs not too long ago, so I searched for it and found it here: https://sjogrensworld.org/index.php?topic=17318.msg184489#msg184489.

[reallyneedsanap]

Different people have slightly different anatomy.  For me, the plugs were very uncomfortable, and I also had mine removed after two weeks.  However, my opth.  told me that they can really tell after a few hours whether or not they can proceed with cautery, which is what I have done.  They just wanted to make sure that I didn't end up with tears streaming down my face.  Cautery has helped me alot even though I still need to use drops.  I like thicker drops at night, and more frequent thinner drops during the day. 
Omega 3 supplements are also helpful, 4 capsules daily.  My doc said to get only the kind from wild caught salmon as that has the best effect according to medical research.
Good luck to your sister.   

[ohiolady]

I use Restasis, have plugs, use warm compresses twice a day and use drops around eight times a day.  I, also, take 3000mg of fish oil per day which is recommended by my rheumatologist.  I've found a Systane gel drop for use during the day along with TheraTears and Genteal gel at night.

Good luck.

Anna

[Patze]

Hi Ladybug,

Let me also welcome you to the SJS World and family!  I'm so glad that you've found the board and I sure hope that you can find some answers for your sister.

Have you had a chance to check out the search engine located in the upper right hand side of this page yet?  You'll find scads of topics about dry eyes and the various meds and other ways to help our dry eyes.

I've often mentioned that dry eyes are my worst symptom, I can deal with just about everything else, but the eyes just drive me batty.  I have one eye totally plugged and the other eye doesn't as one plug fell out (again ), and the other had to be removed due to an infection in the duct (its my worst eye, so I have to go through a ton of OTC drops to keep it moist). 

By chance, did your sister mention if she had a Schirmer's test or an evaporation test on her eyes?

When I had the plugs put in, they hurt so bad that I threatened to rip them out.  Luckily kidlet talked me into not having them removed and after the second week, they started to get a bit better.  I don't feel them much unless my eyes are getting extremely dry again and then have to use the gel again.

I'm also on Restasis twice a day along with warm compresses twice daily.  I use OTC drops, and lately have been using gel liquid drops a lot as it lasts longer than the regular variety.  I also keep them in the fridge so they feel so good on dry/irritated eyes.

If you google dry eyes, you'll find websites that offer some great advice too.

Again, welcome and I hope that your sister is able to find a combination of meds/OTC drops/doctor to help her.

Take care of yourself -

Patze