Punctal occlusion

[Madison Granny]

I've had plugs on the bottom for over 5 years.  When they finally found the right size, the plugs have stay in.  I've had the tops ones done for about 2 years now and they are still in. 

[Sharon]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.
This has been very helpful!

[bloodless]

I take salagen for dry eyes and mouth. I had plugs put in. They worked really well and eventually fell out, but by that time the combination of meds fixed the eye dryness.

[Sharon]

Thanks bloodless, what meds helped your eye dryness besides the Salagen?

[bloodless]

Well, salagen is specifically for dryness, but drugs I take for sjogren's include plaquenil, gabapentin, tramadol and azathioprine.

Evoxac is a drug I've taken in the past for dryness. It didn't have a generic, so I switched to salagen.

[Sharon]

I can't tolerate Salagen or Plaquenil.
I wanted to try Evoxac but it's not available where I live.

[jazzlover]

Try the temporary plugs first .. or go straight to the permanent ones that can last up to 10 yrs or more.

I used the temp ones for about 2 yrs, and 6 months ago one of them kept falling out, so we put the permanent one in. I loved it!

So I finally got the temp one replaced with a new permanent one last week in the other eye. I'm so happy they are OK for me. The perm ones are WAY easier to put in because they are shorter.

I had a "shallow" tear duct so the temp ones were too long for me.

Give it a whirl!

PS .. I would try the plugs before the occlusion... that way you will know if it will actually help .. plus it won't be PERMANENT.

PS PS .. The temp ones last 6 months at most.

[Sharon]

Thanks Jazz, just ordered the plugs today!

[jazzlover]

Cool... you have to order them?

[Sharon]

Yes, the eye specialist (a prof. at a local hospital) wanted me to order them from a specific company and
then bring them to him and he'll insert them.

[jazzlover]

Oh OK. I had never had that experience.

[bloodless]

Ordering them and bringing them in? Weird. My ordinary eye doctor put mine in. Also, she had to make sure got the right fit. If you have to order them and bring them in, how are you supposed to know they fit?

[Sharon]

The doctor told me exactly which size to order and supplied a form.
I hope he was right because they were expensive!
I guess I'll find out next week when he puts them in.

[Sharon]

So I had the plugs put in today and I'm a bit confused.
I had only ordered one pair which the doctor inserted in the bottom tear duct of each eye
but told me it wouldn't do anything for me since I also needed the upper tear duct plugged
to experience any change. Looks like he was correct, as I don't feel any improvement at all.

I know many here did see change with only the bottom plugged.
How is it that nothing at all has changed for me?
Even the artificial tears still drain quickly. 

[Liz D.]

You may have more severe eye dryness like myself than the others who only needed two.  I did not get any relief until I had all four plugs in!  I think you'll see a difference then.

Liz D.