hi my name is Jen and I had dry eyes for a little over a year i use lubricating eyedrops but i am still having symptoms of burning and dryness could anyone tell me what drops work the best i dont like the gels they are suppose to last longer but they leave flakes on my eyelashes and make my eyes itch

My favorite are Bion Tears. Unpreserved tears are the best, especially for people who use them as much as we do. (at one point I was using them 30-40 times a day.) Preservatives can only serve to irritate the eye when used a lot. I also like Tears Again Gel Drops. They are not as thick as an ointment or a gel, but they are thicker than a drop. The bottles are expensive, so see if your dr has some samples so you can try it before you buy it. It has a very mild preservative in it, but it is a "disappearing preservative" which means that it leaves after only a few seconds of being on your eye. As far as allergy drops, I like Patanol and Livostin the best. My favorite steroid drop is FML (the only one that actually works for me!). I try to only use ointment at bedtime. Then I use Tears Naturale PM Lubricant Eye Ointment, preservative free. As far as drops and ointments, that's what works best for me. (not that anything actually makes my eyes feel GOOD)

Hi Jen,

I've suffered from dry eyes for longer than I can remember. My favorite drops are Refresh and TheraTears. TheraTears has electrolites but I can't say they help heal anything. They just feel good.

I've just been put on Restasis which is the watered down version of a drug that fights rejection of transplanted organs. Wish I could tell you it works but I have to be on it for 6 months to see if it will help my eyes produce more tears.

One thing that helped dramatically was having my lower tear ducts plugged. It was a ten-minute procedure and my eyes adapted to them well. But the relief didn't last because my eyes became even dryer.

Recently I had the upper ducts plugged (I didn't know we had upper ones!) and I had the most wonderful tearing but my eyes itched terribly and they came out. Apparently there are steriod drops that can reduce the initial itching and swelling while the eyes become used to them. If the Restasis doesn't come through for me I'll try the upper plugs again. What little tears I did produce weren't being sucked up by the upper ducts. For the first time in years I had white eyes!

I wish you well on this journey.

Kathy

I use Refresh Tears and they are ok, I guess. But I have to use them often and my eyes are always red! Recently I tried a new drop that I found called Similasan. It's a homeopathic drop and it's very soothing to the eye. Just thought I'd pass that along.....