Hi,

I've had my lower ducts successfully plugged for two years and am giving Restasis a try. I heard from others here that you need to take it for several months or more to see if it makes a difference. I'm glad I read that because I've been on it for just a week and was wondering when I'd see the effects.

My question is will we have to take this for life if it works? Have any of you asked your doctors about that? I go to see mine in another week so I'll run it by him as well. Restasis isn't cheap and I feel like cauterizing my upper ducts might be an easier alternative. But then again, someone here mentioned the "quality" of the tear film on the eye.

Argh! I just want the pain to go away.

Kathy

I honestly have no clue about that..... but if someone could promise me that Restasis would make my eyes better for the rest of my life, I would definitely not mind using it for another 60 or 70 years! That was probably me that mentioned the quality of the tear film. I have had all 4 ducts cauterized and I had a lot of luck with it... my eyes now have tears in them. But the tears don't really stay on my eyeballs because they lack the essential oils, so they roll right off. Have you tried taking any sort of oral nutritional supplements like flaxseed oil? I take Thera Tears Nutrition. It's supposed to help restore the essential oils in the tears. I also use Refresh Endura, which is also supposed to help with the quality of the tear film. So far neither my dr nor I see very much of a difference. But we have to give it time. I will certainly try to remember to ask him how long I would need to be on Restasis for, if it were ever to really start working.

Senior Veteran,

Thanks so much. You gave me some good ideas to pursue like the eye drops I hadn't heard of and suppliments. I lean heavily on TheraTears but not the kind you mentioned. And yes, I started taking flaxseed oil a few months ago. I figured what the heck, it's good for just about everything else as well.

In the meantime I'll drum my fingers and hope the Restasis gives me some relief. Now that the upper plugs have come out, my eyes wake me up at least 3 times per night for drops. Bleah. Thanks for listening.

Kathy