red eyes

[frigo]

Hi! a couple of years ago i asked a question about dry eyes... now i think i will never get rid of this problem.
I went to see maybe 20 different eyedocs but none of them can help me ...
It is stressfull because i cant have a normal life.. so to avoid hurtfull questions i often put visine in my eyes.
I think my eyes are never ever getting better due to eyedrops.

My question is ... is the I-Brite procedure a good option??

Regards

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

good information JCH  MD

[flossy93]

I can imagine the profound effect you feel that the redness and dry eyes have had on your life, and I am sorry.  I hope you will keep exploring other avenues for solving the problem before you consider a surgery that could leave you with serious vision problems, however small the risk.  

Please do some research about 'Murine/Visine rebound' and how to deal with it, in case that is exacerbating your problem.  I thought the post from Hagandv in the 'Overuse of eye drops' link I posted above was especially helpful. That patient really went through the ringer trying to solve his red eye problem, but did eventually get there, without surgery.  

Regarding Dr. Hagan's post about Restasis which is routinely prescribed in the US for chronic dry eye caused by inflammation, it's a shame it is not yet available in Europe.  The US drug licensee, Allergan (they licensed the active ingredient from the Swiss company Novartis), focused on FDA approval in the US first.  It's an expensive drug, and the company must have expected it would be more cost-effective to have it approved in the US.  Apparently they felt they would get push-back during approval from some of the national health care systems in Europe about such a pricey drug.  

Now Allergan is focusing their efforts on battling attempts to have a generic version of Restasis brought to the US market.  So I don't know at what point, if ever, they or another licensee, will work to have these drops approved in Europe.

There is a good website for patients with dry eye where at least one thread discusses Restasis and where it is available.  Here is a link to one thread discussing this:

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showthread.php?11247-Countries-where-Restasis-is-available

Of course, there isn't a way to know as yet whether Restasis would solve your problem, but it is a shame you don't have a way to try it.

In terns of other patients with your problem and how they have dealt with it, the DryEyeZone website forums may also help you.  There is a search box in the upper right part of the website; just enter 'red eyes' or similar and you will see you are far from alone.   Here is one such example:

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showthread.php?20439-6-years-of-the-most-bloodshot-eyes-ever-but-no-dryness-or-discomfort-at-all&highlight=red+eyes

Perhaps some of those threads will give you ideas of other things to try before you have surgery.  

Of course, you may still consider surgery at some point if you can find no other solution, especially as you feel it would make such a huge difference in your life.  Just know that there are many of us on these forum who have vision problems due to various eye diseases or injury, and we would hate to see you possibly develop vision problems from an elective procedure, at least before you had tried every other available alternative.  Best wishes to you for finding a solution soon.  

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

No  'rebound redness' is not permanent. In a normal eye after several months off the visine/murine it goes away.

Something is wrong as restasis is the treatment of choice for moderate or severe dry eyes and is the most widely prescribed eye drop in the USA

JCH MD

[frigo]

thank u very much for your advice :-)

[frigo]

So, chronic rebound redness is something permanent right?
I have told everyone about it and many doctors get mad. but i didnt know at that time. i thougt i was doing the right thing because it is over the counter plus it said calm dry and tired eyes. so i thought i was helping me not destroying me. i live in Europe and we dont have doctors like u. i find it amazing that you even take the time to help on this site. in my country i cant get the help i need, even if i pay the hell out of me:-) last time i asked them for restasis and the doctor didn't know what it was. so they feel intimitated because i know so much,..
So thank u very much and God bless u.


As far as the I-Brite you are all right... but is isnt a small risk for a cosmetic reason to me. it means regaining my life back, being happy, finding someone and marrying some day... leaving the anxiety behind. i feel helpless.

[Royler89]

I have same issue have you found anything to help with the problem

[JohnHaganMD]

That post from 2014 and none since then. Chance of getting a response low. You can post your own question and start a new discussion thread.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Visine will not permanently damage your eye but prolonged use can cause chronic "rebound redness" or you can develop allergy to the preservatives.  

If you want to use a Visine formula use dry eye formula not redness remover.

If your eyes are much better when you're on vacation away from your work and on weekends away from work and its possible to find another job that you like, pays as well or better and is not around harsh fumes than yes consider a change to that type of job. Discuss with your ophthalmologist.

JCH MD

[flossy93]

I am sorry about your dry and red eye problems.  There are many discussion on this board about both dry eyes and the problems with over-using Visine or other vasoconstricting eye drops.  You can use the 'Search' box at the upper right of the Medhelp web page to find discussions about other patients' experience with dry eye problems and with dealing with an eyedrop 'habit.'

Also, please take Dr. Hagan's caution against the I-Brite procedure seriously.  Here are a few links to discussions about this procedure to give you an idea of why a doctor would caution you about it:

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showthread.php?18737-I-Brite

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showthread.php?16909-I-Brite-Eye-Whitening-with-Dr-Boxer-Wachler

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/question-about-i-brite-procedure.951661/

http://www.realself.com/question/new-york-ny-heard-brite-eye-whitening-procedure-safe

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3605078/

There may be patients who have had a good outcome with the I-Brite procedure.  But do you really want to take even a small risk with your vision for cosmetic reasons?

If your eyes stay red on vacation when you are not in your work environment, perhaps the irritation is not related to your work exposure.  It could even be from the Visine drops.  You can read this thread about redness caused by overuse of Visine-type drops:  

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Eye-Care/Overuse-of-eye-drops/show/436611#post_9953092

Lastly, even if you have the I-Brite surgery, there is no guarantee that the redness won't come back.  

Hopefully by working with your eye doctor and doing more research about your conditions, you will uncover what is causing your dry and red eyes.  I hope the autologous drops are helpful, but please don't give up trying to find the root cause in case it's out there.  Good luck.

[frigo]

And thank you for the advice!

[frigo]

People are so happy about that procedure, can i ask 2 more questions?
1: can Visine eyedrops permanently damage your eyes?
2) I work in a dust environment with odors (acrylics), even if i dont work i have red eyes, i mean even on vacation.
Do you think i shouls quit my job?
Also i have tried everything on the market. now i am starting autologous serum eyedrops.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Look at the bottom of this page: Read the information about dry eyes. No the ibright operation is not recommended. Also read the article about eye "Bling"

Dry eyes can usually be controlled, it often can't be cured. I Brite can make the eyes more irritated and will not help dry eyes

JCH MD