How do you deal with dry eyes?

@weezy1939 How long on De3. How do you measure it's effectiveness. I just started.

I have Sjogren's and Lupus and therefore I have dry eye. I have a wonderful Corneal Specialist that I see at Mass. Eye and Ear in Boston. When I first found dry eye to be a problem she recommended Thera Tears (no preservatives, of course!) As time went by that wasn't enough so twice a year she inserts collagen plugs in my tear ducts both upper and lower. This procedure keeps the moisture that you do have in the eye. After 6 months your body completely absorbs the collagen. Then, as time went by my eyes became dryer so she recommended Serum tears made from my blood serum. There is a company that sends a nurse to your home to take 9 vials of blood and this is shipped to the lab and they send the serum tears in a cooler. I keeps them in my freezer and take out one small vial of serum tears and use them 6 times a day. It is amazing I'm guessing because they are biological!!! Specially made contact lenses are also offered. They cover the whole eye and have liquid in them. I don't know if this will be my next step however, I am extremely pleased with Serum Tears .The only down side is that it costs $700.00 but lasts 6 months, hopefully.

@lacy2
I do have prescription sunglasses, and I do wear them in the house when the sun is bright (we don't have curtains), or when it's approaching dusk/evening and the lights are on. They do help, for sure.

@dianedonohue
Hi Diane, would you please provide contact information for the Serum Tears? I've been using Xiidra for four years and it costs similar to Serum Tears when I added drug insurance and deductible and co-pay for Xiidra.

@dianedonohue I have been looking into the serum drops. Can I ask what company you use that comes out to your house?

Thanks

@po1958ling The company that I use is Vital Tears phone number 800-360-9592. I am pretty sure they were based in Kansas City but are used by Mass Eye and Ear, Longwood Ave. Boston. It cost either $20.00 or $40.00 to have the nurse come to my house. I live in a suburb of Boston. They also gave me an address of a lab approxinately 25 minutes away but because I am 82 and don't love driving or falling on the ice so I opted to pay the extra and have the nurse come to my home. Sincerely, Diane Donohue

I also meant to mention that I generally don't wear sunglasses because I am afraid to trip or fall. Fortunately the sun or even brightness doesn't hurt my eyes. Sunglasses just make me clumsy. Not good at 82! Diane Donohue

@lacy2 you can ask your optometrist about FL41 lenses. These help reduce glare and block out some of the harsh blue light that can be irritating. They have a rosy hue. You can get them as a prescription. Depending on how much tint you need you can get them lighter/darker. The lens is a rosy color, just a heads up. I find it them useful for night driving or other conditions where it feels like sunglasses wouldn’t work.

@lacy2 Dear mtn woman No I don't wear sunglasses regularly but I do wear them outside in very bright sun. Fortunately the sun does not bother me. I feel no pain in very bright sunny conditions. Another reason I feel fortunate is because the times that I have had to resort to sunglasses I felt very off balance or felt that I was about to trip over something that I couldn't see as well as I should. Diane

@lacy2 Hi!!! Good to see you here. I am not a doctor, but have found relief from tinnitus with Lipoflavinoid, am OTC vitamin combination...Worked wonders for me!!!