ANA Discussion Forum
Post-Treatment => Eye Issues => Topic started by: MKLady on June 22, 2009, 02:39:51 pm
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Has anyone ever had their eye begin to produce tears after a year?? I'm at 14 months and not a tear since waking up with complete paralysis. No movement until 6 months. Sometimes I have the sensation that its about to water but...nothing. :(
Susan
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Sorry but no, I don't have tears after 3 years.
(I'm a poet, and I didn't know it!)
Maureen
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Susan~
I went for YEARS without any tears and then a stretch with some...but no, for me anyway, not that big 'ole run down your face in succession (like sobbing) - maybe just one here and there...but i have, and have NEVER had, ANY movement or feeling.
K
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2 1/2 years and nada....god i hope they do...anyone that is longer than 3 years out there??
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my tears came back in 6 mths (or so i thought). its been almost 2 years and my tears are being temperamental like a teenager. When i eat i get tears, when i want to cry it is as dry as a well!
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I think my eye teared a little when I puked a couple weeks ago. But usually I don't have any. I use A LOT of Refresh Celluvise eyedrops. :)
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Here is an older post from November 2007- on this very topic
http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=5409.0
DHM
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Here is another post of someone who got these after 10 months
http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=976.0
DHM
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I had surgery 2.5 months ago and my facial nerve was cut in order to remove my tumor. This past week my eye has started to produce tears. In-fact, I had an appointment today with a local eye doctor to follow up on my blurry vision and he was pretty amazed. I think he thought I was messing with him when I told him my AN side eye had been watering, but when he added the drops to look at my eye it responded and started to water. He really couldn't explain why. I have started to research which cranial nerves control which areas of the face. The 5th Cranial nerve controls sensation on the majority of the face and also some muscle movement. As far as the eye goes it seems the 5th crainal nerve is more of a reflex to irritation and sends the signal to the 7th cranial nerve to active the tear gland. As far as emotions go that would be the 7Th cranial nerve. To answer your question it is possible how or why I really don't know. From everything I have read it shouldn't happen. I am sure we have others in here that can shed more light on the subject.
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Its been almost two years for me and nope cant cry out of that eye and I LOVE drama movies pfffft lol
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Hmmm that is interesting about the watery eyes :'(. Can you blink too? ;)
I haven't seen any posts of others who have had the same thing, so maybe you are it, the only one!
Does this mean you don't have to lubricate as much??
Maureen
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Maureen,
No I can't blink without thinking about it. I do have a gold weight in my upper eyelid and I had a lower eye lift done. No I do not have to use drops. I do wash my eye in the morning when I wake up with eye wash solution and at night before I go to bed just to rinse my eye out. I don't do anything else at night or during the day.
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i remember a doctor saying the eye nerves are different from the facial nerve branches ? dont know if this is correct, i still have no tears 2.5 years post op
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I am 3 years and 1 month since my AN was removed and still no tears in my left eye. I was never really a cryer but I do miss crying now that I can't cry. I agree sometimes I think a tear is going to pop out but then no, all dry....
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I had surgery on June28,2007 and I started to get tears and lots of them at about 22 months afterwards. Before that I would get tears once in a great while but my eye never used them they just ran down my face by my nose. Now I have so many tears that they pool in my eye and sometimes they drop out of my eye in big drops when I bend my head down or sideways. Now I don't have to use eye drop very much at all, Only when I get caught in a lot of wind.
I should mention that I did have the nerve splice done on Dec 23,2008. Where they splice the nerve from your tongue on the facial nerve.
From that I started to get some eye movement about a month ago. Still have the gold weight though.
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Hi Ellenmn,
I too had the nerve splice (12/7 transposition) and have had partial results. Some muscle tone around the upper cheek, chin, but nothing around the cheek, lip area. And just a little eye movement. Funny how everyone has different responses to that surgery.
Sounds like you are having good results so far :)
Have you noticed mouth/lip movement?
I'm 18 months post surgery (12/7) so am looking forward to more surgery to help things along.........not sure what ??? f/u in one week.
Maureen
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Moe
No I haven't noticed any mouth/lip movement yet. Just the eye and some tone in the face around the cheek. Before the surgery my cheek was starting to sink in and now it looking more normal. People tell me that it's really looking good and that they can hardly tell that the right side is paralyzed but believe me I can still see it and pictures really prove it. (they look horrible)
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Funny how we always look more terrible to ourselves. I'm the same way. We are more aware of the difficulty in facial movement/talking/eating/smiling.
So at rest- yes, we may be looking better to others.
My affected cheek is still sunken in. I think I need a muscle transposition there! We'll see what UW says.
They have a specialty nerve clinic which I can't wait to get myself into :-\
Let me know more about your transposition results.
Sorry about the hijack :o
Maureen
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14 months post op and no tears for me either. Went to see the movie My Sisters Keeper (quite the tear jerker) and I only cried out of one eye, which made me cry more. :'(
Strange thing though, when I am gradening, working out or cleaning the house my nose and eye run (oh so attractive!).
Come on tears!!!
Michelle ;D
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Hi there:
Four years post op, plugs in my AN eye and nope - no tears.Saves on kleenex when I cry! I still have to use refresh pm periodically, as I have allergies and very dry eyes. Good Luck!
Brenda
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It's so weird how we can have opposite post op issues - my AN eye tears so much I had a pyrex tube put in to drain the tears, & Brenda, you had plugs put in to
capture tears ! When it's hot out (I live in Miami for ---- sake), my AN side nostril drains & tears fall like buckets down my cheek - the pyrex tube can't keep up with them !
Life after AN surgery...
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That is weird that some have too many tears and some none! I'm almost 5 months out to the day and still no tears. My eye is wet enough not to need any eye drops or anything (there was a week or so length of time about 12 days post op where my eye stopped closing and I needed drops, but steroids fixed all) but if I'm watching a sad movie or something the eye doesn't cry. In a way it's good because I can discretely get rid of the tears from the one eye without my boyf noticing and teasing me about crying! Always an upside!
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hi
I can blink but have no tears in right eye, no drops so far (i suppose i dont need them?) but I only had surgery 12 days ago so cant say whether they will return.
Denise
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I'm five months post op and no tears but on several occasions I woke up with a pool of "moirsture" sitting in the corner of my AN side..I've only had one opportunity to cry and no tears on left....I never had to use any form of drops in my AN eye....and having facial paralysis, I had no problems with blinking....
JO
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it does produce tear if i eat something sour or spicy :' :o
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I have no noticeable facial issues and no tears. I cried last night and began to wonder - if i can't produce a tear on that side...should I be using drops? My eye is not uncomfortable ever and it closes completely, but maybe there is still a lack of moisture?
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It is my understanding that hydration tearing and emotional tearing are different.
I do not need drops- but that eye will not cry (with onions or sad movies) yet my exams show the cornea is fine and well hydrated. ???
So I do not worry about it.
I am sure there is a scientific explanation. Maybe someone will chime in here.
DHM
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Interesting!!!!!
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Four and a half weeks post op and my eye feels drier every day. Saw my eye doctor 2 weeks ago and he said everything looked fine and that it could take up to 12 weeks for tears to return. I use drops and ointment all day long with some temporary relief, but by evening I am extremely uncomfortable. I am getting frustrated and depressed because of this. Also by the end of the day my eye feels like its drooping (top lid) and it looks a bit droopy too. Feeling cranky :(
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I'm 9 weeks post-op and no tears yet. Good to hear that hydration tearing and emotional tearing are different. I've needed eye drops more in the past few weeks - probably because of the cool windy weather and dry heat. Also, I still need my external weight and eye drops when I blow dry my hair and attempt to put on make up. Hopefully it is the recovery process that is making me look and feel like I've aged 10 years in a few months.
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Although my surgery and radiation (FSR) were over 3 years ago, I still don't tear from the AN-affected eye (my left). I had a very thorough eye exam a year ago due to necessary cataract surgery; the clouded natural lens was replaced with an artificial lens - an outpatient procedure. I had the right eye lens replaced a decade ago. The ophthalmologist performing the surgery saw nothing amiss with the affected eye (I asked) other than the clouded lens he replaced. My eye closes naturally and only feels slighted irritated when I'm very tired or in windy conditions. This is relatively rare. I don't require eye drops and with the few exceptions I mentioned, have no eye 'issues'. For all that, the affected eye still doesn't tear. One learns to accept what one cannot change - especially when what one cannot change doesn't pose a problem and/or affect the quality of one's life.
Jim