Moisture Chambers

[mimoore]

Me again with another question for my knowledgeable friends...
The adhesive weight I ordered was not heavy enough so back to the eye doctor to figure this out - we don't have them in Canada so it has been a challenge getting him to cooperate.
Anyway, apparently I have big eyeballs so my eye drys out quickly hense the many drops every 10-15 minutes. it is rainy here today in Ontario so I am getting a bit of relief, not less drops just more comfortable. What types of moisture chambers are you using? I need something to get some relief at times. I have put foam around the inside of my sunglasses and will put these on at times.
Thanks again for being there for me time and time again.
Michelle 

[saralynn143]

Michelle,

I have a pair of ProOptx goggles that I ordered from www.7eye.com. Check out their clearance section because they are pricey. I also have a pair of onion goggles on order from Amazon.com, but they are not due to ship until next week, so I don't know how well they work.

Dr. Neely gave me an eye guard when I saw him last month. It is basically a small clear pirate patch with a foam liner. It works best of anything I have tried. It looks pretty stupid, but I don't care when I'm at home. It says Pro-Optics, Inc., 317 Woodwork Ln, Palatine, IL 60067 on the box.  I could not find a website, but their phone is 847-991-2020 and their fax is 847-991-9696.

I also use Refresh PM round the clock. It drove me crazy at first because it makes my vision cloudy, but I have gotten used to it and my right eye compensates. About the time my vision gets clear I know it is time to put in more gel.

Is your eye doctor going to help you get a new eye weight. I think you are supposed to be able to exchange them up or down a size for free. I have been in correspondence with the customer service guy at Med-Dev, and can send you his e-mail address if you need it.

Sara

[calimama]

Sorry i think you have mentioned this elsewhere but...

How exactly did you get the blinkeze weights (agreed no doctors here seem to know of them). Did your insurance cover these (prescription?)? And what weight did you order?

Thanks
Trish

[mimoore]

Hi Trish,
Okay I am going to save you leg work and frustration. The link I am sending is for information only, they won't send it to us in Canada. I will give you a number of MedDev direct and you can talk to Cid or Janette and order directly, 1 800 543-2789. I live in Ontario and they sent it to me. You need a perscription from your eye doctor. Your doctor can fax it in without you going for an appointment but your doctor may have weights they could try on you to know what weight to order. My doctor was uncooperative and guessed saying lets try a 1 gram, it was not heavy enough (I also think my eye lag has got a bit worse, my bottom lid is getting tired of just hanging there). Anyway so again I asked if he could help me determine which weight and he guessed again, lets try 1.6 grams. It is not coming out of his pocket so what does he care. $65.00 each weight which comes with 100 adhesive strips (order extra strips, $15 per 100, you will need them in the early stages until you get things right). You can sent your weight back and exchange it for another one if it is not right, I think you have 30 days. No refunds only exchange. I am keeping my 1 gram weight, my thought is that as my eye improves I could use the lighter weight. See how optimistic I am? hehehe 
http://www.fci-ophthalmics.com/pdfs/blinkeze.pdf
I will send you my email address, if you need anything and I can help please ask. 

[Debbi]

One thing you may want to do is find an opthalmologist who does the surgically implanted Gold or Platinum weights.  They will have the small "test" weights that they can use to determine exactly how much weight you need to allow your eye to close.  Otherwise, it will be sheer guesswork and you may very well end up buying several BlinkEze before finding the right fit.  This is what I ended up doing as the first Opthalmologist didn't have a clue.  The second one I went to does the surgery so he had the weights right in his office. 

As a side note, he also does the punctal plugs which I haven't done, but understand they help a lot of people.

Debbi, very happy with my Blinkeze, other than occasional adhesive sensitivity

[mimoore]

That is good advice, it would have been great if mine had them. He told me that he tried but people were never happy so he gave up. Great attitute eh? Anyway this is the only way I can do it so I will keep trying. Good luck Trish.
Michelle 

[saralynn143]

Maybe his patients were never happy because they didn't get the right weight because he didn't bother to get a kit and fit them. Geez!

[mimoore]

Yeah how is ever going to fit me for an internal weight? What is he going to do open me up and keep trying different weights? What a dork...

[satman]

i bought a pair of panoptix and they do not suck-up tight enough to your face so i went to harley davidson and got a pair of goggles with transitional lenses with a tension strap and they work awesome,they run about 90.00 bucks with the night and day lenses,I highly reccomend them.

[mimoore]

Yes they have great googles. Thanks to Satman I went to our local Harley store and got myself two pairs - one $18 (clearer) and one for $39 (darker) and they are so great. I use them when I am on the boat and don't need to worry about a thing. They kind of push my ears down so over my hair is best - I look like a dork but who cares I am comfortable.
Harley Momma.

[Maverell]

Humidity levels are definitely the cause and solution for dry eye.  My eyelids on the affected side were 50 % sewn together at first. Then after 2 years this was reduced to 25 % and a gold weight inserted surgically. The weight worked to some extent but then broke through the skin and I removed it. Cold and windy weather made it almost unbearable to go outside. I never tried goggles, but got some relief with glasses with a side piece attached, that closed off the corner of the eye. However the wind still got in.

The dry eye was one of the reasons that made me leave England and move to a very humid country. The humidity here in Thailand is rarely lower than 60 per cent. My eye lids are open now and I do not suffer with dry eye. Within 2 days of returning to England for a holiday the dry eye is back................ I know it is a bit drastic moving like I did, but coupled with other reasons, it was the best thing I could have done.

[calimama]

Michelle: Thanks for all the leg work on the eye stuff. I hope for some kind of solution out of my Sept meeing with opthamologist #2. Maybe i need to reread your post, but are the blinkeze weights really only $65 each? I will certainly investigate this route, as well as implants -- did not think it would come to that, but maybe!?! Thanks for tips on weights, that's helpful. I don't expect any docs here to know much about this so first hand advice is great.

I was reading a reply (sorry i went so fast through all this i didn't get the name) that discussed humidity levels and dry eye (maybe i should move to thailand?  . I am really not finding my eye so dry... i don't know if we have high humidity in Toronto (it is the summer, and it has rained a lot, so maybe?!) or my eye is just not so dry, or the patch helps here.

Anyway, it's all very interesting. I am sure we are scaring and/or helping a few others other there!

Trish

[Debbi]

Hey, Trish.  I paid nearly $200 USD for my blinkeze - not sure if I maybe paid extra because I got it through the opthalmologist's office.  Either way, worth every penny, IMHO.

Debbi

[saralynn143]

Debbie, mine was $103 through my ophthalmologist, including $35 for overnight shipping. Would have been $68 otherwise. Did your charge include an office visit? Otherwise I think they overcharged you pretty significantly.

Sara

[mimoore]

Yes Trish it was 65$ plus shipping. The number I gave you,  you can order direct. Oh and extra strips are $15 per 100.
Michelle