hi, i had lasik done year and a half ago, about six months ago my eyes were still dry but manageable with drops. my doctor prescibed restasis with regular drops. i used drops with preservatives along with restasis and my eyes got severely dry. i am a 23 year old female in haelthy condition, and i wonder if using restasis and drops with preservatives could result in this severe dryness, also i live in nevada and we had very hot and dry summer. well i went back to lasic doctor and was told to stop using restasis and just use thicker drops without preservative and had punctal plugs put in lower drainage holes. one month later my eyes were no better, so upper drainage holes were plugged. now with weather getting cooler my eyes are moister but they are iratated and scratchy. it is hard to live my normal life because this scratchiness is driving me crazy, and i am afraid if plugs are taken out the dryness will return. i heard about smart plugs but i was wondering if anyone had information on them, or if knew anyone who inserts them? could restasis have made my eyes drier? was it drops with preservatives, or a combination of both? has anyone heard of severe dryness kicking in a year after lasic surgery? will the scratchyness go away with time? please if anyone has any info or advice for me, please help me, iwant to have has close to a normal life has i can again. also does anyone think if i moved somewhere more humid, would my condition improve? thank you to anyone who could help.

I'm 2.5 years post surgery. Yes preservative gels make the eyes much worse over several weeks of regular use. It happened to me 7 months post surgery and made my eyes worse. Schmir = o in both eyes at that time. Your eyes can recover if you don't use them anymore. I believe some people's eyes after LASIK get worse because of blocked Meiobian glands several months after having low aqueous tear volume and also when your eyes are initally lazered you can not feel just how dry they are! So its probably not all down to you using preservative drops. You should see a bit of impprovement if you only use preservative free in a month or so but it probably won't go away completely. This is a condition you will have to adapt to. I tried all 4 ducts plugged and it helped to moisture but also scratched my eyes and made my sinuses much dryer (i already get dry sinuses from the Dry eye syndrome which makes me feel ill). It is really important to think about your environment. As eye drops offer no lasting comfort I can only manage my condition by avoiding dry atmospheres. I now work in a smaller office which I humidify, keeping humidity over 50%. Luckily I live in a fairly cool country with lots of rain. I really notice on more moist damp days that my symptoms are better. If I am in anything lower than 45% humidity my sinuses dry out/ bleed and eyes burn later in the day....and that is hell. You may be better off moving or investing in humidifiers. I am going to probably try smart plugs or flow controller plugs and they are supposed to be more comfortable but i am concerned my painfully dry sinuses may come back (which makes me feel like I have flu or something). If you don't have this sinus problem then its definately worth a go as they can really help. I would try flow controller before smart plugs because they are supposed to have a more comfortable head than standard plugs and they are easier to get out. Smart plugs have to be irregated out. But if they work its worth it. Good luck

forgot to say when you get the upper plugs out for the next day or two your eyes will feel really dry until your eyes readjust, so don't panick. They will feel better after about 3 days