No one has tried this, very alternative, but it works!...
I’m now a 58-year-old male living in the UK.
I first had RCE when I was in my early 20’s (1981). It started in my right eye and spread to both eyes by the time I got to my early 30’s (1992).
I’m my late 20’s, to help the problem, I had a Corneal Debridement in my right eye, as they felt the surface of my eye was the problem. This didn’t work, and the problem persisted.
Back in the 1990’s there seemed very little that could be done to address the problem, apart from cleaning the lids and using substances like Lacrilube... again, these never really worked for me, and after a week or more of the eyes constantly going “ping!” as it were, I could hardly see, my vision was so blurred.
Next step was Moorfields in London. I met a researcher there who was looking in to RCE, and at that time they were starting to look at Stromal P, Puncture, but as you can imagine, I didn’t fancy that, as there was risk that you could get “sparkles” in the eyes at night and other vision issues.
Over the years I have tried just about every lubricant and remedy there is, and none of them worked for me... nothing… not even slightly... I found all this stuff about flaxseed and vitamins etc., to be useless for me.
In around 2009, I tried clear contact lenses at night only, and that was a good option, and it worked quite well. For me, the problem was twofold, firstly, I was still getting a very dry eye problem, which could be very awkward first thing in the morning, secondly, putting in, and taking out contact lens was quite a stressful thing… I didn’t enjoy the experience at all.
This then lead me to accidently coming up with the solution that works for me, and it is an odd one.
I think a while back I had a problem with Blepharitis in my eyelids and the doctor at the time prescribed a tube of Chloramphenicol—the thinking being that it would clear up the problem. I used it and it seemed to work.
A few years later I mentioned it to another doctor I saw, and he said that it was completely the wrong thing to give me, as it was a greasy ointment, and while it may help with the Blepharitis, it would cause problems with my RCE as it would block the ducts around the eyelids… He said I should always use Fucithalmic ointment as it didn’t have this “side effect” as it were.
In or around 2010, I had need to get some Fucithalmic for a small scratch I got from getting dust in my eye…
The Fucithalmic helped the problem to heal, but I also noticed that it had an unexpected bonus…
What I noticed was that the Fucithalmic stuck my eyelashes and eyelids together, not in bad way, it was very easy to part them, but just enough to stop the “ping” when you have that moment first thing in the morning or at night when the eyelid sticks to the cornea. I also noticed that the Fucithalmic was in some way acting as a lubricant, in a very different way to the usual ointment type solutions that had never worked in the past.
Over the last few years, I have worked out how to use the Fucithalmic, so that it works 90% of the time.
The key is to put it in just as you are starting to fall asleep, and you need to make sure your eyes don’t open again or blink before you actually fall asleep. Timing is critical: just put a smallish drop in the corner of each eye and keep your eyes closed.
Over the course of the night, the eyelids and eyelashes “stick together,” and it will make you look a bit odd in the morning, as you have this white, dried out substance around your eyes, which you just simply wash off. The sticking together stops the “ping,” and the substance itself, underneath the closed lid, stops it from sticking. It’s almost like shrink wrapping the eye and sealing it. The Fucithalmic inside the eye can’t dry out, and the residue sticks the lids together, so you get the lubrication and no chance of a “ping” as the eyelids are stuck together.
I have no idea why this works, but it does and, I have now been doing it for 7 years.
As soon as I fall asleep without putting in it, I get a “ping” and we are back to square one. So, it is not clearing up my problem, but I do have control of it now, which I have never had throughout the years. I get Fucithalmic (also known as Fusidic Acid) on prescription.
I hope this helps someone, as I have been through years, and years of pain, and I guess stress, with loss of sleep, and loss of vision. No one can understand what this problem can put you through, it’s almost like you live in a totally different world in the hours of sleep, and it’s a world that you are on your own in.
It may sound the daftest idea, but it works for me. There is more to all this, and it needs someone brighter than me to work it out why it works and how to improve it.
EDITORIAL NOTE: Fucithalmic ointment is an antibiotic available only with doctor's prescription.