Pill, dry eyes, LASIK surgery

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2004
Pill, dry eyes, LASIK surgery
5
Fri, 04-02-2004 - 7:24pm
Hi, all,

I had LASIK surgery a little over a year ago. As a result I have dry eyes. Punctal plugs (little silicone plugs in my tear drains) help a little, but they're still an issue.

I need to be on some form of oral contraceptives for my ovarian cyst(s). Problem is, the ones I've tried (Orthocept/Desogen, Mircette, and Levlite) make my eyes SUPER, painfully dry, which causes my vision to blur.

Anyone know of a specific pill that lessens the likelihood of vision issues?

Thanks!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Fri, 04-02-2004 - 9:39pm
Hi Sarahp, welcome!

You may need a pill with higher progestin activity. For pill side effect management see http://www.fpnotebook.com/GYN86.htm And, for progestin Activity see http://www.fpnotebook.com/GYN105.htm You might want to ask the doc who prescribed you pills about the following pills with higher progestin activity: Estrostep,

Loestrin 1/20,Demulen 1/35, or Loestrin 1.5/30. Let us know how you are doing, ok?

Good luck

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2004
Sat, 04-03-2004 - 12:24am
Hi and thanks for the info!

The weird thing is that I was on Desogen years ago (1996?) and it made my eyes horribly dry (this was pre-LASIK also), but according to that chart, it would be a better one for that problem? My system seems to be kind of wonky, maybe the opposite is true for me! Mircette made my eyes dry, but not terribly so. Hmm . . .

Does the dry eye side effect happen with the patch or NuvaRing?

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Sat, 04-03-2004 - 7:19am
It could I suppose, we are all different. The progestin in Ortho Evra is norelgestromin a norgestimate metabolite. Norgestimate is the progestin used in Ortho Cyclen. The progestin in NuvaRing, etonogestrel, is the biologically active metabolite of Desogestrel which has an activity of 9.0 according to the fp Notebook link but the effect a progestin has also has to do with the dosage per pill. It’s probably a good idea to ask your pill doc and perhaps your ophthalmologist as well. He has probably run into the dry eyes from contraceptives problem before. I hope you can find a method that helps with dry eyes.

Good luck

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sat, 04-03-2004 - 8:01am

Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding also sometimes have problems with dry eyes.

Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2004
Sat, 04-03-2004 - 4:31pm
Great info, thanks! I have an eye appointment coming up, but I dunno, my doctor seems to be kind of . . . um . . . uninformed, haha.

If I go for a pill with higher estrogen, what kind of side effects can that bring? Specifically in regards to acne, weight gain, moodiness/depression/irritability, and loss of libido?

Ah well, I suppose the only thing to do is wait and see a doc. So it goes!

SP