Refresh Liquigel: Review

Refresh Liquigel contain PURITE, the same preservative found in Refresh Tears. This product is intended for individuals with severe dry eye as they are formulated with "extra strength" gel.

I received a couple of samples from the optometrist and decided to give these a try. After a week of use, I can definitively say that these eye drops do not compare to the Refresh Tears. The gel 'clogs' up your eyes for quite some time and your eyes are accompanied with blurred vision. After a couple of minutes, unsightly crust starts to form on both eyelashes. The only way to get rid of this is to either wait it out or wash out the eyes. I would not recommend this product.

Update On Stringy Discharge + Helpful Links

*Please read updated 'FAQ' page as you may find it useful. Updated 01/09/11.

Hello all,

First off I would like to provide my visitors with some links that have proved useful to me:

• Eye Discharge Signs/Symptoms (Wrongdiagnosis.com)
• Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca (Wikipedia.com)
• Relieving Dry Eye (Allaboutvision.com)
• Keeping Eyes Healthy (Videojug.com) *Video is somewhat outdated but useful nonetheless. States that only eye drops that come in vials are 'preservative free' which is not true anymore. I use TheraTears Eye Drops in bottle form and it is 'preservative free' when it exits the bottle.

--

The main question I'm sure most visitors have is,

"How can I cure my eyes of this discharge??"

• Well the first question you should ask yourself is, how did this discharge come about in the first place?
  
  1. Have you had lasik surgery performed?
  2. Do you wear contacts?
  3. Are you taking any medications that can result in dry eyes?
  4. Etc.
• There are many underlying causes of eye discharge and I am by no means licensed professional that can diagnose you. My first suggestion to you would be to visit your local optometrist or ophthalmologist so that they can properly diagnose you. Of course the tech savvy would Google their problem (hence probably how you ended up here). Eye doctors can get expensive so I am here to help as best as I can, however, I do hope to visit my optometrist in the near future to get a check up on my eyes and possibly get refitted for new "1 day disposable contacts." If you have not already visited the links above, I highly recommend them.

Now to answer the question posed in the beginning, I will say my optometrist diagnosed me with keratoconjunctivitis sicca (fancy term for dry eye syndrome). Dry eye syndrome is accompanied with red eyes, dryness, stringy discharge and a plethora of other things. So I will focus primarily on this condition.

So have I cured myself of this clear stringy eye discharge?

Short answer is, no.

From what I have read, it seems there is nothing that you can do to prevent dry eyes and it is something that older individuals are prone to as they age. However, I am in my early 20's. From the links above, they state wearing contacts (which I used to do) is something that is related to why dry eyes occurs. I have been wearing my glasses for 3 months now without any contact use and I still get clear stringy discharge but it is definitely not as thick and persistent as before. It used to be there every morning when I woke up but not anymore. It comes and goes, sometimes it's there after I put warm compresses on my eyes, sometimes it randomly appears when I am driving. The discharge is definitely thinner and doesn't appear as often.

**I also want to add that TheraTears eye drops leaves my eyes a bit crusty in the mornings so it is not just with the Optive Sensitive eye drops. Sometimes when I use alot of it at night, the next morning there is some type of discharge but I want to say it's not the 'bad kind of discharge.' If anything, I would say it is present because during nighttime use, it is lubricating the eyes and is keeping them moist.

Is the stringy discharge under control? I would say so.

• In a previous posting I wrote that the TheraTears Omega 3 supplements works for me but I did hope they would work quicker and showed a bit more results. (Yes I mention TheraTears alot, I'm a walking billboard but I like to use products that work.) However, others out there should know that there is still not a huge amount of scientific evidence correlating fish oil with improvement of dry eyes and everybody reacts differently to treatment so do not be discouraged if this product does not work for you.
  
• It seems I am on my laptop all day, and I try to remember to blink as often as possible and rest my eyes when I can. These simple steps do go a long way in helping your eyes. If they get tired, let them rest! Furthermore, drink plenty of water to hydrate your body, it could help get you back on track to healthy eyes but of course genetics does play a role. With that said, I digress.

Dry Eyes

On my arrival back to the states, I did vast research about my eyes and read about using new types of eye solution such as Clear Care to using Theratears (non-preservative eye drops) to using warm compresses. I tried different types of eye drops and decided to try Systane Contacts (for soft and rgp lenses) but that did not help much. Furthermore I tried Rohto V. Ice eye drops but they did nothing for me (the soothing sensation feels great but doesn't help my condition).

I decided it was time went to seek out an optometrist/ophthalmologist that was well qualified and knew what they were talking about. On my immediate visit, my eyes were thoroughly examined and the optometrist stated that I have a condition known as dry eye. Something that no other eye doctor informed me of. I went for several check up's and was given samples of Restasis and Theratears.

On November 19th, 2009 I started using Restasis 1 drop in the morning and 1 at night. My drops ran out on January 6th, 2010. I also put warm compresses on my eyes for 5 minutes, 1 time in the morning and 1 time at night. My eyes lack the nutrients needed so I have also been taking Theratears Omega 3 Supplements. During this time, I stopped wearing contacts and rely on my glasses even though I am not a huge fan of glasses.

End Result:

I can not say that the discharge is gone but it has started to become under control. I see clear discharge maybe twice a week and they are quite small in length than before.

Currently:

I have been wearing only glasses for about 2 months now.

I am almost done with my second bottle of Theratears Nutrition Omega 3 Supplements.

Theratears eye drops are used every so often.

OcuSoft Lid scrubs are also used to clean my eyes in the morning and at night (give these a try, they seem to be good at cleaning my lids)

I will do a review on the used products in a later post. Till next time!