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Keratitis following HD Inf.

Forums General Melanoma Community Keratitis following HD Inf.

  • Post
    Colleen66
    Participant

      Has anyone else developed Keratitis following Imunotherapy, specifically HD Inf.?  During the 4 week treatment my eyes were badly effected with inflamation and pigment changes.  Now the eye Doc is suggesting Plunctal Plugs to help with this.  

      Any insight would be helpful.

      Colleen

    Viewing 2 reply threads
    • Replies
        Melissag0624
        Participant
          Hi colleen, I have worked for an ophthalmology doctor for 9 years now and lucky you I also have melanoma and did 3 rounds of biochemo/inferon cocktail last year. Keratitis is not a fun diagnosis. Punctal plugs will help keep your tears on your corneas longer but you have to also consider the quality of those tears, most likely due to the chemo your natural tears probably have inflammatory cells in them. I have Punctal plugs myself and would highly recommend them but I would also add artificial tears at least 4 times a day and a an artificial tear gel or ointment at bedtime, all of those can be found over the counter. It would be helpful to add a steroid eye drop but being that your doing chemo I would guess your oncologist would say no. Another option would be Restasis eye drops if your going to be in treatment for longer than another 6 months, Restasis in a nutshell breaks down the inflammation in your tears and helps you produce better quality tears but the downside is it takes 3-6 months to work. You could do all of the options together at the same time. If your eyes are burning or painful Blink tears are my favorite and help the burning quicker than some others. Good luck to you and sorry ๐Ÿ™‚
          Melissag0624
          Participant
            Hi colleen, I have worked for an ophthalmology doctor for 9 years now and lucky you I also have melanoma and did 3 rounds of biochemo/inferon cocktail last year. Keratitis is not a fun diagnosis. Punctal plugs will help keep your tears on your corneas longer but you have to also consider the quality of those tears, most likely due to the chemo your natural tears probably have inflammatory cells in them. I have Punctal plugs myself and would highly recommend them but I would also add artificial tears at least 4 times a day and a an artificial tear gel or ointment at bedtime, all of those can be found over the counter. It would be helpful to add a steroid eye drop but being that your doing chemo I would guess your oncologist would say no. Another option would be Restasis eye drops if your going to be in treatment for longer than another 6 months, Restasis in a nutshell breaks down the inflammation in your tears and helps you produce better quality tears but the downside is it takes 3-6 months to work. You could do all of the options together at the same time. If your eyes are burning or painful Blink tears are my favorite and help the burning quicker than some others. Good luck to you and sorry ๐Ÿ™‚
            Melissag0624
            Participant
              Hi colleen, I have worked for an ophthalmology doctor for 9 years now and lucky you I also have melanoma and did 3 rounds of biochemo/inferon cocktail last year. Keratitis is not a fun diagnosis. Punctal plugs will help keep your tears on your corneas longer but you have to also consider the quality of those tears, most likely due to the chemo your natural tears probably have inflammatory cells in them. I have Punctal plugs myself and would highly recommend them but I would also add artificial tears at least 4 times a day and a an artificial tear gel or ointment at bedtime, all of those can be found over the counter. It would be helpful to add a steroid eye drop but being that your doing chemo I would guess your oncologist would say no. Another option would be Restasis eye drops if your going to be in treatment for longer than another 6 months, Restasis in a nutshell breaks down the inflammation in your tears and helps you produce better quality tears but the downside is it takes 3-6 months to work. You could do all of the options together at the same time. If your eyes are burning or painful Blink tears are my favorite and help the burning quicker than some others. Good luck to you and sorry ๐Ÿ™‚
          Viewing 2 reply threads
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