I also have facial paralysis and have been dealing with severe dry eye for 6 months. I am seeing Dr monday (sept 14) to look into a jupiter/scleral lens. I will post after the visit as to how it went. You might look into a scleral lens as well. Search the forum for more info.
I have not found much help from my Drs. I really think unless they have a paralyzed dry eye, they have no clue how to treat it. I was sent home with regular drops which lasted about 30 seconds before my eye was screaming in pain. Even the neuro opthamologist hasn't been much help, told me to wait till at least 6 months for surgery but didn't suggest anything other than drops. I am waiting for surgery and eyelid weight for another couple of months.
Here is what I do now:
Night - Refresh PM ointment across inner lower lid, gel drops and cover eye with tranquil eyes. I modified mine to only be a single patch. I soak it in hot water, wring it out and wear all night. Really helps with overall dryness.
Day - Systane gel drops, let it set for a bit then a dab of ointment, and another gel drop. This is the only thing that has worked for me. I rinse the eye with warm water and repeat the ointment and gel drops as needed. I also keep thinner ointment such as Blink on me at all times and use any time the eye feels dry.
You have to keep the eye moist. As soon as i feel a tinge of pain or even think its dry, I use drops. Preferably do drops before you feel any pain. Hot weather, AC fans makes it all worse. You just have to keep on top of the dryness. Keeping the eye moist at night has helped me the most. It took a while to get it to be tolerable but the tranquil eyes have really helped. My cornea is healthy but vision is blurry from drops etc.
Its been 6 months of hell, but I am finally starting to be able to actually go out for most of a day. I still am hopeful this will improve but if it doesn't I will at least have my eyelid tightened.
