doxy

[patrick]

hi all,

i wanted to share this with you all here on the boards.
i started a course of doxycycline last october the 25th. (50mgs twice a day).
just last week i had my first check up at the optometrist and she told me i respond extremely well to this treatment.
before i started doxy i had a tbut of approximately 2 to 3 seconds and even with longterm treatment with lidscrubs and warm compresses the tbut didn't, raise a bit for years.
now my tbut varies between 10 to 15 seconds and the meibum is much thinner and almost no plugged meibomian glands at all. only a few very small granular particles in the meibum are left and my optometrist says that these particles will for sure disappear within a few weeks.
so,that is the good news. only thing is that my dry eye symptoms are still present and i had hoped for a little more improvement with my symptoms as well.
my optometrist says i have to be patient and that my eyes will go feel better considerably very soon.
i really hope so. anyone here had something similar? which means a significant improvement in clinical signs,but no immediate improvement in symptoms?

patrick...

[Faith1989]

Doxy has helped me out a great deal also, but alone is not enough to give me comfort. I also use Lotemax, restasis, doxy, fish oil, and flax oil and will be getting plugs next week. You may want to try adding something to your regime even if its just supplements...just a suggestion.

[patrick]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.
I guess you're right and i probably shouldn't have discontinued taking fish oil capsules.
I quit taking them when i started with the anti biotics. To be honest i just dislike swallowing all these pills and capsules so much i stopped with the fish oil out of convenience. Bad decision.
At my next appointment in 4 weeks i will bring up the idea to add the plugs in addition to the anti biotics.
Hopefully at that time things have improved enough so i will be able to rely solely on the conservative treatment options i tried before (without much success btw).
I don't think i will get another prescription for anti biotics shortly,because this 2 month course is about the longest course my general practitioner is willing to prescribe to me. My optometrist even had to contact and convince my general practitioner to give me the 2 month course otherwise i would have never gotten it. Yup,we're in europe here. Generally Doctors are very afraid of misusing anti biotics.
So,fingers crossed it will be effective enough that the benefits stay a very long time or even better maybe permanent. But that's wishful thinking i guess.

Patrick...

[dryeyes4ever]

Hi - I've had dry eyes my whole life but they got really bad in the last 3 years (I'm 52). I finally went to see Dr. Robert Latkany who has a practice in New York City. He has also written a book about dry eyes called, "The Dry Eye Remedy". He only sees patients w/dry eyes. After diagnosing me w/ocular rosacea he took me off ALL eye drops, including Restasis. I only use Refresh tears which are preservative free. I had a flare up a few weeks after seeing him & he put me on Doxy, 100 mg 2 x a day for 6 weeks & then 100 mg once a day for 6 more. My eyes are better than they've been in years. I usually only have to use the Refresh when I first get up. Sometimes at night my eyes will feel a little gritty so I'll use more drops. He doesn't need to see me again until next June (I saw him in September & he was very pleased w/how my eyes looked). So my point is you may need to take the Doxy longer. You should see an opthomologist who can prescribe the antibiotics; an optomotrist can't.

I still have never had tears run down my face, but am doing almost 100% better.

[patrick]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.
I know of dr latkany and at some point a couple of years ago i had plans to go visit him (i could stay very cheaply in ny since my stephbrother lives in manhattan),but shortly after i had decided to go to ny i found an optometrist here in the netherlands who is very knowledgeable about dry eye and she is very dedicated as well. This took away the urge to go make the costly trip to ny and that's why i never went there.
However, i did read dr. Latkany's book to. I found it a very interesting read. Informative and yet very understandable for anybody who is able to understand english a little bit.
I heard a lot about this rosacea condition,but i have never been diagnosed with it and i have seen a lot of opthalmologists. So i guess that is not the case with me. I thought that rosacea is considered a skin condition and my skin i very healthy anyway.
You are right about an optometrist is not in title to precribe any drugs to patients,but that's why she has my gp prescibe it to me. I know it is a bit of a hassle to have it done this way,but unfortunately there is no other way to get things done here. Regular opthalmologists just don't prescribe anti biotics for mgd.
I agree with you that my two month course with 100mgs per day for the first 6 weeks and 50 mgs per day for the last 2 weeks is a bit short and the dosage a little low,but i really hope my gp will allow me to take the 50mgs per day a month longer than that. Again my optometrist will have to ask my gp to prescibe it again for another month. My final check up is in two weeks and there and then she will decide if i have to take it a bit longer or maybe i have to quit and see if the improvements will hold up the next few months.
Btw. i don't do any eyedrops anymore since in my experience i do not benefit at all of them. I always feel worse after instilling these drops,because it seems like the drops dilute my already very thin oily layer even more.

I hope for you your eyes will feel a '100% better' for a very long time,or even better forever!
Good luck with that...

Patrick..