Latest doctor visit...

[pete0085]

Hey everyone!

I went to a new eye doctor today and get a new opinion. I was a little dissapointed things were not much better, but learned a few things too.

My main issue that is leading to my red eyes and irritation is blepharitis. Tear flow is very good. The plugs and restatis are doing it's job. The problem is the poor quality of tear that is producted. I have some rosecea on my face and lower eye lids. He gave me doxy to take twice a day and said that is likely to help me out more then anything else. Also gave me a preservative free steroid called Durezol to take for 5 days to help calm the eyes down and give me some relief in the short term.

A few things that I found interesting. He wanted me to stop the nasonex (my regular doctor gave me that to treat my redness in my face (rosecea). Also stop pataday - said it is drying my eyes out. I never heard that before and I'm scared to just stop it after using it for so long. It helps with the redness and afraid when I stop my eyes are going to have a rebound affect and get worse immediately or short term from stopping it.

He also did not want me to do the eye lid massage with my finger tips or q tip. It may only be irritating my eye more and did not see a reason to try to force the oil out. Said the oil there is not a bad thing, let it be and let the doxy work. Still do the rice baggy and eyelid rinse.

Learned a few new things today. I found it interesting to stop the pataday and eyelid massage. Any feedback on this? I didn't do the the pataday this morning and my eyes were really irritated (red, not itchy).

[socratese]

i went to a lot of "not in the know" doctors who just said I have blepharitis. i end up finding out a year later I have chronic inflammation+mebomian gland disease+ocular rosacea that causes slight blepharitis and immitates some of the signs of blepharitis so i spent a year going to docs who just treated blepharitis and it was a whole bigger monster underneath. but it may be diff for you may just be blepharitis

[Rebecca Petris]

Also stop pataday - said it is drying my eyes out. I never heard that before and I'm scared to just stop it after using it for so long. It helps with the redness and afraid when I stop my eyes are going to have a rebound affect and get worse immediately or short term from stopping it.

That's quite right, the patanols/patadays etc are all quite drying. The dryness vs. allergy issue is a difficult balance for many dry eye patients. For some people the benefits of those drops outweigh the drawbacks and for others they really are inappropriate. So it seems reasonable to be trying a new approach. Cold packs and an occasional saline rinse might help while you're in the transition?

He also did not want me to do the eye lid massage with my finger tips or q tip. It may only be irritating my eye more and did not see a reason to try to force the oil out. Said the oil there is not a bad thing, let it be and let the doxy work. Still do the rice baggy and eyelid rinse.

This is probably very good advice. I think a lot of people cause themselves more harm than help by over-manipulating the eyelids... too much heat, too much handling, massaging, scrubbing and so on just increase inflammation and then everything hurts more (and is redder). With eyelid stuff sometimes less is more.

It sounds like you've got somebody who is paying attention to some details and that's a good thing.

p.s. One more thought. I used to use Similasan allergy drops now and then (it's a homeopathic). It'll help some people and not others of course but it's something that will at least not be hurtful while it's trying to help.

[bp77]

Hey everyone!

I went to a new eye doctor today and get a new opinion. I was a little dissapointed things were not much better, but learned a few things too.

My main issue that is leading to my red eyes and irritation is blepharitis. Tear flow is very good. The plugs and restatis are doing it's job. The problem is the poor quality of tear that is producted. I have some rosecea on my face and lower eye lids. He gave me doxy to take twice a day and said that is likely to help me out more then anything else. Also gave me a preservative free steroid called Durezol to take for 5 days to help calm the eyes down and give me some relief in the short term.

A few things that I found interesting. He wanted me to stop the nasonex (my regular doctor gave me that to treat my redness in my face (rosecea). Also stop pataday - said it is drying my eyes out. I never heard that before and I'm scared to just stop it after using it for so long. It helps with the redness and afraid when I stop my eyes are going to have a rebound affect and get worse immediately or short term from stopping it.

He also did not want me to do the eye lid massage with my finger tips or q tip. It may only be irritating my eye more and did not see a reason to try to force the oil out. Said the oil there is not a bad thing, let it be and let the doxy work. Still do the rice baggy and eyelid rinse.

Learned a few new things today. I found it interesting to stop the pataday and eyelid massage. Any feedback on this? I didn't do the the pataday this morning and my eyes were really irritated (red, not itchy).

he seems like good doc. what i do not understand is if the oil stays in the gland and do not come out cuases more problem. how come some doc say do massages? how much doxy he gave u and for how long?

[socratese]

how come some doc say do massages? ?

because it's all a matter of opinion and all dry eye treatments are hit and miss.
would be nice if you could go to any doctor and they will know exactly without a doubt everything that needs to be done. ive been to the top doctors in the country, followed their advice, and im still suffering with the same problems for years.

[Rebecca Petris]

Yes it's all a matter of opinion but with lid massage it's not necessarily all hit and miss. If someone's got hard plugs that can't be massaged out safely at home, why bother with massage. If someone's got poor quality oil but no hard oil plugs and massage doesn't improve the flow, no point doing it because messing about with the lids too much just makes them sore anyway. But other people really do benefit from 'helping' those glands push the oil out. (I'm one of them incidentally - but not all the time. If I'm making oil, it helps, if I'm not, it doesn't.).

[Scout]

Also stop pataday - said it is drying my eyes out. I never heard that before and I'm scared to just stop it after using it for so long. It helps with the redness and afraid when I stop my eyes are going to have a rebound affect and get worse immediately or short term from stopping it.

I stopped Zaditor cold turkey after over 2 years of daily use and I did get a rebound effect. But it was temporary. I have never regretted stopping the medication because even though in the beginning it really helped, in the end it made things worse.

Try to use wet, cold compresses throughout the day and keep them on your eyes for a few minutes at a time. It helped with the pain and for me, it also promoted tear flow (which for me was nonexistent at that time). I kept a wet wash cloth in the refrigerator for easy use.

And try to remove anything in your environment that could be triggering an allergy or sensitivity in your eyes.

From Drugs.com on Pataday:
http://www.drugs.com/pro/pataday.html

The following adverse experiences have been reported in 5% or less of patients:
Ocular: blurred vision, burning or stinging, conjunctivitis, dry eye, foreign body sensation, hyperemia, hypersensitivity, keratitis, lid edema, pain and ocular pruritus.

Scout

[pete0085]

Wow, thanks for all of the replies! I will try to answer all of your questions.

What was nice about this doctor is he came right out and said what is going on. I brought a list of past and current meds/eye drops and he looked at that and said to get rid of this and that and stay away from anything with preservatives.

The doxy was given to take twice a day.

Thanks for your message about leaving zaditor. I expect to have some problems for a week if I am not taking it. Just found out today Health Parnters will no longer cover pataday, so maybe it's not a bad thing to get me off.

I do use a cool rag at times when my eyes really get sensitive. It's possible pataday was drying my eyes out later in the day as the night time was always worse for me.

I'm due with a follow up in 3 weeks to see how the doxy is working. I do hope it helps get things under control.