Finally got a diagnosis!

[Jesslin]

Hello everyone,

I finally got a diagnosis for my dry eye that started in December! My original post from when I joined with details of the problems I've been having ishere.

I had a misdiagnosis of mucus fishing syndrome from an NHS opth and various suggestions by GPs, the NHS messed up my referrals a fair bit and I decided to pay to see a specialist privately. With the very kind help of LittleMermaid I found an opth with a special interest in dry eye in my area and booked an appointment with him. What a different experience private is from the NHS. He was kind and had lots of time to listen to what I wanted to say and ask questions.

It turns out I had Meibomian Gland Dysfunction , no apparant aqueous problem. The problem is not a lack of oil but the wrong sort. For some reason about the same time as I used a BAK preserved drop my meibomian glands started to produce strange abnormal oil which doesn't do what it should. My TBUT is about 4-6 seconds. I have some staining and filaments.

He said I should leave off lid hygeine and compresses, keep using drops to manage symptoms and see if it goes away of its own accord. He is fairly sure that the quality of the oil is probably hormonal or diet related, he wasn't sure why this started at the same time as I started the drops. Perhaps it is a coincidence? Perhaps not. I suppose no one ever really knows!

He gave me some preservative free freebie stuff Hylo Tear and Ocusan and also an ointment for night use with vitimin A. He thought that the Vitimin A could possibly have a positive effect on the glands. The product is not out in the UK at the moment - it is German and all the instructions are in German too. I think it is called VitA-POS I will look into it more once my eyes feel good enough to use Google translate. (Dilating eye drops :S)

I thought it was very interesting about the diet and hormones though, he said chocolate can be a cause sometimes. He also said that If I notice any more hormonal issues I should see my GP to get it checked out.

The outcome of the consultation was that it sometimes goes away by itself, especially in my age group (25) I should give it another few months. He also said that sometimes it can get a lot worse though. I should experiment with diet and see what works for me. If I'm still bad in 4 months or so we can try low dose doxycycline. At the end I told him I was going on holiday soon and he said that the warm climate might help, getting away from it and eating fresh veg and seafood might do me the world of good!
It's nice to get a proper diagnosis and know what is going on, even if it's sort of a mystery condition.

Is anyone else here producing the wrong kind of oil?

Thanks,

Jess

[y-gwair]

So glad you found a specialist that was able to help you, I know what a relief it is to find someone sympathetic who takes the time to listen and explain things in detail. It's also therapeutic to get a proper diagnosis, and makes life much easier if your GP is unhelpful, as is so often the case.It's a shame that this is more likely to happen in private consultations these days, I think it's partly because of the time aspect, plus it's often very difficult to get to see senior consultants from general GP referrals (usually end up seeing their overworked junior who may not have the same sort of experience). Also, the person you get referred to initially may have no real expertise or interest in your problem, it's surprising how narrow some specialist's interests and knowledge can be. I think an awful lot of time in the NHS is wasted by sending people to the wrong specialists, which mean we all end up seeking multiple opinions, and eventually resigning ourselves to having to pay.

I think the main thing when looking for a private consultation is to make very sure you see the right person for your precise condition by googling their experience plus any research they may have done. I've had some really positive private consultations, but also some that really weren't worth the money or effort (some have a tendency to want to diagnose or exclude their pet problem, without much lateral thinking about your actual symptoms). Sounds like you have found a good one, so best of luck, hope it goes into remission soon.

[NeedMyEyes]

I have a suggestion - I know its expensive, but Lipiflow is offered by the Centre for Sight in London. It is supposed to be a very good treatment for Meibomian Gland Dysfunction....