MGD relief that works for me.

[greeneyes]

I have just posted this message on the end of another thread but thought it might be more appropriate to start a new thread as I have found a solution that worked for me and I would like to share it with others who have suffered with MGD and dry eyes.

For what it's worth, on the advice of an eye specialist, I have been taking flaxseed oil for approximately five months and have no more problems with MGD. I don't wake up with my lashes stuck together any more and I don't have to do the massage and cleaning of the lashes and my eyes are functioning normally with an adequate tear film. I endured about ten years of MGD and saw many other specialists prior to starting to take flaxseed oil.
I take about a teaspoon and a half twice a day. Occasionally I ran out of flaxseed oil and my eyes began to get red and painful again so I know that is what is making the difference, for me. Now I make sure I never run out.

I hope this helps some people who are suffering from this painful and embarrassing affliction. Please give it a try and report back. I came back to look at the forum when I realized there may be some people still suffering that this information may help. I hope so.

[redandsensitive]

I agree. Flaxeed really helps. Maybe not 100%, but yes Anyway, I can't stand the taste (2 tablespoons a day). I mean, it's the worst taste ever. I throw up sometimes when I try to swallow. If I get it down, I hurry up and cover the taste with a tablespoon of strawberry jam. Maybe it's just me that can't stand the taste.

[mgshutterbug]

Yes, I have the same problem, can't get the flaxseed oil down. Any other suggestions?

Maria

[magoo]

Barlean's makes flavored flaxseed oil. Lemon and cinnamon are the two I know about. They also make something called Omega Swirl that I have heard tastes very good.

Have you tried taking capsules instead of the liquid?

[Shell]

Hi Would you mind sharing the brand you use?

I have seen one with lignans and one without and don't know which is preferable? Can you tell us which brand and product you've had success with specifically and how long it took to see results? Thanks and glad you've found something that helps you! Shell

[PotatoCakes]

For those that can't stand the taste, the capsules are available at most pharmacies and Costco. Very simple to take and no taste. I've been taking 3 Flaxseed & 4 fish oil capsules for a couple of years now and while it doesn't solve my dry eye, it does help a tiny bit, we think.

My new eye specialist suggested freezing the fish oil capsules if they are problematic. That may work with flaxseed oil capsules. I have been told by my naturopath that fish oil is preferable to flaxseed but I don't know how true that is. She only prescribes flaxseed oil to her vegan patients, otherwise, she just prescribes fish oil.

Another option if you don't want to take the commercially made capsules, most / many healthfood stores carry gelatin capsules that you can fill with things -- it would probably take quite a few of them for a couple of tablespoons of oil but it might be worth it if you prefer taking the liquid kind or make your own flaxseed oil

[Rebecca Petris]

Redandsensitive - If an oil tastes THAT bad it might actually BE bad.

The Barleans swirls are awesome (flax, fish or vegan) - best way to take Omega 3s that I know of. Smoothie in a spoon. Only form I have ever been able to take fish oil off a spoon (though I also like Barleans cinnamon flavored flax oil). Whether they ship to Norway or not I don't know. Over here a lot of people prefer Norwegian fish oil

Greeneyes, I am really glad to hear that you're getting some relief!

[greeneyes]

Hi again. Thanks for the good wishes and other responses and I sincerely hope it will work for others. The brand I use is Melrose Organic Flaxseed oil.
http://www.melrosehealth.com.au/heal...es-1000mg.aspx

This link shows the capsules. Poking about in their site will probably locate the oil. I don't bother with capsules as the amount in each capsule is so small one would have to take a handful to get as much as is in a tablespoon of oil. They would probably, gram for gram, be more expensive than oil. I take the powdered glucosamine for the same reason.....economics. I stir it into yogurt. I'm sure the flaxseed oil could be stirred into something like hummus (?) if you're not allergic to chick peas (garbanzos), or something else with a strong flavour and oily consistency of its own.

I have taken fish oil capsules for years, for general health purposes, but it has done nothing for the MGD, unless it would have been unbelievably worse without them.

The flaxseed oil I take is an Australian certified organic product. I used to take a different one, also local, but the IGA stopped carrying it. I did prefer the other as it as it had a milder flavour. I don't know the brand but it was in a white can with a screw cap. A milder flavour may just indicate it has been diluted with another oil. If I can find out that brand name I will post it here.

As for length of time before I saw an improvement, I think it was within a month but I had cataract surgery so had steroid drops and antibiotics for about four-six weeks. I was reluctant to believe the MGD problem had really gone until I had stopped all other treatment for a couple of months and my eyes were clear and pain and gunk-free. They remain so today.....clear whites and green pupils! Oh joy, after years of not wanting to leave the house, plus the constant pain and burning.

I can't believe this simple treatment had not been suggested to me before. I have found articles on-line about the role of essential fatty acids in the diet and its affect on MGD. Just type 'MGD and essential fatty acids" into Google and see what comes up.
http://www.google.com.au/#hl=en&sour...e60ec859ac0d90

Find a way to ingest the flaxseed oil. I sincerely hope it works as well for others as it does for me. All the best to you.

Keep passing on what works, and doesn't work, for you.

[dgreen97]

would this be a good option for flaxseed oil? I've been taking fish oil capsules for a few months and I don't know if they are helping or not. Wanted to give this a try as well to see if it works but didn't know which liquid flax seed oil to buy. I found this one at vitamin shoppe:

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/e...jsp?id=VS-1881

Thanks

[greeneyes]

I can't comment as I don't have any specialized knowledge. It would seem to me that any brand, as long as it's pure virgin cold-pressed flaxseed oil should work. Of course you'll get more value for your money by not paying for capsules, just buy the liquid. The latest one I am currently using is Biogenics brand. It's just liquid in the bottle, not capsules, and came from the health food aisle of the supermarket. It's less than half the price as the same quantity in a chemist or drug store. As for whether fish oil capsules are helping, if you can't tell if they're helping or not this would indicate there's no change. I've taken fish oil for years and also had the problem for years. As I mentioned before, maybe it might have been worse without the fish oil but the fish oil certainly did not give relief such as I've obtained with flaxseed oil. Since introducing flaxseed oil my symptoms have been relieved and my eyes look and feel normal, without any other maintenance, such as compresses, swabbing or massaging the lids.

[patrick]

hi,

i just mix it with orange juice.
afterwards i eat a sandwich or two to prevent i become nauseous.
still the taste is really horrible,but over time i sort of got used to it.

patrick....

[dgreen97]

thanks guys for your comments and feedback and greeneyes for posting this. i never thought about trying the liquid flaxseed before but now I'm going to give it a shot.

thanks

[Andrey]

This thread really gave me some hope, thank you greeneyes, and I'm very glad you got such good results!

Have you done anything beside eating the flaxseed oil? Have you cut down on things like candy, pasta etc?

What is MGD btw? I'm new here.

[ellied]

Flax Seeds

I buy the whole flax seed and grind a weeks worth. I keep both the seeds and the ground seeds in the fridge. I mix the ground seeds with food. They have a slight nutty taste which is much better than the oil. I also read that the ground seeds are better than the oil because they contain the lignans (I'm not sure that this is the correct spelling). I also take Carlson's lemon or orange flavored fish oil which does not have an aftertaste.

[dgreen97]

just curious are there any side effects by using the flax seed oil? just want to make sure that its not dangerous or anything in the long term. just bought some natures bounty flax seed oil and the reason I think it works a lot better is because theres so much more omega 3 in the liquid than the soft gels. You'd have to take like 8 softgels to get the same effect as one teaspoon of the oil.