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I finally found an optometrist who will work with me and not send me away with more eyedrops. We've tried everything for my MGD, except antibiotics. He fears it will upset the rest of my body's normal flora and refuses to do this since I'm a 25 year old female. He believes with the right supplements we can manage it, even though I fell pretty rotten most days. Any insights as to people's experiences with antibiotics would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi Lacey,
My ophthalmologist just started me on antibiotics for MGD. He prescribed 100mg of doxycyclline. This appears to be the antibiotic of choice for MGD. I have been on it for almost 1 week. You take it on any empty stomach but that can make you feel a little nausous. I don't know if it is helping yet. If you take a good probiotic (away from the antibiotic), it should not upset your natural flora too much. You might want to see an ophthalmologist.
Best of luck! -
Thank you bella_girl. If you see improvement do you think you could let me know? I'm kind of afraid to go to another eye doctor. I went to one opthamologist who spent 5 minutes with me and said my eyes weren't dry and sent me on my way after stealing my money. I finally found this optometrist who spent a solid hour with me, so now I'm afraid to go anywhere else. It might be worth a try, though.Comment
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Hi Lacey,
Yikes . . .I'm sorry to hear about your brief visit with an ophthalmologist. It sure is frustrating to have a doctor spend very little time with us and have him come to a diagnosis/decision. It can be really hard to find a doctor who will take the time and do the necessary tests to come up with a diagnosis, and then provide a treatment plan.
I have decided that from now on I am going to ask ahead of time to see what tests the doctor will do e.g. for a dry eye exam?
Does your optometrist have much experience with prescribing doxycilline? You might want to ask him what his reservations might be and also ask what alternate antibiotic / treatment he would prescribe. In Canada, I don't think our optometrists are able to prescribe drugs.Comment
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Yes, my optometrist said he has prescribed doxy for his patients, yet doesn't believe this is something that patients can live on and would much rather have me take supplements. I can see his point, but I wonder if doxy could jump start the healing process and then maybe if I keep it up with supplements and the usual routine of compress and lid cleaning I could maintain my condition. If doxy works, is it something you can wean yourself off of or do you have to keep taking it life long?Comment
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My ophthalmologist said that we would reduce the dosage once the doxy has taken effect for a month. I am curious to know what supplements your optometrist is thinking of?Comment
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I'm taking a whole mess of stuff. This is everything I'm taking:
Fish oil – Nature’s bounty (1400 mg x 2/day)
Bio Tears (2/day)
Sea Buckthorn Berry (900 mg x 2/day)
NAC (600mg x 2/day)
Curcumin Complex (875 mg x 2/day)
Hyaluronic Acid (100 mg/day)
Multi-Vitamin
Vitamin C (1000mg)
This week I'm starting a new diet (no gluten, dairy, refined foods). Maybe this will help. I just want to make sure I'm doing everything in my power to feel better.Comment
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Does anyone know if your eyes get worse before they get better while on doxy? And how long have you been on all those supplements you posted, Lacey? Do you feel like they're making a difference?Comment
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I've been on the supplements for about 5 weeks. The optometrist said all of my numbers have increased (TBUT, etc.), but I don't really feel a difference.Comment
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Lacey, Thanks for posting all those supplements. I also take Vitamin A (10000IU) Vitamin E (200 Iu), Zinc 50 mg and Selenium 100. I will be adding some from your list that I am not already taking. Do I notice a difference? It is hard to say . . . how much worse my symptoms might be if I wasn't taking the supplements. Overall, I would have to say my dry eye has improved a bit since my two week post lasik time. I have been on doxy for one week, I don't notice a difference yet.Comment
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I have been taking doxy for almost 3 months now, 100mg daily. My right eye lids were not functioning for about a year. These last days I finally started to notice some improvement. Guess I'll be taking it for some more time, will check with the doctor anyway. I haven't been taking any supplements. I have however stopped using any type of drops during the day for about two weeks now.Comment
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I take 50 mg doxy for about 3 months every 9 months. I don't really know if they do any good or not because I am on a whole lot of drops, ointments and pills. I did not like being on antibiotics long term so I took myself off and then I found out that my dose is so low it is mainly for inflammation and does not kill your natural flora and fauna. The first two months of this last cycle through I was taking the doxy with Vit B, so they were binding together and I was not getting any benefit from either.Comment
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A word of caution re. tetracyclines. If you have any family history of Lupus or related diseases, I would avoid taking them as this class of drugs can trigger lupus, or worsen existing disease. I found that Lymecycline caused photosensitivity and worsened my connective tissue disease. A couple of people I talk to on the rosacea forums have developed lupus-like disease following taking tetracyclines for rosacea.Comment
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They can in NL because they said to me that I could be put on them but we chose the drops and compresses route first instead.Originally posted by bella_girl View PostComment
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Wow...thanks everyone for your responses. This has been very helpful. I don't know if I have an autoimmune thing going on, or rosacea (I don't think I do, but who knows). I'll stick with the regimen I''m currently on. The Dr. said it takes 6-8 weeks for the supplements to reach their full capability and then time for the body to heal after the inflammation is reduced. Crossing my fingers.Comment
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