Blepharitis for years

[Joseph]

I have blepharitis for years now and it will not go away. My eyelashes feel sticky and tingle all day. I do the lid scrub thing with ocusoft from theratears daily but it does not help. As a matter of fact it seems to make my left eye worst. This disease has cause me so much anxiety and depression because my eyes are in pain all day with shooting pains in the corners going into the eyeball. Plus my vision is horrible. Every thing is blurry and lights look haloed pretty much all day. My vision changes from blink to blink from bad to really bad. Is this blepharitis I really don't know what to think anymore. Does anybody else have these symptoms with Bleph. or should I see a neurologist for a MRI. I can't take this eye stuff anymore.. HELP....

[buntbean]

Do you do warm compresses at all? I have to do them faithfully 3X/day this time of year. I do have rosacea, blepharitis, and corneal neuralgia. My glands still get clogged even with that. I find the lid scrubs cause me more problems so I just do the compresses and then gently press on the lid margins afterward. I'll also use my fingers to rub across my lashes in a scrubbing motion. You have to be careful because with the rosacea you can cause more irritation and thus more pain. It's so individualized! What works for one person won't necessarily work for another. My corneal specialist always puts me on doxycycline but it never helps me. This year I saw a dermatologist (I have rosacea on my face as well) and he told me that the antibiotics don't work on everyone and some people can become immune. It's horrible, and I'm sorry. There are good days and days where you want to cry...of course crying just causes even more pain. It's a frustrating, and at times debilitating condition.

[littlemermaid]

Joseph, Your vision post-lasik was good, wasn't it? What do you think has changed?

Do you have sebaceous blepharitis or any skin issues? did you have anything like that before lasik?

Does your 'ocular rosacea' look like a red face or skin rash rosacea, or is it more a way of describing very sensitive eyes?

Have you tried topical antibacterials? have you tried treating for demodex or is your eye doc certain there are no signs? have you tried an antibacterial facewash?

What is the eye doc thinking about the inflamed and sticky glands? are the products seeping onto your eye surface?

We did find that flaxseed oil capsules made the eye glands and skin worse, and we do better with a no wheat, no sugar diet, but plenty oily fish. Have you tried adjusting to a very pure diet to see if you can improve the meibom? People are saying it can take 3m.

[NotADryEye]

You can have or develop sensitivities to the ingredients in the wipes. You might try stopping them and see if you feel better. I have this problem with being sensitive to everything.

Have you seen a corneal specialist?

[Joseph]

My Post lasik vision was good and I did not have any problems beside the first 6 months of really dry eyes, mostly in my left eye. I do have rosacea which has become worse over the last few years. The thing that gets be is the constant sticking in my left eye and the vision fluctuation. The thing that I can not figure out ( and I spend hours a day trying to ) is how can this all just happen halfway through one seemingly normal day 4 years ago. Everything was great and I did not even think about my eyes.. NOW they are my ever thought... BLINK after BLINK after BLINK...

[littlemermaid]

I am thinking about whether this might sometimes be an immunology problem set up by oral and topical meds. I had a chat with a Rheumy about this and he was thinking along these lines, so is our Ophthalmologist. We are dealing with worsening rosacea-type skin around the eyes, mouth and nose too, and lots of sensitivities, including diet.

I would give a gentle hypoallergenic antibacterial facewash and moisturiser a try, though, for the sake of the sticky eyes. I don't mean to use directly around the eyes. If it's rosacea, find one that doesn't cause more problems and don't overdo it. If it makes things worse, stop and rethink on ingredients. Even our tap water is full of chemicals.

There is more about this in PubMed 'eye immunology'. 'Rosacea' definitely needs redefining to include the immunology variants, especially periorificial.

And about the biofilm of the eye eg Staph and inflammatory reaction to it - sounds like yours needs some help. It's a worry there is so much stickiness, and if it's not sebaceous it could be that sort of problem. It's a question of whether a simple antibac facewash would help regulate things without bunging in antibac eyedrops.

Have you got preservative-free lubricant drops that you like? If there is that amount of pain, your poor eye surfaces need more support than that though, I would think.

[Joseph]

Thank you for your time and kindness. I do notice that my rosacea is starting to effect the one side of my nose next to the eye that has the most problems. Can you recommend a safe and effective face wash? Also do you feel I should see a dermatologist at this point or try the face wash first for a month or two and hope it helps..

[NotADryEye]

Joseph, There are some topical ointments, like metrogel, metrocream, that can help with rosacea on the face. They are available via prescription so best to see a dermatologist, IMO. With rosacea on the skin, you don't want to let it go too long before treatment because some of the scarring can be permanent. Also, there are some oral prescriptions, e.g. doxycycline, that might help. So, again, best to see a doctor.

[LyndaT]

Hi everyone,
Just want to let you know Blepharitis can be killed. A friend killed it with a facial scrub with Benzethonium Chloride in it. It was not for sale when I looked so looked on line for what other products have Benzethonium Chlorid in them. I found WET ONES, antibacterial hand wipes.
I tore each wipe into 8 sections and used 2 on each eyelash area for a week and a half. I then went down to 3 times a day (eyes felt so much better) for a month. After that, I went down to 2 times a day for several months. After that, I had an itch or two and I jumped on it with the wipes for a day or so and never to be felt again.
My friends's Blepharitis moved up onto her eyelids and that is why she used and antibacterial facial scrub. This is how we found what killed it in the first place.
All these other ointments can relieve the symptoms for while but Benzethonium Chloride kills it.
I know it sounds too easy, too cheap but it works. Please remember that a doctor from down under had to infect himself with an ulcer and cure it with an antibiotic as no one believed it could be cured (like he said) with an antibiotic.
Please remember 2 people using 2 different products, both with Benzethonium Chloride in them, no longer have Blepharitis.
There were 3 doctors who looked into my eyes and could not find the Blepharitis, including the doctor who diagnosed the Blepharitis. I was told it would come back. I told them it had been 4-5 months already and not back. Now almost a year and not back.
I have someone in a rest home with gunk in her eyes and itching. I tried to take it off with tissue and water and finally pulled out a WETONES wipe and was amazed at how quick it cleaned it up and quick bothering her. These are bacterial problems. This is an antibacterial cure.
Hope you will have the relief soon.
LyndaT