Narrowing down my condition.....Allergy questions & sodium chromoglicate

[jswill100]

Hi guys,

I have been trying to narrow down my eye condition for some time. I suffer a fairly moderate level of eye irritation, a little redness is normally present (rarely awfully red but always a bit with perhaps overly visible veins), and the condition seems to flare up and down seemingly at random (I keep a diary and there seems to be no correlation with anything much at all - computer use, compresses/no-compresses, using eye drops/not using them, vitamins I am taking, etcetc).

I work at computers for 5-8 hours a day, but now wear computer glasses to protect from the glare/UVs. My eye condition is bad enough to be really affecting my every day life, particularly social situations where my eye contact can break down badly because of the level of irritation in my eyes.

I originally got diagnosed with blepharitus (sp?), but after a couple of weeks (when any blepharitus-like build up in my eye cleared up easily, but irritation remained constant) my doctor thought that in fact I may have an eye allergy. I bought a new vacuum for my room, and now try to keep it cleaner (thinking that it may be dust mites) and used a product called Opticrom for about 3-4 weeks, which contains sodium chromoglicate to stop the histamine release associated with allergies. Unfortunately over time this product really irritated my eyes (I believe now because of the preservative contained within).

Once this irritation cleared up after a few days, I did have a few *really* good days, so I am starting to think that the product did indeed work (stabalising my mast cells and stopping histamine release in the eyes), but I could not tell because of the preservatives irritation. I can see I can be prescribed a preservative free version of a sodium chromoglicate product, and am hoping to get this on Friday.

My question really is for other eye allergy sufferers (perhaps those who originally confused it with dry eye). I have a number of allergies, and associate histamine release with a real itching, and normally my nose is the first thing to go, becoming very itchy, followed by my eyes being itchy. I am not suffering any itchiness *at all*, just a general discomfort in my eyes, a feeling not dissimilar to getting a little too much shampoo in your eyes in the morning and washing it out, an overall tenderness and irritation- has anyone else found relief through the use of sodium chromoglicate for something that feels like this, or am I fooling myself that this might be an allergy?

Beyond this, my careful eye hygiene routine with warm compresses, and attempted use of a variety of good preservative free drops does not seem to help at all.....it is driving me to despair at the moment!!

Thanks,
John

[Scout]

My question really is for other eye allergy sufferers (perhaps those who originally confused it with dry eye). I have a number of allergies, and associate histamine release with a real itching, and normally my nose is the first thing to go, becoming very itchy, followed by my eyes being itchy. I am not suffering any itchiness *at all*, just a general discomfort in my eyes, a feeling not dissimilar to getting a little too much shampoo in your eyes in the morning and washing it out, an overall tenderness and irritation- has anyone else found relief through the use of sodium chromoglicate for something that feels like this, or am I fooling myself that this might be an allergy?

There are two types of allergic reactions that can affect the eyes. I found that for me, it was important to understand and manage both types because it is not unusual to have both types at the same time.

The systemic allergies you are talking about above (with histamine release, etc) are the body's response to allergens. (Like hay fever)

The other type of allergy that affect the eyes (and eyelids and sinuses) are called contact allergies, or irritant allergies. There is an immediate inflammatory response at the site of contact. (Like poison ivy on your skin).

In my case, the vast majority of the "allergies" that I was experiencing (and treating with various medications) were actually irritant allergies.

Ironically, allergy eye drops can help the allergic reactions but have the potential to increase irritant allergies (due to the preservatives, which are irritants).

What helped me was avoiding the allergy drops and replacing them with cool, wet compresses periodically. But finding all the substances in my environment that triggered inflammation was what has been the most effective in reducing the inflammation and allergies.

I found that I was particularly sensitive to fragrances in products. I changed my shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, hair gel, soap and most importantly, the scented lotion I was using as a moisturizer.

I hope this helps.

[jswill100]

I will certainly have to start looking into the products I am using, but I can probably narrow it down to

johnsons baby shampoo for hair
johnsons moisturising body wash

a facial moisturiser (it is listed as "hypoallergenic" but I guess there could still be lots of irritants in there).

a foaming facial cleanser (same company, also "hypoallergenic").

a facial scrub

Quite a short list, and I feel like contact with my eyes is minimal or non-existent for most of these, but i guess you can have a reaction with only the mildest doses? there are certainly days when I don't come into contact with anything at all (today for instance, I haven't applied any of the above), but my eyes feel just the same - is it something that I would notice over more like a week than day to day?

Cheers
John

[Nanerpus]

My allergy experience starts not normally with itching, but with a terrible stinging sensation, and then the skin in the corners gets red, and then I get these "zings" of just terrible itchies that I want to claw my eyes out! But most of the time I'm just very light sensitive, bloodshot, and super stingy/burning eyes with periodic itchy pulses.