Tell me about your eye allergies

[bernmee]

This is my first season with my one lasik eye and now have allergies in that eye. My non Lasik eye is perfect. This is all new to me so I would love to know what is going on with other people who are in the same situation.

I have MGD and ocular rosacea, but no longer have any burning or rawness, so I seem to have them very much under control. I have my unemployed boyfriend flat out dusting as I can't go near it, and he is washing all the bedlines, curtains etc. I plan to use the allergy excuse for years to come! We have bought matress and pillow covers. I also bought an Iroomba robot which is amazing, if anyone is thinking of getting one.

When things were bad about 2 months ago I was told to use Lotamex. It got rid of the itching after using it for 2 weeks and I am now on to over the counter drops, I am using one starting with a "Z". The thing is I don't really know what to expect from it. Should I use it on a "need to use basis' or s it something I need to use regularly to see a benefit.

As of now my eye is doing much better, and i am not in any pain. More discomfort and bothersome than anything else, so this is somethig I can live with, i am almost there but am being greedy and want more. Also, the only sensation I have in on the bottom eyelid between the plug and the nose, everything else is fine. Is this a normal spot for the itiching or do other people have it all over there lids.

I had my top plug removed as the swelling etc had pushed it out, I am much much much happier with that plug out, and am wondering aout getting the bottom one out. Do those with alergies have plugs?

Bernadette

[sazy123]

Hey bernme,

Are you saying you didnt have eye allergies before lasik but now you have them in the lasered 'dry' eye but not the other one thats not lasered?

Thats interesting because that kind of shows that dry eye makes allergies much worse? otherwise you would have allergies in both eyes.

I keep being told i have eye allergies, but i cant find the allergy, testing always comes up as nothing is significant enough to be causing symptoms this significant. But im wondering whether dry eye exposes eye to allergies making allergies worse (locally) even though you dont have a bad systematic reaction the the allergen so it doesnt show up on tests. But the underlying prob is still the dry eye.

Oh yeah my left eyelid in the corner is kind of swollen, right isnt to bad.

[bernmee]

I never had any issues with my eyes before Lasik. When i switched to a great Dr. 3 months after Lasik he told me that I had MGD and ocular rosacea in both eyes but I only had pain in the Lasik eye, also the Lasik eye had a lower TBUT.

When it comes to allergies I sometimes wake up a little congested in my left nostril and sometimes have slight sinus issues and sometimes sneeze alot in the morning, but these symptoms never bothered me and I never ever considered them an issue they were so mild, plus I never needed to take anything for them. However since having Lasik I now have allergies in my left eye only that does bother me, so I have to look at my prior sneezing etc.

To be honest I really don't understand the whole thing, but I would describe the "pain" from my allergies as being a 1-3 and firmly, for the moment, under control, and nothing like the pain of MGD. I think maybe the Lasik has just made the eye very sensitive to everything, but I'm very confident that it is just part of the healing process .

Do you have any idea why the sensation is concentrated in the bottom inner corner, do you have plugs?

Bernadette

[clairvoyant]

I think Dr. Latkany likes his "allergy" patients to not have plugs, unless absolutely needed.

His philosophy seems to be this is an inflammatory problem and the best way to treat it is as such.

He has also indicated to me, well him and articles I have read that rosacea, ocular rosacea, mgd and allergies usually go hand in hand.

He said I am not dry, just allergic but I have MGD. I do have surface inflammation when not on restasis though. Not sure if that would change his diagnosis.

But I know from expierence now, had no clue before, that allergies will make the MGD worse. I think my big problem is dust mites, so I think a sound strategy is to drop pataday before bed and that should prevent any damage. Since that is really the only time they bother me. Have tested this and my eyes usually feel better this way.

Also sazy I think you are right on about allergies being worse with dry eye. I notice my eyes never itch if I'm feeling dry but they will itch when they feel good. Not sure how those 2 related but yea...

Anyway I think the better your ocular surface the better defenses you will have vs the allergies, cause those are like inflammation too.

Not sure on your case Bernnme but I still have lower plugs and this does probably make the allergy/mgd worse but you might be able to do the pataday trick... not sure what you are allergic to though. I think this is one of those more than 1 way to skin a cat things.

[sazy123]

Yeah i think your more susceptible to allergies if you have dry eye. My eyes dont itch at all, i have inner eyelid conjunctivitis which is why the docs always say treat allergies (but non of the meds make a difference to my dry eye, neither did cleaning my room of dust air purifier etc). I never tried a drop before bed however. As i said all the allergy tests have been nothing significant, but maybe dry eye makes a very mild allergy worse. I only have mild hayfever which i uses to get religiously every year, so i used to get some sneezing, but since the dry eye i stopped getting it. I put that down to immune system engaged with dry eye ( as allergy is autoimmune), coz if my eyes arent that bad my hayfever will be worse. I have bottom plugs which i want flushed out, they didnt help and not sure if made dry eye worse.

[autumnn]

I am wondering about natural remedies for allergies. I have read that garlic can act as an antihistamine as well as chammomile, green tea, etc. Has anyone tried a more natural route to build up their system?
Dr. Toyos has me on a drop of Lotemax every morning....I know that steroids help with allergies, I wonder if it is enough though. I miss my Pataday but was instructed not to use it.

[sazy123]

Dr toyos may put me on lotamax because theres no doubt that he will say theres some allergies going on even though i dont really think there is. And steroids havent helped in the past when like you say they help for allergies but my eyes felt no different.

[autumnn]

I'm the same. Never much response to steroids. I like Pataday though
Dr. Toyos is not treating my allergies (besides telling me to keep the dogs out of my bed and shower/wear clean clothes to bed at night), etc. The Lotemax is part of his treatment for the inflammation of the MG's.

[bernmee]

Thanks for all the the tips. A drop before bed could do the trick, makes perfect sense. I also have a plug in the bottom tear duct, though I will get that removed some time soon, I think. I feel so much better with the top on out, my eye feels more normal despite the allergies.

Autumn, I am about to go on a mission to find a natural way to deal with these allergies. What I would say though is to be very careful with chamomile. I was taking a tonic of chamomile and valerian to help me relax and sleep, my accupuncturist asked me before giving it to me if I was allergic to chamomile, I said no. I than went and bought soem bulk tea containing the same ingredients and was asked by the herbalist if I was allergic to chamomile, I said no. Many cups of tea and drops of tonic later I had burning and rawness in both eyes and an agonizing itch in my Lasik eye. I was told that chamomile will set off allergies in people because of the its "flowery" nature...who would ever have thougt! i will admit I was drinking at least 64onz a day of the tea and taking the max amount of tonic, which is more than what an average person would take per day, but still I am staying away from both those herbs now.

I am planning to go to the herbalist in the next week or two and see if they can help me out. I will post and let you know how I get on.

Thanks once again for the tips, I have never really read the allergy postings as I had no idea they applied to me, but now I am a memeber of that club.

Bernadette

[stella]

Have you tried similasan anti- allergy eye drops?

They are homeopathic and I have taken to rinsing my eyes at night after eyelid hygiene ie a few drops that run out of my eye
I do this 'cause my eyes were very red after working with them and this drop seems to help them calm down
They contain eyebright which would be slightly astringent and the only presevative is silver sulphate
I got the idea from Rebecca when i could,nt find an anti allergy drop that did'nt have BAK in it

[msienkiewicz]

I have thought about using the sim... allergy drops as well, but wouldn't an allergy drop of any kind be drying? That's why I didn't try them...

Melissa