Advice On Treating Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (Lipiflow/Q Tips/other ideas??)

[deep_dry_eye]

Thanks. I have not tried IPL yet, I'm interested in trying it, but it's currently not offered at any of the doctors I've been to. No one has mentioned Prokera to me. I thought amniotic membrane was meant to restore corneal erosions and epithelial damage, but maybe I should ask my doctors if it can help with corneal nerve damage.

I've been on Restasis 2x a day for 7+ months. I'm not sure it's helped, either with my MGD or tear production. I'm planning to stop it after my last box is up to see if there is any discernible difference. Xiidra I have not tried in earnest, I tried it for maybe a few weeks before a specialist told me to switch to Restasis.

Curious if any others can relate to my warm compress regime above and have suggestions.

I am on both restasis and xiidra at the same time, the drugs have different mechanism of actions, so its worth it to do both.

IPL is very exciting atm, you can google it around, there's a lot of recent exciting scientific literature on the effectiveness on IPL lately.

Prokera is theorized that it can help heal nerve damage as well. I have minimal staining and I just tried prokera, I am post-op ~2 wks, I'll let me know how it goes.

[MGD1701]

Hi diydry

Gland Secretion
Perhaps ask dr to show you how your oil looks like. Many doctors' slit lamp equipped with camera.

One doctor told me that my oil was ok and no need to do compress. A few weeks later, another Uni. dr. said I should continue & prescribed me doxy (to thin the oil) - for the 1st time I got doxy - only took 4 weeks as it upset stomach. What actually helped me on this are: Omega 3 + GLA.

[diydry]

Thank you, MGD1701, deep dry eye, and others for these great ideas! I’m glad your oils are flowing much better now. I’m going to experiment and see if something works, starting with the bundle method. It looks so hard to perfect but if it works, it’s worth it. I also ordered a laser thermometer to check the temperature precisely. Hopefully something works. I met my doctor today and he thinks my blepharitis/MGD is what’s holding me back most and causing me my symptoms, not nerve damage per se. He says I might want to consider lipilflow plus manual expression twice a year (had 1st one in February) since I felt improvement after. Still looking for an IPL provider as well. Not sure doxy is doing much, stopping for now and may resume in 2-3 months per doctor’s advice.

[diydry]

BTW my doctor’s office offers amniotic fluid drops (I think that’s the name), but not prokera. Also said Xiidra has been shown to improve blepharitis compared to Restasis. Curious how prokera helps you. Good luck!

[deep_dry_eye]

Thank you, MGD1701, deep dry eye, and others for these great ideas! I’m glad your oils are flowing much better now. I’m going to experiment and see if something works, starting with the bundle method. It looks so hard to perfect but if it works, it’s worth it. I also ordered a laser thermometer to check the temperature precisely. Hopefully something works. I met my doctor today and he thinks my blepharitis/MGD is what’s holding me back most and causing me my symptoms, not nerve damage per se. He says I might want to consider lipilflow plus manual expression twice a year (had 1st one in February) since I felt improvement after. Still looking for an IPL provider as well. Not sure doxy is doing much, stopping for now and may resume in 2-3 months per doctor’s advice.

I did x4 LipiFlow, while I do think it helped a bit (and I do recommend it at least once), I dont think it was the most important thing.

In order of importance under my own personal experience, topical azithromycin (Azyter or AzaSite) > Xiidra > IPL >= LipiFlow > oral doxy > Restasis > Autologous Serum / Prokera

[farmgirl]

Diydryeye ...serum tears should help a lot with the cornea damage Done by the Lasik procedure. Your eyes feel so much worse because the nerves that instruct the eye to produce lubrication have been cut. It takes some time for them to repair if they ever do

[MGD1701]

Hi diydry

Doxy
I actually only took it for 4 weeks as it upset stomach - dont like medication, especially antibiotic. What actually help me thin the oil are: Omega 3 + GLA.
First omega 3, 1-2 month later, combined with GLA.

Good luck with the Bundle Method.

[Guest]

MGD1701,

I did LipiFlow 4x in the past, not doing any more LipiFlow atm, but doing IPL monthly now.

I still do warm compress daily, approx x4 each 5 mins. I feel oil expressed after each warm compress around 80% of the time. On bad days, I don't feel any oil.

I do omega 3, PRN or Nordic Naturals , however I don't find that it helps.

I also do Xiidra and Restasis both BID, I find both drugs to be critical in reducing inflammation. I highly urge you to consider both BID and ask your dr about it.

I also do autologous QID, however I don't find autologous to help.

I was reading through this thread and saw you post about serum. Serum at 4x a day did a little bit for me, not much, but still worth it. Once I went to 8-12 times a day, serum helped A LOT. Serum is very much dose dependent. Just throwing it out there because if you can afford it, and don't care, I'd use serum all day long. I believe you will notice a significant benefit at that dose.

[deep_dry_eye]

I was reading through this thread and saw you post about serum. Serum at 4x a day did a little bit for me, not much, but still worth it. Once I went to 8-12 times a day, serum helped A LOT. Serum is very much dose dependent. Just throwing it out there because if you can afford it, and don't care, I'd use serum all day long. I believe you will notice a significant benefit at that dose.

I've attached just stopped my serum tears. I didn't find it too helpful and my glands have improved so much that I can go by the day without feeling super miserable. Don't take it the wrong way, I'm definitely not cured, still have constant foreign body sensation, tiredness, and occasional burning.

[Guest]

I've attached just stopped my serum tears. I didn't find it too helpful and my glands have improved so much that I can go by the day without feeling super miserable. Don't take it the wrong way, I'm definitely not cured, still have constant foreign body sensation, tiredness, and occasional burning.

We have pretty much the same symptoms...seems like anybody with even mild MGD or ADDE thatvhas trauma to the eye, ends up with these ocular surface sensations. My eyes are dry, don't get me wrong, but they're probably less dry than before the accident. The accident changed my , cornea, my lids, the nerves, etc.

[Guest]

Hi guys, Has anyone trying Meibomian gland probing?