Lipiflow worked. Bad eye oil starting to thicken again

[edmunder]

Pretty depressing. My eyes felt really good for a week or so. Yesterday a little more uncomfortable. Today I spent time going through each gland. Left eye, outer half of glands had thick oils. Not near nose, those gave off good oil. I could press it out but its so discouraging. I could see the bad oils. Wiped off with cotton pad. I will do warm compress later and see if good oil comes out.

I had been taking Alrex for a couple weeks and stopped a few days ago.

I start IPL the 29th so two weeks.

Right eye continues to be good. I can see the little oil dots along the lash line.

Feels like a truck just landing on me.

[deep_dry_eye]

Don't be too discouraged -- there's a very high variance in the disease. I usually notice I have 1 good wk , then 1 bad wk , etc... Do the IPL, IPL can somehow have the effect of making your glands produce more high quality oils. Keep the Xiidra and Restasis as well.

[Hokucat]

Edmunder, I would still consider your first LipiFlow a success, since it helped thin your oils at least a few weeks. That something even worked, even for only a short while, is very telling and hopeful. It’s similar to my first several probes where my eyes felt better for a week after each probe, but would get blocked up again until I finally found the diet changes that stopped my oils from thickening and blocking my glands.

Often it’s not just one thing that helps, as you know. You may need several LipiFlows and/or IPLs to help initially, but perhaps finding the right diet changes, hormonal supplements, etc. for your underlying condition (which can be a lot of trial and error) to help your system get your oils flowing from the inside out in the long run. It can be some unexpected foods that help too, like for some reason, a good quality steak, prime rib, or filet mignon ALWAYS makes my eyes feel better, but I have to limit eating red meat!

[edmunder]

Thanks for the replies. Im getting more blockage now.

Warm compress makes my eyes feel much better but when i press a little im not seeing oil come out.

It does give me hope that it’s possible to get better. At the same time its very psychologically crushing that i was so good just a week ago. I saw some family and everyone had been praying i would improve and did. Now i have to explain again im back in bed. It didnt work long term.

Not sure what else to do healthwise.

I take PRN and hydro eye. Eat no sugar, gluten or dairy ( occasionally a little greek yogurt). I lost now 20+ lbs. 5’11 155lbs.

I juice every day. Carrots. Green apple. Celery. Onions. Ginger. Kale.

Spinach salad with fish. Tuna fish on salad. Grass fed beef with salad.

Lots of good fruit.

Just venting mostly. Haha. Luckily not in much pain today.

[dnivara]

edmunder How do you see the oils from your glands? I have been trying to do it myself at home but havent figured it out.
Hope you get better!!

[Guest]

edmunder How do you see the oils from your glands? I have been trying to do it myself at home but havent figured it out.
Hope you get better!!

Get a 20x mirror on amazon, that helps if you have decent vision.

[Hokucat]

edmunder , we all need to vent sometimes! Especially it’s helpful among others like us who understand this debilitating condition.

You mentioned your first IPL is at the end of this month. When do you have your LipiFlow follow-up?

[edmunder]

Hokucat middle of September for lipiflow check up. Not much to report. Will be interesting to see if there was any structural change in the glands or gland loss since then.


Dowork123
yes i have the 20x mirror. When oil was coming out my eyes were so good. Walked the dog in normal sunglasses no issie. In a room with AC and 2 fans blowing at my eyes. No issue.

Then i started getting a dull pain again in my eyes. Strange. But then the glands plugged up.

Now i dont see any oil and getting the old cornea pain from lack of tear film.

Goggles 24/7 again.

Hilarious i was 95% a week ago. At least in goggles the pain level is very low. But i just dont want to live this way for the rest of my life.

dont have the tear film for sclerals right now.


Lets go IPL!!!!

[deep_dry_eye]

Hokucat middle of September for lipiflow check up. Not much to report. Will be interesting to see if there was any structural change in the glands or gland loss since then.


Dowork123
yes i have the 20x mirror. When oil was coming out my eyes were so good. Walked the dog in normal sunglasses no issie. In a room with AC and 2 fans blowing at my eyes. No issue.

Then i started getting a dull pain again in my eyes. Strange. But then the glands plugged up.

Now i dont see any oil and getting the old cornea pain from lack of tear film.

Goggles 24/7 again.

Hilarious i was 95% a week ago. At least in goggles the pain level is very low. But i just dont want to live this way for the rest of my life.

dont have the tear film for sclerals right now.


Lets go IPL!!!!

in my opinion, this is clearly some sort of inflammation issue. we need to find a way to control it.

I actually suspect its the Xiidra working well instead of the LipiFlow that caused your symptoms to improve so much . remember, correlation does not imply causation .

Let's do the IPL , I am hopeful for you on that, additionally continue to do Xiidra. It might be a good idea to give azithromycin (Azyter) a try, if you can't get access to the topical form, you can easily get access to the oral form. Just goto your family dr, show them the research in azithromycin and MGD, and ask for 2 week dose.

[MGD1701]

Hi Edmunder

Let us clarify inflammation
you mentioned in another posting that your inflammation level is low, how did your dr detect it, MMP-9 or just slit lamp?
You also said you see foamy stuff?? which normally means bacteria??

Thanks! Great you are so proactive.

[diydry]

Hey man, great work on the diet, i’m inspired to maintain your level of nutrition! How long have you been eating that way? I understand it could take months to see improvement to your oils and tear film from the dietary changes. I spend decades basically eating crap, it’s unrealistic to expect it will improve your metabolism, immune system, and inflammatory processes right away. Let’s try to be patient if we can.

So, has your doctor mentioned blocked glands? I’ve been told that apparently the quality of my oil has improved in the past 6 months, unfortunately a lot of my glands are just blocked since the lasik. Perhaps scar tissue has formed. In fact my doctor (at a university dry eye clinic for what it’s worth) who originally suggested IPL 6 months ago now recommends against it because she says it only helps to thin oil, not open up glands. Not sure what the fix is there. Something to think about. It sounds like since your oil is thickening again, you can benefit from IPL.

[Guest]

I know there are so many reasons for this...it could be genetic, like bad cholesterol. Your body just produces these shitty lipids. Could be hormonal, mechanical (lid closure issue), sleep issue, diet, medication...where do you begin?

Then it's further complicated by the fact that blood test may not reveal anything. That's assuming you can find a doctor to run the right test. My tsh and t4 are normal...that tells me nothing about thyroid antibodies or an autoimmune condition.

I genuinely believe my eyes are a side effect of a greater hormonal issue. Hopefully soon I'll find out one way or another.

[edmunder]

Hi Edmunder

Let us clarify inflammation
you mentioned in another posting that your inflammation level is low, how did your dr detect it, MMP-9 or just slit lamp?
You also said you see foamy stuff?? which normally means bacteria??

Thanks! Great you are so proactive.

Foamy sebum/oil is the number one marker of MGD.

i watched the videos you linked from Dr. Korb in spain. He goes through the medical research. At a cellular level the glands are producing oils that stick together into clumps and block the opening. Thats what MGD is.

[edmunder]

Hey man, great work on the diet, i’m inspired to maintain your level of nutrition! How long have you been eating that way? I understand it could take months to see improvement to your oils and tear film from the dietary changes. I spend decades basically eating crap, it’s unrealistic to expect it will improve your metabolism, immune system, and inflammatory processes right away. Let’s try to be patient if we can.

So, has your doctor mentioned blocked glands? I’ve been told that apparently the quality of my oil has improved in the past 6 months, unfortunately a lot of my glands are just blocked since the lasik. Perhaps scar tissue has formed. In fact my doctor (at a university dry eye clinic for what it’s worth) who originally suggested IPL 6 months ago now recommends against it because she says it only helps to thin oil, not open up glands. Not sure what the fix is there. Something to think about. It sounds like since your oil is thickening again, you can benefit from IPL.

have you tried Lipiflow? If you are in the USA give it a try. My guess is you will see some improvement showing its not scarred glands.

I would try IPL if i were you. The sooner the better.

[edmunder]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vSShGZfxiFg

Go to 15:30. This is the Dr. Korb presentation in Spain.

MGD is explained at a cellular level. The the cells inside the glands stop working correctly causing a down regulation of all activity.

Otherwise with a blockage and more oil production the gland wiuld explode full of oil.

I had this issue with recuurent styes and chalazion before all my glands blocked up, seemingly for good.

The cells inside the gland change and the nucleus of the cell is damaged cauding it to die and stick together with other dead cells. Making clumps.

When the doctor says foamy secretions this is whst they mean. Clumpy, dead groups of cells not thin oil.