I need some advice - Meibomian glands don`t produce sebum properly

[Ro dri]

Hi,

I started reading the forum and it`s excellent but it is also...how can I say....overwhelming, lot of messages, lot of ideas, lot of different problems...I don`t know where to start!

so I need some advice about my situation and I also have some doubts regarding my problem

3 years ago I had Accutane for acne. Shortly after my eyes started getting red and itching, etc. I thought that it would be for a few months but it turned out to be permanent.

What happened was that Accutane worked over the meibomian glands making them to produce less sebum than necessary.

I was recommended to take Omega 3 from krill. They turned to be really useful and improved my situation. Nevertheless they are not enough.

I don`t feel my eyes specially dry but thay itch and get red if the environment it`s favourable. I have a friend with dry eyes who says that he really feels the drying. My ophtalmologist told me that I produce tears enough but that the sebum production is little so the tears evaporate quickly. My eyes get really red when I wake up after sleeping. They also suffer in dry environments.

I was wondering what things could be useful in my case.

And I have 2 doubts:
- Are artificial tears useful in my case?
- Not enough sebum produced it`s different from having the meibomian glands clogged?


Thanks

[Ro dri]

also...
-how does restasis and plugs work? they could be useful in my case or they are to be used by people with little lacrimal secretion?

- when doxyciclines can be useful?

thanks

[eyedrops]

night ointment

Hi Ro dri,

I'm not sure if this is entirely the same thing, but I have severe meibomian gland destruction and as a result I use an eye ointment at night to make up for the lack of sebum produced. I've been using Refresh P.M. successfully for many years, but there are also other options such as Lacrilube or a less oily feeling one called Genteal. I think I know what you mean when you say that your eyes feel dry even though you have sufficient tear production. In my case, I do not produce sufficient tears so my eyes always feel dry. However, if I forget to put in my eye ointment at night my eyes feel like a different, more severe kind of dry the next day. So I would suggest talking to your doctor about using some sort of night eye ointment to see if this is a good option for you.

I hope this is helpful in some way.

~marcey.