What my eyes look like in the early morning >>>

[buntbean]

Wow! That was like looking at my own eyes (nice pictures BTW). I have ocular rosacea. With that comes MGD/blepharitis. I do warm compresses which helps unblock the glands but sometimes when the rims of my eyes are really red I have to switch to cold. The rims feel so swollen and painful. I haven't figured out exactly when to do what yet. Usually, if my eye margins are red and burning, I do cold. I was always told I had beautiful eyes too but I can't wear any makeup anymore and having dry eye and eye problems affects more than just your eyes. I took flaxseed for 6 years (4X/day) and can't say I noticed anything. I recently read that flaxseed should be crushed and used in foods to be of benefit. I went to the health food store and bought a bag. I put them in my blender until they turned into a 'flour'. I put 2 spoonfuls in my cereal. I was afraid of the taste but I honestly don't notice a big difference (I eat raisin bran with a banana in it). I do have some gas now :O but I've heard it will stop once my body gets used to it. I didn't do this for about 4 days last week and during that time my eye margins were miserable! I'm back to eating it and my eye margins cleared up within a day. The jury's still out on this one but I'll try anything!

[buntbean]

Steroids made my eyes way worse. I can only use preservative free thera tears and refresh celluvisc before bed. I also do warm compresses and then lay down in the afternoon. If I don't my eyes hurt so bad I'd have to go to bed by 7pm. I am a stay at home mom so thank God I'm able to do that...although, I HATE needing to lose part of my day.

[Leelah]

That's very interesting, buntbean. When did your troubles start? I've also been taking flaxseed oil for a very long time without any noticeable results. I also take fish oil capsules, but they seem to be breaking me out more than helping with my eyes. Please let me know how you get on with the crushed flaxseed. I'll definitely try that out when I go back to Europe. I don't think I can get my hands on it here, so I'll just stick with the capsules for now. I think drinking lots of water would probably help eliminate the excess gas

Have you tried eliminating inflammatory foods from your diet? My eyes were extremely red yesterday, and I'm wondering if it had anything to do with the two ice-coffees I had (containing artificial sweeteners). I really need to take a good look at my diet and see if I can eliminate any so-called inflammatory foods.

Have you tried antibiotics, buntbean?

[Leelah]

I forgot to mention that I only do warm compresses, and my eyes always look white after doing them.

[LisaLis]

occular rosacea

Hi I'm new on here but just wanted to chime in. I had this problem about 20 years ago, a really bad flare up. I was going to tons of dr.'s who made me feel like I had nothing wrong with me. I finally went to one in NYC Dr. prescribed 1 50mg pill of doxy that I took for about 3 months. I don't know whether that helped or the acute phase just phased out but I got a lot better. I did still had bouts but it was controllable I'd use allergy drop.Then a few years after that I took prozac for over 10 years. Once in while I'd have a flare up but controlled it with naphcon allergy drops. I was able to wear a lot of different makeups. PS. I stopped prozac in August well I went to try on some other makeup and mascara in Nov. Well that mascara killed me and stupid me kept wearing it because I liked the way it looked. For a while I'd use this mascara and then alternate and go back to my usual brand Lancome and it would be ok which lasted about a month. Starting in dec. wow my eyes went out of control! My eyes could handle nothing. I do kind of associate this whole thing with me going off the Prozac too. Now I can't wear any makeup what so ever even my usual foundation is killing my eyes. Its almost like my eyes got super over sensitive even to what I usually used. The makeup that never bothered me. Well I saw a dr. on Long Island in Jan she told me occular rosacea, blepharitis and dry eye off the charts. She put me on several things for a month no help lid scrubs with occusoft and soaks plus doxy 20mg, and azasite, no help. The doxy was also giving me a anxious reacion. I was up all night from it. Well I went back to her a 2nd time, she changed it up to soaks, scrubs, azasite, lotradine, and restasis. I did not like taking all those meds. The lotradine killed my eyes so she said stop it. I wanted a 2nd opinion so I went to see Dr. Latkany today. What a nice man. Anyway, he told me I don't have dry eyes its occular rosacea which can be caused by an allergic reaction. He told me stop using everything that the dr. gave me for a month or 2. He prescribed patanol. He also said soak eyes with warm water and sometimes cold and to stop the ocusoft scrubs. He said scrubs and baby shampoo can aggravate rosacea. He said the restasis may work but I'd have to be on it forever. He said try this first with just the patanol with the warm and cold water soaks. I am also back on 20mg of prozac. I did ask him about the prozac. He said it may have worked for me in some way but it is known to dry out the eyes. He thought in my case its fine to take with my issue. I guess I'll see what happens. He wants to see me back in 4 months. He said also be careful with makeup and creams. He also wants me to get allergy tested. Interesting huh?

[calcan]

These pictures look like my eyes - the same color and everything. I have had this problem for many years, and have been to many doctors who diagnosed blepharitis and allergies. I abused Naphcon for years, (don't use it anymore) and have since relied on lubricating drops (bion tears) at times (I try to go without drops as much as possible). I also do the lid warming and clean my lashes every day with a q-tip and distilled water. I take fish oil, and I also take flaxseed oil which seems to help the most. My eyes have good days and bad days. I really think that people such as ourselves with light-colored eyes are suffering from the effects of ocular rosacea. Rosacea affects the oil-lubricating glands (so do allergies). I wish I could tell you of a magical cure, but all you can do is try to control the symptoms.

[Leelah]

Calcan: have you ever tried antibiotics? and have you been experimenting with different kinds of food? I can definitely relate to having good days and bad days. Yesterday was a really good day for me (and my eyes). I was out until 2am, and I was certain my eyes would get horribly red, but they didn't. I spent most of the evening outdoors, and the food I ate was pretty different from what I normally eat. I've been wondering if dairy products aggravate my ocular rosacea, but yesterday I had to cups of regular yoghurt, and my eyes were fine. I also didn't apply any sunscreen to my face.

This morning I drank a can of canned iced coffee (which contains acesulfame K), and my eyes have been bright red since then. I'm not sure if I need to avoid caffeine as well, but I'll be hanging out at starbucks tomorrow, so I guess we'll find out Where do you live, Calcan?

[Leelah]

Lisalis: You're right. That is interesting. I was wondering though, when you had the flare up 20 years ago, how long did you suffer before you found a doctor who put you on doxy? I don't have any experience with prozac (except for having read the book, prozac nation, but that doesn't really have anything to do with this )

I hope Dr Latkany is able to help you. But why do you have to wait 4 months to see him again? That seems like a really long time to wait, but I guess I'm just impatient I would love to make an appointment with him, and I really want to visit NYC, but I just can't afford it at the moment. Please keep in touch and let me know how it goes. He didn't mention anything about trying a different antibiotic? And what did he mean by being careful with creams and makeup? Did he tell you to avoid any ingredients?

I'm sorry for all the questions.

[Dog2012]

I had chance to to show Yours photos to a Great docter

I had chance to to show Yours photos to a Great docter { i have no his permission yet to give his reading} ..All what i can say he does see just a little evidence of chronic inflammation..He see aqueous deficiency but no
anterior or posterior blepharitis. Now from me read please this pos thttp://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showthread.php?17489-Dr-Steven-******-secret-solution-for-morning-red-eyes and this one scroll down please http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...fresh-plus-now

[sazy123]

LOOKS LIKE MY EYES AND SKIN. execpt i have more inflammation inside my lids and less on the whites of my eyes. Looks like Ocular rosacea to me. Thats what i have.

your glands dont look really blocked either.

[farmgirl]

I suffer from Sjogren's and, with the exception of the last two photos, these eyes actually look better than my eyes look on any given day at any given time. In fact if my eyes ever look as good as the first few photos, I'd consider myself cured! Mercifully people rarely tell me I look tired, they just tell me my eyes look sore...astute observation....F/G