What a mess!

[armyoftwo2007]

I have posted a few threads before about my story about how I was given an ointment for a so called infection.. And then my eyes became irriatted from it. Well I was in Germany at the time, and I am only 25 and I didn't even realize Dry Eyes were such a thing! I have never had any medical problems.
Well I went back to the Dr after the 14 days of ointment because my right eye felt like something was in it. She said oh you know have dry eyes. She never did any test. She said use this gel for 14 days and it will clear. Well I think I had irritation from that ointment. Of course I didnt know the side effects as it was in German. Well this occured in August 07. I used the eye gel for 3-4 times a day for 14 days. I had itching and stuff and my eyes felt way worse than when I went in.
I started to look online to see about dry eyes. I then saw that you should never use a eye drop that has BAK in it, if you can. Well I looked at this eye gel and it had BAK in it.
I had no idea it was bad. I just did what the dr said. She prescribed it and I used it. Well it is now Dec, and my eyes are not healed.
I am very frustrated and often times blame my self.. If I only wouldn't have went back to see why I felt like something was in my right eye. Something so simple got blown up and mis-dignoised and now I am left with something I have no idea. I have seen three great corena Drs here in the US and they keep saying well your eyes are VERY healthy but you have MGD now.
And they said that all that stuff irritated my eyes. So I don't know if the irritation is causing my M glands not to work.. It is very upsetting. I know I shouldn't blame my self , but I do. I trusted these Drs and look at what happened. Sorry to complain.. But I am really lost. And I sent a thread to Dr. L and he said I am probably in this for the long run. And I don't know what that means. If that is permanet or what?

[Julie1]

Hi Army,

I just saw your post and felt that I could relate to fears about dry eye being permanent. I experienced something similar about two years ago when I took some medications that triggered my dry eyes. I thought that the medications caused my dry eye and that I was doomed to suffer because I had taken these meds. I had so much guilt and kept telling myself that I should have never gone to the dermatologist to treat my acne and that I should have never taken an oral contraceptive. I went through a severe depression and thought my life was over.

It took me a long time (and a visit w/ Dr. Latkany) to realize that the medications did not cause my dry eyes; they simply triggered an underlying case of MGD. Dr. Latkany explained that I probably had subclinical ocular rosacea for a very long time, and the medications pushed me over into symptomatic rosacea and MGD. I think Dr. Latkany means that you may have had an underlying case of dry eyes and that it's probably not going to go away by itself. Warm compresses (I like the Rice Baggy) and eyelid massages and cleansing will help a great deal and you will have some good and some bad days. The goal, obviously, is to have more good days than bad days. It's a condition that you will have to learn to manage, but it will get better. I don't think you caused long-term damage to your eyes by using the ointments and drops, and I believe that there is a lot of hope for your eyes to feel better.

I went over a year thinking that I had ruined by life by taking two medications, but I know now that I had an underlying condition and with treatments, I am doing so much better this winter. I have more good days than bad days and am so grateful that my quality of life is so much better than it was a year ago. I am myself again, and I am enjoying my life.

I would find a good corneal specialist that can show you how to do the lid massages and cleansing. Most doctors will just tell you that you need to do the lid cleansing, but they will not show you how to do it. Dr. Latkany showed me how to do it and had me demonstrate in the exam room that I'd be able to do the massages/cleansing once I returned home.

Good luck!

-Julie

[armyoftwo2007]

Amy,
Thank you for your advice.. I am like you.. I blame my self..
And the hardest part is finding a Dr who can explain it.
I don't think a lot of them understand MGD at all. No one has ever said I should do lid massages or anything! They said just do a warm compress over your eyes at night and then don't worry, you have NO permanent damage at all!
I am sure I was prone to get this, as I had stys in the past.
I just think like you said maybe the medications made it show more.
They also said to take restatis and I dont know why..
Then the Dr said well maybe in 6 months you will be cured!

[Julie1]

It sounds like you should find a corneal specialist that will help you manage this condition. Where do you live? Maybe someone here would be able to tell you about a doctor in your area who can help you.

-Julie

[armyoftwo2007]

I have saw one at JH, and also one recommended on here. They keep saying well do the restatis and warm compresses and you could be cured in 6 months. They are saying they don't see dry eye. They see moderate belphartitis in my right eye, and mild in my left.
They also said they say allergies. Which I think was from that gel...
I am thinking I may go to NY and see Dr. L.
I think he is the only one who understands MGD it seems...
Is MGD chronic? Or does it go away?

[brd888]

Typical path

Hmm - you know I think a lot of folk have the same path of treatment as you. I also got an antiseptic gel at 1st visit to a doctor. It was 5 months before I was told it was "just" dry eye. I also felt like there was something in it.
Think yourself lucky you have Dr L nearby - it would be a 6,000 mile round trip for me! MGD is most usually a chronic recurring problem - a lot of sites say posterior blepharitis and MGD are the same thing. It is meant to be controllable but likey to recurr if treatment gets lax.