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Hi all!
After about 9 months of dealing with severe meibomian gland dysfunction accompanied by dry eye, I am happy to say things have gotten 95% better. For all intensive purposes, I am healed. I once was on 3 different medications for my eyes plus daily touch ups like warm compresses and lid scrubs. I am now on nothing but healthy food and lifestyle. This all sounds crazy I know, but after spending $600 on lipiflow and having no results, I knew I had to go a different path.
After tirelessly researching, I found a connection between our gut, immune system, and the eyes. I decided at that time to start messing around with diet. At that point I hadn't really found any success stories other then a no sugar, no alcohol one (I wasn't looking hard enough... trust me, although those who have success rarely come back to gloat about it). First I started intermittent fasting and consuming whole foods. I lost 25 pounds because I was only eating one large meal every 24 hours. There were days when there was a lot of inflammation don't get me wrong, but for the first time since it all started... there were days when my eyes were perfectly pink looking on the inside of my lids.
This motivated me to dig harder. I then found a youtuber who introduced me to the complexities of the human microbiome and its influence on overall health and immune cells. Around the same time I was also introduced to many success stories following the Autoimmune Protocol for many different kinds autoimmune issues including... you guessed it! EYES!!! This excited me so much. I started what I would call a hybrid AIP diet with non AIP focus on the microbiome (at that time I began fermenting my own raw milk in kefir grains to create Kefir). This is where things got dramatically better. The symptoms of dry eye besides some burning at night and the morning exponentially decreased.
The only time I even noticed my eyes dry is when I went through a substantial life stressor. Also around this time, I began working out 4 times a week which I think benefited me a lot, when I got back into the gym, I upgraded my fasting to two meals a day following a 16:8 protocol. I only recently (about a week ago) decided to drop the kefir to fend off the last of the inflammation and adopt a fully AIP diet. This I think will take me over the last bit of the summit in terms of healing to the point of no trace of past disease.
The reason I decided to post today is because I went from severe symptoms (eyes were bone dry, glands were all running completely dry, eyes were always bloodshot) to where I'm at today (not even thinking about my eyes). I decided to visit my old eye doctor after quitting all my medications months ago for a checkup. She was "very impressed" with how much oil was being produced by my glands. She wasn't worried about the small amounts of inflammation still lingering and said my tests for pressure came back normal. Needless to say, I was ecstatic! This is all because of a complete lifestyle change everyone.
Aside from abusing contacts, I also never got a full nights sleep before. I ate garbage until 2-3am every night such as cheezits, juices loaded with sugar, bagels on top of bagels with cream cheese. Once I made the switch to autoimmune paleo, the relief in symptoms was immediately noticeable. Dont get me wrong, it takes a ton of time before I considered myself healed (where I am now). Were talking 2-3 months at the least, but why not make the switch. I posted here to spread awareness. I have now hooked up with a naturopathic doctor who is recommending I eat at least 2 types of fermented foods a day, stick to aip, and focus on always going to bed at the same (or a reasonable) time at night.
In the modern world, we destroy our microbiome and set off a cascade of immune system related events that lead to stuff like dry eye. There is a reason why you're suffering, dont let anybody tell you its just otherwise. We have to spread awarness about AIP and diet in general as a healing pathway for dry eye and meibomian gland disease. I'm in the midst of being a premed student, but I'll probably check this every once in awhile (no promises). Please! upvote this so others can see. Dont let this fall through the cracks like all the success stories that motivated me to make a change. WE CAN ALL HEAL TOGETHER!
Check out this link for an introduction to aip and how our diet effects autoimmunity which is responsible for a large ass portion of the dry eye sufferers on this website in one way or another if not all: https://www.thepaleomom.com/start-he...mune-protocol/
After about 9 months of dealing with severe meibomian gland dysfunction accompanied by dry eye, I am happy to say things have gotten 95% better. For all intensive purposes, I am healed. I once was on 3 different medications for my eyes plus daily touch ups like warm compresses and lid scrubs. I am now on nothing but healthy food and lifestyle. This all sounds crazy I know, but after spending $600 on lipiflow and having no results, I knew I had to go a different path.
After tirelessly researching, I found a connection between our gut, immune system, and the eyes. I decided at that time to start messing around with diet. At that point I hadn't really found any success stories other then a no sugar, no alcohol one (I wasn't looking hard enough... trust me, although those who have success rarely come back to gloat about it). First I started intermittent fasting and consuming whole foods. I lost 25 pounds because I was only eating one large meal every 24 hours. There were days when there was a lot of inflammation don't get me wrong, but for the first time since it all started... there were days when my eyes were perfectly pink looking on the inside of my lids.
This motivated me to dig harder. I then found a youtuber who introduced me to the complexities of the human microbiome and its influence on overall health and immune cells. Around the same time I was also introduced to many success stories following the Autoimmune Protocol for many different kinds autoimmune issues including... you guessed it! EYES!!! This excited me so much. I started what I would call a hybrid AIP diet with non AIP focus on the microbiome (at that time I began fermenting my own raw milk in kefir grains to create Kefir). This is where things got dramatically better. The symptoms of dry eye besides some burning at night and the morning exponentially decreased.
The only time I even noticed my eyes dry is when I went through a substantial life stressor. Also around this time, I began working out 4 times a week which I think benefited me a lot, when I got back into the gym, I upgraded my fasting to two meals a day following a 16:8 protocol. I only recently (about a week ago) decided to drop the kefir to fend off the last of the inflammation and adopt a fully AIP diet. This I think will take me over the last bit of the summit in terms of healing to the point of no trace of past disease.
The reason I decided to post today is because I went from severe symptoms (eyes were bone dry, glands were all running completely dry, eyes were always bloodshot) to where I'm at today (not even thinking about my eyes). I decided to visit my old eye doctor after quitting all my medications months ago for a checkup. She was "very impressed" with how much oil was being produced by my glands. She wasn't worried about the small amounts of inflammation still lingering and said my tests for pressure came back normal. Needless to say, I was ecstatic! This is all because of a complete lifestyle change everyone.
Aside from abusing contacts, I also never got a full nights sleep before. I ate garbage until 2-3am every night such as cheezits, juices loaded with sugar, bagels on top of bagels with cream cheese. Once I made the switch to autoimmune paleo, the relief in symptoms was immediately noticeable. Dont get me wrong, it takes a ton of time before I considered myself healed (where I am now). Were talking 2-3 months at the least, but why not make the switch. I posted here to spread awareness. I have now hooked up with a naturopathic doctor who is recommending I eat at least 2 types of fermented foods a day, stick to aip, and focus on always going to bed at the same (or a reasonable) time at night.
In the modern world, we destroy our microbiome and set off a cascade of immune system related events that lead to stuff like dry eye. There is a reason why you're suffering, dont let anybody tell you its just otherwise. We have to spread awarness about AIP and diet in general as a healing pathway for dry eye and meibomian gland disease. I'm in the midst of being a premed student, but I'll probably check this every once in awhile (no promises). Please! upvote this so others can see. Dont let this fall through the cracks like all the success stories that motivated me to make a change. WE CAN ALL HEAL TOGETHER!
Check out this link for an introduction to aip and how our diet effects autoimmunity which is responsible for a large ass portion of the dry eye sufferers on this website in one way or another if not all: https://www.thepaleomom.com/start-he...mune-protocol/
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