find the cause of my dry eye/blepharits!!

[futbolplayer1]

Hey all,
I just wanted to let everyone know that I finally found out what what causing all my ocular issues. I started having trouble about a year ago, and I am not going to go in depth about all the details, but all I can say is it has been a long road (you can read through all my posts). As obvious as this may seem, I am allergic to some ingredient common in bar soap. I tried several months ago using a hypallergenic bar soap, which for some reason did not help. I coincidentally was very busy studying here at school (aerospace engineering major) and didnt shower for 3 days lol. I noticed during this period my eyes feeling a little "less tight" and experienced less pain. I also at the same time coincidentally ran out of my dial bar soap. I started using my roomates axe body wash and it has been about 5 days since using the dial soap and I am 90% better. I also seem to be getting better every day! All in all, I went to about 10 opthomologists, 1 optometrist, had blood work done, a cat scan of my brain done, and was tested for various food and environmental allergies. I was told I had "dry eye" "acne of the eyelids" "meibomitis" "chronic blepharitis" "allergies" and "nothing wrong." no doctor was really sure what I had. I knew it was related to inflammation however. and allergies is usually the cause of mass inflammation in the body. I had zero flares with this or itching, both typical of allergies. My advice to everyone is to just maintain hope. I experienced all mental issues (depression, anxiety) cause I was hopless and really wasn't' sure if Id ever get better. I still think I have some of these mental issues lingering (depression), what I am going to checked out, and then I should be able to live my life nomally again. My advice is to just fight through everyday tryin to be as productive as you can, until you figure out what is wrong. I have missed out on a lot in the past year of my life, but I have also learned a lot. Some of this has sucked some of the life out of me, but at the same time made me a better person. With these types of diseases, you have to figure out what is wrong, the doctors can only guide you. you have to be able to figure out what works for you. Also, here are some steps i recommend you follow:

1. Go see a Doctor is New York named Dr. Latkany. He specialized in chronic blepharitis and dry eye and will be able to tell you exactly what is wrong. I wasted my money going to about 9 doctors locally who told me all different causes. I decided I was gonig to make a trip to new york to figure out what exactly was wrong. Dr. Latkany was 100% I had an allergy to something within 5 minutes of examining me. He said I did have blepharits and dry eye, but this was being caused by the allergies. He was 100% right and I believe he is one of the few experts that can distinguish between cause and effect.

2. Do what makes sense. I knew after I was told I had bacteria blepharitis and diagnosis wasn't right. I never had crusting, redness of margins, or any of the symptoms of blepharitis. The lid scrubs didnt work. This is why I investiaged allergies along with Dr. L's recommendations.

3. This is easier said than done, but think back to what might have changed. Its very easy in hindsight, but this can be very helpful. My issues started about 2 months after moving into school. What happened was after 2 motnhs I ran out of my old spice body wash and switched to bar soap (even though I had used bar soap in the past, i must have developed an allergy to it at some point), and this is how the inflammation slowly began to build up. So, think back to what could have changed if you thinks its realted to allergies.

Here is my total list of symptos incase someones can relate.

in begining: redness to caruncle (triangle flesh part in corner of eye) along with a tickling sensation in this area, dry eye
* I might have had some very very minor crusting in the morning, so if you have crust, dont rule out allergies. BUT most the time, my lashes were clean.

middle-end: blurred vision, eyelashes loss, eyelid twitching, moderate dry eye, severe pain under eyelids, sensitive eyelashes to souch (terrible pain), swollen feeling in and around eyes, clearish goop in corner of eyes, redness to insides of eyelids

Hope this helps some people out there. YOU DONT NOT NEED TO HAVE ITCHING FOR ALLERGIES! Thanks to everyone for all thier help and support and I hope you all find the answer to yours problems (there is one out there, you will find it too!). I am saying good bye, but you can private message me if you have any questions, I'll check back on occasion.

-whether its been a month, a year, 5 years, etc... you will eventaully have a coindince like I did and figure out what is wrong, so that should always be in your mind as hope.


Here is also an alternative diagnosis that I would look into if your not sure whats wrong:
1.allergies
2.food intoerlance, sensitivities
3. blood work- hypothroidism, autoimmune diaseases
4. cat scan: brain tumor, sinus issues, etc..
5. demodex blepharitis (characterised by cylindrical dandruff at base of roots, itching and inflammation in the morning)
*demodex blepharitis is common in people with ocular rosacea

(my advice is not medical advice is any way, just things I came across causing ocular issues after a lot of reading)

Thanks everyone,
Aaron

[rhad]

That's awesome you found the cause! let us know how your doing on your progress. Let us know if it goes completely away!

Futbolplayer1, I have a question, have you had any changes in vision since all this dry eye started a year ago? or have you ever needed any vision correction such as contacts or eye glasses?

Thanks,

rhad

[Teri]

Aaron,

Thanks for posting this! I've often thought that I will accidentally discover the things that will end up helping me, much like you switching soaps and not showering led you to an answer.

A couple of questions:

Were you using the offending soap around your eyes/face, or was the allergy just manifesting itself in your eyes?

Have you identified what ingredient in the soap is the allergen?

When you say "lid scrubs didn't work" does this mean that warm compresses and regular lid scrubs didn't provide any relief or improve your symptoms?

Thanks again for the info. And good luck with your studies (being in school with dry eyes...I can't imagine.)

Teri

[futbolplayer1]

Hey Teri,


I always use soap on my face, as well as, all over my body. I tried switching to a hypoallergenic soap I got off ebay about 3 months ago, but it didnt seem to help. The allergy seems to really produce inflammation about 8 hour after using the product. I would begin to feel swelling around my eyes, dry ness, and a dryness pain under my eyelids made worse by blinking.

I am not sure exactly what ingrediant it is in the soap. However, I know shampoo contains it also. I found a soap on the internet after searching that contains zero common ingrediants with my shampoo or bar soap, so I bought this and it does the trick. So, I am not exactly sure what I am allergic to. I just use the all natural bar soap (use it in my hair also--I would eventually like to find a shampoo that works for my eyes) and have been feeling almost 100% better. I think its going to take a little more time for all the inflammation to move out, heck I was swollen up for a year. But, I go through he day without noticing my eyes bothering me. I have noticed after I drink energy drinks, I feel my eyes slightly act up, so Ill invesiage his too. But, I am 95% better and very thankful

Lids scrubs and warm compress provided no relief, that is correct. In fact, I would argue they made things worse. I did warm compress and scrubs 3 times a day for 6 months with no improvement.

Thanks for your kind wishes. My grades have definitly suffered due to all this. But, what are you going to do?

Feel free to private message me, anyone, if your symptoms match mine or your have any questions.

-Aaron

[futbolplayer1]

To further update, it appears I am also allergic to my laundy detergent. While doing laundry today, I experienced a little reaction. So, It is a common ingrediant in soap, shampoo, and laundry detergent. Also, I started using patanol again (didn't work before), but appears to clean up the last bit of my pain and irritation. My next step is to try an oral anti-histamine also. But, by simply avoiding allergens, I am 95% better. And, with patanol, I feel 99% better!

So, I guess what I wanted to say is... Patanol or other allergy eye drops may not work if you are constantly being exposed to allergens. It only worked once I found out the major allergens, now it helps instantly with the minor ones. I use it twice a day and can tell when it wears off, where I begin to feel a little worst.

Hope this helps someone out there

[TSA]

Thanks !

for posting your experience.... thanks to my stumbling on your post, after almost 1 year of suffering, 4 opthamologists (ALL of whom said it was dry eye or blepharitis due to age etc...)... I read YOUR posts and all of a sudden a light bulb comes on in my head.

As soon as I read the 3 things we had in common - you noticed that your eyes got worse after showers and that warm compresses made things worse if anything and that you washed your face with bar soap (like me)... I immediately thought "wow.. this is the only person who described this exactly the way I was experiencing it" next day I stopped using the soap on my face and what a difference ! My eyes were 85% back to normal within the day !

Still trying to clear up the remaining feeling of minor irritation but the dryness is all gone. Wish I had thought of that earlier, sure my eyes would have cleared up better quicker. But I am thankful that I found out now.... thanks to this post.

NOT ONE of the 4 opthamologists and 2 optometrists that I had seen even remotely indicated that it could be an allergy to something like soap - ie. something that does not go into your eye but on or around it. Not ONE.

I want to thank you for sharing your "triumph" experience and let you know that it certainly guided me to the answer to the reason behind my so- called "dry eyes"... thanks for sharing... it really DOES make a difference !

[futbolplayer1]

TSA,
that is so great to hear! I am so happy for you. I actually went to a total of 12 ophthalmologist and saw Dr. Latkany in New York. He was the one that said for sure it was allergies, but he obviously couldn't tell me what. I have a chemical sensitivity to any fragrence, so obviously soap near my face is terrible. I have found what really works is to use toms natural unscented body wash. I used this is my hair and on my body, BUT NOT NEAR MY FACE. I only wash my face with water. If I do this I am completely pain free. Dairy also seems to aggrevate my condition, so I avoid this to. If I avoid both dairy and fragrence I am 98% better, I still think there are a few things I need to figure out. But for now, I am able to no longer be limited by this pain.

*I also was told by 11 doctors that it was various things. I had no idea where to start searching for my problem or who to believe. After 6 months of lid scrubs and warm compress, I decided I was going to stop. I was extremely afraid to do this, because I was afraid things would get worse. Well, after I stopped them, nothing got worse and I maybe even felt a little better. It at this point and with the help of Dr. latkany, I was able to pinpoint fragrence as my issue.

I am going to try to describe my symptoms as best I can, and TSA you can add to so maybe we can get a solid lists of symptoms going. That way, if people have the same, they can begin to looking into allergies or sensitivities.

Symptoms:
-dry eye- eyes were extremely dry at times, but sometime it just felt like the inside of my lids were dry and it hurt to blink.
-eyelash loss/eyebrow loss. I would loose about 3-5 eyelashes a day.
-eyelid twitching. My upper eyelids would randomly twitch during the day.
-"feeling on a worm moving around under my upper eyelids"
-"extremely painful eyeslashes to the touch, especially the upper eyelashes"

Best of luck, hope this helps more.

[futbolplayer1]

O ya, I wanted to add that my eyes now recover quicker when exposed to allergens and my reactions are not nearly as bad when they happen. So, if you eliminate the allergen, things will naturally get slowly better and better

[advocate]

Aaron,

I TOLD YOU it was allergy (We IM'd on Blepharitis-Forum), and I'm glad you're finally getting things under control. I'm convinced that a lot of us who are experiencing MGD/Bleph are actually having allergies to things in our environment that are ubiquitous, like dust mites, mold spores, etc.

Here's my latest list of things you should try to control ocular allergies/Bleph/MGD. They are working great for me.

See an allergist. Ask your allergist to do an intradermal test (using a needle) for every pin prick that came back negative, especially molds. Ask your allergist to treat you with allergy shots for everything you are allergic to, including molds.

Ask your allergist for a prescription for Allegra (an oral antihistamine) and Pataday (an optical antihistamine). Pataday is a stronger version of Patanol. Avoid Benadryl and Zyrtec, which will make you drowsy. You should know that antihistamine drugs require time to build up in your system. The longer you take them, the better they work. So don't give up if you don't see an improvement the same day. Give it a week. I agree 100% with what you said about anthistamines. They only work when you're borderline.

Clean your house, thoroughly. Wear an N95 Particulate Mask while you clean (3M Makes the most popular ones).

Keep your windows and doors closed as much as possible in order to prevent pollution and mold spores from getting inside. I air out my house once every two weeks for about 15 minutes, late at night, but otherwise keep everything closed.

If you have a furnace, install the best 3M Filtrete Furnance Filter that will fit and run your furnace 24/7.

Buy a HEPA Filter for the rooms you spend the most time in (Honeywell and IQAir both work fairly well).

Clean your hairbrush (which accumulates skin cells and is a breeding ground for dust mites).

Vacuum your carpet, your mattress and other fabric furniture weekly using a HEPA vacuum (Miele is the best and most expensive HEPA vacuum cleaner. If you can't afford it, get the Electrolux Oxygen 3).

If you have a front loading washing machine, check the rubber gasket for mold growth. After you clean all the mold off, wash all your clothes again. Keep the door open when not in use to prevent a recurrance. Search Google for more information on this problem.

Wash your pillow, sheets, comforter, etc. in HOT water once a week.

Try nasal irrigation to remove accumulated allergens from your nose and sinuses.

Exercise 30 minutes every day.

This regimen is working very well for me. In fact, it's working so well that I've stopped taking meds and am getting 6-8 hours of contact lens wear a day (whcih was impossible when things were really bad).

O ya, I wanted to add that my eyes now recover quicker when exposed to allergens and my reactions are not nearly as bad when they happen. So, if you eliminate the allergen, things will naturally get slowly better and better