Hi, I am new, have a few questions...

[auntchelle]

Hello I am new to the forum. I have been battling with dry eye for a while, being the reason I cannot wear contact lens. I can’t say I ever noticed that my eye felt dry, but if it was a gradual change, it wouldn’t have been as noticeable.
I have a mild rosacea, fibromyalgia, thyroid disease, hormonal issues, all which contribute.
The drs. Day my MG are blocked. If you run your finger across base of eyelash, it feels like hard little bumps.
I do eyelid cleanse twice a day. The eyelash line gets a little gunked up, but my eyelid itself is clean, and looks healthy. I have some divots along lower lid, and my upper lids have a very slight upward bend. My eyelashes are sparse, and poke in different directions.
I have to be honest to say I do not apply the heat every day. I find the more I apply heat and express my lids, it seems to irritate them.
No dr. ever explained the seriousness of what this problem can turn into. He did a blink test, and I was at 5 seconds, though I forgot what that meant.
I do have a lot more floaters now, and my vision isn’t as good as it was. The dr. won’t prescribe new glasses until we get the inflammation down.
I was on doxy, but I have had stomach & bowel issues & needed to stop the doxy. Is stopping the doxy going to make this problem worse?
I have done lots of research. There is a lot of conflict of opinion on how to treat.
A few questions, I personally don’t feel the need for a re-wetting drop. If you have dry eye/MGD, do you need to use the re-wetting drops? ie. Do they have another effect on the eye other than providing relief?
I was on doxy, but I have had stomach & bowel issues & needed to stop the doxy. Is stopping the doxy going to make this problem worse?
I am on restatis twice a day, but I swear it irritates my eyes , takes a few hrs for them to settle down.
My dr. wants to express my glands with a paddle, but he is just ordered it which tells me he isn’t adept at it yet. If the problem is the gland itself, it will build up again, so how do you get the glands to work again?
Is heat everyday then expression important?
I am going to up my fish oil supplement. Any other supplements that are important?

Thank you for having me.

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi and welcome!

A few questions, I personally don’t feel the need for a re-wetting drop. If you have dry eye/MGD, do you need to use the re-wetting drops? ie. Do they have another effect on the eye other than providing relief?

There's really two reasons people use artificial tears. 1) For symptom relief (because their eyes feel dry or scratchy or burning or gritty), and/or 2) To keep them wet... Usually these things overlap, but sometimes people who have significant dry eye actually don't FEEL dry and have to use drops anyway because it's not good for your eye surface to get too dried out. So if you don't FEEL dry BUT your doctor is seeing a lot of surface dryness, that sure would be a good reason to use the drops. Also, it sounds like it's impacting your vision which means it's relatively severe, so yes, it's important to keep your eyes lubricated.

I was on doxy, but I have had stomach & bowel issues & needed to stop the doxy. Is stopping the doxy going to make this problem worse?

Nobody here can say whether it will or won't BUT from what you've said you clearly have pretty serious meibomian gland disease going on and if one treatment doesn't work or can't be continued for other reasons then you move on to something else. If MGD is left completely out of control for too long it can eventually result in some of the glands getting permanently impaired.

I am on restatis twice a day, but I swear it irritates my eyes , takes a few hrs for them to settle down.

Talk to your doctor about it... If it's just slight irritation that's one thing, but sometimes people have a strong enough reaction to it that it's not worth taking. - Some people buffer it by wetting their eyes with artificial tears five or ten minutes before taking it - you might want to try that and see if it helps.

My dr. wants to express my glands with a paddle, but he is just ordered it which tells me he isn’t adept at it yet.

Sounds like a good idea. Expressing the glands isn't really rocket science and a lot of doctors just use their fingers.

If the problem is the gland itself, it will build up again, so how do you get the glands to work again?

There's a lot of variety in this disease but for a lot of people the glands get chronically blocked. Some manage to keep them cleared out day to day with heat and hygiene. Others with doxy. Or Omega 3s. Or Azasite. Or having their doctor express them once in a while. Some people pursue some more sophisticated (and costly) treatments like Lipiflow that may help keep them clearer much longer at a time by dealing with it a little differently.

Is heat everyday then expression important?

Depends. It's an important routine for a lot of people but not everyone AND a lot of people make mistakes with it for lack of correct guidance from their doctor. Overdoing heat and manipulating your eyes too much can be counterproductive, just causing more irritation. If heat is causing irritation for you but your dr is convinced you need to keep it up, you might consider doing cold packs afterwards to keep your lids calmed down.

Glad you're here, and good luck with your progress as you move forward!

[auntchelle]

Thank you. Very informative.