Newbie here - Inflamed/red eyes Please HELP? Getting me really depressed

[NatsNatsNats]

Hi guys, I'm new here so sorry if I am doing this wrong. Apologies in advance for the long post. PLEASE HELP ME. I hope somebody out there can help me, I am becoming more and more depressed and anxious with my problem and I don't know what to do I have no idea where to start.. Well for starters I AM ONLY 20 YEARS OLD.. so.. menopause etc things are out the question

SYMPTOMS:
1-my main problem is the red veins in my eyes HOW DO I MAKE THEM GO AWAY? they are mainly the sides (inner corners and outer corners, but also on the bottom now). They seem to get a lot worse when even the tiniest bit of pressure is applied (eg, GENTLY cleaning the lid margins with a cotton bud and warm water). The other night I was on the phone to my mum talking about my eye problems and I cried. Fair enough, crying makes your eyes red, but when I looked in the mirror, ALL OF MY EYES WERE PINK/red. There was literally no white to be seen! WHY? Could it be Ocular rosacea? How would I know if i had it? How could I deal with it?

2-when I wake, my eyelids feel literally PARALYSED. I don't think its the dry eye, or the blepharitis, as they aren't stuck together, I can open them to little slits, but the eyelids themselves feel so HEAVY like the muscles wont work, I have to gently use my fingers and hoist them open and hold them open for a few seconds and move my eyes around. I am sure this is some kind of thyroid problem

3-vision is getting pretty blurry particularly in one eye it keeps clouding up every few blinks right now and it is really distracting me, I'm trying to write this as quick as possible as I want to go lie down and sleep as its so distracting I can barely function
On top of this, my eyesight is deteriorating. I have had the same prescription (-0.5 both eyes) for the past ten years. Around April time I needed new glasses (-1.25 and -1.50!). They felt strong at first and took some getting used to. Now, less than a year on, they arent strong enough anymore! I can't see far at all with them, I can't read road signs when driving until I'm right by them. Surely this isnt normal for eyesight to suddenly deteriorate so fast?!

4- BLEPH: only diagnosed with bleph last week when I went to eye emergency (ironically because my actual eyeballs were crazy red, my lashline never really has any dandruff that i can see but i guess its microscopic?) Since starting the baby shampoo routine, i swear it has made the lid margins REDDER, they are almost scarlet as though i have red eyeliner on . I ordered this 'Blephasol' via amazon (mainly because it is so time consuming mixing up baby shampoo solutions every morning and night!), but sure this is making them more sore too, i think more than the shampoo!

5-Eyelashes are falling out/growing in the wrong direction - i know this is the bleph, but it is depressing. I am naturally dark haired, olive skin so my sparse bare lashes are really obvious. WILL MY LASHES EVER COME BACK?

6-Eyes feel burny. The light is literally burning them, eg, I was in the car with my dad the other day and it was a beautiful sunny day, he was driving fine, but my eyes were in so much pain he had to lend me his sunglasses, even with the sunglasses it was still painful and i had to just shut my eyes. The wind burns them. Everything burns them. They feel sore all the time, like after you have had a big long cry and your eyes just kinda burn.

SOME HISTORY:
As I said, Aged 10, found I needed glasses just optionally for long distances, very weak prescription. This april my prescription went up quite a bit. Now, in January, My glasses are too weak again and I am going to book another eye test, but i want to get to the bottom of my problems first!

ALSO around april last year when i got my stronger prescription, I went to try out contact lenses and the opticians told me my corneas were a little dry and gave me viscotears. I never really felt like my eyes were dry but since they said they were I went along with it. Viscotears was amazing and felt lovely in my eyes.

Fast forward to around september/october time, I decided to come off the contraceptive pill (Cilest) I had no complaints with it, but I was getting a little chubby and thought after nearly 2 years on it my body could do with a break. It seems that this MAY be the cause of my eye problems??

From a couple weeks after this, my eyes have given me HELL. They started off being just a bit itchy and dry and the eyelids were sore (looking back this was probably blepharitis), went to the GP who prescribed antibiotic drops wrongly - irritated them more. Went back 2 weeks later, he gave me antihistamines and allergy eyedrops. NO RELIEF. Went back and he tried to give me different antibiotic eye drops in case it was an infection. At this point he also gave me weak hydrocortisone cream as he thought i had 'a bit of eczema on my left eyelid' (looking back again, probably bleph! It did soothe it a little, but I hear hydrocortisone is bad on the face as it thins the skin? He recommended I went to eye emergency if my eyes still didnt get better (he couldn't be arsed to write me a referral letter!)

So November time off I went to the eye emergency. Luckily it was quiet. The man was pretty cross as it wasnt an emergency, he barely really looked at my eyes. He stained them and looked through the thingy and said my eyes were 'moderately dry' so gave me OXYAL drops and LACRILUBE. Lacrilube is horrible, and gooey, hard to get in the eyes, and when i wake up, its all around my eyelid margins, so I have stopped using it. As for the oxyal, it helped for like a day or 2 but then soon after i found they make my eyes burn.

So now, fast forward to January, a couple weeks ago I guess, I was taking off my eye make up (GENTLY, with sensitive perfume free paraben free etc etc eye make up remover!) and my left eye went bright red again. So I took myself back to eye emergency as its only a short walk away. The guy i saw was a nurse (What does this mean, is he a qualified opthalmologist or not?). He didnt even stain my eyes or anything, he looked at my eyes down a microscope thing and immediately said i had bleph, got me a leaflet, told me to use baby shampoo and sent me off on my way. I know that its for emergencies so they wanted me out quick, but he was so unhelpful. He did not answer WHY have I got bleph is it from rosacea or seb dermatitis? Do i have MGD? He said nothing about the network of thick bright red capillaries all over the whites of my eyes. He didn't really help me at all. He gave me a free sample of SYSTANE ULTRA drops. Without even seeing if i had dry eye or anything. He said they would be better than oxyal as they are preservative free, yet i see on the description they are not preservative free. I thought they were making my eyes redder at first so stopped using them, but the redness didnt subside so i do still use them if my eyes are feeling sore or tired.

But I don't really like these eyedrops such as systane ultra or oxyal, they make my eyes feel kind of slimy? like as though my eyes need washing out if you understand? The systane ultra free sample has almost run out can anyone reccommend some other over the counter drops to try (preferably PRESERVATIVE FREE and ones that could counteract the inflammation?)


I really hate this whole thing, my eyes look pretty swollen, im getting pretty prominent wrinkles forming under my eyes, i HATE not wearing eye make up. I used to suffer Trichotilomania (eyelashes and eyebrows), but ive managed to stop picking my eyelashes. It just seems so unfair that after FINALLY curbing my eyelash picking and growing back my lovely long thick dark lashes, to suddenly be blighted with all of this HASSLE! My eyelashes look worse than they ever did at the height of my trich.

The main thing i want help on is the red eyes!! How can i make them at least go down a little?! I have tried camomile tea bags, cucumber slices, cool baggies of ice cubes and cold water. It doesnt seem to help. I look STONED. I am in my 3rd year at university on a very intense course, I do not have time to deal with this! The constant anxiety and depression that this is giving me is RUINING my studies, I am in the middle of my exam period but i just cannot concentrate on my studying. And I have interviews for grad jobs, but I dont want to keep showing up looking like an alcoholic/drug addict/sleep deprived unprofessional moron! Please please pleaseeeeeee offer me some suggestions!! Also, I am wondering if anyone else has had similar issues with contraceptive pills? I am considering going back on it to see if it helps, but as the guy who diagnosed my bleph said that it may have been brought on by 'extreme hormonal changes' (as often seen in menopausal women or after childbirth etc), I am worried that shocking my body with another hormonal change may just make it worse? I was planning on waiting out the storm as im aware it will take time for things to settle since i stopped cilest, however surely after 4 months off it, things should be starting to chill out, not get worse?!

I am going back to my doctor on Thursday to discuss this, I am going to demand that he refer me to a specialist that will actually listen to me and try to actually help instead of trying to just hurry me out of the door. But this could take months for the referral to come through!

ANY advice would be great! Please help, this is ruining my studying and my relationship as I constantly feel ugly and hideous, my boyfriend tries to tell me its not *TOO* bad, but I know he is just sparing my feelings so I end up snapping.
PLEASE HELP!!!!

Thanks

[Rebecca Petris]

So sorry to hear what you're going through.

I removed a couple of duplicate posts just to keep things from getting too cluttered but don't worry lots of people will see this.

First off, our resident expert with navigating UK resources for this kind of thing is a member named LittleMermaid who has a teenage daughter with a long eye history. She's super.

Second, nobody here can diagnose you or know what are the best treatments but definitely we can give some suggestions about how to get better help and maybe how to get some relief in the meantime.

Please listen to your boyfriend. We have a LOT of people here with chronic eye redness, and I've noticed that often what a person thinks is utterly hideous does not look nearly so bad to the people around them as they imagine.

Reading through your history, while I've no idea of the underlying issues (lots of possibilities there) I am wondering if your symptoms have been exacerbated by all the products you've been told to use. For example, the preservatives in some of the drugs, and the baby shampoo. Baby shampoo works OK for lid cleansing some people with mild blepharitis but for a lot of us it's terrible, just destabilizes the tear film and makes us worse. There are plenty of mild lidscrub products around to try and sometimes less is more.

At any rate first step I'd take is start reading labels VERY carefully and keep track of things that have been unfriendly to your eyes. This is not just preservatives but even the polymers like hypromellose that are in common artificial tears. Any of these things COULD pose issues for an individual so you'll need to observe very carefully and quit anything OTC that you even suspect of making things worse.

Please check the Articles section (top left) and read up on my suggestions about non medical ways of starting to cope while you're struggling for better medical care. Cold compresses, simple saline rinses occasionally, whatever it takes.

As far as the oral contraceptive connection:

I remember one member here from many years ago whose eyes got terribly messed up after just a short stint on the pill. There was no other factor in her life at the time that seemed like a possible trigger at all. So I would never rule it out. In general hormonal changes affect the eyes, especially the meibomian glands, and they affect each individual differently. Maybe you're way at the end of that spectrum somewhere.

Please hang in there. You're in good company here

p.s. Please tell me you're not using vasoconstrictor drops. Those will put you one step forward six steps backward.
p.p.s. The member I mentioned before had a dreadful time of it for awhile but today I'm happy to say she's doing great and hasn't needed to come back to DryEyeTalk for ages.

[NatsNatsNats]

Sorry, I didn't know which area to post in to ensure I would get a response!
Thank you for your advice! No I am not using vasoconstrictor drops, I've red a few posts by users saying they are terrible - why are they so bad?
Are there some kind of anti-inflammatory drops that I may be able to get prescribed?
It is just so frustrating going to and from the doctors and the eye department at the local uni teaching hospital without much help.
Are there any kind of over the counter lidscrubs out there?
I do want to listen to my boyfriend, but i know he is wrong, right now my eyes are completely pink, there's barely any white visible I don't know where all of these horrible capillaries have sprung up from Do dry eyes cause the redness?
I don't suppose you have a rough kind of idea how long it took for the user you mentioned's problems to calm down.
Is there anything I could do to to ease the burning/sore feeling that I get along my lashline from the blepharitis?
I wonder if my problem could be related to my thyroid, one of the eye doctors at the hospital I saw said that cessation of the pill shouldnt cause such a drastic change unless I had a thyroid problem. I do feel like I have no energy and have constantly racing thoughts although I guess it could just be this whole thing making me a bit depressed. Plus, the paralysed eyelid feeling could be to do with it?

[dijon84]

Hi there
I have tried many lids scrubs for blepharitis (baby shampoo, Blephasol etc). What I found to work best was something recommended by a friend (this works for him). In the shower each morning, I keep the eyes tightly shut and use Aveeno colloidal oatmeal moisturising bar. http://www.pakcosmetics.com/Skin-Car...izing-Bar.html . I use the soap over my closed eyelids for about 30 seconds then wash it off. Washing in the shower just seems to be the best way for me to deal with this issue. The last few times I've been to the eye doc (and she seems like a pretty good doc), she says there is no sign of the blepharitis. It is just the MGD that I still have. I mainly just get the gritty / sandy sensation to some degree now.
I was told over a year ago that I had seborrheic blepharitis. This went alongside the acne and dandruff issues I am still dealing with. As I understand, this type of blepharitis often goes alongside acne and dandruff.
If you haven't already got it, I would get yourself a magnifying mirror to help you keep your eyelids clean - there are some cheap 10x ones on Amazon. The cheap ones do just as good a job as the more expensive ones like Tweezerman.
I have also found it helpful to keep a sort of diary for how my eyes are feeling and my general health each day. I make note of any changes to my daily routine (eg if I started taking a new supplement). If my eyes get worse / better from one day to another, I try to make educated guesses about what might have caused it to get better / worse. My theory is over time that these guesses will add up into something useful.
I think things like dry eyes / mental health / sleep quality / stress are all interlinked too. My mental health is usually pretty good. I put it down to a book a read a few years ago and often reread - The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I'd recommend it to anyone.
Dave

[littlemermaid]

Nats, What treatments are you on now? If you haven't got a regular ophthalmologist, you need one. We have done best in the Eye Clinics in the large regional teaching hospitals, as you say, and stick with them ongoing for regular follow-up and the latest advice and eyedrops. This is also partly about you learning how to look after your eyes with this new problem.

Anti-inflammatories would be steroids or cyclosporine but if they're trying to avoid that, they may be looking after you well. Or they could use Azyter or another antibac as a part anti-inflammatory and to help maintain the meibomian glands. These are tools for blepharitis, not cures. What is the university hospital Eye Clinic recommending?

A high street optometrist can also refer you into hospital Eye Clinics and help monitor your vision, and would certainly do a more informed eye exam than a GP. I would take advantage of free NHS opticians while you are still a student unless you get frequent eye checks in the hospital Eye Clinic.

Have you had thyroid tests? GP can do this.

We are under a lot of pressure with exams too. It's important to stay organised and calm and get a regular successful maintenance routine going. Dijon always has good advice on seb bleph, esp about warming and cleaning eyes in the shower. Certainly my teenage daughter is very sensitive to eyelid cleaners so we have reduced but still need them sometimes. We will try his Aveeno soap suggestion. The meibom has to be warmed up every day, one way or another, to keep things moving and also avoid infection. If the eyelid margins are burning, you could be getting sensitive to products of the meibomian gland dysfunction if it's sebaceous, and you need to avoid eye surface damage from enzyme products of MGD and low-grade chronic inflammation by careful hygiene. Self-refer if needed so they can use antibacs to avoid surface damage, if they see it. Unless it's more an allergic or dry burning with abrasion from blinking because you are not producing enough tears generally. They look for red signs of allergy down to the bottom behind the lower lid. They look at the tear meniscus that pools along the lower eyelid margin and watch the tear film and oils moving through the ophthalmoscope after putting the dye in. Even if there's good aqueous tear or even overtearing (epiphora), it's evaporation and osmolarity that's the problem with early-stage MGD.

Meanwhile, are you using lubricant eyedrops and managing to keep your eyes moist? Winter heating and a/c is our enemy. We have a humidifier for the study bedroom but wet washing on the radiator in winter does a good job too but use hypoallergenic detergent.

I understand the awful career pressures because we are same. I would be happy if my d took a year off to drift about doing intern and voluntary and getting her health sorted, and maybe this would open up more opportunities and satisfaction long term than the milk round, but meanwhile, as Dijon says, we are looking at relaxation and stress management techniques. It's important to know you've got regular future eye appointments fixed up, I think, so you feel there's a plan.

Consider seeing the Student Counsellors and Exam Registrar's Office so they record what's happening - eg vision problems and photophobia - and get help lodging the medical issues in case you want to appeal in future. Eg my d is registered for medical issues and can sit where she likes according to layout - glare, fans, exit - and even leave the exam room to recover with stopped clock as long as she is invigilated. We call it debilitating 'chronic eye inflammation' rather than 'dry eye' or 'blepharitis'. Another reason for a private consultant diagnosis letter.

Would your dad pay for a private ophthalmology consultation for backup if you don't have regular NHS follow-up at the univ hospital? We are in the NHS full time ongoing 4y with 3m follow-up, but a private assessment gave us a plan without the 'random turning up at A&E but leaving without regular Ophthalmology follow-up' thing that was happening, bounced between providers. I'm truly sorry, NHS, but 'needs must'. These conditions are best seen by anterior segment ophthamologists http://www.drfosterhealth.co.uk/hospital-guide/

Dad should certainly be forking out for a lovely pair of wraparound sunglasses so you don't have to borrow his. You need something that keeps the moisture round the eye and prevents any tear you've got from evaporating off. It's also good to turn up at Eye Clinics in dark glasses because they take bleph more seriously and it doesn't look so good with the other patients, lol. There was a gorgeous pair of Dolce & Gabbana's in D&A last year that LM and I both lusted after but you might have more luck with your dad on that. Very good for the image.

Dr Latkany's book still gives us comfort http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dry-Eye-Reme.../dp/1578262429
The NHS website is very good and they keep updating - your possible hormone aetiology is listed http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Dry-eye...roduction.aspx
UK clinical guidelines on referral pathways for dry eye and blepharitis http://www.cks.nhs.uk/blepharitis#
UK patient information http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Blepharitis.htm
American Academy of Ophthalmology practice guidelines on dry eye and blepharitis are state of the art - and this is an art, this is why we need good informed ophth to work with.

See the DEWS Report http://www.tearfilm.org/dewsreport/p...DEWS-noAds.pdf and watch Prof Christophe Baudouin's video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOAkmt7RTYk if you haven't already.

Basically, you need to keep the eye surface as moist and good as possible while your system recovers. Also your eyes are more sensitive and vulnerable, so you need to eliminate anything environmental or products that make them more sore, and prevent infection with gentle hygiene and preferably, no makeup. And it's important to avoid setting up eye and skin sensitivities and changes with the inverventions, whether it's cleaning products or drops, while keeping things good.

You are looking to baby your eyes to spiral them back to health. It's also a question of maintaining the eyes well so you can get on with your life, eating healthy and considering whether supplements like flax/fishoil or vits and minerals would help. As Dijon wisely says, important to consider carefully and notice what makes things better/what makes things worse, inc checking along the eyelid margin and behind the lower eyelid for danger signs not just waiting for red eye. Eg for a while flaxseed oil made LM's seb bleph suddenly flareup very much worse, but now she's older fishoil seems to help adjust the meibom. She can eat a little chocolate, cheese pasta or pizza without bad effects but no more than that. Late night studying def makes the eyes worse.

Sounds like your eyes are super-dry overnight so you might want to be more careful to avoid surface damage eg sleepmask or eyedrops onto closed eyes before opening. Even normal ophthalmic saline would do that, although you need to talk to an ophth about daytime drops - we use Hylotears/Hyloforte but most people try different ones.

These are the sorts of areas we've failed in the past - not maintaining enough tear film and reducing allergens and lifestyle eg unblinking computer use and managing the skin well, so we have some scarring now from chronic keratitis.

There's plenty of people here who've fixed or managed their blepharitis well - we just don't see 'em now!

How's it going? If this isn't what the university hospital Eye Clinic are saying or if there's anything else useful it would be good to hear it.

[surya]

If you are eyes are veiny, they get easily irritated and inflamed like mine. Therefore, you shouldn't do anything that aggravates it. All doctors are not the same. Go to the clinic littlemermaid mentioned and get a proper diagnosis. They might put on a prescription drop to knock down the inflammation first.

Use oasis eye drops. These are the ones that helped me the most. It immediately increases your TBUT. (I found this info on this forum from fellow sufferers)

Read the DEWS report littlemermaid posted. It is a must. I can't stress this enough.

Dr Latanky suggestions to me............

Daytime

Don't use scrubs or night time ointments. They irritate veins.

Don't do warm compresses. Instead, while in shower, press your eyelid margins with just a little pressure and delicately clean them with your fingers. Or you can do this with a q-tip. This process is mentioned in his Dr Latanky's book.


Night

Use tranquil eyes eye mask at night without the sponge/foam pads inside. If you use the foam pads, they press your eye lids against the conjuctiva and aggravate the situation more. tranquil eyes also helped me a lot.

[soaps]

Surya do u use anything at night ?

[surya]

oasis tears and tranquil eyes.

[soaps]

Thanks !! I will get the tranquile eyes out of the cupboard .