Bleph, Dry, Red Eyes, Light sensitivity - that's me!

[jorgec3]

Hi everyone,

Am so happy there's a dedicated forum for dry eyes/Bleph sufferers. I felt I would have to resort to Yahoo answers or something as doctors have let me in limbo.

About me:
25, Male, UK, Web Designer, Glasses (-7.25L, -7R)

Work on the computer a lot (only realised now I think about it) - 9am to 6pm (sometimes later), then it's come home and continue on the PC till 1/2am.

The situation so far:
About a month ago now my colleague noticed the whites of my eyes were really red.

They felt a little itchy and sore, so I went to the chemist to buy some red/bloodshot eye drops (Optrex). They relieved the pain a little, but it wasn't too effective.

So went to the optician who said prescription has changed slightly, but eyes are very dry. Took eye drops and it seemed to settle.

Two weeks later (Monday 4th Feb) my vision suddenly went really bad - was having real difficulty with computer light, text on the screen going red,
flashing red lights, spots and very dizzy. Left eye seemed inflamed so took Optrex Infected Eye drops (Chloramphenicol).

Thought I could sleep it off, but the same happened on Tuesday.

So went to Moorfields eye hospital A/E who diagnosed me with Blepharitis, recommended hot compresses, better lid hygiene and Hylotear eye drops.

Started treatment as soon as I got back, but felt progressively worse as the week went on. Off work, sleeping A LOT (I would say at least 14/15 hours sleep the days that followed).

Going outside, daylight was a major problem, difficult to focus - anything that reflects light - like a metal doorhandle or even a car headlight (turned off) caused problems when I
changed my focus.

So for example looking at a white plate that reflected an indoor light and moving my head away, I could see the shape of the reflection pulsating for a good few seconds. Same with reflectors/car headlights, the red LED lights on TV/video players. Sometimes having difficulty focusing on people indoors in certain light, there's a sort of redish/yellow light glow around their head or things like black coats?

Eyes themselves seemed to be less red, so I wasn't sure what was going on. Went to my GP/doctor (2 different ones as getting appointments was tricky), 2 said migraine and the final one (who owns the practice) recommended me to an eye specialist (which may take a month) and prescribed Refresh Celluvisc.

Over the weekend it got progressively worse I feel, appetite dropped off the map (I ate 3 oranges and a bowl of rice over 2 days) and just couldn't do anything.

A friend of the family (who is an eye specialist) said he thought it might be nerological/brain related which made me panic even more - based on the symptoms instead of seeing me first hand.

So on Monday 11th I tried for doctor again to try and rule out any other possible symptoms and they again said wait for the specialist. Worried I went to a different eye hospital A/E (Western Eye) and they again said Bleph and to up the dose - every 2 hours drops instead of the 4/5 I had been doing and the glands are very blocked up.

Any tips?
The eyes definitely feel better now I've applied more drops more often (Hylotear) but mornings the light sensitivity is very strong and eyes sore.

Any supplements ideas? My diet at the moment is primarily meat, fish twice a week, coffee (with sugar) 2x a day, water, juice and camomile tea. Also take multivitamins, that's it.

Am sleeping with an eye mask - does that help or hinder?

Am doing heat compresses but have heard cold might be better? Currently when I wake and before sleep - should I do it more often?

Will the eyes ever go back to normal white?

Many thanks guys, glad to be on these forums!

J

[surya]

Most of the redness will go away if you treat them right. As you have spent so many hours on PC, you are most probably suffering from dry eye. Blepharitis is something that happened later after dry eye. That is my guess.

Read the DEWS report. It explains several pathways how your eyes ended up in your current situation (atleast one path will match your history). This will explain a lot.

http://www.tearfilm.org/dewsreport/p...DEWS-noAds.pdf


Find a good ophthalmologist who is well aware of dry eye, not just any ophthalmologist.

[littlemermaid]

Find a good ophthalmologist who is well aware of dry eye, not just any ophthalmologist.

Great advice from Surya, jorgec3. Hope you've got a good referral to Moorfields anterior segment team or Western Eye.

Do you not eat vegetables? Can you protect your eyes with wraparounds when you're on the computer?

Sounds like difficult surface inflammation, assuming they've done eye pressure checks and you haven't got moving dots of light. Do you have eye pain? Is that why you are sleeping so long? or is it anxiety?

You can test the meibomian glands by pressing gently with 2 fingers upwards just below the bottom eyelashes and looking along the eyelid margin for tiny dots of oil, best done in daylight close up to the bathroom mirror. Many people take fish or flaxseed oil or a combo to improve the meibom.

We are using a humidifier near the computer, also eg wet towels on the radiator. Also you will realise you are staring at the screen without blinking for far too long and it's possible your eye surface is even desensitising to the need to blink, especially after it changes with chronic use of drops - important to look down on the screen as much as possible to reduce exposed eye surface. Obviously, work environment and scheduled screen breaks.

The heat compresses are to keep the meibom from clogging, but how often and whether to use cold depends on whether they help or not. It's a question of reducing inflammation first, then keeping the eye functions working. Hope you can work out what makes things better/worse for you personally from our lists of factors to adjust. Plus your eyes are more vulnerable to things which wouldn't bother them before, allergies, a/c etc.

Hope you get an eye doc you like to work with soon.

[browneyesblu]

Great advice from the above, make sure they send you to an anterior segment specialist. Cold packs help me (they take down the inflammation). My doc actually prescribed them. My advice is try it and see if you feel better or worse afterwards. If you don't have something made for the purpose you can take about 2 cups of frozen peas, put them in a Ziploc (freezer) bag and put that in a pillowcase. This is what plastic surgeons tell their patients to do after blepharoplasty (an 'eye job').

Your story sounds a lot like mine, I sympathize. Good luck.

[browneyesblu]

OOps--forgot to add, do the cold in addition to, not instead of, the warm.