this is it

[help0511]

Hello,

I have been diagnosed with blepharitis and blocked glands.

My doctor looked at it and she said that she can see little dandruff (which I can't see) on my eye lashes and also the glands having small oil drops attached to them. No inflammation, little cysts forming on upper eyelid margin. I already diagnosed myself before going but now it's confirmed. She gave me the shampoo, and told to use drops, and compresses (even dry if warm are causing inflammation) and one little eye cream (I don't know what it is). I only feel little itchiness around eyes and burning in my eyes especially after computer.

My problems started when I was abroad wearing my contacts. I took them out and things were slowly better and now again worse. It got better when I drank more water - I almost drink no water during the day, and when I cleaned my eye lids with cold water - that was before diagnosis. Now again I stopped doing it and a little cyst grew on my upper lid - I immediately knew it was blocked gland. Today I got officially diagnosed. It is also correlated with how much I use my computer.

I did not wear my contacts too much this year, and before I didn't have any problems. I took a lot of antibiotics this year and thought it may have caused it. I had my blood test done and everything is normal.

Once I'll be in London, I will visit the lipiflow clinic just to see how clogged my glads are.

Other related factors are: antibiotics use for recurring tonsil infections, dry skin on my face, dandruff on my scalp, broken capillaries on sides of nose and sensitive skin to heat (but not sure if rosacea), dry nose (but not really dry mouth).

Is there anything you could discern from this?

• allergy?
• hormones?
• celiac disease? - but nothing shows in my blood
• candida overgrowth?

Just to be clear on my current position. I know it is only gonna get worse. I have anxiety, and even now with little irritation, I cannot stand it. I am only 24 and about to start a new course and a job that I worked very hard for. I know it will affect my studies and my career. I am willing to give up. I gave it my best shot - I honestly tried extremely hard in everything I ever did. But this is something I cannot control. I know that if I didn't wear contacts, it probably wouldn't have happened, but I didn't even wear them that much this year.

I am gonna try to finish my course and start my work. I will only try to do my work, if it is not going to be possible, I will give up and end my life. I am not going to drink, eat unhealthy or go out if I won't have to for work. I will find a good ophthalmologist in London or UK and also try to change my diet. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you for reading.

[Hokucat]

Hi. I want to give you hope there are things that will help. Please don't give up. I was in a very similar situation to you. I was homebound for at least three years because the oil in my meibomian glands was so thick, it completely clogged up my glands and I had zero tear film. I had to stop work. Finally I tried drinking fresh squeezed lemon with green tea daily (see my post under the Dry Eye Triumphs forum last week), and this made the oil flow in my glands, and now I am much better. Perhaps it could work for you too, if your oil is clogging up your glands Sometimes it's a simple change in diet to give you what your body needs.

Lipiflow did not work for me, I think my glands were too clogged. I had some limited success with mebomian gland expressing and probing, although my glands would get clogged up again very soon after these procedures, but that's me. These procedures might help you, But I do think clearing the old built up blockage with these procedures first, and then drinking the green tea and lemon daily soon after that was key to my long term success. Because if your glands are all backed up with all this old thick oil, newer good oil from whatever diet changes or treatment you take may not be able to flow through.

Have you tried PROSE scleral lenses? These are nickel-sized dome-shaped contacts that keep a layer of saline over your eye. They are being used more and more to successfully treat dry eye sufferers. This does not solve your root problem, but could help make you more comfortable. Good luck to you.

[help0511]

Thank you, I definitely want to try to get them unclogged. What you said about opening them up first and then getting the oil flowing is very logical.

So the options to do this are expression by a doctor, lipiflow and probing? Another option is just hot compress and massage?

I am drinking green tea with lemon right now and will try to do the compress and massage to unclog the glands. If that doesn't help then I will try the expression by doctor and lipiview/lipiflow.

Did you have high cholesterol? Because I have 5.4 in my results which they say is not high, only slightly above limit.

[help0511]

Also, one more thing. Did you ever try to investigate why the glands got clogged in the first place?

I believe that in my case it must have been happening for a longer period of time. This is what I would like to know.

Is it the blepharitis - and what is the mechanism?

Is it excessive computer use?

While more prevalent in older adults, MGD can occur at any age. In addition, improved detection methods have shown that MGD can occur in young adults and children, possibly because of the common use of digital display devices today. Excessive use of display technologies can lead to infrequent blinking, called “evaporative stress”. Infrequent blinking creates a demand for more lubrication on the eye, stimulating more oil production from the meibomian glands. Over time, this leads to thickening of the oil, blockage of the gland opening and shutdown of oil production in the gland. (https://dryeyeandmgd.com/understanding-mgd/)

Combined with contact lenses wear that changes the structure or functioning of the glands? - again what is the mechanism.

Is it rosacea? - I suspect it may be in my case. In the period when I developed dry eye, once after taking shower, I had this big red mark on my forehead for an hour.

Sorry if I am asking too many questions. But I think if I would understand how it happened and why, I could treat it better.

Thank you for reading. I truly appreciate your help.

[Hokucat]

Hi there! Yes, the options you listed to unclog your glands are what I am aware of. From least to most invasive, would rank hot compress and massage as least, then Lipiflow, expression, and probing as most. See if your doctor can confirm whether you have MGD because your glands are producing little oil, or because they are clogged due to thick oil. If you are producing little oil, not sure probing would help, plus it is a very invasive/uncomfortable procedure.

I can't tell you if your MGD was caused by blepharitis, rosacea, excessive computer use, contact lenses, some other reason, or a combination of reasons. There can be so many different reasons people have MGD and dry eyes, that's why it's so difficult to know the best treatment. Most of my doctors believe an autoimmune disease is causing my dry eyes, but all tests I've taken are negative. You mentioned you suspect you have Rosacea...this has been linked to autoimmune disease. I've also been told I have blepharitis. No, I did not have high cholesterol. Since blepharitis can be caused by bacteria, and autoimmune disease can be caused by too much bad vs. good bacteria in the gut, my theory is drinking fresh lemon juice with green tea twice daily has helped me because are both known to kill bacteria. I may never know exactly why it helped, but somehow it gave my body what it needed to generate good oil from my glands, and likely helped my overall health.

I was also told since I drove 2-3 hours a day and used the computer a lot, it could have contributed to my MGD, possibly both causing me not to blink enough for my upper and lower lids to press against each other, to secrete the oil needed to keep my tears from evaporating. I do try to do blinking exercises a few times a day, and it does help some now that I am better, but when my glands were totally blocked up for those several years it did not help at all.

For your blepharitis, try cleaning your eyelid margins with Ocusoft Lid Scrub Plus Foam using a cotton swab. The regular strength foam, baby shampoo, and wipes did not help me, but the Plus one recommended by one of my doctors works well for me.

Besides the PROSE scleral lenses I mentioned in prior post, taking Evoxac (generic name Cevimeline) gives some temporary moisture to the eyes...however, it has to be prescribed by a doctor, usually by rheumatologists.

Sorry if I did not answer all your questions! I hope this helps. I am not a doctor and can only share with you what I experienced - if you have not already, take a look at my Lemon and Green Tea post last week under the Dry Eye Triumphs forum, in case there's something else I mentioned there that might help you

[DryEye68GRM]

Hokucat Whats the difference of Prose Scleral Lens and normal Scleral Lens?

[Hokucat]

Hi. The PROSE lens providers have to go through an extensive training to learn how to properly fit the contacts, and apparently their lenses have been around for about 20 years. But the PROSE lenses is all I personally have experience with, so cannot really say if these are superior to other sclerals or not. However, I do think getting the correct fit is key. Ultimately if you cannot travel to the PROSE locations, would think it’s worth a try getting fitted by an eye doctor near you who fits other scleral lenses. When choosing your doctor, perhaps worthwhile to ask how long they have been fitting people for scleral lenses or how many people they have fitted with scleral lenses, or do some research on them online first so you can get someone with experience.