scarred. new member severe mgd

[Murphy321]

m 37 and have severe dry eye due to level 4 MGD. My symptoms had a sudden onset around 2 months ago....6 months after i finished a course of accutane. I had lipiflow several weeks ago but no relief. Dr said my glands are very short and oil is not secreting due to being thick. He said lipiflow takes several months to help severe cases but im skeptical. I am also taking fish oil and gla oid as well as drops every hour at least. I cannot tolerate any wind or air conditioning so have not been going out. I ordered onion goggles and watch dog but too ashamed to wear them in front of anyone. Its so hard to accept i was normal and now im on sick leave, and have to wear these goggles. My relationship is falling apart and Im worried about how Im going to afford the drops. Im tired of everyone blaming me for using accutane. I ordered sclearal lenses in desperation even though i know its more for aquarious deficiency. its was hard to tell at the fitting how much they helped. I'm taking out a loan for all this next week and on top of that worried about how im going to get through the bank meeting without having to wear ugly goggles. I have not gone out in almost 2 months and have been getting anxiety attacks and cant stop crying several times a day. I really worried about everything im losing in my life and what i will have left to live for. Anyone here had any success treating severe MGD and managed to cope with so many losses ?..And does anyone know if MGD is always progressive? Im so scarred.

[lizlou29]

Hi Murphy321. Really sorry for what you are going through. Have you tried Doxycycline or another Tetracycline? I can't seem to tolerate any lenses because my eyelids are too sensitive - I have aqueous deficiency but I also have ocular rosacea. I had Lipiflow a year ago and it didn't help me at all unfortunately. Manual MG expression performed by my ophthalmologist has helped somewhat but it needs to be done fairly regularly (every 2 months for me).

A year ago I was in a similar position to you, had so much time off work i was worried I'd lose my job but I'm back full time now. I'm by no means cured but I seem to be coping better and just take one day at a time. I know it is extremely frustrating as no one else truly understands unless they have the same condition.

I can't answer your question on if it is always progressive, I think the jury is out on that one but i think you need to keep on top of it with warm compresses, Doxy, fish oils or whatever helps a little.

Really don't blame yourself at all for using Accutane. I've had friends who used it and they haven't had any problems with their eyes at all. I'm not sure why it causes more problems for some than others. As you only finished it 6 months ago there is still some hope that your MG's will improve. I know it's hard but give it time and go easy on yourself.

[Murphy321]

Thank you for your kind response. My doctor wont prescribe doxy or other meds right now because he wants to see if lipiflow give me results. Its frustrating because i did the lipiflow 5 weeks ago and want to get some relief. I read online results only take 4 weeks so i have a hard time believing him, I have literally been sitting at home by myself feeling horribly depressed. I find it hard even buying groceries and cant even read a book. At lease i have this group to talk to now.

[Katewest]

Hi Murphy,

I got MGD/Ocular Rosacea/Dry eye whatever you want to call it about 5 years ago and am doing much better now. I had a really low period about a year ago but am doing much better. I didn't think I would ever feel better but slowly I didn't have to squint all the time from pain. I did have to quit my job and start something totally different even though I have a Masters Degree in my old profession. Owell. Have you tried Restasis or diet changes? Those were the two things that helped me moated. Along with quitting my job b/c of computer, forced air, and stress.

[bdejong26]

m 37 and have severe dry eye due to level 4 MGD. My symptoms had a sudden onset around 2 months ago....6 months after i finished a course of accutane. I had lipiflow several weeks ago but no relief. Dr said my glands are very short and oil is not secreting due to being thick. He said lipiflow takes several months to help severe cases but im skeptical. I am also taking fish oil and gla oid as well as drops every hour at least. I cannot tolerate any wind or air conditioning so have not been going out. I ordered onion goggles and watch dog but too ashamed to wear them in front of anyone. Its so hard to accept i was normal and now im on sick leave, and have to wear these goggles. My relationship is falling apart and Im worried about how Im going to afford the drops. Im tired of everyone blaming me for using accutane. I ordered sclearal lenses in desperation even though i know its more for aquarious deficiency. its was hard to tell at the fitting how much they helped. I'm taking out a loan for all this next week and on top of that worried about how im going to get through the bank meeting without having to wear ugly goggles. I have not gone out in almost 2 months and have been getting anxiety attacks and cant stop crying several times a day. I really worried about everything im losing in my life and what i will have left to live for. Anyone here had any success treating severe MGD and managed to cope with so many losses ?..And does anyone know if MGD is always progressive? Im so scarred.

i have had severe MGD for a long time and managed to have it completely under control, i tried everything but what worked for me was warm compresses (2 times a day) en pressing the eyelids afterwards. I stopped treating the mgd for the last 7 months and its still perfect in that regard. Sadly i still cope with eye problems today because of eye(brow)lashes that fall in my eye all the time. I hope you don't have that problem because that would make it even more difficult to treat.