Tweet
Hi all,
The reason for putting up this post is so hopefully it helps anyone living with Blepharitis and may be overlooking something very simple like I was.
I have had Blepharitis for over 15+ years. It seemed to be because of my allergies to dust mites and pollen so that's where I started to address the issue. I had been a patient of an allergist for about 5-6 years and my symptoms slowly improved. I had taken sublingual immunotherapy for pollen for 5 years and saw I had become less allergic due to testing. I also took sublingual immunotherapy for dust mites for 4 years and also showed I had become less allergic. I was advised to stop taking the dust mite immunotherapy by my allergist as he said even 3 years was enough after he had been at a conference in the UK. I had been taking nasal spray and antibacterial eye drops at this time as they would sometimes help the symptoms.
Anyway over the years, even though I was becoming less allergic to dust mites and pollen, I showed very little improvement with my eyes always being sore, red, swollen but I saw a big improvement when I left my nose alone. Due to my allergies I was always blowing my nose and sticking tissue up there to clear out the build up of excess mucus. One day I stopped doing this, as I basically just forgot, and my eyes stopped being as sore and red. Up until that point my eyes would be sore all day and have a reaction were they would sting pretty bad 3-4 times per day, be a bit swollen and always red. The usual slight eye soreness is still there but I rarely have any major reactions anymore. Thankfully I noticed this and the improvement with my eyes has been huge. I still avoid anything that may set off my allergies as much as possible. I know it’s tough as someone dealing with bad allergies would need to keep blowing their nose and may want to keep it clear but now there is no excess mucus or swelling. I can breathe through my nose fine.
I don’t need to take a nasal spray anymore along with my prescription eye drops and haven't for years. I only use the over the counter eyedrops at the moment they seem to do the trick. I still do the hot compresses and cotton buds on the eye lids.
Other things to consider are diet, gut health and inflammation. I currently have some gut issues and histamine intolerance which I am trying to figure out the cause. I do however suspect my gut issues may be the cause of my eye issues. The recent research on demodex mites and their link to blepharitis is also very interesting.
This is just my experience and again I just wanted to share it as I know the feeling of living with an eye condition. The affect it has on your day to day life. Also years ago when my Blepharitis was almost unbearable at times, just reading about other people dealing with this problem was a huge help so I hope this simple thing helps someone else.
Thanks.
Daryl
The reason for putting up this post is so hopefully it helps anyone living with Blepharitis and may be overlooking something very simple like I was.
I have had Blepharitis for over 15+ years. It seemed to be because of my allergies to dust mites and pollen so that's where I started to address the issue. I had been a patient of an allergist for about 5-6 years and my symptoms slowly improved. I had taken sublingual immunotherapy for pollen for 5 years and saw I had become less allergic due to testing. I also took sublingual immunotherapy for dust mites for 4 years and also showed I had become less allergic. I was advised to stop taking the dust mite immunotherapy by my allergist as he said even 3 years was enough after he had been at a conference in the UK. I had been taking nasal spray and antibacterial eye drops at this time as they would sometimes help the symptoms.
Anyway over the years, even though I was becoming less allergic to dust mites and pollen, I showed very little improvement with my eyes always being sore, red, swollen but I saw a big improvement when I left my nose alone. Due to my allergies I was always blowing my nose and sticking tissue up there to clear out the build up of excess mucus. One day I stopped doing this, as I basically just forgot, and my eyes stopped being as sore and red. Up until that point my eyes would be sore all day and have a reaction were they would sting pretty bad 3-4 times per day, be a bit swollen and always red. The usual slight eye soreness is still there but I rarely have any major reactions anymore. Thankfully I noticed this and the improvement with my eyes has been huge. I still avoid anything that may set off my allergies as much as possible. I know it’s tough as someone dealing with bad allergies would need to keep blowing their nose and may want to keep it clear but now there is no excess mucus or swelling. I can breathe through my nose fine.
I don’t need to take a nasal spray anymore along with my prescription eye drops and haven't for years. I only use the over the counter eyedrops at the moment they seem to do the trick. I still do the hot compresses and cotton buds on the eye lids.
Other things to consider are diet, gut health and inflammation. I currently have some gut issues and histamine intolerance which I am trying to figure out the cause. I do however suspect my gut issues may be the cause of my eye issues. The recent research on demodex mites and their link to blepharitis is also very interesting.
This is just my experience and again I just wanted to share it as I know the feeling of living with an eye condition. The affect it has on your day to day life. Also years ago when my Blepharitis was almost unbearable at times, just reading about other people dealing with this problem was a huge help so I hope this simple thing helps someone else.
Thanks.
Daryl