Meibomian Gland Man

[ACL]

(also posted in alt treatement section with same MGD topic)

Hi there, i am first time poster (here or to any board ever). Male 40 yrs old, athlete, healthy food, etc. I work in high functioning (and high stress) 'exec' like position and have sort of mind over mattered my way through debilitating red burning eyes for approx 2 years. Still nothing like presenting to a board looking like you are stoned... Also, in situations like that,my blink rate goes down and I come out with extremely irritated eyes and absolutely cooked mentally, not normal for Type-A me.

Having read through most posts, my story/experience/history is familiar to many of you (although no LASIK for me, thank god, Dianat and others sound like exactly me and I almost did LASIK for exact same reasons).

I have tried fish-oil, other diet changes etc. No change.
I have been taking doxycyclene 1x/day plus Blephamaide applied to lids 1x/day for almost 5 months with no noticable relief. (one anecdote, vacation in Mexico 2 mos ago I barely noticed any symptoms for 1 week - go figure - climate or stress?) I have also done warm compresses on and off. When I do them, the oils it expresses makes my eyes burn..

I visted eye specialist at UCSFMC (Dr Whitcher) today who upped dose to 2x/dayfor both drops and Doxy. He has worked with many Bleph/Mieibo patients for 30 years and proabbly the best news is 'it often burns itself out, although we don't know why'. When I asked 'how long?' he was vague, but it was years, not decades/permamnet, whcih was sort of a relief.

I also realized today that the 'Blepheritis' i have been told I have is more acurately Meibomitis. I have no 'eye dandruff', or any such crusty eyelid symptoms. He did express my lids and said the oil 'looked like toothpaste (I know, gross, sorry). I am going to research try N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine and Glutathione Supplement(), and if i decide to try will post results here. (any known side effects or reason not to take?) Doc was somewhat confident we can get ahead of this. I'll have to work out if should I try the upped doxy/blephamide 1st or try both at once (and then prob is; which one actually worked?). Sorry for fast typing/typos, I told my wife '20 mins' 1.5 hours ago so gotta go. Good luck to all of you!

[Cindy]

Hi ACL and welcome!

I also realized today that the 'Blepheritis' i have been told I have is more acurately Meibomitis. I have no 'eye dandruff', or any such crusty eyelid symptoms. He did express my lids and said the oil 'looked like toothpaste (I know, gross, sorry). I am going to research try N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine and Glutathione Supplement(), and if i decide to try will post results here. (any known side effects or reason not to take?) Doc was somewhat confident we can get ahead of this. I'll have to work out if should I try the upped doxy/blephamide 1st or try both at once (and then prob is; which one actually worked?). Sorry for fast typing/typos, I told my wife '20 mins' 1.5 hours ago so gotta go. Good luck to all of you!

I used to do warm compresses and lid massage off and on also. I hated it at first but it's just part of my routine now. You might find that if you can put up with doing it for a couple of weeks (religiously) that you will force out that toothpaste-y stuff, the stinging will subside and the oil will be of a more useful consistency.

I'm looking forward to hearing your results with the NAC supplement if you decide to try it. Before I started taking it I read up a little(not much but enough to feel comfortable). I have a reference book at home. The info on this site is very close to what I found in my book:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsSupple...ysteinecs.html

Funny how 20 minutes can turn into 90 isn't it? Happens to me all the time.

Thanks for the good wishes. Right back at 'ya .

[ACL]

Hi Cindy- Thanks for the reply and helpful link! I just linked to that and a few others, hard to see a downside to taking. Did not find the product on gnc.com. Jumping forum over to 'other treatments' forum under MGD header for more.

[usaf89]

Hi to everyone

Hi, I am looking to see if anyone knows if MGD can be caused by Hypothyroidism. I am a 37 year old male, weight lifter type. However, I started to have eye problems in Dec, 2003. I recently had My Thyroid tested and the TSH Level came back high 8.02 with the new normal range being 3.00 or under. My T-4 level came back low 0.7 which points to Hypothyroidism. My Dr. started me Synthroid 2 weeks ago, .50mcg. This could explain alot in my case. The last 2 years I have been feeling very tired, getting more colds and somewhat depressed. It has been hard for me to get up for my workouts and to run my business.

A lot of things I have read on the internet say that Hypothyroidism can cause dry gritty eyes and problems dealing with light. Sounds a lot like MGD to me.

Any information would be great.

Thank you,

USAF89

PS ACL, What did your DR. mean by this will burn it's self out?

[Scout]

Hi, I am looking to see if anyone knows if MGD can be caused by Hypothyroidism. I am a 37 year old male, weight lifter type. However, I started to have eye problems in Dec, 2003. I recently had My Thyroid tested and the TSH Level came back high 8.02 with the new normal range being 3.00 or under. My T-4 level came back low 0.7 which points to Hypothyroidism. My Dr. started me Synthroid 2 weeks ago, .50mcg. This could explain alot in my case. The last 2 years I have been feeling very tired, getting more colds and somewhat depressed. It has been hard for me to get up for my workouts and to run my business.

A lot of things I have read on the internet say that Hypothyroidism can cause dry gritty eyes and problems dealing with light. Sounds a lot like MGD to me.

Any information would be great.

Hello usaf89,

Yes, hypothyroidism can cause dry eyes. I am not sure if there is a connection to MGD specifically, though. On an Internet search I found many articles that linked hypothyroidism and meibomian gland dysfunction in canines. I'm not sure we can generalize . . but maybe.

There is definitely a connection to eye problems with thyroid disease. In fact, thyroid eye disease is a medical diagnosis. It is more common and has more serious symptoms with hyperthyroidism (overactive) but it does occur with hypothyroidism. Even with thyroid replacement therapy and normal TSH levels, some patients still experience dry eye and poor TBUT (tear breakup time).

Here is a link to a very detailed article in the Review of Optometry about thyroid eye disease.
http://www.revoptom.com/archive/issue/ro02f8.htm

And another link:
http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40001597/

Scout

[ACL]

usaf89-

His quote was "Eventually it burns itself out". I think it was his way of saying, 'it goes away/is not permanent'. I was under the impressionn that my MGD would go to the grave with me, so it was a relief to hear that it would likely go away at some point and that it was years not decades.

When pressed on what he meant and how, why and when, he basically said 'We don't know why... We don't really know what causes it or what causes it to subside. But in most patients, after a while they tell me 'I'm not taking my meds anymore and I am symptom free'"'.
Note that this is a specialist at UCSFMC who runs a sjogrens clinic and has worked with MGD and related for over 30 years. (By the way, I liked him very much and found he knew more than anyone to date and was obviously also very willing to say 'despite all our training and years of experience we don't really know much').

[usaf89]

Thank you

Thank you Scout and ACL for getting back to me so quickly. Scout, I also read about dogs and MGD. I have to believe that there is some connection in humans like dogs. I hope.

Has anyone had any luck with Restasis? Also, please post anything that has worked.

Thank you,

USAF89

[nan]

mgd

has anyone discussed a link between mgd and regular acne? not rosaceo, but regular acne? i have been treated for acne since about 14, accutane 3 times and when i was 55 (now 58) diagnosed with bleph, primarily mgd , i think. it seems to me that there is a relationship between 'plugged' or malfunctioning oil glands either in your eye lids or face..but every time i suggest a connection the doctors just stare at me. has anyone researched this connection, or is it just obvious. Also is DHEA a 'steroid' or hormone that may raise intraocular pressures? i have a 'steroid responder' and can't use any steroid eye drop... pressures go sky high. any thoughts/ ideas are appreciated. thanks. n

[dianat]

Nancy,

I also had acne as a teen and treated it with Tetracycline. I've often wondered if there is some connection between the acne troubles and dry eye. I have read recently in an article someone posted here that facial oils break down tear film. That's one clue I suppose, although I'm not very oily in my adulthood. I did not treat with Accutane thank God.

I must say given your history, my bet is that Accutane use could be to blame for your dry eye. There are many on this site who have a history of use...even for a short time...and whose eyes are very uncomfortable. You might do a search. "Untkicker" is one of them and the only one I can think of off the top of my head.

By the way Nancy, I got your message and will also respond privately. The last few days haven't awarded me much time on the computer.

Diana

[Rebecca Petris]

. Also is DHEA a 'steroid' or hormone that may raise intraocular pressures? i have a 'steroid responder' and can't use any steroid eye drop... pressures go sky high.

I consulted a doctor about this the other after hearing the same question from another patient. They said they thought there was no concern about this. DHEA is an 'anabolic steroid' and very different from the steroids which control inflammation. While they weren't sure they didn't believe potential for IOP elevation in DHEA had been studied. Since however similar drugs have been in clinical trials for dry eye over the years I would expect that this concern would already have been addressed. I'll keep an eye out for further information on this.

[nan]

mgd man

thanks- we will watch the developments on DHEA-- might prove to be interesting! n.

[tearyeyed]

Hi, I am looking to see if anyone knows if MGD can be caused by Hypothyroidism. I am a 37 year old male, weight lifter type. However, I started to have eye problems in Dec, 2003. I recently had My Thyroid tested and the TSH Level came back high 8.02 with the new normal range being 3.00 or under. My T-4 level came back low 0.7 which points to Hypothyroidism. My Dr. started me Synthroid 2 weeks ago, .50mcg. This could explain alot in my case. The last 2 years I have been feeling very tired, getting more colds and somewhat depressed. It has been hard for me to get up for my workouts and to run my business.

A lot of things I have read on the internet say that Hypothyroidism can cause dry gritty eyes and problems dealing with light. Sounds a lot like MGD to me.

Any information would be great.

Thank you,

USAF89

PS ACL, What did your DR. mean by this will burn it's self out?

Wow !! I have had dry eyes and M gland dysfunction for almost six months. And the eye doctor was impressed at how loose was the tissue on the surface of my eye and questioned if I was low in thyroid. I feel great so I said no. I tried many treatments but two things made my eyes almost normal---- one was "Lastacaft" eye drops. Then a few weeks ago I felt sleepy and tired and my blood tests showed TSH of 8. The doctor started me on synthroid and both me and my eyes feel much better.