Disturbing visual symptoms

[Ted123]

Hi guys,

I have been diagnosed with anterior blepharitis, dry eye, recurrent corneal erosion and a conjunctiva defect (when cleansing my lower lid with a commercial pad, somehow I abraided the conjunctiva of my eye) as well as baby cataracts.

For approximately six weeks I have been experiencing blurred and out of focus vision, intermittent periods of decreased visual acuity and photophobia. Frequently my sensitivity to light is so bad that I have difficulty seeing myself clearly in the bathroom mirror due to the very bright lights. When I shield my eyes from the light with my hand I see perfectly. Most disturbing is when I wake up in the mornings and am overwhelmed with the light in the room that results in visual blurring and diffciulty seeing for a few moments! I was told by a physician that the photophobia may be due to withdrwal from benzodiazepene, a medication that I was taking for a long period for a medical condition.

I am currently using warm compresses and systane preservative free eye drops. The conjunctiva defect was treated with an ocular antibiotic. I was told that I should also try grinding fresh flax seeds (many of the commercial preparations are devoid of omega-3) and if that does not work, a trial with an oral antibiotic.

Any suggestions or thoughts on how to manage the blepharitis/dry eye condition would be appreciated. Thanks, Ted

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi Ted,

Welcome to Dry Eye Talk!

I am currently using warm compresses and systane preservative free eye drops. The conjunctiva defect was treated with an ocular antibiotic. I was told that I should also try grinding fresh flax seeds (many of the commercial preparations are devoid of omega-3) and if that does not work, a trial with an oral antibiotic.

Any suggestions or thoughts on how to manage the blepharitis/dry eye condition would be appreciated. Thanks, Ted

You're getting great advice from your doctor and that's a blessing. I just have a few thoughts to add to it:

- Consider lid scrubs which may help keep your blepharitis under control. There are several ways to do this. Personally I do them each morning with Q-tips dipped in unpreserved saline. The more traditional method is with a baby shampoo solution.
- Do a search on "Demodex" - some very interesting information has been coming to light about this which, who knows, may be relevant to your blepharitis.
- Consider better eye protection at night. This means ensuring no air ducts are pushing air out anywhere near you while you sleep, and maybe use an eye guard of some sort while you sleep if you can manage it. This might help reduce your a.m. photophobia.

Ground flax is a terrific way to go. If you happen to be lazy like me organic flax oil capsules or fish oil should also be reasonable sources, and there are some excellent proprietary products too like TheraTears Nutrition (though they are a bit pricey).

You might want to sign up next week (when our store opens) for free samples of Dwelle and Dakrina.. Without really good nighttime products I sometimes get a similar degree of photosensitivity in the morning and for me personally Dwelle seems to do the best job of preventing it.

Also, have a look at our Dry Eye FAQ pages and in particular the treatments page.

[jcorbett]

flaxseed oil

You can go to a good health food store and get the liquid stuff. It must be refrigerated. I THINK this would be just as good as grinding it yourself, but I do not know a whole lot about that. According to what I have read, you have to take a lot of capsules to equal one tbs of the liquid.
Udo's oil is another thing I have heard people mention, although I have not tried it. That is available over the internet.

[Gaye]

Re: Udo's oil and other liquid oil products

The liquid oils are great if you can stand the taste and feel in the mouth. I tried the Udo's oil and found it hard to swallow (literally!), even mixed in juice. Then I tried it in a protein shake (which I drink every morning) and that was much better. JCorbett is correct - you need to take more capsules of oil than the liquid and the liquid is definitely superior. Much easier than grinding your own too.

[Rebecca Petris]

Thanks for the reminders, gals, I'm abominably lazy about this stuff and am setting a bad example. I will (sigh) get myself to a health food store sometime soooon.

[Ted123]

I appreciate your assistance Rebecca.

When you experience photophobia upon awakening in the morning does it take a few moments prior to your eyes adjusting to the light in the room? Does your vision appear to be effected in the morning and gradually return to normal? Thanks, Ted

[Rebecca Petris]

When you experience photophobia upon awakening in the morning does it take a few moments prior to your eyes adjusting to the light in the room? Does your vision appear to be effected in the morning and gradually return to normal? Thanks, Ted

Sorry - somehow I missed this one the other day.

I have some amount of photophobia all day, but in an amount that can usually be handled OK with good sunglasses. The light sensitivity is always worst just after waking and sometimes I can't tolerate light at all till I've doused my eyes with saline or spent some time with a wet washcloth over them. Generally I just don't turn on the light till I've dealt with my eyes and then they're better able to adjust.