New Guy with more questions

[qbcoach]

I have been trying a few different things to see what works and I was hopeing I could get some advice. First off, the thing that is giving me trouble is that I seem to be a little different than the vast majority on here. Im a young guy and I think I got the dry eyes from contacts. I produce plenty of tears, but supposedly I dont have enough of the oil layer or w/e. The expert dry eye doctors i've been too have been little help. The best I can come up with at this point is blepharistis or basically I have swelling that prevents the fatty/oil from getting out. I tried all the normal stuff everybody trys and nothing has helped at all. The only relief I've gotten has been when I was on antibiotic drops and when I was on steroid drops, but even then it just felt better not fixed. I got on restasis, but like others have said...It burns. I didnt think it was helping the moisture much until I quit useing it and now I remember what dry feels like. Since I feel like its not like of tears, but needing to find a way to produce more oil then Im trying to figure some way to do that. I have been taking flaxseed oil for a few days, but I havent noticed anything different. Im gonna give that awhile first. I have also been doing the hot compress and massaging, but i've heard that can take a month or so before you notice much. It makes it feel better for a bried time, but nothing really even worth wasting my time for. I was wondering if anyone has anything that might help? Im pretty much up for anything. I dont feel that I have it nearly as bad as most of the people on here, because I dont have a problem making it through the day without useing drops. Its just enough of a problem that I cant wear my conacts and at certain times my eyes bother me.

[Natalie06]

qbcoach

Meibomian Gland Disorder and/or blepharitis/dry eye take time and commitment to overcome and/or manage. I have been on oral antibiotics for over a year and just now starting to see improvements. The hot compresses have to be used routinely and according to my eye md, it can all slide backwards if I am not vigilant and consistent about using them. It's not a waste of time, you just have to stick with it.

I don't think there is any easy or quick fix. I so wish there was, being an instant gratification type of gal but I've come to realize that I will be in this for the long haul. But eventually I hope it's just a maintenance issue, like maybe lid scrubs and compresses a few times a week and not every day. And maybe eventually I can wear contacts again though I think Lasik has pretty much destroyed those chances.

Now, I am probably a lot older than you so my gland problem goes back a ways so you may want to speak with your MD (or get another opinion) about why you may have developed MGD, like acne rosacea and trying a few months of Tetracycline which helps unplug the glands.

It can and will get better. Hang in there!!

Natalie

[Dryeye22]

I am also very young too 22 years old and healthy with contact lens induced dry eye. However, my im only acqeous defficient. My suggestion to you is contact Bill Rosenthal at the Boston Foundation for Sight. He might be able to help you.

[Rebecca Petris]

I tried all the normal stuff everybody trys and nothing has helped at all.

Can you elaborate on this? Describe what stuff you're doing now. Maybe we can help you troubleshoot or find new approaches.

The only relief I've gotten has been when I was on antibiotic drops and when I was on steroid drops

Steroid drops will make most people feel better but we can only get temporary benefit from them because they have serious long-term risks. But... I'm curious about the antibiotic and why it helped. Many people with blepharitis have been helped by antibiotic ointments or oral antibiotics like doxycycline. Something to talk to the doctor about anyway.

[qbcoach]

I keep seeing a lot of things about lid scrubs. What exactly does that do? Im getting a little frustrated, because it doesnt seem that my issues are nearly as bad as everyone else on this board. So you'd think my treatment wouldnt be as difficult to figure out. I am going to a "dry eye expert" dr and I have learned a gazillion times more on this website and just searching the internet than I have from her. Seems like she just wants to give me the miracle cure every time and say see you in 6 months. She was telling me that I should be able to wear my contacts pretty soon and I feel like I havent made a real step of progress yet. I tried restasis but she told me that I would know in two weeks if it was working. I ran out of the samples after 2 weeks and didnt feel it was helping so I went another route, but after reading on here, Im thinking I should've kept going to see what happened. I keep thinking I know what will fix it every 2 weeks, but at the moment I really feel like the antibiotic drops long term would really help. She put me on oral and eye drops before, but I ran out of the drops after a few weeks, so I called to see if I could get more and she told me that if my eyes were still bothering me I needed to quit the antibiotics because they werent working. Now Im afraid to talk to her at all because she pulls me off stuff too quick and now Im wondering if either of those would've worked had I stuck with it longer.

[bassfan]

Hi qbcoach

I am pretty sore on eye doctors as well. I've seen five now and they all were clueless except Dr Latkany (on this board). I would shop around a little more now that you know what youre talking about. I wish i knew more at the beginning, I wouldnt have trusted the doctors that threw every sort of steroid drop at me. Theres a lot of dumb ones that just dont listen and dont understand how to treat this. Obviously I would say yours is one of those.

I would get Dr Latkanys new book on DES. It will help your learning even more. Also, it has a good description of how to do eye massage/lid scrub. I think theres another post floating around here that has some info about it too.

Oh...and i think you certainly should be on Restasis or Doxy longer than two weeks before stopping because it hasnt worked!

bassfan

[brd888]

You are not a whole lot different from many on here. In fact you are a lot like myself. My condition is not severe but it is persistent. I've asked a few times what exactly lid-scrubs achieve but never got a definitive answer. Best to look at it as part of a hygiene routine to shift bacteria and blockages from the eye lid area. Other opinions are it is an inflammatory problem, not a bacterial problem and anti-inflammatory properties of Doxycycline eg will help it.
Best advice is to try many approaches but been persistent with all of them. You need at least 2 treatments e.g. lid hygiene with Restasis and to do them every day for at least six weeks. And I think you should forget contacts for a long time.

[Rebecca Petris]

qbcoach.

Regardless of severity p a t i e n c e is the name of the game with these kind of treatments. (I know, it sucks.)

That's most definitely the case with oral antibiotics and Omega 3 supplements for blepharitis/MGD. With Restasis, some doctors say you should know in 3 weeks if it's working, and some say it may take much longer.

A comment about those infamous "lidscrubs":

This term is used to refer to too many different types of things, ranging from simple eyelash/lid margin hygiene (using anything from baby shampoo to a commercial preparation) to various ways of attempting to manually express the oil glands in the lids.

No wonder people find it confusing! And this is one of the reasons why I always ask people who say they're doing lidscrubs and/or warm compresses what exactly they are doing, and what their diagnosis is. There are so many different possibilities, both as to what their condition is and what they're trying to do for it! For example, someone with acute anterior blepharitis might get terrific results with a diluted baby shampoo cleansing routine in a relatively short amount of time, while someone like me might get nothing but eye-burn from the same treatment yet respond very well (if very slowly!) to regular heat and gentle lid massage over a much longer period.