Howdy!

[Lisa0825]

I don't really have a lot of dry eye symptoms, but I found that you have a lot of great info about blepharitis here and the various meds and treatments. I was diagnosed with blepharitis back in March, but the doc's office was awful (not the doc himself, just the office mgmt - not returning calls, a madhouse for a waiting room, etc) so I had to find another doc to see. He tried me on Tobradex which did not have any impact on me, and told me about compresses and lid scrubs, which also did not seem to help.

In the meantime, I tried everything I read about, and got my GP to write Rxs for me when needed. She still wanted me to go back to an ophthalmologist, but was willing to try a couple meds on me. So I started on doxycycline, kept up with the hygiene, tried fish and flax oil, castor oil on my lids, ointment on my lids, dandruff shampoo, tea tree oil shampoo, diluted tea tree oil, Thera Tears, Soothe XP, and probably 5 other things I can't remember. She also started me on AzaSite (I asked for it and showed her the clinical trial info) and it has been the only thing I have tried that made a major improvement for me. But she still said she wanted me seeing an ophthalmologist, so I made a new appt.

So I went to newdoc Tuesday, and I liked him A LOT. He's pretty young, affiliate with the med school that he did residency at, and very plugged in to the latest research. I had already tried AzaSite but had run out, and he was impressed with the research I brought with me. He said it is not a long term treatment, but it is often what he starts people on, along with FML and flax seed oil for a month. He wants to see me again in 2 weeks to see how it is going. He also said that people who are hypothyroid seem to have a higher incidence of blepharitis.

I know many people here have suffered with their symptoms much much long than me.... this has only been about 7 months for me... but it has been really hard to manage.... I have dropped out of any social life I had.... I barely got through my days at work - all I could think about was when I could go home and close my eyes. Unfortunately, that is not longer an issue as I was just laid off again. Thankfully I have 3 months of insurance as part of my severance pkg.

So anyway, that's where I am now, once again crossing my fingers and hoping this works. I was really distressed because I joined blepharitisforum and was just starting to use it for research, and it disappeared. So I hope this forum will be a good place for me.

Thanks already for the info I have found. This place is a great resource.

[andreapandrea3]

Another blepharitis newbie!

Hi Lisa! I wouldn't wish this on ANYONE, but I am glad to hear that I am not alone. I had been having on again/off again issues for the last 2 years, but couldn't get a diagnosis. The last two months have been especially tough--I got extremely red eyes, puffy eyelids, and severe pain. Finally, I saw two really wonderful optometrists and they have told me I have posterior blepharitis. I tried Tobradex, but it did absolutely nothing. The last two years, I was pretty much self-medicating with bacitracin ointment on bad nights, and that seemed to help. Currently, I am doing minocycline, restasis, lid scrubs, warm compresses, and taking fish oil, and I have seen some definite improvement (although I'd love to have this just disappear!). I too, have heard about Azasite, and I'm curious to try it. I'd love to hear more about how it's working for you.

[Lisa0825]

AzaSite starts working for me pretty much right away. First, the "carrier," Durasite is very viscous, and I keep it in the fridge so when I apply it, it soothes my eyes right away. It is even more viscous than Thera Tears gel x-tra strength. Then truly the next day, I can feel improvement, and within a couple days (on a scale from 0 to 5), I have (so far) gone from a discomfort level of 3 or 4 to 1 or 2.

All that being said, it has not yet been studied completely for long term use, so I don't know if it would work long term or be feasible for long term use (due to problems with antibiotics leading to resistant strains, etc). My eye doc says it is not for long term use, but who knows if newer studies may eventually change that?

Anyway, for now, I feel good when I take it, and when I go back in a couple weeks, he and I will talk about my progress and next steps. The way he talks about his other patients makes me finally feel like I have found someone who knows enough to hep me kick this (or at least manage it well). And I haven't felt this positive in going on 7 months now.