Someone please tell me there is hope!!

[DKott27]

I have severe MGD. I only have 2 glands left in my left eye and they are not even full glands. I've tried everything.I just did LipiFlow and it did not help at all. I'm so miserable all day. I cannot have any quality of life. I feel so hopeless. Is there any hope? Is there anything out there that can relieve these symptoms at all?

[MGD1701]

Hi DKott

Sorry to hear about it. Think positively as there are more new/advanced treatments available.
Just recently (2-4 weeks ago?) one member was kind enough to share a report that glands could grow, according to an American doctor who invented the probing.
I can not remember his name. Maybe you could find it again.

Diet is important, such as omega 3, avoid sugar etc.

[Hokucat]

Hi DKott. Was it confirmed via meibography that you only have two short glands remaining in your left eye and the rest are lost/atrophied? If not via meibography, you might consider getting that done so you know for sure. I've read others in this forum we're told their glands were gone, but then meibography confirmed they still had glands.

If you do indeed still have some glands, since Lipiflow did not work, your glands might be blocked with scar tissue inside the glands, like mine were. I had to get probing to unblock them, then find the right changes to my diet to make the oils flow (and likely also increase my tears) so the glands did not get blocked again. Also, here's one of the posts MGD1701 was referring to that had the article about probing helping glands grow:

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/forum...ients-with-mgd

If you do only have a couple glands remaining in your left eye, I think I mentioned before to you that getting fitted with a scleral lens would be a good option, if you are able to tolerate sclerals. It's true a lens can cost at least a few thousand dollars or more (depending where you get them and the brand), but at least for you it would be just for one eye, and if it works, you can get some immediate relief.

[DKott27]

I did hear about that. The glands regenerating. I didn't take good care of my body in the past. I made a lot of dumb decisions. I am paying the price. But I am very healthy now. I exercise 7x a week. My diet is phenomenal. I'm only 27. I'm young so maybe it's possible for them to come back. In the meantime I will ask my doctor about meibography. I think he actually mentioned something like that to me. He also mentioned IPL. I have an appointment for probing but not until December. Although my doctor said probing wouldn't do much good because I don't have any glands to probe. I will ask him about Scleral Lenses.

[MGD1701]

Hi Dkott
But you did not feel discomfort in the past few years?
Wise to find out root causes so you can make sure to keep ALL glands healthy etc.
Since you are young, probably excessive use of computer then imcomplete blinker?

[hosanna13]

Look into scleral lenses, they have given relief for many dry eye sufferers. Dr. Gemoules in Dallas, TX makes really good ones. but the process can take about a week. If you search for his name on this forum, you will find a lot of info.

[Hokucat]

Right, if you don't have any glands, probing would not do much good, and neither would IPL, Lipiflow, Miboflow, etc., because all these treatments are trying to address blocked glands.

[PhoenixEyes]

I'm guessing by "no glands to probe" the doctor means they're atrophied? There should still be a duct for them to open up and therefore the research on probing bringing back atrophied glands may still apply, I think gland dropout is a fail safe for when there is no opening to utilize. It is understandable your doctor may not be keen unless there is a guarantee it will help though. There is some limited research about other things opening ducts but nothing approved yet e.g. Vitamin D3 ointment. Lipiflow / Miboflow etc. are more about massaging so may not open up a duct closed with scar tissue but may help force out other obstructions. IPL is for reducing inflammation so if the glands are inhibited from functioning by that it could help.

As for hope, there definitely is many other options right now to try and developments being made for the future to try. To replace the oils not coming out of the dropout ones you could try lipid / oil based drops like Retaine MGD / Cationorm, Systane Balance, Emustil.

For the remaining non-dropout glands keep up with warm compresses and maybe try eyelid hygiene e.g. wipes (Ocusoft Plus, tea tree), sprays (Heyedrate Lid Lash, Briotech, Hypochlor, Avenova, Natrasan, Aquaint). Blephasteam or facial steamer. Improving quality of oils with nutrition e.g. Omegas, antioxidants.

[PG]

I would get a LipiScan first (http://tearscience.com/en/product-sa...ling/lipiscan/) so you can SEE your glands and understand what condition they are in. Visual exams seem to be subjective. And also have you discussed possible causes? Are you able to narrow down the scope?

[DKott27]

I had the LipiScan done. My left has 2 1/2 glands remaining. I am looking into Scleral Lenses right now. My doctor said medicaid may cover some of the cost. All 3 eye doctors I've been to said they have never seen someone my age with this condition so severe. They don't understand why. I keep reading about honey on the eyelids, I'm going to start trying it. Doesn't hurt,

[MGD1701]

Hi DKott
Great you are proactive.
Could you satisfy my curiosity - did you have any discomfort in last 3, 6, 12 months?
Did doctor suspect possible causes and recommend you anything (particular drops??)

Thanks!

[DKott27]

Yes I have had discomfort for quite awhile now. This last year has been much worse. The doctors have no idea what caused this at such a young age. They are even more stumped as to why the discomfort is only in one eye. My right eye is completely fine. I've seen three doctors in MI who specialize in MGD. And of course they all recommend something different and contradict each other. One said I could benefit from Scleral Lenses. The other said I would be wasting my money. In the end though I have no choice but to try everything and start crossing things off the list. I think what caused this was a combination of things. First off I was a drug addict years ago. That could have damaged my eye a bit. I was on Adderall for 7 years which dried out my eyes pretty bad and I didn't blink when I was on it. Plus I used the computer heavily at that time. I used to sleep in my contacts a lot. Now I wear glasses. I'm wondering if it would be worth getting an allergy test just to be sure an allergy hasn't caused this.

[MGD1701]

Thanks for sharing.
You have lipiScan done and doctors still can not analyse/detect possible causes?
I once heard one world famous (American) dr said glands could die in one week, one month or one year.
Hope you can find more relief soon.

[DKott27]

No. But my doctor said my next visit he can do a more in depth scan/analysis of my eye glands.

[DKott27]

Would Scleral Lenses help even though I'm very low on eye glands>