Still getting my meibomian gland openings capped...

[Milo007]

When I had capped glands, that was about 4 months ago. Now my oil runs clear. Yes, diet played a role I believe. So I changed it and I believe it’s definitely been beneficial. Here’s my diet with minor changes...

5 whole eggs over easy, 2 sprouted grain toast (Ezekiel), 2 Canadian bacon

300g Greek yogurt, 1 scoop chocolate flavor protein powder (dymatize), 150-220g fruit, strawberry, pineapple, blueberry, all fresh.

Post workout 2 scoops protein and 1 banana or apple.

240g beef tenderloin, 150g potato (only salt), 300g broccoli with olive oil and fresh lemon juice

before bed, meat and vegetable only 7 chicken wings, salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil, splashed with lemon. A salad or maybe broccoli again.

I was 247lbs when I started this diet, 3 months later I’m 219lbs. I eat other things, tuna, cottage cheese, I’ll cheat and order ribs or Mediterranean food. But I try to limit it and keep it very clean. Almost no sugar also. I’m training again, somewhat regularly.

Im currently on 200mg testosterone every 10 days. That seems to be the sweet spot on my labs. So my hormones are pretty well controlled. Thyroid is good, adrenals are good.

im on doxycycline and that’s helping my oil a lot. I hate medication, but it’s a good one for my eyes.

as for the hypochlorous acid, it will help a lot for the external lid burning. Once you clean up those margins and kill all that bacteria, you should feel better in a month or two unless there’s another cause.

As as for the ointment, I meant to use it externally. But I think you need the hypochlorous cleanser to clean it off frequently on either care. I just thought that if the burning was from dry skin or excsema, the ointment would help. Some people use virgin, organic, cold pressed coconut oil if they can’t use ointment.

Unlike you said my burning seems to be on the inner surfaces of my eyelids and that too on the more interior portions where the inner surfaces of the eyelids are more reddish.

Can I use hypochlorous acid soaked q-tips directly on my lid margins to clean them?

Did your doctor ever say that your main problem could be gland inflammation?

[Guest]

Unlike you said my burning seems to be on the inner surfaces of my eyelids and that too on the more interior portions where the inner surfaces of the eyelids are more reddish.

Can I use hypochlorous acid soaked q-tips directly on my lid margins to clean them?

Did your doctor ever say that your main problem could be gland inflammation?

It’s clear that my problem is gland inflammation. Doxy works great, steroids work great, as soon as I calm the inflammation, things get better. So I’m certain that’s my main issue. I can feel the inflammation. Even with the steroids and doxy. It never goes aaay fully. It’s like this numb, buzzing, constant irritation around my orbits. The question is, what’s causing it and can I break the inflammation cycle?

For posteterior blepharitis, I have both, the doxy and steroids are what’s helping me 100% same with the compress. If I couldn’t get the oil out and clean the gland, I’d be in such pain. I had conccretions in my upper lid 4 months ago, they’re gone now.

Ive tried cleaning my lids margins with hypochlorous acid and a qtip, I don’t recommend it. Causes more issues than it solves, for me it did anyway.

I wouldd be curious what a doctor would say about those sacs/caps. I wish you could upload a picture. Do you rub your face in your pillow when you sleep? Is the side you sleep on most the best or worst eye? I’m wondering if the lid is flipping outward at night and you’re rubbing the glands. Then they try to heal and lay down too many skin cells and you’re getting growth on the gland. I’m not sure what causes scar tissue on the glands except dryness, inflammation and mechanically rubbing it with your hands or a pillow.

I have something called floppy eyelid syndrome. It’s highly associated with sleep apnea. What happens is the collagen in the lids breaks down and the lid becomes like a rubber band, very elastic. So that’s why we have incomplete blink, we’ll one reason, the lids too lax. So when you sleep, your eyelid open and flips outward and rubs on the pillow. So I have to tape AND ideally I’d wear goggles over that to prevent me from smashing the eye. That damages the glands and the cornea. Even if you sleep on your back, the lid may pop open because it’s kust loose so to speak. No longer firm. Do you snore by chance?

[Milo007]

It’s clear that my problem is gland inflammation. Doxy works great, steroids work great, as soon as I calm the inflammation, things get better. So I’m certain that’s my main issue. I can feel the inflammation. Even with the steroids and doxy. It never goes aaay fully. It’s like this numb, buzzing, constant irritation around my orbits. The question is, what’s causing it and can I break the inflammation cycle?

For posteterior blepharitis, I have both, the doxy and steroids are what’s helping me 100% same with the compress. If I couldn’t get the oil out and clean the gland, I’d be in such pain. I had conccretions in my upper lid 4 months ago, they’re gone now.

Ive tried cleaning my lids margins with hypochlorous acid and a qtip, I don’t recommend it. Causes more issues than it solves, for me it did anyway.

I wouldd be curious what a doctor would say about those sacs/caps. I wish you could upload a picture. Do you rub your face in your pillow when you sleep? Is the side you sleep on most the best or worst eye? I’m wondering if the lid is flipping outward at night and you’re rubbing the glands. Then they try to heal and lay down too many skin cells and you’re getting growth on the gland. I’m not sure what causes scar tissue on the glands except dryness, inflammation and mechanically rubbing it with your hands or a pillow.

I have something called floppy eyelid syndrome. It’s highly associated with sleep apnea. What happens is the collagen in the lids breaks down and the lid becomes like a rubber band, very elastic. So that’s why we have incomplete blink, we’ll one reason, the lids too lax. So when you sleep, your eyelid open and flips outward and rubs on the pillow. So I have to tape AND ideally I’d wear goggles over that to prevent me from smashing the eye. That damages the glands and the cornea. Even if you sleep on your back, the lid may pop open because it’s kust loose so to speak. No longer firm. Do you snore by chance?

You wrote you had issues with cleaning your eyelid margins with a q-tip soaked in hypochlorous acid and you don't recommend it. What issues did you face? Please elaborate.

I can't take close up pictures of myself because I don't have a high focus camera but I can attach pictures and a video of exactly the same "cysts" I am talking about.

Video link :

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NHgTshDsWPk

Pictures :



I don't rub my face in the pillow while asleep because I am a back sleeper. I wonder how a scar tissue would look like. Can you show me a pic of scar tissue on lid margins?

I am taping my right eye now since every midnight I used to wake up with my right eye terribly inflamed, red and irritated. I realized it was getting itchy because my lids would open up during sleep and I used to rub my eyes unconsciously that aggravated the inflammation.

I snore maybe very occasionally but I am not a typical snorer. How idis snoring connected to dry eyes?

[Guest]

When I used Avenova directly on the lid margin, it burned the lid and when I released the lid, it would burn as soon as it touched the eye. It’s supposed to be non irritating, but not for me. If I get it I’m my eyes, I feel it. I’m very sensitive, you may have better luck.

Snoring is connected with sleep apnea, sleep apnea is associated with floppy eyelid almost 100%. So just curious, I’m someone who snores irregularly. One night I’m fine, the next I’ll snore. The doctor that diagnosed me with FES suggested the sleep study and he was right. I have sleep apnea. But my sleep apnea is subclinincal. In order to qualify as skeep almea, oxygen has to fall below 90%, my oxygen was 91%. You have to stop breathing 5 times in your sleep, I stopped breathing twice. So I’m borderline. But it’s there.

ok, I’m not a doctor, so please take this statement with a grain of salt. I don’t think I can see your gland openings. I think they’re covered with skin or biofilm. Usually I can see a bead of pink glands, I’m not seeing that. It could be the angle of the pic, but I’m thinking a good lid debridement may help you out. I can tell you now I’ve hit the limit with which I can help you. I have some ideas, but I’m not certain. The only way to confirm, would be to see a good doc and ask them to really look at your glands. An external disease specialist can really help you with that. Usually the cornea and external disease specialists are one in the same.

EDIT: I just realized those are two different eyes and NOT yours lol. Sorry.

Whats great is that you seem to have lots of tears. I mean A LOT of tears unless you had just put drops in? That’s a good sign. If you can manage the MGD/cysts I think you’ll feel a lot better. Theres hope for you my friend.

[Milo007]

When I used Avenova directly on the lid margin, it burned the lid and when I released the lid, it would burn as soon as it touched the eye. It’s supposed to be non irritating, but not for me. If I get it I’m my eyes, I feel it. I’m very sensitive, you may have better luck.

Snoring is connected with sleep apnea, sleep apnea is associated with floppy eyelid almost 100%. So just curious, I’m someone who snores irregularly. One night I’m fine, the next I’ll snore. The doctor that diagnosed me with FES suggested the sleep study and he was right. I have sleep apnea. But my sleep apnea is subclinincal. In order to qualify as skeep almea, oxygen has to fall below 90%, my oxygen was 91%. You have to stop breathing 5 times in your sleep, I stopped breathing twice. So I’m borderline. But it’s there.

ok, I’m not a doctor, so please take this statement with a grain of salt. I don’t think I can see your gland openings. I think they’re covered with skin or biofilm. Usually I can see a bead of pink glands, I’m not seeing that. It could be the angle of the pic, but I’m thinking a good lid debridement may help you out. I can tell you now I’ve hit the limit with which I can help you. I have some ideas, but I’m not certain. The only way to confirm, would be to see a good doc and ask them to really look at your glands. An external disease specialist can really help you with that. Usually the cornea and external disease specialists are one in the same.

EDIT: I just realized those are two different eyes and NOT yours lol. Sorry.

Whats great is that you seem to have lots of tears. I mean A LOT of tears unless you had just put drops in? That’s a good sign. If you can manage the MGD/cysts I think you’ll feel a lot better. Theres hope for you my friend.

Thanks Dowork123 for all your invaluable inputs!

Yes I am waiting for by next review visit in December. I note down my everyday experience in minute details each night before I go to bed so that I can corelate things myself and highlight all important information to my ophthalmologist so that nothing misses out.

I need a lipiscan and lipiview above all to get a more detailed picture of the condition of my glands. Then I can be certain if the problem is partly with the glands and partly with other things like those "cysts" or inflammation. Troubleshooting is pretty cumbersome when your doctor is not that careful with observations and only follows the protocol like a robot. She should have done a lipiscan and lipiview in the first visit instead of just an infrared meibography.

Such doctors are the reason we end up being half doctors in thethe process of learning and troubleshooting. More responsibility on our shoulders to find out the cause and highlight it to the doctor. Only she's obliged to prescribe the treatment.

Anyways, thank you once again for all your effort trying to help me. I will keep you updated with my progress and findings through subsequent posts.

There's hope for everyone my friend and not just me. I believe there will be a cure available in the near future because it's going to be a massive epidemic and more and more research would be underway to support the victimized population which would be a massive loss of productivity otherwise.

[Guest]

No worries at all, I hope you find an answer sooner than later.

Let et me say this about doctors. Most of my doctors had no clue how to treat me. However, even the two that diagnosed me and are helping me a lot have their limits. I’m realizing, no matter who the doctor is, they can only do so much for us. Why? Because dry eye is so variable, for some a 5 minute compress works, for others it takes 20 minutes and others they cannot use it at all. Some people like artificial tears, some people are worse taking them. It’s so individual, we have to be our own doctors no matter what. I realized this when the doctor that’s helping me now said, well, I’ve given you a lot of clues now to go out and get more answers. That made me realize. He can’t help me past this office. When I go home, it’s on me to figure this out.

I wish i could walk into a doctor office and get my diagnosis and a plan all in one. But the plan changes daily based on what’s happening. The doctor cannot see us every day (although they should) so it’s up to us to figure the patterns out. It’s good you’re writing a log of your progress, very smart. If I stayed on my doctors original plan, I’d be in trouble in this right eye. Since I increased the steroid to twice a day in the right eye. I’m FNALLY feeling better in this eye. But I had to go to my corneal specialist and make the call myself to increase the steroids. Even my right eye needs different treatment than the left. No one can know that but me really. Because I’m the only one feeling this pain.

I hope you’re right about a cure. I feel like there are so many reasons for dry eye, there’s going to need to be as many cures. Looking at the current drugs available are only two, xiidra and restasis, it’s pretty bleak on that front. Some people don’t need medicine. I need new eyelids that shut properly, lol. How do I get that? I would love to see a safe and effective anti inflammatory, with the power of a steroid and the safety of Advil. That alone would make my life easier. If I could take steroids forever, my prognosis wouldn’t be that bad actually. I/we need a safe way to control inflammation long term.