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Hello. I was told I had dry eye over a year ago and tried various products, including artificial tears, plugs, Restasis. My initial symptoms were red eyes but after 5-6 months trying the plugs and restatis I started having irritation and burning. I was then told it might be more of an issue with eyelids than my tear production and stopped using drops. I used warm compresses for a few weeks. I was so miserable that I started Lotemax ointment once a day. Also, I was prescribed 50mg of doxy. After a month or so I felt better but not sure what was working. My ophthalmologist can't pinpoint the issue because she says there is nothing that is really standing out. She says my eyes don't look that bad for the symptoms I am having. I am not sure what to do now as I am off the Lotemax and everything is back to where I was a few months ago.... irritation and burning. My dermatologist put me on minocylcine 100 mg twice a day for 8 weeks to see if that might clear up some sort of ocular rosceaca but again he did not see anything screaming out at him. I saw another opthomalogist who did Lipiview and said my tears were ok (the shirmer test was 18 and 23) but I partially blink and my oil glands looked bad and he could do Lipiflow for $800 an eye. Then I saw a third one who agreed with my first opthomalogist that my eyes didn't look as bad as my symptoms. He said he could do IPL if the minocycline didn't kick in and I wasn't feeling any better. I have had blood work done and tested for autoimmune all which came back negative. A friend mentioned serum tears but I think that's more for a tear production problem.... I'm confused about where to proceed at this point. If it truly is a MGD problem, I would think the Lipiflow or IPL therapy would help my eyes...
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Julie. One of the most important things is to know the cause of the problems.
Do you have any suspicion of what might have caused this?
It would also be interesting to know your age.
Also fill out your profile. So it's easier for someone can help you.
I have dry eye due to lasik surgery.
My Schimmers is normal.
My meibomio glands produce little oil.
Evaporative dry eye.
The autologous serum eye drops was very good for me. No optician wanted to prescribe me for thinking that my cornea was good.
In the consultations I've always heard that too.
"Your eyes are fine. Your symptoms do not match the situation of your eyes. "
But I think the ophthalmologists, fail to diagnose our situation. I don't need to have erosions on the cornea. to have pain or redness. If they can't find anything on the cornea, they think it's okay. -Personal opinion by VARIOUS experiences.
PS: the problem of autologous serum eyedrops is we have to be very careful in handling them to prevent infections. -
Dry Eye Help
I am 42. I went to my opthomolgist again yesterday and she said the TBUT was good and as usual the tears and oil glands looked ok. Nothing screaming out .... just a little irritation in lower eyelids at the inner corners... which is where I can feel the irritation. She said steroids would help that but I am a steriod responer so not a good idea and its not a long term solution. I have no idea what is causing this minor inflammation and if it the sole cause of my discomfort. It might be as in the past the only thing that really helped was lotemax ointment which is applied to inner eyelids! I wonder if it is a food allergy and if I should make an appointment with the allergist. A friend of mine has a brother in Colorodo who is an opthomolgist where they see a lot of dry eye issues. He uses autologous serum tears a lot with good success rate. I asked my opthomologist about it and she said she would be willing to try it for me since we have exhausted other options but she usually uses in on patients with cornea problems and such...Comment
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What is your TBUT? If you have evaporavtive dry eye why would the doctor say your symptoms don't match your signs?Comment
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Hi Julie,
I have similar (not same) symptoms and have been suffering for 3-4 years. I have partial blink on my right eye (which is a lot worse) and MGD. I have tried a lot of things - some work and some dont. The important thing is to setup a daily routine that you follow faithfully (eg warm compresses in the morning, doxycyline in the night etc). Every week, change just one part of the routine and see how you feel. Keep experimenting and find the things that help.
All the best!Comment
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Thank you for your response. How did you know you had partial blink and MGD? Was it trial and error or some clincal signs? How much doxy are you on and for how long? Do you do blink exercises?Comment
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I had LipiView done and the video clearly shows partial blink on my right eye. Meibography shows that most of my Meibomian glands have atrophied. Also warm compresses really help me - so its definitely something related to oils. Tear production is ok. I have been on 50mg doxy for more than 2 years now. Praying that it doesn't have any long term side effects -100mg really helps but I reduced it. I dont do blink exercises, but I should. If you find a good way to do them please update this thread so that I can benefit as well.Comment
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dnivara,Originally posted by dnivara View Post
Its scary that your glands are atrophied after such a short time of having symptoms. Do you know what the cause of your dry eyes was, were you spending a lot of time in front of a computer? How soon after having symptoms did you have the meibography done? Were your remaining glads dilated?
The first time I had lipiview done all of my blinks were partial unless I consciously blinked. After doing more than half a year of blinking exercises, I went back and had another lipiview, and blinking had improved. I also had a meibography and although I had very little atrophy, most of my glands were dilated.Comment
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