23 year old male - need help desperatley

[jm95dryeye]

Hi all, new to this forum. Really need some help/hope. My situation:

Suffered from 'dry eye' for around 3 months though. Started as sporadic burning at work (9-5 desk job, on laptop all day) that it thought nothing of. Gradually progressed to constant burning/redness/foreign sensation which I've now had for 2 1/2 months. I've seen 2 othalmologists at Moorfield Eye Hospital (London) who have diagnosed me with dry eye/ocular rosacea/blepharitis/MGD (really helpful...). They prescribed me steroid drops (dexamethosone) and anitbiotic drops. Currently taking Azyter and Dexamethosone. Tried all OTC drops/hot warm compresses etc. Nothing has worked.

I recently had lipiflow done at a london optician who offered it. All my glands are there and they actually looked really good, but they said some were blocked and it was worth it. Also lipid thickness came in at 45 nm which they said was very bad. Had it last monday - its been worse ever since. At a loss now. Really couldn't afford it not too work as it was hideously expensive Booked an appointment to see Mr Samer Hamada who I heard was a good guy to see.

My hunch: I developed rosacea on my skin earlier this year which was treated with laser. Surely this is ocular rosacea? Is the outlook better for this?

I'm at an all time low. Off sick from work because of the burning/redness/irritation. I've read on here that you have to quit your job if you work in an office environment - i really cant. I've worked to hard to get here and its a great job. I'm only 23 and I feel like my life is over.

[deep_dry_eye]

You still have a lot of hope to recover since all your glands are still there. The key is to control/reduce inflammation and keep the glands healthy.


First, continue on Azyter, its a good cheap drug. It will help control and bring down your inflammation, in my personal experience/opinion, Azyter is a better drug than steriods. How long have you been on Azyter?

Next treatments are Restasis (Cyclosporine/Ikervis) + Xiidra. Xiidra is not available in the UK yet, but keep an eye out for it. Also, you should definitely find a provider for IPL treatment for your eyelids, IPL can continue to bring down the inflammation.

Finally, for home care, you should take Omega 3 and GLA supplements, and do blinking exercises every 20 mins.

Good luck!

[jm95dryeye]

Thanks for the reply.

I actually just started Azyter yesterday as i didn't bother using it when it was prescribed a few weeks ago as previous antibiotic drops + steriods didnt work. Started them due to desperation and lack of results from lipiflow. No noticable improvement and they sting like hell for a couple hours after insertion but i will complete the course. They are single vial drops and ive been told only to take for 3 days, then wait a week then another 3 days and thats it.

I've read about restasis but seen so many terrible reviews I dont think its worth the money. Yes IPL is next on the list from my next consultant. He actually offers a new version of IPL specific to MGD called E-Eeye - http://eyecliniclondon.com/treatment...rpl-treatment/

Hoping something will work quickly. Thanks again for your input

[Guest]

jm95dryeye Hey,

Thought id reach out to you. Im 24 years old and have suffered with severe dry eyes for nearly three years now.... Exactly the same story as yours- Did you ever wear contact lenses?

Have you tried plugs ? I have all four of my puncta plugged and this helps to keep the tears I have left on my eyes.

You could also look into the hormone side ? Have you been tested for any auto-immune diseases via blood tests ?

I am on restatis and have been for 8 months now. I get this free on the NHS as i live in Wales. I have also had 4 rounds of IPL treatments at the Dry eye Centre in London. Helped a little. I am now travelling to the US with my father to get hold of Xiidra and potentially try Autologous serum drops ( made from your own blood).

I am a lot better than I was in the summer. I have improved about 40%. There are lots of promising treatments coming out also. Keep positive!

[Fenix]

I'm in the same situation. I'm 30, I worked hard to get where am I (as everyone here) and I don't want to quit nothing.
After 2 years, I have managed it good enough to keep working. I have been off sick from work only for a total of 5 days. If you rest enough at home (no TV, no monitors, no smartphone, no reading, going to bed early) you can continue to work (with pauses every hour, and artificial tears 3-4 times per day).
What were your Schirmer and TBUT scores?
IPL is the next thing on my todo list, and I think that can improve or solve the problem. But I think that we must first exclude everything else.

[Glucoa]

Young office worker checking in. Stay positive there's definitely going to be good days and bad days.

Very good advice given above, however get moisture chamber glasses ASAP. 7Eye and Ziena brands shown in the dry eye shop are great choices for indoor office use. 7eye don't look as discreet but your office coworkers will get used to seeing you in them after a few days and won't even notice. I'm getting Ziena Nereus frames fitted as we speak. The level of comfort is a game changer with moisture chambers and the price is totally worth it. Your condition will continue to get worse if you don't protect your eyes from the harsh office environment (dry air and fans blowing).

Also make sure you're not sleeping with your eyes partially open at night and don't have any heaters/AC units blowing air across your face while you sleep. If so, make sure to look into eye masks/bandage combos/night time ointments that may work for you. Placing a humidifier next to your bed and running it at night helps keep the air moist, especially in the winter time. If possible, place one next to your work area and run it on a medium setting during the day in the office to keep your area more humid as well.

Finally, try to limit digital screens (video games,tablets, cell phone usage), sugar/fatty foods, alcohol, all inflammatory triggers that you may have and get adequate rest every night. There's a lot to look forward as new treatments are being developed and research done continually on our conditions as it's becoming more and more common.

Hang in there, there's many of us in the same boat with dry eyes who have spent years studying business or pretty much any field of work where computer use is essential!

[Meibum Ian]

My hunch: I developed rosacea on my skin earlier this year which was treated with laser. Surely this is ocular rosacea? Is the outlook better for this?

How soon after the laser treatment did the dry eye symptoms begin please?

[jm95dryeye]

How soon after the laser treatment did the dry eye symptoms begin please?

Around 2 months after the last session. (I had 4 V-beam sessions monthly)

[Meibum Ian]

Around 2 months after the last session. (I had 4 V-beam sessions monthly)

Thanks. I don't want to cause alarm but I had dry eye 2 weeks after IPL for facial rosacea. I will always question whether it was the trigger. It is possible for it or laser to cause neovascularisation or an inflammatory response. My opinion is that it is something to be considered before going for IPL as a dry eye treatment.

[MGD1701]

For Guest
since you are now in USA, perhaps good to consult doctors (if I were you, I would)

Amniotic Cytokine Extract Drops
Prof. Gupta said it is more effective than serum drop. She has some articles which I am sure you can easily locate them
http://forum.dryeyezone.com/forum/ar...ocular-science

Sjo (blood) test, only available in USA
can detect sjo s. 6-4 years earlier than traditional blood tests.

[jm95dryeye]

jm95dryeye Hey,

Thought id reach out to you. Im 24 years old and have suffered with severe dry eyes for nearly three years now.... Exactly the same story as yours- Did you ever wear contact lenses?

Have you tried plugs ? I have all four of my puncta plugged and this helps to keep the tears I have left on my eyes.

You could also look into the hormone side ? Have you been tested for any auto-immune diseases via blood tests ?

I am on restatis and have been for 8 months now. I get this free on the NHS as i live in Wales. I have also had 4 rounds of IPL treatments at the Dry eye Centre in London. Helped a little. I am now travelling to the US with my father to get hold of Xiidra and potentially try Autologous serum drops ( made from your own blood).

I am a lot better than I was in the summer. I have improved about 40%. There are lots of promising treatments coming out also. Keep positive!

Thanks for the message. Never wore contract lenses or had any problems with eyes before this. I was considering IPL at the Dry Eye Centre as the next step but have been told Dr Samer Hamada is a leader in the field and also offers IPL (A newer version called E-Eye IRPL), so I'm going to wait for my appointment with him. He is based at the Eye Clinic London.

Haven't looked into the hormone side, might go down that route. I'm convinced rosacea was the trigger though as I had it earlier in the year on my face.

Would love to try Xiidra but as you said its only in the US. Can't really travel there at the moment.

Thanks for your story - best of luck to you

[Alix]

Hi all, new to this forum. Really need some help/hope. My situation:

Suffered from 'dry eye' for around 3 months though. Started as sporadic burning at work (9-5 desk job, on laptop all day) that it thought nothing of. Gradually progressed to constant burning/redness/foreign sensation which I've now had for 2 1/2 months. I've seen 2 othalmologists at Moorfield Eye Hospital (London) who have diagnosed me with dry eye/ocular rosacea/blepharitis/MGD (really helpful...). They prescribed me steroid drops (dexamethosone) and anitbiotic drops. Currently taking Azyter and Dexamethosone. Tried all OTC drops/hot warm compresses etc. Nothing has worked.

I recently had lipiflow done at a london optician who offered it. All my glands are there and they actually looked really good, but they said some were blocked and it was worth it. Also lipid thickness came in at 45 nm which they said was very bad. Had it last monday - its been worse ever since. At a loss now. Really couldn't afford it not too work as it was hideously expensive Booked an appointment to see Mr Samer Hamada who I heard was a good guy to see.

My hunch: I developed rosacea on my skin earlier this year which was treated with laser. Surely this is ocular rosacea? Is the outlook better for this?

I'm at an all time low. Off sick from work because of the burning/redness/irritation. I've read on here that you have to quit your job if you work in an office environment - i really cant. I've worked to hard to get here and its a great job. I'm only 23 and I feel like my life is over.

Hi I can sympathise, I am a fellow sufferer in London in a similar situation except that I have had this for a year now.

I am surprised they put you on dexamethosone so early on - did they tell you how long you need to be on this for? Moorfields tried to get me to use this as a last resort as FML didn't work, but I refused on the basis that it has serious side effects.

You have all your glands there, which is really excellent news. This means you are the perfect candidate for IPL so you should stay positive. I had 2 sessions of IPL at the Dry Eye Centre but it didn't work, probably because most of my glands have gone. They use a machine called Lumenis. I have read reviews on the E-Eye machine and it looks good.

If you go ahead with the IPL with Dr Hamada please could you keep us up to date? I would like to know if the E-Eye machine is more effective than Lumenis.

[jm95dryeye]

Hi I can sympathise, I am a fellow sufferer in London in a similar situation except that I have had this for a year now.

I am surprised they put you on dexamethosone so early on - did they tell you how long you need to be on this for? Moorfields tried to get me to use this as a last resort as FML didn't work, but I refused on the basis that it has serious side effects.

You have all your glands there, which is really excellent news. This means you are the perfect candidate for IPL so you should stay positive. I had 2 sessions of IPL at the Dry Eye Centre but it didn't work, probably because most of my glands have gone. They use a machine called Lumenis. I have read reviews on the E-Eye machine and it looks good.

If you go ahead with the IPL with Dr Hamada please could you keep us up to date? I would like to know if the E-Eye machine is more effective than Lumenis.

This is the second round of dexamethasone precribed by moorfields. I saw Maki Mukhat first then he reffered me to cornea specialist Mark Wilkins. Dr Wilkins percribed me dexamethasone phosphate which has no preservative + Azter. Been on these for a few days no and there's absolutely no difference, if anything my eyes keep getting worse. Still off work.

Will do - my appointment with Dr Hamada is on the 14th, wish it was sooner.

Sorry to hear most of your glands are gone - how many years of misdiagnosis/wrong treatment did you have before your glands were imaged?

[Alix]

This is the second round of dexamethasone precribed by moorfields. I saw Maki Mukhat first then he reffered me to cornea specialist Mark Wilkins. Dr Wilkins percribed me dexamethasone phosphate which has no preservative + Azter. Been on these for a few days no and there's absolutely no difference, if anything my eyes keep getting worse. Still off work.

Will do - my appointment with Dr Hamada is on the 14th, wish it was sooner.

Sorry to hear most of your glands are gone - how many years of misdiagnosis/wrong treatment did you have before your glands were imaged?

I had been struggling on my own with OTC eye drops since December 2017, and then have been back and forth to Moorfields since last Easter. At first they said I had chronic inflammation then chronic allergy then finally evaporative dry eye. They just kept telling me to use artificial tears and do warm eye compress. After 4 months of this I had finally had enough and went to the Dry Eye Centre last summer where they did Lipiview and told me most of my glands had gone which explained the non-stop burning. They gave me a private prescription for Ikervis which I have been using for 2 months, but it's not really working, which is painful as it is so expensive.

I know what you mean about Azyter it did nothing for me either except cause a whole load more of burning pain and redness, but it's worth sticking it out till the end at least then you can say to yourself you tried.

Have you tried doxycycline?

[hopeful_hiker]

I agree with other commenters who have mentioned IPL. Here is a good case study on this topic: link.