Please advise

[Alex70]

Advice needed...

After routine eye exam for new contacts I was give a TBUT and was at 3 seconds. How bad is this??? Doc said normal is 10 but did'nt go into much further detail.

Then after inspection my eyes for the last few weeks I notice that 1 or 2 meiobian glands are blocked or clogged at any given time. They last a day or so and resolve on there own. Told the Doc this and she said it was'nt too concerning either...just do lid cleaning. I have no pain, redness, or any other symptoms otherwise. Just the scary TBUT score and the weekly 1 or 2 blocked meiobian glands. Oh, I do have a feeling of slight dryness in the mornings for maybe the first 2-3 minutes out of bed...but only sometimes.

My question is: Where do I stand in all this. Am I headed for complete mysery??? please advise. Thanks!

[Natalie06]

Alex...my two cents

I think it's actually a good thing that you know now that there is a potential problem. That alone can help you stave off getting to the misery point.

I would reccommend using the warm compress methods described here in addition to lid scrubs and see if that eases the morning dryness.

If it does not or your eyes start to get drier, I would ask you eye MD to periodically check your gland function. Many of us with MGD have had good luck with Tetracycline or a derivative as they can help unblock the glands.

There is a lot of anectdotal evidence that flax seed oil or Omega Fatty oils (also described on this website) can help your glands function more normally.

So there are lots of things to try first to keep things from progressing.

Natalie

[Alex70]

Do the majority of people with MGD have little to no symptoms and may not even know they have it and continue to live a normal lives? Or is it more typical that if you have it your going to know it.

[Dotanne]

My newest Dr says I probably had MGD and mild rosacea before I had Lasik and the Lasik tipped me over the edge into a disastrous dry eye problem. My eyes felt fine before Lasik - I had never heard of dry eye and I had never needed to use drops.
It took nearly 3 years for a Dr to find that I had MGD and mild roseacea. Now I have been on doxy for just over a month and my eyes are feeling better than they have ever been. I find it so frustrating that Drs/opticians do not seem to recognise MGD. The biggest worry is that the Lasik surgeon did not pick it up pre op. My newest (3rd)optician did recognise that I had a problem that way and got me on a better lid massage and hot compress regime and helped with moisture chamber glasses but the doxy is slowly bringing improvement too. I find that Alcon Poly Gel is better than Genteal Gel at night as my eyes are cleaner in the morning. I still have to put gel in during the night and I wear a sleep mask. But now I can cope with a much improved social life - I can manage a late night or two!!
I might add the NZ version of restasis did not work for me. It was made up by a compounding pharmacy and was quite greasy and I got awful rawness in the back of my nose that was as bad as the dry eye. Double pain!
So it seems I had MGD for years before I had symptoms.
Dot