For those who found relief in Doxycyline...

I (and a lot of people around, i presume) would like to know how long did it take for the Doxy to start to kick in and when was the relief noticeable.

I have been on it for one month and still no improvement.

I mean when should i give up (hopefully not) :(

Thanks,

Please reply :)

I know what you mean. I've been on it for about 5 months and still no relief. How much are you taking?

I am on a slightly lower dosage. My doctor eventually wants to at least double it, but I have a very very very very sensitive stomach, and he is reluctant to increase it too fast. My GI doctor was totally against me going on it, but so far I seem OK on it. My stomach problems are pretty much the same as they have always been. Although, coincidentally (or not) immediately after starting it I had my first ever gallbladder attack, which my eye doctor says may or may not have been caused by the doxy. I had to stop taking it until after I had my gallbladder removed. That was a year ago. Now I am back on it.

I started on 50mg a day, and then increased to 100mg, then to 150mg. My doctor says that it can go much higher, but he wants to take it really slowly. I am also doing hot compresses. Do you do that?

Warm compresses... yes sure actually I HAVE to take a 20 min warm water shower every morning... Throughout the shower, I keep massaging my eye lids. If I dont take the shower, my day would be miserable.

By the way, I am only 26 years (male). I have been suffering with quite severe dry eyes since I was 18. Throughout the 8 years, my eye condition has been becoming worse and worse. I hate to think what will happen in 10 years ...

I also noticed that sleeping less than 8 - 9 hours causes my eye lids to feel heavy and my eyes very dry. Another terrible limitation to our lives.

I'm only 23 and I've had this horrible dry eye condition since I was 20. My problem is not only the dryness, but my eyes are also very susceptible to infection and I've had quite a few abrasions. (right now I have got 8 micro-abrasions in one eye. They are slowly healing.) I'm also allergic to everything, including Restasis and some of the other anti-inflammatory drops.

Did they ever figure out what exactly is causing your dryness?

Being that you have had this for 8 years, has anything that you have tried over that time made your eyes better (even slightly)? What treatments have you tried?

My current regimen, when I am not on anti-biotics and steroids (my left eye has the 8 micro-abrasions and was so inflamed that I could not even open it.) is Doxycycline 150mg, Patanol drops 2x a day, Refresh Endura 2x a day )anymore than that irritates my eyes..go figure) FML ointment on my lids 2x a day, and HypoTears ointment at bedtime. I also use Bion tears about 15 times a day, give or take a few. I use hot compresses for 10 minutes when I wake up and before I go to sleep. Lid massage irritated me too much. I ca't even spend a long time in the shower because my eyes burn uncontrollably when I am in there for too long. We have not figured that one out yet. I use only the gentlest soap, and my shampoo never gets in my eyes. I contacted the Department of Environmental Protection, and they said that the level of chemicals in the water is normal. I've been know to bring tear drops into the shower with me.

I also notice that not getting enough sleep is bad for my eyes. But being that I'm a teacher and off during the summer, I've been sleeping about 9-10 hours a night.

I also find that when the dryness and pain get unbearable, using an ice cold compress is just wonderful.

I'm very worried about the future too. For the moment my vision is alright except for being near0sighted (been that way since I was 8.) But I am afraid that the dryness will do damage to my corneas. I'm also afraid that the dryness will never get better. I can imagine myself as a bride, standing next to my groom (when I meet someone) taking the wedding vows and having to stop and put tear drops in my eyes! :( Looking 10 years down the road is very scary! Heck, even thinking about tomorrow is scary!!!! I never know how my eyes will be when I wake up. I just wish I could prevent the abrasions and infections. (I get pink eye very frequently because of the lack of tears.)

Can you tolerate being in a windy place? I can't. Which is a shame, because I used to love to go to the boardwalk. Can you tolerate being in a room with a ceiling fan that is on? I can keep it on low for about 5 minutes and then I have to shut it off.

My doctor is hoping to achieve a better qutlity of tears with the doxy. I am going to ask him about increasing it when I see him next week.

Did they ever figure out what exactly is causing your dryness?

It is no doubt being caused by the inflammation in my Meibomian glands. The inflammation is very obvious. I just lower my lower lid and notice the red vertical strips (these are the glands)


Being that you have had this for 8 years, has anything that you have tried over that time made your eyes better (even slightly)? What treatments have you tried?

My problem is that I dont live in the US and I was trusting this doctor in my home country, all that he did was to plug my 4 punctum canals.

I visited the US this june to look for a doctor and they prescribed me with Doxy then added Restasis after 2 weeks. (Although i resgitered 7mm and 12mm, respectively with plugs).

However, he made me remove the upper plug. He claimed that he needs a place for the inflammation to recycle. I have been on Doxy for a month . If it can take up to 3 month then there is still hope for me.


I can imagine myself as a bride, standing next to my groom (when I meet someone) taking the wedding vows and having to stop and put tear drops in my eyes!

Same here. My BIGGEST worry ever.
Maybe we can use a machine, like in the ear, that pumps tears every, say, 1 minutes ;) . Or is it only the dreams of a desperate man ...


Can you tolerate being in a windy place?

Sure not. I had to live in London for 2 months for a job early this year. Back home, every body uses a car for commuting. In London, I felt like a handicapped. I could not even walk to a bus, or using the tube with all the wind ... (terribleeeeeeeee)


By the way, the worst place EVER i can be in is the cockpit of an airplane. OH MY GOD. I have to use drops every 15 minutes...

A pity what our lives has turned out to become ...

I have tried systane. it is good. quite viscous and practical, being in one bottle. However, for me theratears are the best. However, all of these are not available back home. So i always order some online. However, it is not like I can get down to walgreens and get it.

I can't say that I've ever been in the cockpit of an airplane. :) Are you a pilot? I haven't even had an occasion to fly over the past few years. But from what I have heard, the recyclyed air in the airplane is very bad for dry eyes.

I have not tried systane because it is not preservative free, and I get very badly irritated from preservatives. My doctor does not recommend it to very many patients. I like Tears Again Gel Drops. They are very viscous and have a disappearing preservative (dissolves as soon as it hits the eye.)

I have become very desperate for SOMETHING to help me. I am a substitute teacher (hoping for full time in the fall!) , and my students all stare at me when I stop and put eye drops in. They look at me like I have 3 heads. So, I use this to explain to them that it is not alright to stare or laugh, but that they may ask me questions Inevitably I get one or two who say "Oh, those are tear drops. I've used those once or twice." Once or twice. I wish. Once or twice every half hour, maybe.

I have heard of lacriserts, but the only way that I heard of them is when one of the local newschannels did a story on a woman who was looking for them and could not get them. Apparently she had been on them for years and liked them, but the company stopped making them other than in very small quantities. Because of the media attention that her story got, the company promised to keep her pharmacy stocked with them. I asked my doctor about them immediately after that story aired, but he said that my corneas are so sensitive and fragile, he'd be afraid to let me put something like that in my eye. Any foreign body could easily scratch my cornea.

My doctor and I talked about coming up with some sort of pump for tears. I was in the hospital last year for something unrelated, and I was on IV fluids. I thoughd that maybe if I could put some tears into an IV bag, we could get some really small IV tubing and tape it to my face and attach it to my eyes and I could have a continual flow of tears into my eyes. But that wouldn't work, and it would be aesthetically unappealling! I read in Prevention Magazine that researchers are trying to develop a contact lens that can hold medicine in it and dispense it regularly to the eye. Maybethey could put tears in it. But I don't know if I could even wear a contact lens. I tried once and they wouldn't stay in my eyes.

Hi Elsye-
In regards to Sjogrens, I also had all the labs done. The rheamatologit says he thinks I don't have it. But the one in question for me was the ANA -the most important of all. It was very very very mildly positive, but when they did a reflex test and sent it to the nearest university medical center, the result came back within the negative range. It scared me at first because I had heard that it was positive and had to wait something like 5 or 6 days for the reflex and the actual appt with the Rheam. All other tests were negative. He said that with my symptoms (and I was having dry mouth as well) that I would show abnormals elsewhere like the SED rate etc (CBC's) All else was normal and he said many in the population probably have mildly elevated ANA's. He quelled my worries then (about 2 months ago) but once again in the the back of my head, I will probably always wonder. I wonder if I did have Sjrogrens, that maybe it is early and the ANA isn't registering high enough yet. He seemed to think that after exam and all, that I didn't have it. I hope he was right. Anyway, I do get a very dry nose (due to lack of tears) and the dry mouth we can't figure out. It comes on with anxiety and I do suffer from that almost chronically. At night I sip a water bottle quite frequently on my nightstand. Anyway, I just thought I'd share my story.
My dry eye has only been going on for 3 months - so I have to always remind myself that it came on suddenly after pink eye. Sjrogrens would probably be more gradual, but who knows??

I used to say, it's been only going on 2, then 3, 4 ......5 wks etc and it didn't sound so bad. However, 12 wks now.........isn't sounding so temporary anymore and that scares me.

Amy