Hey all,

I am 23 years old and was recently diagnosed with meibomian gland dysfunction (posterior blepharitis). I have been suffering since this past january and it has been hell. I had been wearing contacts for years, and for the past two years my eyes were really dry and sometimes my vision got blurry, but I just used rewetting drops because my routine opthalmologist never told me that I had anything. When it got bad this year, I was initially diagnosed with mild GPC from my contact use (which I do have), but I went from doctor to doctor, and basically got prescribed all sorts of anti-histamines, anti-inflammatories, as well as steroids with no luck, except elevated pressure in my eyes! I decided I needed to see the best.

I am a first year medical student in baltimore and have been desperate to control this problem so that I can study - I went and saw a specialist at hopkins who diagnosed blepharitis, and she put me on erythmocyin, doxycycline and told me to do the usual warm compresses. I have been on this treatment for about a month and I am very worried because I still have seen no improvement. My eyes are blurry, they burn, get extremely tired easily, feel gritty and sandy, and I have extreme light sensitivity. I have been using thera tears, wash my eyes a few times a day with a warm cloth, massage them, clean them with baby shampoo, but they just seem to be very temporary relievers of my symptoms.

I do not know what to do - I am afraid that this situation is not going to get any better and that I am going to have to deal with this awful situation forever (I know it is chronic, but isnt acute management supposed to put it into "remission"?) I am willing to be diligent and do all that I need to do, but I feel sort of hopeless right now - i just bought some ocusoft lid scrubs and am going to try that as well. It worries me even more because I am going into a profession in which i will be reading a lot and I heard that stress can exacerbate it (great!) will i ever be able to wear contacts again? - i dont even feel like i can see as well in glasses. does it take longer for the medication to work? is there hope for me?

Thanks in advance for all the comments - I have read everything on this site already but I didnt feel like there was that much addressing this condition
:(

Jeff

First of all, relax. I know its a serious problem because I have it too, but your not helping your health anybody by worrying.

Now, about the meibomian gland dysfunction, what did your doctor say was the cause? It's very important to know the cause, some people here have acne rosacea, sebhorreic dermatitis, adverse drug reactions from accutane, the list goes on. You need to tailor your treatment to whatever you think caused it.

Another thing you should know is your surrounding facial skin and the health of your skin can contribute significantly to your eye comfort or discomfort.

I had bad sebhorriec dermatitis and once I treated that my eyes got better.

Jeff-

I totally know how helpless you feel. I have the ocular rosacea form of MGD. I have been on the doxy for 6 wks and I keep hoping to see some long term improvement. Oh, I will have 1 or 2 good days, but then the burning and stinging, scratchy feeling returns. My Dr wants me to take the doxy for 6 months (at least)

I really can identify how you feel. I wore contacts happily for 20 yrs (I'm 35) and then one day, I got pink eye from my daughter, and I never have been the same. It led me to believe that the infection caused my dry eyes, but the Drs seem to think it only exacerbated an underlying condition. I don't quite get it and I am beginning to think these Drs know very little. Even though I have some meibomian gland dysfunction, I know that I also have lacrimal dysfunction as well. Were you tested with a Schirmer's test for baseline tearing etc? my eyes don't water much with this condition.

Keep up with the warm compresses and the lid massages. There are some newer things on the horizon. One (in which I haven't yet tried) is the eye drop "Soothe" which is available to order over the counter from any pharmacy and is available on the shelf at any Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy right now. I haven't yet tried it but it is a lipid replacement that is supposed to last 8 hrs. I hope it is better than Refresh Endura because that stuff stings my eyes. I'm guessing it is the castor oil component. Also there is a new RX drug called Diquefosil (sp?) that is coming out soon that may be able to help a lot of our related suffering. Keep hope.

Good luck and pop in and let us know how you're progress goes.

Amy

Hi - I have MGD, too. I first got it about 2 years ago. I'm in my 30's and never had any eye problems before all this happened. My ophth. thinks it may be related to rosacea, but I don't appear to have any skin problems, so he's not sure what caused it(?). And I don't wear contacts, so that's definitely not the source of my eye problems. I wish I knew what it was that set everything off.

It took me almost a whole year to get this condition under control. It was my worst nightmare! I didn't get any sleep because my eyes were just burning all the time and felt like they had sand in them. My ophth. told me that the healing process would be very slow and not to expect any great improvement for a long time. Wow - was he ever right. But now my eyes are fine and the meibomian glands have regained their function. I have been symptom-free for about a year now. So there is definitely hope for people with MGD to live normal lives, once the symptoms are brought under control. I attribute my recovery to warm compresses, preservative-free artificial tears, doxycycline, and a good, caring doctor. I've stayed away from things like steroids, punctal plugs, NSAIDS, etc. I tried changing my diet for a while there, too, but I didn't notice any real link - except for drinking lots of water, which does in fact seem to help.

Jen

Jen-
In my quest for info on ocular rosacea- I had gone back in the archive boards and found many of your posts. It is so unbelievably good to hear that you are now doing so well after all this time. My story and symptoms sounded very similar to yours and my onset of ocular rosacea came on at a very stressful time in my life as well. I there is a link. I assume you are off the Doxy now. That is great.

Amy

thank you everybody for the quick responses

mont - sorry i sounded like i was having a panic attack - I guess it came out a little stronger in writing! - its just very frustrating when i need to constantly study and my eyes hurt so much - for about a week, i came home to my apt and would take 3 hour naps - so i prob was depressed as well from this condition, but even when i wake up my from the naps and in the morning, my eyes are tired.

I dont know exactly the cause - the doc i saw kind of took care of me fast and then threw me out (but she didnt make me pay for some reason :) ) - she was actually really great, but I will ask her more questions when i do my follow up - I know that I have the meibomian gland dysfunction, but Im assuming that it came about as a result of repeated infections - i was a contact wearer and I got GPC earlier this year - after my eyes had been dry for a while - i dont know if i had GPC or MGD first (GPC was just diagnosed earlier), but I also used to as a kid get pink eye often (maybe once a year) and also styes - I took good care of my eyes, but I guess i was just prone to infeciton for some reason, even though i have no other medical conditions and have been in good shape my whole life. But maybe its another cause - rosacea? I dont know - I am light skinned, get flushed easily on my nose and cheeks, but i've never had any skin problems on my face (acne, etc)

I would say that my biggest problem is blurriness and dry eyes/very tired eyes(burning)- i just got my prescription changed, but neither this prescription (even though i read 20/20 in the office) nor the last one seemed to be drastically different in terms of improving this blurriness - its almost like a fishbowl effect when i look out or a distortion - Im hoping that the blepharitis is the main cause of this blurriness as my eyes are not being coated properly, but I also havent seen to many people complain about this and I dont know if the routine treatment is going to really attack this.

I will try all of the recommendations that everyone has posted here - thanks ajneedhams and CSLewis as well!

Jeff

Jeff,

Sorry to hear about the MGD. I have it too. You should really check into a link with rosacea. If you have some redness on your face, you could be developing it. I started with the eye symptoms and never had any skin problems of the sort. After about a year or so of the eye symptoms, I started to develop the skin problems.

If rosacea is the cause, you should treat the skin and possibly the eye symptoms will calm down. I am doing better after months of doxcycline. I'm not 100 percent normal and my eyes flare up but I do have a lot more good days. You've got to keep up the warm (not hot) compresses and the cleaning as well. I think this stuff takes a long time to get under control.

Jen - are you still taking the doxycycline?? Did you have visible blood vessels on your eyelids? I have a pink rim around the edges of the eyelids esp. on top. Looks like pink eye liner.

Good luck, Jeff....if you are interested there are some pretty good posts on the dry eye please help thread...even about MGD.

Calibug

jsr - you are in Baltimore? Go see Dr. Terrence O'Brien at John's Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Greenspring Station on Falls Road in Lutherville. He's one of the best corneal and dry eye specialists in the world. I am in New York, and every doctor that I saw or spoke to here told me to get down to Maryland to see him. I love him. He is trying to get me into a study for Diquafosol that he will be running soon. Tell him Elyse sent you. He'll know exactly who you are talking about. :)

hey purple!

thanks so much for the advice - when I scheduled my first appointment, they set me up with Esen Akpek and said she was the best for what I was complaining about - have you ever heard of her? She is really good, but maybe I should make an appointment with him...

thanks again

Jeff

just curious, has anyone else had very distorted/blurry vision as their main problem with posterior blepharitis, alongside a general malaise feeling? I hope I am not blurry for years

thanks

Jeff

I've had so called "blepharitis" for two years now, vision is very bad in right eye, so much so the pupil no longer dilates, everything is blurred and dark and eyelid droops. constant swelling feeling in eyelid 24 hours per day.

Two years on I still haven't got used to the blurred dark vision in my right eye, I don't think I ever will and am at the stage now where I don't think my life will ever be as it was due to this.

Since the tear film quality is poor, the tear film does not spread evenly. Even though the tear film is very thin, it does have some effect in the way the eye refracts light. Also, if your a long time dry eye sufferer, dry spots could have developed on your cornea and are therefore causing more refractive errors known as higher order aberrations. Higher order aberrations cannot usually be corrected by glasses, the only thing that I know of that does a good job of taking care of these higher order aberrations is lasik or lasek eye surgery.

And, if your like me, that is where the problem lies. Laser eye surgery will take care of the higher order abberrations but it can also make dry eyes worse. It's a catch 22.

Another thing worth noting with higher order aberrations is that they can reduce your visual acuity. A reduction in visual acuity can tire your eyes quickly causing eye teaming problems, which is just another way of describing eyestrain. A lot of people dont know this, but eyestrain can cause symptoms of attention deficit disorder.

To CSLewis: Jen2003, is that you? If so, I'm glad to see you're still checking in! :)

I had asked you many questions, way back when, regarding posterior blepharitis/MGD; at the time, my doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with my (always red) eyes. My fourth doctor finally diagnosed me with MGD, and I am now on Doxy (100mg per day, controlled release). It's only been 3 weeks, but there are some hours (not days, yet) when my eyes feel somewhat normal.

Are you still taking the Doxy? If not, how long were you on it?

Thanks again; your posts were very helpful to me in finally reaching a diagnosis!

JSR, I see that you are in Baltimore. You might want to go see Dr. Terry O'Brien. He's one of the country's leading dry eye specialists. He's my doctor. He's the chief of the cornea service at John's Hopkins' Wilmer Eye Institute. He's absolutely wonderful. If anybody can tell you what is wrong, and help you, he can. He is at the Wilmer Laser Vision Center at Greenspring Station, Falls Road, Lutherville, MD. I live in NY and continue to see my local doctor. But about 3 or 4 times a year I make the trip down to Maryland to see Dr. O'Brien, and my local doctor communicates with him about me throughout the year. He has some very good ideas.

Hi lulu (et al) - yea, it's me (Jen2003). I haven't been checking the boards for a while so I forgot my password, etc. Also, I was banned as Jen2003 because I let my old email account lapse and wasn't checking it - so don't let that happen to you! :)

I'm glad to hear you finally got a proper diagnosis. That really sucks when you don't know what's wrong. And you definitely need to give the doxy more time before you start noticing any real improvement. I have been off and on the doxy (50mg/day) for the last year now. I went for a month without taking it, then back on for a few months, then off again for a couple months, and so on. My doctor is weaning me off of it so I'll finally be done with it in December - yeah!!! I actually was going to stop taking it altogether a while back, but that was against my doctor's advice. I wasn't experiencing any side effects from it, so he convinced me to keep taking it for a little while longer, since he can still see signs of inflammation (although I'm not experiencing any symptoms). I see my doctor every four months and will probably have to do so for the rest of my life. :( But if that's what's going to keep me symptom-free, that's okay by me! I have excellent insurance through my employment so my doctor visits are fully covered. Phew! And I really like my doctor - very caring and supportive. One of the most important things he did for me was to relieve my anxiety. His reassurance that I would eventually get better did wonders for my recovery.

It's good to hear that you are actually starting to experience some moments of relief, albeit they are brief. But that's a GREAT sign! You may have turned the corner. That's what happened to me. I noticed I was having to use the artificial tears less and less, and I was actually able to sleep through the whole night without that burning sensation. My progress was VERY slow. I'd say that it took a good 5 months, from the time I started doxycycline, to get to the point where I was no longer dependent on artificial tears and I was starting to feel "normal" again. I just couldn't believe it when I was finally able to make it through a WHOLE day without having to use the tears! That was a huge breakthrough for me. But even now, although I am symptom-free at this point, there isn't a day (or maybe even an hour!) that goes by that I don't think about what has happened to me and my eyes. It is the most terrible thing I've ever had to deal with, so I don't take it for granted that I've made it to this point. Back when this all first started to happen to me, I never thought I'd see this day. So hang in there and try your hardest to stay positive. A good attitude and patience will go a long way. :)

Jen

Jen, what made your eyes start to turn the corner?

Hi Purple - I think what helped me start to turn the corner was (maybe) when I actually STOPPED using the drugs that were prescribed for me by the FIRST doctor I saw(?). Does that make any sense? I think my eyes were just on "overload". Do you know what I mean? Has that ever happened to you? He had me on Patanol, Ciloxan (when I had Keratitis), Blephamide, and other stuff I can't even remember now. My condition just kept getting worse, not better! I even ended up in the emergency room one day. I begged him for a drug I could take orally instead of having to put in my eyes, but he said nothing was available. :( At that point I decided I wasn't going to put ANYTHING else in my eyes except artificial tears, and I said goodbye to that doctor for good. The next couple of months I spent just doing the warm compresses and lid massages (at least 6x a day). I also went through lots and lots of tubes of GenTeal Gel. Then I started seeing this new ophthalmologist (who diagnosed me with ocular rosacea) and began taking the doxycycline (100mg/day). I was already starting to feel a tiny bit better by this point, but I think the doxy helped move things along, once it really got into my system. The compresses and lid massages were the best, though. They helped to clear out the meibomian glands and get them functioning properly again.

How have you been? Have you experienced any improvement? What are your "tricks" for feeling better these days? I know you've had a pretty rough time in the past, so I hope you're doing better now. :)

P.S. I know that each person's experience with eye disease is unique, so I hope people don't think I'm suggesting they stop taking any of the drugs they are prescribed for their specific eye problems. It's just that in my personal experience the drugs I was taking were causing me more harm than good. I understand this is not true for everybody.

To Jen:

I have ocular rosacea too and I am 35 yrs old. You have been a bit of an inspiration to me that just maybe, like you, I can get better. I have been symptomatic for 6 months, but only diagnosed with the ocular rosacea + posterior blepharitis for 6 wks. I have been on the doxy for 6 wks as well. Maybe I am noticing some minor improvements, but it comforts me to know that you said it may take much longer. I take a step forward here and there, and then a step back. I have only been doing the lid compresses and massages (in addition to scrubs) about twice a day, three at the most. You said you did them 6 times a day. Would you recommend increasing them then? I also use the Genteal Gel (at night) as that is when my dryness is the worst. Do you not experience the night burning anymore?
I have swollen lids especially in the morning and some of my eye lashes are falling out. I wondered if you experienced anything similar. Did your redness eventually go completely away?

Well, thanks for listening to my concerns. I am happy that you are where you are today.

Amy

jsr, I have not heard of the doctor that you mentioned.

I think that since you are in Baltimore, and so is Dr. O'Brien (well, he's in Lutherville), it can't hurt to make an appointment with him. He does an extremely thorough eye exam and should definitely be able to tell you exactly what your problem is and what the best course of treatment is. He's one of the best in the country for dry eye treatment. A while ago I had asked a question on pay-for-advice board, where you could ask doctors questions. They told me they didn't know what is wrong, but to go see him. My local doctor told me to go see him (they're friends). I have consulted with some other ophthalmologists as well, and they all told me to go to Dr. O'Brien. (without me even mentioning his name) Unfortunately, there just may not be an adequate treatment available for this problem. I have seen him several times, and he always has good ideas for modifications to my treatment, but the "cure" has not been invented yet. :(

He wants to get me involved in a study for the new treatment for clogged meibomian glands, called Diquafosol. I keep calling to find out if I can be in it, but they don't know yet. I have MS, so they have to really read the study protocol and find out if I am excluded. I am going to have my local doctor call him for me on wednesday. Somehow he has an easier time getting through to him than I do. :)

At the very least, he has been able to tweak my treatment to try and make me more comfortable. He is also always there for my local doctor to call and get advice from regarding me.

He's a really really nice guy, too. He's very very very gentle. If you see him, tell him that Elyse from NY sent you. :) He'll know exactly who you are talking about (I'm the one whose local doctor grabs him by the arm at medical conferences and doesn't let go until he tells him my latest problems and asks him what to do with me. And I'm the one who came to Maryland and wound up in the Emergency Room at Sinai Medical Center with my very first gallbladder attack!!!)


I see that you are a medical student. Maybe you could make ophthalmology your specialty and find a cure for all of us. :) (too much to ask?? lol)

Jen, my eyes have been status quo until very recently, when they started to feel worse. We just started having to put the heat on about two weeks ago, and that is exactly when my eyes started feeling worse. Almost immediately my left eye got really bad. The corneal surface is really beat up. I've been on Quixin (anti-biotic drops) since then because my doctor wanted to keep the surface clean while it heals.

My usual treatment has consisted of using hot comporesses 2-3 times a day, and using lots and lots and lots and lots of tear drops. I'm on 150 mg of Doxy for the last 4 months. We keep wanting to increase it, but the reason I'm on such a low dose is because I have acid reflux disease and anti-biotics can really upset my stomach. So we are taking it very very slowly. My GI doc was really against my being on it at all, but I've got to do something to help my eyes. I'm also using FML (steroid) ointment because my eyes are very very inflamed. And I have to always be on an allergy drop of some sort, because I've got year round allergies. So I am on Alamast, which is actually supposed to help lubricate the eyes. (yeah, right.) So when I'm not using the FML ointment, I try to use tears again gel drops or hypo tears ointment. Especially now that the heat is on, I've always got to have something thick in my eyes. I'm just soooo afraid that my eyes are going to get so dry that I'll scratch my cornea(s) again. In fact, my left eye has several microscopic scratches on the surface, which is why I'm on the anti-biotic. And winter hasn't even started yet. This is always my worst time of year. Sigh.

I have to go back to the eye doctor on wednesday. Hopefully my eye is healed and I can get off of the Quixin. I hate it. Last time I had this I was on anti-biotics for about 3 weeks until the surface healed, so I might have a little longer to go. What an ordeal. And it's not even like I did anything to make the surface bad, like rubbing it. That's just my eyes for ya.

Jen, it's wonderful to have you visiting the Boards again! I really appreciate your words of encouragement. I was starting to get concerned that, after one month on the Doxy, I hadn't seen any dramatic improvement. I feel much more relaxed now, knowing that it is normal for results to take a few months. It's great that you had a doctor with such a positive attitude; I would feel much less anxious if any of my opths had simply expressed the belief that I would get better. As it stands now, my only source of hope is reading these Boards and hearing stories like yours. So THANK YOU! :)

I do have one question for you, Jen: if I recall correctly, you used to experience some redness on the whites of your eyes, and at least one bright blood vessel. Has the redness completely gone away? Did the blood vessel disappear, or has it at least become less pronounced?

Hi,
I just saw this board. I am suffering the same thing you guys have. I had this problem because of lasik surgery. For the last four months, I have seen 8 doctors, 11 times. Seem no helps at all. I just want to ask you if anybody has oily pimples at the base of eyelashes. It come and go. Is the sure sign of MGD? All the docs I've seen told me that my MGD is not serious, but my eyes feel sore and irritated so much. It is very sticky when I go to sleep. No artificial tears, gel, ointment can help me at all. I am starting doxy today. I also has been doing lid scrubs, warm compress for the last two months.

that predisposes immediate blindness? Eye doctors only know the mechanics of how things work, none of them have ever had MGD because a) they would be out of job due to disability b) they know how to combat blepharitis before it progresses toward MGD. How can an eye doctor accurately gauge the impact of ones quality of life? How do you measure pain? morbidity?

Hi Tris!
Glad to have you join us on the boards. I've been suffering for 6 months and, like you, have sought out many different Drs. Hopefully starting Doxy will be a step in the right direction. Be forwarned though, MGD usually is very chronic and doesn't resolve in a few weeks. I do not have any oily pimples at the lash line, but I have a thickening in my lids which tells me the oil glands are inflamed. My eyes stick at night too. I think of my life before my eye problems and after. Life was so good just a few months ago that it is really hard and sad to comprehend the change.
Anyway, I just wanted to say Hello. Also there is a good discussion over on the other thread "Dry Eyes...Help."

Amy

P.S.
Montgumski, you are absolutely right. Drs who have not experienced this- would not know the level of discomfort and anquish. By the way, weren't you the one that was going to try the "Soothe?" If so, what has been your take on it??

I will keep this short, I'm not a very personable person.

I got Soothe last week and have used it a few times since. The drop itself has a different feel to it. The drops flow across the eyes very well because of the low surface tension of the fluid. They do contain a perservative and I'm not too thrilled about that. Personally, I cannot tell if they are doing much good, I refuse to put drops in every five minutes. If drug companies can't make a drop that last five minutes I will force them to make something better by not buying the drops. :)

Oh, and hi everyone else, I didn't read your posts but I sympathize with you.

Montgumski, I'm confused. Does blepharitis lead to MGD? I thought they were one in the same (posterior blepharitis that is). I've always wondered if my eyes got worse because I wasn't treated properly in the beginning.

Hi Calibug,

MGD is just a fancy way of saying chronic blepharitis. Blepharitis can lead to chronic blepharitis, when that happens the medical community calls it MGD.

If your blepharitis was caused by an underlying skin condition its possible that you weren't treated properly because opthalmologists don't study the skin. MGD is a special case where dermatology and ophthalmology need to collaborate, but that's just my opinion.

O.k. that makes more sense. It was just a nuisance before but got really bad this past January. No one knew it was because of Rosacea because my skin was normal. I started with the eye symptoms. My first doctor really wasn't helpful. He put me on antibiotics and didn't tell me how long I needed to be on them. I noticed later on my prescription that there were refills so I called the doctor and the nurse said, oh those refills are just in case your eyes flare up again. I later found out that was wrong. I was suppose to stay on the doxy... My eyes progressively got worse until finally this April I got back on the doxy.

He also never told me about preservatives in eye drops...just said keep using the drops he recommended...he didn't even seem to care how often I was using the drops...hourly. I found a good opthalmologist after him and he said that those drops were not a good idea. I felt much better changing to the preservative free drops.

I wish the doctor was more informative and discussed the links with skin problems and eyes more... I was clueless... This doctor was a very insensitive guy though. I asked him once about my eyelids and the way they were looking and if it was normal and he said don't look in the mirror so much. Incredible. It would be interesting to see how these doctors would react if they were in the same situation. It was my dermatologist that mentioned that there may be a link.

Do you have chronic blepharitis too Montgumski? What are your symptoms?

Cali,

I wholeheartedly sympathize with the anguish that you and everyone else has gone through in dealing with incompetent or insensitive physicians. I feel like my condition was caused by insensitivity as well - For 2 years I was complaining about my eyes being dry from my contact use, and never did my opthalmologist once fliip up my eyelids to look for MGD (I didnt know it existed, or I would have made her) - finally, my condition got to the point when I knew something was wrong and I went to a family friend optometrist who instantly, upon my complaints, looked under my lids and found GPC - she was great, but unfortunately she couldnt prescribe steroids and also didnt have enough equipment (she couldnt believe that my doctor had never looked under my eyelids) - so for 8 months I went from insensitive doctor to insensitive doctor, who kept prescribing me different steroids and other drugs and who did not seem too interested in A) my recovery B) any side effects, ie. increased intraocular pressure C) informing me of necessary information I needed to know or D)other possible underlying conditions

I finally went to wilmer eye institute, where they diagnosed MGD instantly, and I am trying now (I feel almost too late) to treat it effectively and consistently before it gets any worse (my main problems are blurred vision and off and on aching)

Anyways, the main point of my response is that I am currently a first year medical student, and it amazes me to see how so many doctors seem to be completely insensitive to the magnitude of these diseases' effects on peoples' livelihoods. So many of the doctors lacked motivation to provide necessary information, and did not try to place themselves in the situation and treat my condition with the seriousness that it deserves. I hope that in my own practices I will avoid the desensitization that takes place (I also hope that I won't have to be out on disability like someone suggested!) and be thorough in my investigation and my communication with my patients. I wish you all the best of luck and will keep you informed of my own progress.

Jeff

Hi purple - I remember you told me a while back that you are sensitive to the doxycycline. I'm sorry you have to start taking it again. Have you noticed any difference in your reaction to it if you take it at certain times of the day? For me, I found that the best time to take it was at night - a little while before I go to bed (1/2 hour) and at least 2 hours after I eat dinner. If I try to take it in the a.m. before breakfast, it makes me feel really sick. So maybe that's something you could try, if you haven't already. I hope it's helping your eyes, at least!:)

Hi lulu and Amy - hope you're experiencing improvement. In response to your questions: 1) I do have some veins on my eyelids, but the rims of my lids aren't red or swollen anymore. 2) I haven't had that gritty, burning sensation for over a year now. 3) My eyes don't feel dry anymore, and I am not sensitive to light or wind. 4) I do have some veins on the white parts of my eyes, but they are not as pronounced as they used to be. My eyes are definitely NOT as white as they once were, though. I think that's what I miss the most - having really bright, clear eyes. :( But I'm learning to live with it, and I'm just thankfull I'm not in pain anymore. Okay, keep me posted and let me know how you're doing!

Jen

Hi Amy (again) - I just realized I didn't answer all your questions. Sorry about that! As for the warm compresses and lid massages - I'd try to do them at least 4x/day(?). I know how hard it is to try to do them when you're at work, etc. So just do them when you can. I'd be really careful, though. At one point, I realized that doing so many compresses was actually starting to bug my eyes. So I started to pull back a little and not do them so often. Finally, I got to the point where I didn't need to do them anymore. I just massage my eyes a little bit when I'm in the shower now, and that seems to be enough for my eyes at this point.

Jen

JSR, glad we all have at least each other to vent to. Boy, it sure would be great if you went into opthalmology. Imagine the empathy you could have towards your patients!! I say don't let yourself get discouraged over this....fight through the discomfort/pain and get your degrees. One day, you may looking back at this as just a bad period you went through. Just take one day at a time.

By the way, what is GPC?

Yes, hard to believe some doctors. I remember asking this doctor later if I should have stayed on the doxycycline and he said yes. I then told him that his nurse told me only to take it for a month and the refills were for future flare-ups. He covered for her, I guess, and said that well, a month should have worked. That is just not true from what I understand. I really believe this stuff got worse because of his mistakes and my being misinformed. Maybe not... but I'm sure it didn't help.

Oh well. Got to stay in the present...Hang in there. Sure hope things get under control soon for you!

Hi Amy and other guys,
I think I need to join this board for qutie a while.

Amy, How can you notice that you eyelids are thicken? Can you notice that by yrself?

My major symptoms are
1 Sticky feeling when you blink
2 eye irritation, mostly white part of the eyes
3 Clicking sound when you blink (Sometime)
4 REDness upon wake up
5 Something is in yr eyes 24 hrs

Do you guys have this kind of problem?
I had punctual plugs in my lower tear ducts, which last for three months. They are going to dissolve soon. I should not have the plugs in, since I think my problem got worse since the plugs. Do you guys agree?

Now I just start doxycycline and again, Lotemax for two weeks. Will you think Lotemax will help? I used it before but only 5 days, so the new doctor gave me to use it for two weeks. After seeing too many doctors, I don't believe them that much. They just don't care about my problem.

Thanks

Hi Jen-
Thanks for your response. I actually had two pretty good days (not perfect, but not bad). I saw my opth today for a 1 mon re-ck and he of course wants me to continue the doxy but slack up on the lid massaging. Interesting. Said he thinks it might be irritating my eyes and to keep my hands away from my eyes more often. He said to keep up the compresses and lid scrubs though. I guess I'll shoot for 2-3 times a day on those. Thank you for your feedback. I know what you mean about missing your "white" eyes. Pink/ reddened eyes are definitely an ugly part of ocular rosacea.

Tris-

I have all of those symptoms you mentioned. I haven't noticed the clicking when I blink in awhile, but i did at my very dryest state a few months ago. That was most noticable for me upon awakening.

You asked about my eyelid thickening. Lately, particularly upon awakening, my bottom lids are especially swollen. The tissue is thicker with a puffiness all the way to the ring under my eyes. My dermatologist noticed the classic signs of blepharitis as well. Mornings also give me red eyelid margins. They usually get a bit better by mid day though.

I'm not impressed by punctum plugs. I had temporary ones awhile back and I felt my eyes were MORE irritated.

I think the Lotimax will not hurt you and may shrink down some swelling and inflammation in the short term. Let us know how you do.

Amy

Hi Jen! Thanks for your response to my questions. I'm glad to hear the blood vessels have become less pronounced; I hope that mine will also lessen someday. I'm really encouraged by your results, and have new determination to keep up the whole pain-in-the-neck routine (compresses, massages, scrubs, doxy). I hope you'll keep checking back on the boards; we really need the support of someone who's made it through this! :)

Tris: I have the same symptoms as you listed. I always thought the clicking sound was strange; anyone have any ideas as to the reason for this? It happens occasionally, not all the time.

Also, when I am doing my lid massages, there is sometimes a kind of squeaky noise when I press on the upper lids. Anyone else experience this? Still, I do not have anything actually coming out of the glands (not that I can see, anyway).

One more note for people who have nausea/etc with doxy: there is a coated version of doxy called Doryx, which is supposed to be easier on the stomach. That's what I've been taking, and I haven't yet experienced any such side effects.

Bye for now--hang in there everyone, and have a great weekend!

Thanks Lulu and Amy,
I had this problem because of lasik. I afraid to do lid scrub because it might move my corneal. Mostly, I just do warm compress. When you do warm compress, Do yr eyes get red? My eyes get really red for a while after warm compress. I don't like to see my eyes get red, so I only do warm compress twice a day. Do you guys rub the eyes when the washcloth on? Do you think we are going to have this problem forever? Someday, I am so frustrated and miss my life so much. I want to feel normal eyes again. Just want to wake up one day and don't have to look at my eyes. Don't need to put any drops in it. It is my dream!!!!

tris, welcome to the boards. I've been suffering with severe dry eyes due to lack of tears, as well as MGD for 3 years. Don't get discouraged. I have had considerable improvement since my problem first began. My doctor cauterized all 4 of my tear ducts, which is helping to preserve the small amount of tears that I do have.

My MGD however, is much, much harder to treat. The thing that helps me the most is hot compresses.

Just a quick update on my condition: I went back to the doctor last week to make sure the corneal surface on my left eye was healing. It has. But now I am on another anti-biotic because I have a bad bacterial infection in both eyes. It is slowly going away, and at least I don't have any more green stuff dripping out of my eyes. This is all due to the darn dryness. I get so frustrated sometimes, I just want to throw all of my eyedrops out the window!

i was curious... does everyone who has MGD have bilateral inflammation? or inflammation of the whole eye? even if its just slight inflammation...

Hi,
My MGD is just the lids. However, this affects my whole eye and it feels very dry. I guess this is because there is little oil to mix with the tears and the eyes don't get lubricated properly.
BB

Hi everyone. I am brand new to this site and am so thankful to have found it. I have been suffering with rosacea bleph for years and just recently found a doctor who diagnosed it. I am no youngster, 67 years old, and find in my entire life, this is one of the worst ailments I have had. I had catarac surgery 2-1/2 years ago and it seems since then, the problem has become full blown. Finally was diagnosed with bleph, not sure which about 6 months ago. But until I found this site I thought I was the only one with this problem. I even thought I might be allergic to the lens implants.

At first my current dr. had me doing compresses and scrubs at night and using steroids. The steroids made my eye pressure shoot up so high I was having blank spots in my vision. Went off the steroids and tried a lot of different drops but none worked. Finally he just put me on doxy a week ago. Am taking 100 mgs. twice a day for a month then will be on once a day for 2 more months, of course depending on results. So far, no change and I am really in a world of hurt. My eyes burn almost constantly and also itch a lot. When I look in the mirror it seems my eyes have sunk into my head. I look like a zombie.

Can anyone tell me about massaging the eyelids? My doctor didn't tell me anything about that. How is it done and how long? Also how long do you keep your warm compresses on and do they have to be moist heat or can I use a heated flax pack? Also, how do they express the eyelids. Do you just squeeze the lids?

I was told to use baby shampoo for scrubbing the lids but I bought some Ocusoft and it seems to be more gently on my eyes. Baby shampoo does burn.

Again, I am so glad to have found this forum as I really thought I was alone in this. Any help anyone can give will be so appreciated. Thanks