Won't go away!!!
Posted , 16 users are following.
I have had Blepharitis in my right eye for three months straight now...
I have visited my local GP who advised me the only way to 'control' the infection is to use a hot compress against the eye four times a day. I did this religiously for 4 weeks straight - no change or improvement.
I continued with the hot compress and after two weeks I decided to visit Moor Fields Eye Hospital (Europe's leading eye hospital) - they also told me the same thing 'there is no cure'.
My is constantly swollen, red and itchy - it is driving me crazy!
I have had a look at the comments on this forum and a lot of comments write 'WET ONES' reduce the swelling. Is this true?!
Thanks,
Imogen
0 likes, 48 replies
lee12629 imogen04316
Posted
pamela48771 imogen04316
Posted
Ultimately you will gather an arsenal of tools to control this incurable condition. It took 18 months for me to get my Bleph under control and if I let my cleansing routine slip it soon flares up. I shampoo my eye lashes and lids with Johnsons baby shampoo morning and night, use a microwaveable heat mask directly afterwards for ten minutes then cleanse each eye with a strip of Wet Wipe moving my finger along the strip so I don't use the same area twice. Then I apply Carmellose eye drops for dry eye. If my eyes are uncomfortable during the day I again cleanse with a wipe. (After about a year of using Wet Wipes they started to irritate my eye so in fact I now use ordinary wipes but if I were to have a severe episode of Bleph I'd go back to a Wet Wipes.) it was with Wet a Wipes and Johnsons shampoo that I got the most improvement.
I use use hell eye masks if I am travelling which are heated in boiling water in a thermos cup with the lid on for 10 minutes. Not as good as the microwave heated mask but if I don't have access to a microwave such as in hotels then it's all I can do. I have recently returned from a trip where I had to resort to hot flannels which worked well for a few days. Not sure how it'd be for two weeks...I shall find out later in the year.
like other sufferers I experience light sensitivity. Particularly bothered by the white harsh light in shops, theatre, music venues and when particularly severe I'm discomforted by candle light and other 'pinpoint' light sources. i wear Polaroid sun glasses when I need to but try to keep this to a minimum as it can make eyes too 'dark aware'.
If if I keep up a vigilant routine I am comfortable for a great deal of the time. It's taken all this while (2 years) to get to know my condition. I'm controlling MGD all the time and warding off Bleph episodes too but have got into a routine and getting on with my life.
i wear makeup occasionally when I know I can get away with it.
Dont let it stop you from leading your life as normal. Good luck.
daniela19974 pamela48771
Posted
I read your post and I noticed you wrote you are controlling your MGD. I have posterior Blefaritis or MGD as you , and I wanted to ask you how you managed to control it, because it is driving me crazy... i cannot think of other things anymore... i am losing control of my life.
Thank you so much
pamela48771 imogen04316
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imogen04316 pamela48771
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Thank-you so much for the feedback.
I am in my early twenties and my work in a client facing work environment so having this massive bulge on my eye is rather frustrating!
It seems like such a task to have to do all of this every single day for the foreseable future but I guess that is just like now!
Thanks again,
Imogen
lee12629 pamela48771
Posted
pamela48771 imogen04316
Posted
my doctor has also given me fucidin gel to put on my eyelids when necessary.
I dont one go anywhere without a pack of wipes and a few eye drop vials.
Dont nt let this condition undermine your confidence or happiness. X
girl32479 imogen04316
Posted
Imogen,
I have up and went to see a private doctor. He properly looked at all my eye surface using a dye and at the lids. He advised:
- no contact lenses
- take flax seed or omega3 capsules
- buy the "flax seed MGD mask" - available on Amazon black and silver eye bag. Use heated twice a day
- massage lids twice a day (there are videos on YouTube which show how)
- use Blephaclean wipes to clean the lids (an especially made version of wet ones, basically)
- vexxol drops (steroid) to heal the damage on my eye x2 a day for 4 weeks
- opatanol drops to keep down redness x2 a day
- hylo forté drops to lubricate x2 a day
I know it's a LOT but after the 4 weeks of vexxol steroid drops my redness had gone down. It's a very long uphill battle
Good luck!
imogen04316 girl32479
Posted
Do you just eat flax seeds or do you take pills?
Is your eye swollen?
Sorry for all the questions!
It is odd as when I went to Mallorca for two days the swollen area on my eye went down to the point where it looked like my normal eye!
pamela48771 imogen04316
Posted
Hi again, I take Omega3 fish oil capsules which I buy from Holland and Barrett when they have a deal on. I haven't tried flax supplements.
if I follow my routine with the microwave heated mask which is filled with grape seeds I am as near normal as I'll ever be. I stick to grape seed filled masks as I don't know if I'd react to flax seed.
I went away away for a few days recntly and had the bright idea of using a facial steamer instead of my Gell masks. Not successful. Within a day my eyelids swelled and got lumpy and twitched and itched like mad. I'd also forgotten to pack my eye drops. Luckily I could buy the Carmellose eye drops over the counter at Boots pharmacy for £5 ish. As for heat treatment I used a folded clean, hot flannel for ten minutes, constantly reheating it with the hottest after I could stand. It worked. The next morning my lashes were covered in blobs of white discharge and the lumps and swelling were gone. I deduce that the swellings and discomfort were caused by MGD oil back up into the lids and the heat treatment released it. Another lesson learned about my condition.
When end we went to Holland recently my eyes felt completely normal. We were in self catering so had a microwave so my routine was as normal. On return home I had swelling, itching and redness in my left eye for a few days. I put this down to the pollution in our area. Where we stayed in Holland was cleaner air as the cars were mainly electric in the towns we visited.
girl32479 imogen04316
Posted
I was going to take flax seed capsules but they only sell huge ones which I can't swallow so I bought extra concentrated smaller omega 3 capsules on Amazon.
I didn't particularly think my eyes were swollen but family said they were slightly. I get very dry eyes and red waterline, and crusty in the morning. Plus lots and lots of gland cysts (I have around 10 that still haven't gone down)
I think a change of environment does help sometimes! Doc says most Bleph is allergies.
Just so you know I am 21 and didn't live normally for a while but since doc said the irritation has gone down I've been wearing liquid eyeliner mascara and eye shadow. No contacts though
. I'm just waiting for my glands to unblock now so dryness will cease. Seems I'm "half cured".
fiona51388 imogen04316
Posted
Hi Imogen, I don't know if this is any help but I tried wet ones and agreed they worked for about two months but then the irritation came back just as bad so I now look upon wet ones as a quick fix that wasn't really durable, however I found a daily anti histamine, certain they are called, a really truly enormous help in so far as all I get now is about 20% at most of what the symptoms were before and to control that I use the gorgeous thick blephagel in the handy large tubs, night and morning, sometimes I don't need it, but I swear by this routine, I'm no longer up the wall because of it, so that's what I'd recommend as its stayed off for a good four months, so do try this, works better than anything else I've tried ever, good luck, Fiona
fiona51388
Posted
Whoops, so sorry, typo, that's cetrazine the anti histamine are called
fiona51388
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I can wear make up now with this combination, ever my special occasion glitter eye shadow with no I'll effects
imogen04316 fiona51388
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Thank-you Fiona so is your eye no longer red/swollen?
I have searched 'certain antihistamine' on google no products have appeared!
fiona51388 imogen04316
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Hi there, sorry it was my predictive text, they're called cetrazine and yes I have absolute faith in my routine now, they are almost 100% clear at all times now. Different things work for different folk but given that I don't feel you could go far wrong with this.
lee12629 fiona51388
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fiona51388 lee12629
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I have heard there are two different types of blepharitis but a bit mystified myself as to the technical details and what they involve or are defined, I can only assume I have the type of bleph that responds well to anti histamine, sorry I can't be of more help xx
pamela48771 lee12629
Posted
It hasn't made a difference to me but dry eye is a part of my Bleph so I just deal with it. I think it's a case of suck it and see. Good luck
pamela48771 fiona51388
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Not sure if it's related to what type of Bleph one has but rather how allergic one is. We have so much pollution and natural allergens about. Im better in the months of Dec, Jan and Feb. Also Bleph makes eyes and eye lids so sensitive they react to dust, pollutants and allergens even if one didn't experience hay fever or reactions before. It's a bit of a mystery tour for each one of us. Lol
fiona51388 pamela48771
Posted
I agree there, I think though that someone mentioned what they called "posteria" and "anteria" bleph as being two distinct types but I've never discussed this with anyone medical so not sure xx
girl32479 fiona51388
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Anterior Blepharitis is where the external visible eyelid and lash line is cristy and red and sore from infection or whatever. The actual skin.
Posterior Blepharitis is also known as meinomiam gland disorder. This is inside the eyelid and caused cysts/styes due to the lack of lubrication/poor production of eye lubrication.
lee12629 fiona51388
Posted