iron deficient- blepharitis- its gone!!!!

Eye care
1

HI - I'm new to blepharitis. I have only been suffering with it for a few months and it has been a nightmare. I have tried so many different remedies with no luck

My symptoms have been a combination of the following:

dry eyes, swollen puffy sore red eye lids, eye lid flaking and dryness, dry eyes, gritty eyes, itchy eyelashes- eyelash and eye brow loss (I lost almost all my eyelashes on my right eye : (

Here is what I have tried that didn't work and then Ill tell you what did work!

- castor oil- no luck- helped a bit with eye lid swelling

- AzoSite topical antibiotics- temporarily helped with gritty dry eyes

- soolanga ivermectin cream ($600 US price) on lashes - made my eyelids really swollen

and sore

- apple cider vinegar (braggs) diluted and used as eye drops and scrubbed lids and lashes (slight improvement but only for a few days and even while I was still using it- it was back!)

-tea bags eye compresses and massage

- honey (slightly soothed lids but not eyes)

- baking soda eyewashes and scrubbing lashes only with solution (1/4 tsp in 1/2 cup water)- ok so this helped my lashes and eye balls but made my lids sore- I used A&D ointment to soothe them which helped but it was only helping a little and it just kept coming back after a few hours of not treating them.

- wet ones (ouch!)

So, I am a holistic type of person and believe that the body talks to us with illness, symptoms etc.

At first I thought maybe this is a fungal infection- Apple cider vinegar and baking soda would have worked if it was

Next I thought, its a mite infestation- so I used the ivermectin cream- nope, that didn't work

Then I thought, ok its bacterial and its just a really really hard thing to get rid of cause its in the eyelashes- OMG, this is going to take months to get rid of!

Then, I remembered I had read that a woman had posted about being anemic- she took some iron and her blepharitis cleared up. The first thing I thought was no way, it probably came back and she just never posted again to update. But then I thought, why not? Ive tried everything else and I don't want to deal with this for months and months or years and years.

Went to doc and got my iron checked (I just had blood work done a few months ago and she said everything came back normal) Turns out, they don't check your iron in a standard blood test for a physical- Guess what? I'm anemic....hmmmmm..interesting..maybe just maybe..please God ...Please let this be it

Started taking 25mg iron bysglycinate ( this type helps you not to get constipated- I have enough going on- who wants that too?)

I also got out my Ninja and blended up a spinach leaf smoothie - blueberries, strawberries, lots of spinach, kale and a squeeze of fresh lemon

Get ready.....its working! I mean its really really working! I had results as early as that night. The swelling started to go down, the itchiness  felt better too. So we have all been there when something feels like its working but then it comes back right? Not this- not so far. its been a few weeks and I'm 100% back to normal- wearing makeup and everything!

Here is what I learned- hemoglobin (iron in our blood) supplies oxygen to the body- when our eyes don't get enough oxygen, they don't function properly. Iron needs Vitamin C for better absorption so I take it with a squeeze of lemon in my water , smoothie or juice. I also added liver capsules from the health food store. Its basically dehydrated calf liver (the organ meat which I cannot eat- yuck!) Because its food based and not a supplement, I thought it would be good too.

I continued with the baking soda eye washes, and eyelash wiping with a qtip in the solution and then put a tiny bit of A&D ointment on the red swollen lid for a few days just in case when I first started the iron.

I also have battled Candida for many many years. Guess what, Candida steals iron from our bodies to invade more cells. I added colostrum (cause it has lactoferrin in it) to protect the iron from candida. Otherwise, your basically just feeding your candida. Skip this step if you don't have candida although Colostrum seems to be SUPER good for you

So to recap

I am anemic. I have candida. I had blepharitis

I take 25mg iron bysglycanate a day

I take liver capsules 3 times day (am, lunch, and pm) or eat organ meat liver, pate, etc

I make a smoothie, juice or salad with spinach everyday if I can- always sure to have with lemon (sometimes I take ENER-C powder)

I take my iron pill with my colostrum or add it to my smoothie so it protects the iron from the candida.

I really really hope this helps someone out there. I have seen posts of people suffering for years. Be sure to not overdose on iron, it can be very dangerous- have your iron checked by your doctor, If your not anemic in your blood work, try adding lots of iron based foods to your diet and see if it helps- the liver capsules at the health food store are just dehydrated organ meat.

Good luck to you all. I hope this helps

 

2

thanks for sharing this & always great to read success stories. i'm just starting my battle against blepharitis with benzalkonium chloride wipes but will add iron tablets and increase my spinach intake,

3

Deb35237,

I have tried fish oil it has helped me immensely. It's the only thing I've changed besides exercise and my blood pressure meds. My quality of life has improved in the past several weeks. I feel almost normal until I think about it too much. I take fish oil (2 pills) daily. I am thinking of trying 2 pills 2x daily. Not sure what caused my blepharitis but my cholesterol levels is normal now too and the blinking has subsided substantially. Hope this info can be of help to others my iron levels are normal thanks for posting it seems like the liver capsules are working for you and fish oil capsules are doing the same for me!

4

I just switched to lactoferrin. it basically grabs the free iron floating around in your blood and uses it appropriately. Its similar to an iron sup but uses whats in my body that is not getting used right. I had a complete iron panel at the doc and all my "other" iron levels are in the low low range. We think I have an absorption problem. Is the iron helping you?

5

Manuka Honey has been a miracle for me.

6

Hi Deb,

I just wanted to say a hugeeeee thank you for sharing your experience of clearing up your blepharitis with us. I know this post is 3 years old but you dont understand how you have helped me fight my battle. i have been suffering from blepharitis for many many months. I used everything i could … ocusoft eyelid wipes, blephasol, manuka honey, steroid creams, anti histimines, diprobase, warm compresses and many other things but they only worked to an extent and my condition would come back worse. After i came across your post i thought why not give iron a try. My hair fell out a lot, i felt fatigued and my skin felt dry all the time. i started taking the gentle iron supplements with vitamins C supplements, although it has been a week, my eyes have pretty much cleared up and i feel soooo much more confident. i am quite disappointed with the doctors as they kept fobbing me off saying its an allergy, and then saying it is blepharitis and you cannot do anything about it apart from warm compresses.

I am extremely grateful to you for posting your experience and trust me its made my life sooo much easier. i had lost self confidence but now i feel a lot better knowing that my blepharitis have improved immensely.

I would like to say a huge thank you to you and i hope this post helps many suffering from blepharitis.

Many Thanks