Posterior blepharitis help

Eye care
1

Hi all.

I have been suffering from posterior blepharitis for 3 months and I am feeling hopeless. All the information I find seems to be about curing anterior bleph which I don't have at all.

My eyes look normal from the outside, except the lids are pretty swollen, but not red. On the inside of my eyelids near the margins by eyes are inflamed and bright red.

Doctors gave me some fucithalmic acid which helped a bit until I had to stop with it. I recently went back for more but have been told by every pharmacy in town it's no longer being made by the manufacturer, so that sucks...they also put my on doxycyline for a week which brought down the swelling a lot, but they wouldn't give me any more :S

After coming off the doxy my eyes are almost worse than ever. I am in a lot of pain, my eyes constantly burn and feel very dry.

Does anyone else have this? Can anyone offer advise? Thanks.

2

Hi luna, I'm sorry you are having such a rotten time.  Do you use an ocular lubricant for the dry eyes?  That would help with the burning and relieve the dryness.  I can't remember what the bottle tells you regarding dosage but when my eyes are particulalry dry,  I use the drops very often and 'squirt' them rather than instil a single drop.

3

I expect you have looked at the Patients uk page on Blepharitis.  I also thought this one from Bupa might be helpful

http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/b/blepharitis

https://patient.info/health/Blepharitis.htm

4

Thank you mrsmop. I use an eye gel called GenTeal which is the best lubricant I have found so far. I does make my eyes a bit less dry but not so that it relieves the constant burning feeling.

5

Hi Luna,  I have suffered from blepharitis for many years.  I have it under reasonable control now.  Symptoms in the past have been as you have red rims,

swollen lids, dry eyes, burning, gritty feeling, light sensitivity, little ulcers on inside of rims etc.  I am in the UK you don't mention where you are.  What advice have been given for daily cleaning regime. On this forum you find lists of what others do for this condition.  The usual is hot compresses following my eye lid massage

and thorough cleaning of the areas around the eye lashes.  Different regimes and products works for different people.  Have a look on this forum. With regard to lubricant for dry eyes I use celluvisc preservative free individual phials.  Hope you can find something which works for you.  Take care.

6

libralady you have reminded me, I am allergic to hypromellose, which is the main ingredient in GenTeal, so I use Liquifilm and Lacrilube but for my other drops, I use Minims preservative free.

7

https://patient.info/medicine/fusidic-acid-eye-drops-fucithalmic

Have you read this luna?  I would be surprised if every ophthalmic eye drop containing fusidic acid had been withdrawn.

It could be that there is a manufacturing problem.  I had that last year with my Cosopt eye drops and I was being given Cosopt from Spain and France!  It is now avaiable in English again.  They told me it was a manufacturing problem with that.

8

I asked at the pharmacists and with my doctor and they all said that there's only the one drop sad the alternative they recommended was the over-the-counter types of anti-biotic eyedrops which don't help me at all. It's very frustrating!

9

The only other eye drop that I can think of that is similar, is chloramphenicol

 

10

Sorry to hear that you have the same symptoms, I know it can be painful. I am in the UK too.

I clean my eyes when i wake up and before I go to bed, but to be honest it doesn't seem to make a difference.

This all started 2 months after I went back on the contraceptive pill to help with my acne. I'd been on it before for years with no problems, but as my acne had gotten worse again I decided to go back on to it. Just before my eyes started hurting I don't my skin was incredably dry. It had never been this dry when I was on the pill before. Usually I have pretty oilly skin, and now all of a sudden I could go a full day out and not have to blot once. It was so dry I was having to use extra oily moisturiser for the first time in my life. And then this happened to my eyes...when I made the connection I came off the pill but unfortunately it does not seem to have reversed the damage done sad I am so annoyed with myself for ever having gone back on the pill!

11

Can I ask what you use to clean your eyes.  The standard advice has always been cooled boiled water with baby shampoo.  A lot of people find this drying and it can sting even with just a tiny drop of the shampoo.  I have changed over to the boiled water with half teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.  I find this much better.  I also take a cotton wool make up pad and wipe it over each eye lid after cleaning with the solution and q tips.  There is also a solution called blephasol which the opthalmologist at the hospital said his patients were saying it was good.

I bought a bottle and to be honest nothing wrong with it but did not make any difference that I could see.  Also there are the wipes which lots of people say are brilliant.  Look at other postings for info.

 

12

I am using boiled water with a bit of sea salt in it. I will try baking soda though, that sounds interesting! Thanks.

13

It is bicarbonate of soda  you need 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon in cup of cooled boiled water.  I think it is the same as baking soda but I just kept to what  was told.  You can but try hope it helps.

14

Hi luna222

I have been reading the posts sorry to hear you have not found something to ease your eyes yet,Have you tried wet ones if you are based in the uk they are the ones with benzalkonium chloride in.They are be fresh originals antibacterial and also wet ones be gentle sensitive i also use optrex eye drops for tired eyes.I to suffered since 2003/4 and now i clean my eyes only twice a day (morning/night).I used to clean my eyes with cooled boiled water and baby shampoo but when i found this site they said baby shampoo could dry your eyes out as if they werent dry enough!! I found posts by Lynda79 and honjon were very helpfull. but there again you will find a few helpful hints on here from different people  if you decide to try the wet ones wash eyes 4times a day to start with but only use enough to put on your finger and wipe the rim of your eye not in the eye but make sure you are not allergic to any of the ingredients first so good luck and look up Lynda79rolleyes   

 

15

Thanks Jeanette. I have read the posts about wet ones, but they seem to be for anterior bleph? I don't think that would help me too much since I don't think my problem is caused by bacteria.

16

try putting bio-oil all over your face twice a day massaging it into your eyelashes it gets rid of all the gritty bits from going into your eyes i have been using this method for over 2 year after trying everything that glasgow royal infirmary opthalmic dept gave me which was no use it really really works for me buy the small bottle first to see how it works let me know if you try it regards catherine

17

Dear Luna,

 

I got this information from Review of Ophthalmology on-line.

Notice where this eye doctor says to put the medicine for Blepharitis.

AzaSite is azithromycin, an antibiotic.

“ If patients have mild-to-moderate disease, she adds AzaSite rubbed into the lid margins twice a day, which is an off-label use. “Patients put one drop of AzaSite on one index finger, rub it between both index fingers, and then rub it on the four lid margins, where the eyelashes dive into the skin on the top of the eyelid wall,” she says.”

There is a wonderful new treatment called BlephEx. A little machine that cleans guess what? The eyelash area and the lid margins are cleaned of dead skin cells and scurf and they use tea tree oil on the rotating little head.

The problem of Blepharitis is on the eyelash area and lid margins.

I used the Wet Ones, antibacterial hand wipes with Benzethonium Chloride in them, and was able to do the same thing. Only thing is if someone is allergic to shampoos, detergents, fabric softeners or even spermicidal jellies they should not use them.

If the staphylococcus infection is too bad or gone on too long it could end up being mites, called Demox, and tea tree oil is used for that problem.

Honjon on this site had the oily problem and the hand wipes in the UK with Benzalkonium Chloride in then solved his problem.

Where to treat the problem is half the battle. There are 3 things mentioned above that can help.

Hope this information helps you.

Lynda79

 

18

Hi, Luna.

i have exactly the same problem. Have you heard of a procedure called Blephex .

they expholiate your eyes. Why has no one on this forum mentioned this. They do this in NewYork, and in Paris. Found out London maybe are considering  having this apparitise here. If not I am willing to go to Paris to have this done. Anyone welcome to join me. This is the only way to get rid of this pest of a condition.

19

DEar Mary,

I googled BlephEx and watched the video. The machine cleans the lids and eye margins but it needs to be done every 3 to 6 months. The video said it is not covered by insurance and cost between $65 to $85 per eye. I think it will be more depending on the area one lives in.

This would be a wonderful start on cleaning the eyes. If it is a staphylococcus infection it will not kill it. That has to be done by the wipes or an antibiotic.

Please watch the video. It was very interesting.

Hope this helps.

Lynda79

20

Hi, Lynda,

i have seen with interest the procedure. It's amazing. I'm at present using wet ones. Have been given antibiotic drops, ointment and the rest. Nothing works. Yes 130  dollars was quoted, and two maybe three procedures, and completely free of this pest of a complaint. It would be so interesting to hear from someone who has had this done, but I'm willing to go ahead with anyone who's interested.. Also it would be nice if this could be done in London, but I don't think they have the apparitise  yet.. Anyway, this site is so complicated, so my email address is _________, if you would like to keep in touch.

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