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These are the only drops that I have been able to tolerate for my dry eyes at night. All other drops cause my eyelids to sting because the skin is so inflamed and irritated. These still cause some stinging but much more mild and I am able to go back to sleep easier. They feel great on my eyeballs themselves it is just the skin below my lash line that stings. Below is more information on how I use them and my condition.
A Path to Comfort:
1 – find an eye doctor that understands that blepharitis is an issue of both the skin and the eye. Unfamiliar doctors brush it off and just prescribe you antibiotic ointments or they tell you that it is permanent and there is not much you can do except compresses.
2 – a doctor can prescribe a steroid to maintain sanity shorterm and immediately slow or stop damage continuing to your meibomian glands/eye. Prolonged use of steroids will lead to macular degeneration and/or thinning of the skin. Tapering off a steroid is no joke. 2 drops to 1 drop to no drops in the span of a month is way too fast in my experience.
3 - Patience is key, find ways to help focus your mind and cut yourself slack in typical responsibilities. There are councilors that help people develop methods to deal with chronic pain.
4 – Test eliminating common allergy foods, even if you never had an allergy in your life, if you find that your sleep / gastrointestinal issues / eyes improve within a few days it is very likely you are onto something. Because so many allergic foods are disguised in “Natural Flavors” or natural preservatives try eating only single ingredient foods if you can that don’t require special preparation or sauces.
5 – be careful to understand whether hot or cold compresses are best for your condition. This is the most basic care and often seems misguided. Is the issue softening gland blockages or reducing inflammation (that is in turn blocking glands)?
Suspected Causes in my case – in no particular order
-High Amounts of Stress, Hot Sauce addiction, Food Allergies/Intolerances, Poor care of eyes with overuse of contact lenses, Frequent video calls / not blinking enough
Description of Blepharitis Symptoms when they were at their worst
-red, inflamed, swollen, and eye lids, skin would peal and flake like eczema from the swelling
-Very small red bumpy spots on lid margins and on inside of lids referred to as “cobblestone-ing”
-wanted to claw my eyes out from itchy and burning sensations, dryness would bother the most in the evening and at night, when swollen lids did not allow eyes to close completely
-Had a hard time concentrating on tasks, would have to close my eyes, think about what I was going to do and then just focus on one thing at a time. Thought I might not be able to keep working, or at least not in a demanding job.
-white of eyeball was red at inside corner
-2mm bump on lower eyelid below lash line that was clear/not red except when a red dot would form almost like a tiny scab that could not be picked. The bump did not hurt. When my eyes were at their worst this would form in the same spot, as it would start to go away the red dot would appear and it would slowly start to deflate and eventually go away completely
-A few white spots formed over glands from clogging at different times
Eye & Body Care Routine Timeline: 2 years and counting (these are not recommendations but a snapshot of my process and how it evolved, I only detail the eye routine at the beginning and where I’m at now
0 – Poor Doctor Guidance (6-8 months) hot compresses 4 times a day, baby shampoo eye washes, eyes getting progressively worse
1 – Good Doctor Steroid & Taper (3-4 months)- cold compresses on eyes for 20 mins 4 times a day. Closing eyes as much as possible, tried to do work on paper rather that computer whenever I could. Was able to manage after tapering off steroid but still had redness, dry eyes at night, and peeling skin. Noticed the less I ate the better I felt. AM
Morning shower – let cool/medium temp water wet lids with eyes closed, do normal shower routine, then toward end very gently use pads of middle or index finger to massage lash line in circular motion. Careful to not touch part of lid above lash line closest to your eye. For top lid I close eyes and use a gentle sweeping motion from top of eye down to lid and then do a couple side to side movements. You can feel little bits of skin come off on your fingertips. The better my eyes get the less skin sloughs off. Even when my eyes were bad this didn’t hurt but often felt good like itching and itch, so had to be careful not to rub too much.
Pataday Eye Drops – 1 drop per eye (no sting in eyes – inflamed lids may sting a bit but this is generally soothing) As it dries will be a bit sticky
Zocushield – after eyes had dried a bit from finishing morning routine, squeeze 3mm drop of Zocushield onto fingertip and press two finger tips together to then distribute over lids and lashline keeping eyes closed. When lids are bad this will sting a bit and you can feel the heat of inflammation on your lids.
Night – Ivizia eye drops as needed, these drops stung the least on my red lids.
General – cool towel or jade eye mask at intervals during the day as needed to reduce inflammation
2 Allergy Phase – (6 months) eye doc suggested seeing allergist. Soy & tree nut allergy. Huge eye improvement and no more diarrhea after avoiding soy. Stopped binging on my favorite Mexican food and hot sauce. Sad face.
3 Gut Health (6 months) – noticed if I avoided fresh vegetables and certain foods my eyes improved more. Still needed eye drops at night. Regularly thought I was healed and would then be disappointed again with flare ups after eating at restaurants or drinking alcohol. Started loosely following low FODMAP diet and saw improvements in eyes. Lower abdominal pain at night – colonoscopy did not show any issues.
4 Rediscovering Allergies (4 months)– thought if I could eliminate soy entirely from toothpaste, the feed that animals are given (soy and corn free eggs), etc, etc, my eyes would improve, they did, but not entirely. Started noticing an itchy eye reaction from eating a banana or other foods within 15mins to hour.. Went back to allergist and a new allergist. Vastly different interpretations of the same test. Outcome – new allergist said I didn’t have any allergies but might have SIBO.
5 Rediscovering Gut Health (6 months – ongoing) Started seeing integrative medicine doc. Tested positive for SIBO and may have histamine intolerance, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. What I can eat: corn & soy free eggs, 100% grass fed and finished beef and beef liver, blanched swiss chard and kale, blueberries, A2 soy free cream, white rice, white potatoes, mild organic coffee, fresh wild caught sashimi, coconut oil, avocado oil, wild caught salmon cooked. Eye routine: rinse eyes in am shower, light fingertip massage, no more drops. Left eye appears to have completely healed, right eye has light pink zone and some flakiness on portion of lower lid. No more eye drops. No more fatigue, little to no dryness at night. The saga continues to expand my diet without my eyes reacting.
I hope this helps someone else find comfort much sooner than it took me.
Things I’ve tried when my eyes were at their worst that helped with caveats:
Glass Eye cup – body temperature warm water with salt. When my eyes were at their worst I did develop a white stye on one of my lower lid glands. After holding warm salt water to my eye and blinking for 10 seconds and repeating this 3 more times the stye was gone. This excitement then led to me trying this 4 times a day instead of my hot compresses (which were just adding to my inflammation) this was not good. My eyelids became extremely irritated and I never did again use this method but think it could help people with more stye issues with caution and moderation.
Manuka honey – medical grade eye drops or gel. Stung like crazy to start but redness and irritation would subside for the day. Eyes were back to where they started the next day.
| Brand | iVIZIA |
| Item Weight | 0.42 Ounces |
| Item dimensions L x W x H | 4.8 x 3.1 x 2.2 inches |
| Product Benefits | Eye Care |
| Specific Uses For Product | relieve dry eye symptoms |
