Any eye experts to diagnose me?

[aleene]

Since July I have had problems with my eyes. some itchiness, sometimes extreme. Including eyelids if that makes sense. At other times my right eye especially feels tender and uncomfortable, like I have had it open too long or been sitting in a draught. I have new lenses (Gas P) but have not worn them much since I got them in August.
Seen a doctor twice - first doc thought it was allergic conjunctivitis, second doc though eye infection.

Really want my eyes to feel better! Anyone help me?

not an expert but the idea of dry eyes comes to mind.

why not see your optician rather than a GP?

Go to an optician for a diagnosis, much better than seeing your GP.
It should be free, you fill in a form with details about your doctor and it's covered by the NHS.
Presuming you are in Britain that is.

Thanks both. I did see an optician. In fact I saw him a few times as he wouldn't let me get new lenses until my eyes had improved a bit. Perhaps I should go back and see him again? It seems to flare up and down. In the summer he wondered if it was related to the pollen although I don't have hayfever typically.

Hi, i'm in same situation, approx. Got sleeping toddler on my knee, so apols if abrupt. Had onset of dry eye when DD born May last year. My symptoms same as yours, inc cojunctivitis x2 or 3, and last year GP I think said dryness exacerbates tendency for inflamed eyelids and possibly allergy. It comes and goes tbh but for last few months I have taken antihistamines every day and I find that wearing my daily disposable lenses helps. I inadvertently saw optician when went for my annual lens check-up about a month ago. He said, like yours, maybe pollen but dryness doesnt help and did mention some drops you can use when you have lenses in. This week there have been 3 evenings when I have almost wanted to rub my eye out of its socket. Back to GP tomorrow and will post if glean anything of use.

aleene

I would also see the optician rather than the GP.

In my case my eye problems (it did not affect my vision) were caused by the glands in my eyes filling up and causing pressure to build. It has a name: MGD and it can be very much underdiagnosed.

Thanks to you both too. Whenwilli - let me know how you get on, our symptoms sound very similiar. I will have a look at MGD, thanks Attila.

OP -What are you using on your eyes? You said that you are not using your contact lenses but are you still wearing make up etc? If you are it may be worth not wearing any make up at all for a few days as well as seeing your optician. I know if sounds grim but if you have got dry eyes they get super sensitive when inflamed and irritated. (I have severe dry eye so know how I terrible my eyes can feel - you have my sympathy).

Whenwill - also suggest not wearing any contact lenses if you can for a week or so and see if that helps your eyes calm down.

Bear in mind that antihisthamines can exacerbate eye dryness. If the main problem is dryness, not allergy, then antihisthamines could well make the problem even worse!

Not sure how much useful stuff I got from GP today - her advice not dissimilar to yours, rabbit - didn't explicitly tell me to stop taking antihistamines but I think I will anyway and see what happens. She said my problem is essentially dry eyes, exacerbated by middle age and having eczema, perhaps not helped by something hormonal because I am still bf. The inflamed eyelids are result of same dryness, not so much eczema or allergy. She said I need to do 'really good eye toilet' (what a phrase) by which she suggested bathing eyelids top and bottom 3x daily in sterile water, 500ml, with half tsp salt dissolved in it. Less wearing of lenses and she suggested drop called mel...something, which I bought because cheaper than prescription.

Pands - generally I only wear foundation and powder - not mascara and perhaps only eyeshadow about once a fortnight. I bought Omega 3 fish oil today as I read it can help suffers with MGD - which Attila mentioned so will see if that helps.

Hi, aleene. Flax seed oil is supposed to be particularly helpful for MGD (it doesn't make any difference to some people, but others find it as helpful as low dose doxycycline, which is sometimes given to people with MGD as it seems to thin out the lipid layer of the body's eye lubrication and reduce inflammation in the meibomian glands - ie ease the symptoms of MGD in some people), and I was also told that evening primrose oil might help, too.

As well as eye cleaning and bathing, if the problem is caused by clogged meibomian glands, it is also a good idea to warm the eyelids (eg by pressing a hottish flannel against them for at least five minutes) to thin out the oils that are trapped in them and then to massage your eyelids gently, starting at the inside corner and working out towards the outside corner of your eyes. If the lipid layer of eye lubrication is working properly, it stops the watery layer from evaporating too quickly, so slows the rate at which your eyes dry out.

And as for eye drops, use drops that do not have preservatives in, to reduce the risk of your eyes reacting to the drops... Celluvisc and Systane, for example, are preservative free (and albeit you are supposed to throw away the "single-use" capsule after only using it once, the experts tend to say you can put the cap back on and use it several times in a day, so long as you don't keep it longer than a 12-hour day....), but there are quite a lot of options out there - different ones work for different people.

And dry eyes are definitely affected by hormones (hence it being an increasingly common problem as women get older and reach the menopause), so breastfeeding probably is making a difference.

Hope that helps. Even if the main problem isn't MGD, eye bathing and massaging can be quite relieving of the symptoms, anyway and you aren't going to do your health any harm by increasing your intake of omega 3 (and whichever other omegas are supposed to be linked to healthy, well lubricated eyes!!!!!). You can look on the internet for advice on how to massage your eyelids effectively so as to ease the oils out of the meibomian glands...

ps particularly if you do have eczema or other sensitivities, it may take a while to work out what helps and what makes things worse, but I found that once I had my MGD under control and had worked out what worked for me, I needed to do less and less to keep my eyes comfortable, until now I seldom do anything at all (just massage my eyes once a week) and seem to be getting away with it...

Thanks Rabbitstew, that is all very useful. Yes I do have eczema. Where would I get low dose doxycycline? Great to hear you have got it manageable.

You don't want to try doxycycline unless you have to. It's an antibiotic from the tetracycline family, you take it for several months to see if it works (and some people end up taking it long term), you have to be careful about going out in the sun when you take it and you aren't supposed to drink alcohol when you are taking it. It is prescribed in a very low dose if only being used for blepharitis/MGD, as it isn't really its antibiotic properties that are useful (although reducing the bacterial load around the eyelid margin probably does help in some cases) but the other effects it has, but nevertheless you have to be aware of the side effects as with all antibiotics. You can see why trying flax seed oil is considered preferable, first!

yes, I see! I wonder if the Omega 3 oil I bought is the best one? Should I look for one that says flaxseed oil?

Well, it is specifically flaxseed oil that always gets referred to. You can buy it in Holland & Barrett in capsule or foul tasting oil form. I think you need to take a fair amount of the stuff, though.... and it doesn't work for everyone. I ended up giving up on it and taking normal omega 3 tablets, instead.