Pleassseee help!!!

[jennfran]

What is going on with me. Is this normal for rosacea???? My eyelids are puffy, again but they are very, very light pink. They do not itch, burn, nothing but they are swollen. I was dx with bleph but the thing that bothers me is that they are swollen underneath the eyelids, eye socket, where you get bags. They are so swollen that the corner of my eyes, the skin is pulled up or wrinklie some.....This all started when I stopped taking zyrtec for 4-5 days, so I thought it was that, so I have been taking it again for 4 days but is still happening. Is this rosacea??? I am sooo frustrated, if it is then obviously I am getting worse. Please someone give me some advice....Jenn

[jennfran]

Forgot to mention, as my eyes are swelling, I am having no flushing or redness or burning, nothing....No new meds, no new vitamins...Jenn

[Melissa W]

Hi Jenn,

Have you tried cool compresses? They should help with your swelling. Usually allergy is itchy so I don't know what's causing your swelling.

Have you been doing your lid scrubs twice a day?
The bleph can cause swelling as they are clogging up your lid glands.

I wish I could help but I am at a loss right now.
I'll give it some more thought and try to come up with more suggestions.

Have you asked your doctor about this?

Best wishes,
Melissa

[jennfran]

Thanks Melissa for responding. I have been doing the lidscrubs only once a day and I really dont do the compresses faithfully. I will start now. Now that the swelling is down, my skin on eyes are burning and a little red, so I guess it is the rosacea if I am having redness and burning, dont know though. I do know that I put my red light on for like 5 minutes about 8" away, so maybe that made the skin burn but have to say, it took the swelling down..lol..but after 5 minutes it like comes and goes.

You said bleph can cause eyes to swell but isnt it only eyelids? My eye sockets are swollen too, that is what has me confused, OR maybe ocular rosacea makes the eye socket swell, do you know??? Thanks again..Jenn

[Melissa W]

Jenn,

Is it painful where the eyes are swollen?
It almost sounds like a type of cellulitis but it couldn't be that because you'd be in a lot of pain.

It could also be a sinusitis but again, there'd be at least discomfort.

Is your thyroid OK? Sometimes hyperthyroidism can cause swelling around the eyes.

I wish I knew but as long as you're not in pain and your vision isn't affected that's good.
Try the cool compresses and call your doc to get some more ideas.

Keep me posted.

Melissa

[Melissa W]

PS water retention can also cause swollen eyelids.

[jennfran]

I have had blood tests for thyroid because I have a neuro benign condition which causes twitches all over my body, so they thought thyroid but nothing showed for that.

I do have really bad sinuses, always have but no pain, just stuffed up some.

I think it is ocular rosacea because my skin from below the eyebrow to lower lid, all across eye is a little red and burnig now.

I have an eye appt. coming up so I will find out but do not have much faith in Dr's anymore about this disease.

Thanks alot hon for listening to me vent. Your a doll..

If anyone else has ocular rosacea could you help me out on these symptoms..thanks in advance..Jenn

[Melissa W]

Jenn,

It could also be a combination of rosacea and sinus swelling and even allergies. The thing is that nothing ever seems simple anymore LOL.

So, I'm glad you have a docs appt and in the meantime try the cool compresses, the lid scrubs and take a sinus/allergy med. It takes time to get into your system so it will take a few days to see if it will make any difference.

David (IowaDavid) uses the RLT to help his ocular rosacea.
Check out his thread on that.

Best of luck and keep me posted.
Melissa

[banshee]

I'm so sorry you're having such problems :( I have extremely persistent swelling/eye symptoms as well....

My #1 suspect would be the daily use of the eye scrubs. They might be designed for the eye area, but they are still a bunch of surfactants. Repeated use can lead to redness, burning and skin intolerance. If skin has a break inbetween, it can better pick itself up after insult.

I treat lid skin as being analogous to my facial rosacea... Irritate the lid and your eye surface will feel/look worse & vice vs.

What's helped my eyes which have looked/felt better as of late (I was in extended STRONG wind recently and did surprisingly well);

-daily closed lid LED therapy w/DPL (don't open them at all) This takes time to see results.

-Theratears Oil capsules (3 caps in the a.m.)-a Godsend to help your eyes produce their own tears.
-Theratears overnight gel drops (2x pr day)
-Ironically, wearing only minimalist mineral makeup (everydayminerals.com) on my lids helps my eye surface calm down. This is due to its zinc & is in lieu of a tolerable eye cream......Even better so the dust won't irritate your eyes-either add a little water to it to make a cream/powder, or a drop of pure dimethicone for added barrier protection
-Remove it with jojoba oil-let the oil do the work, no need for rubbing. If necessary, wet a tissue and put some more oil on it. Lay it over and let it soak up the makeup. ..Rinse w/filtered tap or ideally bottled spring water
-use lid scrubs sparingly, I try to limit it to once a week or longer. And always use a little jojoba oil first imo, on dry skin to protect the lid skin.

Also, a drop of jojoba in water on wet lids and under eyes makes a great tolerated eye cream.

Hope something here helps!
~Kristen

[jennfran]

Kristen,

THanks so much for all the info. I am taking theratears and using gel at night. I do do the lid scrubs everyday twice a day and have wondered if this irritates them. You said your LED is helping. I stopped using mine because I thought it was irritating my skin but maybe I will try it again for the thrid time, especially since the hot weather is gone. My eyes are the worse. I have the burning sensation and redness right below my eyebrow and ends at the lower lid. They will get really red and burn when I am in indoor heat. Last night I went to walmart and I knew they had their heat on because my eyes started to flare. So the LED is helping yours? I do use jojoba oil on my face maybe I should start using it on my eyelids, is that what you are saying? Thanks so much..Jenn

[PA Dancer]

I would be careful about putting oil on the lids since blepharitis is a problem with the glands on the eye.

I would be afraid that anything oil based might block the glands.

Jenn, Have you been to an eye specialist yet?

Here is info I found on the NIH web site:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001619.htm

[jennfran]

THat is true I never thought about that.

I see the Dr. Nov. 13th, and have to say I cannot wait..lol...Jenn

[banshee]

Kristen,

THanks so much for all the info. I am taking theratears and using gel at night. I do do the lid scrubs everyday twice a day and have wondered if this irritates them. You said your LED is helping. I stopped using mine because I thought it was irritating my skin but maybe I will try it again for the thrid time, especially since the hot weather is gone. My eyes are the worse. I have the burning sensation and redness right below my eyebrow and ends at the lower lid. They will get really red and burn when I am in indoor heat. Last night I went to walmart and I knew they had their heat on because my eyes started to flare. So the LED is helping yours? I do use jojoba oil on my face maybe I should start using it on my eyelids, is that what you are saying? Thanks so much..JennYou're welcome :)

PA is correct that oil you can exacerbate blepharitis. I do have that mildly and get occasional clogged glands, but not very often.. I have the same catch 22 on my face w/seb derm where doing nothing is as bad as trying to use irritating products to keep it under control... I find bleph easier controlled just rinsing w/water than facial SD.

At this time, since your eyes are so incredibly flared-I'd personally back off everything for a few weeks and rinse them only w/bottled spring water until they feel more comfortable. Continuing the Theratears gel drops though to help your eye surface calm...Then try the jojoba/mineral powder if you like.

LED has helped me.. I think what's confusing about it is that it will make one flush more for about 4 hrs after use. It sounds counterproductive, but it's the same phenomenon which occurs when a person gets laser treatments/IPL. In the latter case, they're high energy, thermal devices which damage tissues to signal repair. Symptoms will kick up for approx. 4 weeks after a treatment until the light does it job....LED doesn't damage, none the less photon absorption takes about 4 hrs, hence the flushing. Cumulatively, however, you should begin to see a gradual improvement.

Best of luck!

[tombanks]

Hi, I have launched a web site which specialises in long term red eye symptoms and causes - bloodshoteyes.org

it has some info for ocular rosacea too ... hope it helps ..

[Melissa W]

Thanks for the link and welcome to the forum.

Best wishes,
Melissa