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Do you ever have those moments in life where you are to the point to where you think that you just can’t handle one more thing… especially when it comes to your health?
For several years, I have been battling some pretty serious health issues. Each one was pulling and tugging for my attention. I don’t talk about them much, partly because I just don’t have the energy to do so and shoot, there are far better things for me to share… like my kitchen creations.
Today, I decided that I wanted to share something with you and that is eye health. And how it is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted or ignored even when “small” issues arise.
Over a year ago, I started to notice some white dots forming inside my eyelids. It’s amazing all the things you inspect when you have an x10 magnifying mirror in front of you. :) I was like, ooooh, what are those?! But I soon put them out my mind, and since I couldn’t see them when I passed by a mirror, I sort of forgot about them.
Not too long after these bumps appeared, I started to experience a bad case of dry eyes. I finally went to the eye doctor and was instructed to do warm eye compresses and take Omega-3 capsules. I did, but it never really helped. During this same time, I was dealing with some other health issues that took priority, so I just dealt with the dry eyes.
During the day they either burned, watered, itched, ached, were bloodshot or had a glassy feeling which blurred my vision. It was a crapshoot what they were going to do from day to day. The night-time was the worst. I would fall asleep with a warm eye compress on them but would be woken up anywhere from two to five times throughout the night with eye pain. I am guessing that the rapid eye movement that we all experience while sleeping caused my eyes to feel like they were being sand papered. Mr. Sandman wasn’t bringing me a dream. Instead, it was a painful nightmare. (this song always haunts me once I say the word, Sandman. I couldn’t resist sharing… that way it will be stuck not only in my head but yours too. :)
They hurt to keep closed; they hurt to be open. Needless to say, this leaves me sleep deprived almost every night. This has gone on for almost a year and still does to this day. Finally, I had enough. I made an eye appointment. I skipped seeing my Optometrist and went to an Ophthalmologist. After a short exam, I was told I had chronic dry eye and was given a prescription for three different eye drops. When I asked what caused it, he nonchalantly said, “Being a woman and age, see you in six weeks.” And out the door, he went. And this is our health care system? Sigh.
The prescribed drops combined together cost $1,825!!! My insurance covered a good chunk of it but I was still left holding a bill for over $400 and three tiny dropper bottles and three more small boxes of other “special drops,” needless to say, I was sick to my stomach. My days were filled with a schedule of administering eye drops spaced out from morning till night. I did them faithfully for six weeks and then returned to the Ophthalmologist who had no good news to report. Nothing worked, nothing helped. Bob threw out an idea of seeing another specialist who did a procedure called Lipiflow, but he said to continue the eye drops he gave me and check back later. I later found out that the prescribed eye drops didn’t work because he misdiagnosed my eyes. Argh.
Bless Bob’s heart… he went to battle for me. We knew it was going to take further investigating to figure out what was really going on. Bob found a Lipiflow specialist in Portland. He read, researched, and made many phone calls. Me… I temporarily “checked out.” I was was just tuckered out mentally. I just couldn’t handle another doctor, another procedure…so I sat back and let Bob help me with this one. Thank God for those who hold us up when we can’t muster up the strength to do it ourselves.
Sorry if the following photo is too graphic, but it’s time you met your meibomian glands.
This is getting quite lengthy and I value your time, so I will try to reduce my three-hour eye appointment to just a few more paragraphs. :)
The appointment started with a high contrast digital corneal lipid layer analysis (LipiView®). The photo to the right is NOT of my eyes. But I have photos of what my glands look like and they don’t look anything like the left eye which is healthy. With this test, followed by a few others, I was diagnosed with Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, which is irreversible (gulp, nobody wants to ever hear those words). I have lost over 60% of my Meibomian glands. We have about 25 to 40 meibomian glands in the upper eyelids and 20 to 30 in the lower eyelids. I only have 5-10 healthy ones in my lower lids. What Bob and I can’t understand is why this simple test isn’t done as part of a standard eye exam! Had this been done when I first complained…. (I fall silent to the failings of our health care system)
The function of these glands is to secrete oils onto the surface of the eye. These oils help keep the tears from evaporating too quickly. I provided a link down below to a short video that explains more about why we need healthy meibomian glands. Please watch it.
Genetics play a role, age increases the chances, and so does computer work (Healthy people blink 10 to 15 times per minute. While working at on a computer, we blink up to a 60% less), eye makeup, and other things are contributing causes. WOMEN… please take to heart…. Eyeliner and mascara can clog the openings of meibomian glands. Never wear eyeliner on the inner lower or upper eye lid, wash your eyes thoroughly every night before bed and if possible, stop wearing eye makeup! I know, I know… another time I want to talk more about this.
In office:
My homework:
I think we can all agree that our eye health is important and nothing to take for granted. I wanted to share my experience with you and encourage you to take your eye health into your own hands by having proper eye exams. Check your local area and see if they do LipiView. (unfortunately not a cheap treatment) However experienced eye doctors can see the glands without going through the whole process. Catching the blockages and reducing atrophy of these glands can prevent eye issues which are not reversible. So here is the takeaway…
Well, I am going to end it here for now. My eyes are burning and glassy from typing. Maybe I will do a warm eye compress and then create a recipe. That sounds like more fun. Thank you for taking the time in reading all of this. It means a lot to me because I care about you and your eye health. :) Blessings, amie sue
Thank you Amie Sue, for sharing this very important information. I suffer from a bit of dry eyes myself,and macular degeneration runs in my family, more reason to keep a watch on the eyes. I will start doing what you are doing with compresses, and Omega 3… I’m sure it can’t hurt, even if I don’t have what you have.
Gid Bless, and stay strong!
Sincerely,
Regina Smith
Good evening Regina,
I am so sorry to hear that you have macular degeneration. I know a few people with that, and I hear about their challenges. Bless your heart.
And yea, taking Omega’s and doing warm compresses won’t do a person any harm. If nothing else, laying down to put a compress on your eyes causes a person to just slow down and relax a little. Truthfully, it’s hard for me to do. But then, we all learn little lessons in unexpected ways. :)
Thank you for sharing and your support. Have a great evening, amie sue
My friend had similar issues with her eyes. It ended up being the chemicals in her contacts and the cleaning products. She stopped wearing them and went to glasses and it has helped with the dry eye, redness, itching etc. Not sure if you wear contacts, but it could be contributing to the issue. Best of luck and love your site. Thanks
Good evening Rebecca, thanks so much for sharing. I don’t wear contacts so that isn’t the culprit, but the doctor did talk about contact wearers and how they could be a contributor to this. Thankfully I can rule some things out. :) Sweet dreams, amie sue
How do I remove myself from everyone’s comments & replies? I did not realize I would get an email for every comment . Thanks
Good morning Rebecca,
You can stop the emails easily. Just go to the bottom of this posting and select “Manage the Subscriptions”… you will have several options to select from. Follow the commands through and all should be good. Let me know if you have any issues. Blessings,amie sue
Hello Amie Sue, First let me say that I Love what you have done with Nouveau Raw in so many ways; the colors the recipes, the pictures, the wording. When I enter your site I feel as though I have entered an artsy cave. It is so awesome it is hard to describe. My wife passed away a year ago but she would have loved your site if nothing else just to browse.
As for allopathic medicine I am sorry to say was never intended to help us. The doctors are not to blame either, after all we only know what we have been taught. Just know help is on the way and the technology to heal us is coming in the now.
Much love, Bruce
Hello there Bruce,
So great to hear from you. Thank you for the kind words… I loved when you called Nouveau Raw an artsy cave. hehe That’s awesome. I just love sharing my passion… so happy to hear that it translate through. :)
I am sorry to hear about your wife passing… now you have yet another angel watching over you.
I agree with what you are saying about doctors. We, first and foremost have to be our own doctors, to learn our own bodies and how they respond to our surroundings, stress levels, the foods we eat, and so on. How can we truly expect them to know everything we need based on what little information we can give them?
Thanks so much for sharing Bruce. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week. amie sue
God bless you and thank you for sharing your journey. It will help someone! How wonderful you have someone to trade off with in supporting each other.
Thank you Marla. One never knows when their experiences might help someone, that is why I shared. :) And yes, I am quite blessed to have Bob as my partner. We compliment one another quite well. :) Blessings, amie sue
Thank you or sharing that. I had never heard of this but I will now incorporate blinking and taking more computer breaks.
Good! It’s amazing once you become aware of it… a person really doesn’t blink much when on these devices. Have a wonderful evening, amie sue
Wow Amie-Sue! Keep on top of that! Thinkin’ ’bout ya – hope it gets better soon.
That is my plan, Tammy :) I am learning and learning and learning. Blessings, amie sue
Amie Sue you have gone through more than your share of challenges over this past year. This one just blows me away. (By the way, that’s an incredibly gorgeous picture of you with your baby blues glowing from the center of that adorably warm blue hat. Love the hair!!!) What a challenge for you my friend! I’m so sorry that you are having to go through this. I will be praying to the Great Physician, Jesus, for your healing, your courage, your strength and your peace of mind. He alone can heal these kinds of things. May He bless you exceeding abundantly above all you could ever ask or think.
Hello sweet Nancy…
Yes, it’s been a doozy of a year, but none the less, I still feel very blessed. I am sure learning a lot through this process, whether I wanted to or not. lol And thank you for the sweet compliment. That was my snow plowing picture from December. hehe I was ready for the arctic weather!
Thank you for the prayers. You are always so precious. Blessings my friend, amie sue
Blessings and thank you for sharing your journey…..my prayers are with you for relief….and gratitude for putting this out there….trust me….you will help many people!!
Much love,
Barbara
Thank you, Barbara, for the prayers, support, and encouragement. I shared this for that exact reason…to perhaps help another person. I spent a year feeling that my symptoms weren’t a big deal (even though I was suffering) and when I did research on those symptoms I just got the typical answers of dry eye. I have learned a lot. :) Have a blessed day my friend. hugs. amie sue
Amy, thank you for sharing your story. I hope you will stay healthy and strong through out this ordeal. I’m happy that you have a wonderful husband who truly cares. I wasn’t sure if we were to put anything in the website box. I did anyways. I’m a nutritionist and I hope you will take consideration of better choices for your eye nutrition such as CarotoMax and FlavoMax put out by a company that invented the first vitamin and was the first certified neutral climate company in the US before green was a household name. They far exceed the organic label. I would be willing to send you info and the nutrition if you are interested. I also plan to enroll in your raw food site. I don’t have a dehydrator yet. Thank you for all you do,
Good morning Red,
Such a pleasure to hear from you. I really appreciate all the “insight” (pun intended hehe) I will look those two eye drops up for sure. I would love to it if you were to send me any information that you have. Would it be through email? If so, you can send it to: [email protected].
And yes I feel mighty blessed having such a caring and supportive husband. It makes all the difference.
I hope you sign up as a member and look forward in getting to know you more in the future. Blessings, amie sue
Do you have an eye cleaner recommendation that is safe and natural Red Cirino?
Hi amie
You have no idea how closely I follow you. You inspire me. And more now because of your tremendous strength and ability to fight and with such good humor,everything that has come in your way. Everything is going to be okay. I need you.
I am touched by your words this morning Preeti. Thank you. :) We all need that extra support and encouragement… I need you too. :) I know of no other way to fight, then with all the strength, positive thoughts, prayer, and yes… humor. Laughter is very healing and can get us through the toughest of times. Thank you for sharing, please keep in touch. Blessings, amie sue
Hi Amie Sue,
I realized after I read your comment back to me that I wasn’t clear about the macular degeneration.It’s in my family, I don’t have it, but my dad does,so I understand the struggles with eye problems. I still think I will do the warm compresses anyway, as well as the Omega threes, because what harm c0uld come of it?
Still I will be praying for you…
Oh, sorry, my misunderstanding. Well, I am thankful to know that you don’t have it. You are in the perfect position to keep your eye health into your hands and to be proactive. There are a lot of different things that we can do for our eyes; watch the foods we eat, keep inflammation down, get plenty of healing rest, stay hydrated, monitor the amount of time on electronics, be mindful of makeup (if you wear it), and so forth. And next time you have an eye appointment, ask the doctor to check those glands for you! Have a wonderful day, blessings, amie sue
Hi Amie Sue, So sorry to hear this has happened to you. You have given so much of yourself and helped others so I would like to officer some to you.
I’ve practised as a homeopath for over 30 years and I am sure there can be some help for you from connecting up with a good homeopathic practitioner. You need someone who understands all your whole conditions. I sense that you are very sensitive and so need to have a careful therapist, who works with your energy. Preferably to begin with only low dose remedies as its very physical and you don’t need any more aggravations. If you need you can contact me Amie Sue and I will be happy to offer you some free advice, just as you were so kind in offering all of us your free reciepes. You already have my email address. Wishing you well, Shezina.
Good morning Shezina,
What a pleasure to hear from you. I really appreciate your support and help. I decided to share this topic with all those who follow Nouveau Raw in hopes of helping others, even if it’s just one person. I am always open to learning so I will send you an email because I value what you have to share. You pretty much nailed me right on the head. :) Thank you so much for reaching out to me. I will be in contact with you. love and blessings, amie sue
You are most welcome, Amie-sue. We all need to help each other. Kind wishes Shezina
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing! We are all interested in our health so little tidbits of things to help us get educated are wonderful.
Good morning Jerrod,
I wanted to share my experience with you all, in hopes of helping others. Sometimes we can feel all alone and I never want that for anyone. I/we are here to support, encourage, and help one another. :) Thank you commenting. Have a blessed and happy day, amie sue
Hi Amie Sue, I just read this (still playing catch up after the wedding)!! Oh man I am truly sorry that this is happening to you !!! You are always thinking of helping others, thank you for sharing this with us!! I will add this to my prayers for you, so sorry once again that you are going through this.
Give that Bob a big hug for us, for being one of the best husbands and for demonstrating the care ,protection , and love that a husband should for his wife. Hugs and love, Lyn :]
Good morning sweet Lyn.
I have been awake since 3 am and you popped in my mind so I am so happy to hear from you. I waiting patiently for the excitement of the wedding to simmer down before I emailed you. I can’t wait to see pictures. (wink, wink) hehe
Thank you for the prayers. It’s all good, well…. even though it’s unfortunate to go through it, I am learning a lot and still have so many blessings to be thankful for. :)
I will give Bob that hug. My pleasure! haha I am so blessed to have him at my side. Do love that man.
Send me an email when things wind down and you have the energy. love and hugs! amie sue
Dear Annie Sue,
I am deeply sorry to hear of your eye condition. I have seen your wonderful creative Site for years and deeply appreciate your passion and sense of creativity!
I too, have been through many years of health struggles with different parts of my body. It is a pain, but it has also been deepened something. It is very humbling to have the body not functioning fully. I have learned through my spiritual teacher to not disassociate from the pain, but to feel deeper, allowing the pain and then to be drawn beyond it….sometimes this is very intense, but also there is something greater than the body, always present, and thank goodness for that!
Also know that by Grace there are some things that can reverse even though the medical field says there isn’t. Maybe there isn’t for your condition, but I have had some things miraculously shift, which has always amazed me.
Thank you for your generous giving through your wonderful Site, you are generous and I can feel your love though it!
Much Love to you!
Michele Turetzky
Good morning Michele,
Thank you for your caring words. Since the Lipiflow treatment, I have seen some improvement. I still deal with the symptoms but to a lesser degree. I too believe that healing can take place regardless of medical science. :) I believe that in order to heal we have to approach it in many different ways; food, supplements, lifestyle changes, emotional healing, and so forth. And that all takes time. Typically when my body struggles with health issues and I tackle them… I heal on so many more levels than imagined. :) Bob has also been helping me and he too reminds me to face the pain, not to disassociate from it. Wise words from both of you.
You really touched me by sharing that you feel my love through the site, what a blessing to hear that. Have a wonderful day and keep in touch. blessings, amie sue
I wanted to share my experience…onset of “dry eyes” in my late 30’s then basement membrane syndrome etc etc. I will spare the details but it was serious enough that I had surgery to fix my epithelium which was tearing due to my dry eye conditions.
Eyesight improved but the dry eye did not and I was always on restasis, eye drops, I even bought specialty sunglasses to lock in humidity.
I was told genetics and the oh so common “a woman of your age….”
HOGWASH.
Why? I was eventually diagnosed with “subclinical hypothyroidism” and it had started at the same time as my dry eyes. My docs ignored my slowly rising TSH as I am very fit for my age and didn’t “present hypo”.
After I resolved my hypo situation (and felt 20 yrs younger) my dry eye resolved after 6 months. Completely.
I never connected my dry eye to my hypo nor did my docs until it spontaneously resolved. It happened so quietly…i would suddenly realize over my coffee I had not used eyedrops that morning (normally upon waking it was like peeling burned skin off of my eyeballs). And then days would pass and I would forget to use any.
I had severe dry eye for 10+yrs and it resolved within 6 months of thyroid meds. 3 years now and I haven’t used an eyedrop.
Maybe this helps someone, check your thryoid FT3/4 not your TSH!
Best,
A “woman of a certain age” (grrrrrr – that term in my opinion is an excuse used by lazy doctors)
Thank you so much for sharing all of this with me Kes. I so agree with your frustration when hearing, “a woman of your age….” HOGWASH is right. Interestingly enough a few months ago, I had read about how the thyroid can cause dry eyes. I was DX’d with hypothyroid in 2008 and have been meds since. The dry eye came about much later.
I was first put on restasis but it didn’t work for me because I was misdiagnosed. Restasis deals with eye issues that are water-based, mine is oil based.
I am sooooo happy to hear that you have healed your eyes. I will keep digging further into this. Thank you for bringing it back to my attention. We all learn from one another. :) blessings, amie sue
Amie Sue- thank you so much for this important information! It was eye opening….pun intended. :) Your honesty is greatly appreciat4ed. Reading some of your other posts about ongoing health challenges….I have long asked myself what might have started you on the Raw food journey, perhaps those challenges have been the mo†ivation to take action in order to achieve better health. That has been my motivator for sure. Like you, I was told by several doctors that all of my symptoms were due to being female and in my case being menopausal. I kept telling them it was something different. After changing doctors twice, I found a third female doctor who was middle age. She realized that my symptoms were not menopause and sent me to the right person who finally diagnosed my Thyroid Cancer. I have been Cancer free for several years now, but have dealt with some autoimmune issues. I started thinking about the link between my health challenges and nutrition. I can tell you that our food habits have completely changed since my diagnosis. We are Vegan and do not put anything in our mouths that is going to further harm our health. This is why I so appreciate your blog. It shows us how beautiful and delicious eating healthy can be. You are such an inspiration. Thank you for showing us what is possible. If you ever do any classes in Hood River or in Portland, I would love to know about them.
Becky Johnson
Thank you for the wonderful sharing here Becky. We all go through so many things in life and I feel it is important to share the good, the bad, and the indifferent. It’s how we learn and find encouragement… and support!
I got into raw and healthy eating right after I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Plus, I just naturally always leaned towards want to learn more about health and food. It was just a slow journey in getting there.
I am so sorry to hear about the thyroid cancer but rejoice in the fact that you are now healed! We have to be our own advocates when it comes to our health and I am thankful that you did just that. As I was just taking care of dad from his quadruple bypass we have MANY talks about food. I told him that food can either be your poison or your medician. Granted it takes more than just healthy eating to get and remain healthy… but it is sure is powerful!
Classes will happen in the future. I feel as though I am getting closer and closer to doing them again. Whereabouts do you live Becky? Have a blessed and wonderful evening, amie sue :)
I am in Portland, and in August, I am in Hood River one day a week for the summer concerts. I supply the bands for the concerts in the park. :)
That’s awesome Becky. When I start teaching I will be sharing it on the site and in our private FB group. Let me know when you play out here, we would love to come see you. :) blessings, amie sue
Hello from Scotland.
I have severe dry eyes and have not had any help from using a Blephasteem.
I read you had the lipiflow treatment and then stated at the end, your eyes were sore. Does this mean the lipiflow wasn’t successful for you as your glands are compromised,
The treatment of lipiflow is mega expensive and only lasts a year so I can’t really see it being an option for me, May I ask how long did it work for you?
Thanks very much.
Hello Margaret,
I am sorry that you suffer from eye issues as well. The lipiflow helped some but it’s not a cure-all. Nothing is according to the specialists. Once you lose function of your glands, they can’t be reversed. When I asked how long the lipiflow works or often you need it done, it was answered with an “it just depends on a person’s individual case.
Along with this treatment, you still have to do the daily eye exercises, warm compresses, and being mindful of computer time, etc. Sorry that I can’t give an exact answer, I wish I could. blessings and healing to you, amie sue
thanks for being so open with us Amie Sue. Never heard of such a thing. Are you better now?
Good afternoon,
I felt it was important enough to share with others because I know I am not the only one to deal with such eye issues. The doctors told me that this disorder isn’t ever going to go away. I just have to find ways to manage it through eye compresses, drops, etc. So, not too much has changed, unfortunately. Thank you for asking though. :) Have a blessed evening! amie sue
Who is the doctor in Portland that did the gland probing? I have MGD also and am 65 and was told it is my age…
Thank you so much for sharing
Nancy
Good morning Nancy,
I went to EyeHealth Northwest in Portland. They are a large company with many locations sprinkled around and within Portland. The one that I went to was:
1955 NW Northrup St
Portland, OR 97209
Main: (503) 227-2020
This is a link to their page about dry eye: https://www.ehnpc.com/dry-eye-portland.htm
I hope you find some relief. Sending you love, amie sue
Thank you for this. I have only recently started to experience the problems with eye gland dysfunction.
Your article was helpful.
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