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itchy red swollen eyelids,,,not Blepharitis - please help me!!!!

here i go....so for the last 6 months i have had itchy eyelids...my eye doctor told me it was due to mild allergies and prescribed eye drops which didnt help in the least so i turned to over the counter allergy medicine which hasn't helped either (so i dont think it's allergies) and in the last 3 weeks not only are my eyelids itchy but when i wake up in the morning my upper eye lids are bright red and swelled up so bad that its embarassing!!!! i have switched makeup brands, stopped wearing makeup all together, changed pillowcases religiously, done the compresses, used mild baby shampoo on my eyes to clean them now, i take my vitamins, gone to the dermatologist who again prescribed more allergy medication (hasnt worked) went to an Ophthalmologist who said he didnt think it wasnt blepharitis but really wasnt sure what was going on so he prescribed me bousch & lombs neomycin and polymyxin b sulfates and dexamethasone ophthalmic ointment USP to apply to my eyelids which if anything in the last 4 days of using it has actually caused the swelled upper part of my eyelids to burn...typically the swelling goes down thru the day but by the time night hits theyre back to being all swelled up again...im 25 and done as much research as i can...this is literally killing me...(and i hate not wearing makeup!!!) please oh please if you have any ideas of what i may be doing wrong or what i can do to help my poor eyes let me know!!! anything will help at this point!
thanks
~~k~~
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Avatar universal
GREAT POST!  

Everyone on this forum should be doing this!  As soon as you start a routine/regimen, you should WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU'RE DOING.  BE METICULOUS!  Write down the results--no matter how good or bad they may seem at the time.  After 5 days, SUBMIT YOUR NOTES to this forum.  Several days later, submit a followup... just to confirm or deny any of your hypotheses.  (Remember, it doesn't matter if your hypothesis is correct: it only matters that you learn something from the experiment!)  

If you fail.  Keep reading.  Then repeat.  As soon as we start to see a common thread of success, then others can start to test it out (voluntarily) on themselves.  

We can only hope that when someone has successful results that they will REMEMBER TO REPORT THEIR INFO HERE!  

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR POSTS!  You've no idea how helpful (and encouraging) it is to see your THOUGHTFUL comments!  
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Avatar universal
Today I come to the group with cautious optimism.  Last Sunday (a week ago) I felt the familiar tingle in my eyelids that signaled another flare up was coming.  This time was probably the quickest, most severe episode in a long time.  The last one a couple months ago seemed to linger forever but it didn't come on as fast as this one and didn't hurt as much right off the bat.  Any how, it's odd what desparation will lead you to.....

First of all, I have decided to refer to this as a syndrome rather than an infection because not one single doctor anywhere it seems can nail down a cause even when someone is lucky enough to find one who will listen and test us.  Syndromes are generally here to stay and either cause permanant damage or they cause symptoms on a cycle or as a specific reaction which, in our case(s) is still unknown.  Infections are ususally curable if they don't kill you first.  I found something that seemed to get this under control/gone within 4 days but since this is my first go with this regiment there is no way to tell if I have actually hit on something useful or if it was just a fluke.  Regardless, I will share but I wouldn't recommend this to everyone - especially not anyone with a weak constitution because it is far from pleasant.  Other than the elation I felt as I saw this mess clear up quicker than ever before there was little enjoyment.  

Everytime this happens I go to the web hoping that rewording a search pattern will lead to new info but it rarely does.  It could be a bacterial infection, it could be a fungal infection, it could be belpharitis (which I doubt - think that is a catch-all for doctors who can't diagnose this) or it could be a parasitic infestion caused by over population of the demodex mite.  Regardless of what it might be, the symptoms were quite similar.  I cross reference a lot of what I was reading and I ended up with my attack plan.  I started looking at the healing power of Tea Tree Oil.  It is antiseptic so it kills bacteria, it is antifungal so it kills yeast and believe it or not, it kills demodex in as little as four, count them, four minutes.  I did find a couple websites that concurred however they said to dillute the oil with macadamia nut oil - why?? or water but water and oil don't mix??  Obviously you cannot use this straight out of the bottle as it is too strong so something is needed.  I used pure mineral oil and made a 50/50 solution although the sites I read suggested a 20% or 40% mix.  I applied it 2 or 3 times a day with a Q-Tip, blotting the tip on a clean papertowel first so it would just be moist enough to transfer the solution without dripping.  I promise you, you do not want this stuff running your eyes.  On the lid it burned like fire the first few days but after dealing with this for so many years (30+) I believe I would be tempted to try just about anything. The burning might have lasted for a minute or just a little more and then it stopped. Had to beleive the burning meant it was killing whatever was hurting me so I was motivated.  I also started using a new cream that was AMAZING.  Whether from the oil or the cream since I started both at the same time, NO MORE ITCHING, and not a lot of tenderness.  The cream is Gold Bond Ultimate healing skin therapy.  Of course it too burned just a little when first applied but the skin was already irritated and cracked.  Have to think it would be the same on chapped hands. This cream has vitamins A, C and E which are antioxidents with their own beneficial properties. Within the first day the skin got softer and although it stayed red for a couple days, it was as soft as a baby's butt.  Yep.  A baby's butt. I used a light coat at night and in the morning before work.  I used the oil first thing in the morning and in the evening when I came home from work and a third time if I was home for the day.  I started this on Tuesday morning and by Friday morning I was almost normal and by Saturday coudn't tell I had had a problem.  One thing that was really great about using the oil, as my eyes got better each day it burned less and less which told me the skin was improving because the oil won't react if the skin is healthy.  Using the cream for a couple days after the last sign of irritation also cleared up the extra wrinkling.  At this age I do have a few of the natural ones that don't seem all that bad after seeing what this syndrome does to the eye.  Will use the oil for a couple more days.  Just like antibiotics, you don't stop taking them for a few days after you feel better just to be sure.

There it is.  Not calling it a cure, not endorsing any product, not recommending this approach to anyone, just sharing what helped me.  
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Avatar universal
An update after my post about furniture and formaldehyde

I contacted Ikea and they sent someone round to check out the drawers.  Sure enough they were offgassing formaldehyde (there was 3x the recommended safe level of it in the air!!)  As soon as they removed the drawers my eyes and skin have been 100% fine again.

The EPA has a page on this
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/formalde.html

Suggests if you have a lot of pressed wood products (ie mdf, particleboard etc - lots of furniture has veneer with this in the middle)  you may wish to test and avoid them in future if you are allergic.  I guess you can get an allergy test somewhere to check if you are allergic too if you suspect this.

We got a test online to check for formaldehyde level in the air,
http://www.****.co.uk/dragerbiocheck-formaldehyde-test-kit-p-54.html
(there may well be others available too but this was the only one I found in the UK)
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Avatar universal
Is someone in the IT dept keeping tabs on the IP addresses of the folks who keep suggesting products?  Curious how many of the product suggestions are legit.
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Avatar universal
I had the terrible swollen red flaky itchy lids .. I washed tried aloe and finally after 3 weeks went to the doc who had no idea and told me to wash with dandruff shampoo which dried my entire face to the point of absolute pain.  I found a recommendation on this site from someone to use Mario Badescu.. control cream .. it worked in 2 days .. I had to order it directly from their website, but it worked and hasn't returned in 9 months so far.  I can't recommended it enough.  and I put it on occasionally now just in case, but I'm doing great!
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Avatar universal
I'm relieved to see that so many people have the same problem as I do, and I will try some of your suggestions.

The first time this happened with my eyes, I was down South on vacation, and I attributed it to a combination of everything in bloom (which it wasn't in NJ where I live), and the fact that I was using an eye moisturizer with Retinol-A everyday and hadn't used it before. The condition cleared up within days of getting home, stopping the moisturizer, Thera-Tears Gel to wash my eyes out and eye drops. Now, it's recurring again.  In fact, they started the night I visited with some family members and they have cats. (I'm allergic to cats and after taking care of my daughter's cat for a week in June, '10 I developed pinkeye. I have not been the same since). I know that various allergies have to be involved somewhere.

I'm especially looking forward to trying the baby shampoo (I recently read about that method elsewhere too). I'm also thinking it's of no use to try any doctors, going by many of your comments.
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