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

[kwinn]

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~~

[sickofsoreeyes836]

I started with redness and itchiness  under both my eyes almost 3 yrs ago.  I was sent to a dermatologist by my doctor 2 yrs ago who said I had numerous allergies.  Changed my shampoo, make up etc, but problem got worse eyes started to swell up. It could be the right eye 1 month and left eye the next. Suspected it was a reaction to medication i was on (eltroxon for thyroid and Istin for blood pressure) was sent to Immunologist but as i had no symptoms at the time he agreed it might be tabs. went off bp tabs for a while ,eyes ok but had to go back on them. Changed to a liquid med for thyroid as felt the fillers in tabs were causing prob,but as there is no liquid med for blood pressure had to go back on tabs.  eyes flared up again . went back to dermatologist with pictures I took when I had outbreaks a few weeks ago. she doesn't think its the tabs ,but is at a loss at how to explain what is going on. Have to go back to her when symptoms appear again.  I cant wear make up,(normally only wear mascara never wear eye shadow,but cant even do that now) my eyes look like a 90 year old(I am 49) and I am sick of it at this stage. I have used  steroid tabs and maxidex ointment which brings relief but don't want to use continually as its a steroid. I am posting this with sun glasses on as my eyes are stinging me.. This is a sign that my eyes will flare up again    

[Deb9729]

i've also got it on my lips, spots on my legs and the back of one hand

my lips tingle and then itch then erupt in the red rash - first i thought it might be herpes on my lips (never ever had it before) but its not according to the doc

with my eyes it starts almost like a tiny paper cut that then gets itchy, i rub and the whole thing goes haywire

i wish we could post pictures here - i've taken photos of my eyes before and after

[Deb9729]

sorry to burst your bubble but i'm in Australia - mine started in Feb this year

hey when was that massive volcanic eruption that passed dust all round the globe?

[mickie333]

I am a 47 yr old female and the itchy, flaking started on my left eye lid about 2 1/2 months ago.. Sometimes it affects my right eye lid but mainly my left.. When my eyelids get bad, I get little tingly itches, pin pricks and then it seems my hands and neck can feel the same.. My left eyelid looks bumpy under the skin from mid to top. Either this is hormonal, or some weird allergy. So far what the Dr.`s have given to try hasnt helped..Doesnt matter if I wear make up or not.I am going on December 6 to have this scraped or punch tested. I am tired of dealing with it. Does anyone else ever experience itching elsewhere but no rash or anything?

[concernedwife72]

Hey, I'm willing to try just about anything. My zip is 35077.  You never know!

[scQue814]

What made me really start paying attention to the posts here was seeing so many people comment that these symptoms just appeared out of nowhere about 6 months ago!  Mine started around the beginning of July.  (I shrugged it off at the time as some new ragweed reaction--I had ragweed allergy my whole life, but have only had it once since moving to central-PA from Gettysburg!  But the timing was the same, so I shrugged it off.)  

Anyway, I did contact Accuweather to request environmental data beginning in May 2011--pollen, radation, solar events, possible fallout from the Japan disaster. I'm not ruling anything out yet. I've gotten no reply thus far.  Maybe a few others of you might try the same (strength in numbers).

Anyway, I'm guessing those of you who had this crop up in the past 6 months are scattered all over the place.  Perhaps you could offer a zipcode to help us map out a pattern?  

Mine is 16801.