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~~

[BMacD]

I have spent the last four days reading the entire post of 900+ messages, and if you are new to this site, you really need to go and read them all.  There is important identification of the problem, suggestions to soothe and relieve the symptoms, and then follow-up detective work to find the cause and a maintenance program to hopefully end the cycle.  There are many products/methods and mixtures recommended and you have to sort through them all.  For example Nizoral, Tinactin and Lamisil and are all anti-fungals (some variations in formulations though).  Neosporin, Polysporin and apple cider vinegar are all antibiotic.  The Egyptian Magic which is 100% natural contains olive oil and honey, among other ingredients.  You’ll find duplicates of these ingredients in other recommendations.  So, check the ingredients of the recommendations to sort out the duplications and patterns that speak to you.  BTW, the Mario Badescu Control Cream ingredients show antiseptic, antifungal and antiparasite properties, a combination also mentioned in other recommendations.
The “answer” is hard to find because when you are in the midst of a flare-up you need something to soothe and recover from the inflammation and sometimes the infection that comes from the impossible-to-ignore itching and scratching.  The solution to this is not the solution to the original problem.  So success is short lived.  The challenge is identifying the cause.  I think ScQue814 is putting it together.  The problem could be a fungus or allergen, or both, and an environment, hormonal flare, or stress/sleepless situation could fuel it.  Journaling all these factors as soon as you experience a flare-up might lead to the detection of a pattern you can address.  There is a site that lists triggers for rosacea flare-ups and it spoke to me.   It includes menopause, stress, anxiety, overheating, alcohol and many other things which matches my profile and ones I’ve seen outlined here.
I had an idea—has anyone tried a regimen on one eye and another combination on the other eye?  We could experiment with two combos at one time and report.
Lastly, as others have said, many thanks to all the careful and thoughtful posts here.  We have all helped each other so much.

[gotribe]

That sounds like eczema, especially the part about the skin irritations back of the knees.

[tlba]

Find out what is causing the reaction. My reaction is from Vitamin E (common ingredient in 95% of skin care products). It takes time and requires you to stop using your favorite products. See my previous posts about what i have done.

Once I eliminated Vitamin E, i never had a problem again and my eye lids are a normal color and you won't ever have to worry about treating the symptoms again.

[sukitha]

ok, so i bought egyptian magic, astralagus, udo's oil and lysine.  so far, good.  however, i have the damaged skin, wrinkles and puffiness.  i hate it!  if anyone has a solution, please share.

[sukitha]

Hi all,
I wanted to share my experience and hope that it might help someone here.  I have been dealing with itchy, swollen, red, dry and wrinkly under eye since December of 2014.  Mine symptoms are mostly under my left eye.  I  had three episodes since december.  Each time what worked for me for itchy eye is diluted apple cider vinegar (I use braggs) applied to the area 3 to 4 times a day, especially when its itchy.  Then apply olive oil (I use whole foods 365 organic) to bring the swelling down and moisturize.  I also apply egyptian magic to moisturize bc olive oil alone not enough for me.   I also tried the nizoral shampoo today.  Hoping it will keep the episodes away.  My biggest concern is wrinkles that are left behind after the episodes.  I tried so many creams out there and nothing is helping.  I hope the wrinkles are not permanent.  Please share if you found anything that helps the wrinkles.

[bff15]

Sound like you need to take Famvir. Have you tried that?