5 ms·

I went to an eye doctor due to blurry vision and dry eyes last year; he suggested both Vitamin D and Demodex (which kills mites which live in eyelash follicle r

by rdl 9y ago

I went to an eye doctor due to blurry vision and dry eyes last year; he suggested both Vitamin D and Demodex (which kills mites which live in eyelash follicle roots). I took the blood test for Vitamin D (25-hydroxy) and I was something around 7, where the desired number is more like 20-50. Started taking 10k-20k IU of Vitamin D per day (plus K and also a range of other daily vitamins added at the same time), as well as a 4 or 8 dose course of demodex over 2-3 weeks, and both problems were resolved within a month. Apparently low D causes the cornea to sag so the lens itself is out of shape and thus astigmatic.

diegorbaquero 9y ago
Hey! I'm having the exact same issues right now. Why did you add demodex? How could you tell you had mites?
- kragen 9y ago
  All adult humans have eyelash mites. "Demodex" is the name of the mite, not the mite-killer.
  - foobarian 9y ago
    Having never heard of this before I am now terrified. [1] :-) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demodex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demodex
- rdl 9y ago
  Killing the demodex both helps with dry eyes apparently, and is supposed to reduce infection on eyelid margin (which I'd had a few times).
  - rdl 9y ago
    (And we had the "yeah, but by changing two variables at once (vit D and ivermectin) it means we'll never know which helped, but since the ivermectin is one-time and the vit D has other benefits, who cares?" discussion in the office, for about 30 seconds.)
jesalg 9y ago
This is interesting, my wife experienced something exactly the opposite. She started taking Vitamin D couple of years ago since she was quite deficient just like you. After a year or so of 5k IU daily, she started experiencing severe eye issues, including daily crust buildup, irritation, redness, and blepharitis. We tried all sorts of drops and cleaning regimes to no avail. She went for another blood test and learned her Vitamin D levels were through the roof (somewhere around 90+). She immediately stopped the Vitamin D supplements and after a few weeks, all her eye issues were gone! Goes to show we definitely need some good studies examining long-term Vitamin D intake.
- theshrike79 9y ago
  Yeah, that's the weird thing about Vitamin D, every single individual metabolizes it differently. Some people get adequate amounts just from "regular food", others (like me) need extra large doses to keep up, especially during the winter months. And then there's people like your wife who go through the roof if they see a supplement at the store :D
- marcosdumay 9y ago
  > Goes to show we definitely need some good studies examining long-term Vitamin D intake. Goes to show that the recommended level of it are about right.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    No, one person needing support at 2.5-5× the recommended upper limit and another person experiencing problems at half the low end of that range doesn't shown that the recommended level is about right.
- tomatsu 9y ago
  5,000 IU per day is an excessively high dose. 4,000 IU is the upper limit. 2K is high. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervitaminosis_D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervitaminosis_D
  - 9y ago
rdl 9y ago
Apparently my memory is bad - it was treated with oral ivermectin, to kill dermodex (which are the mites). The eye doctor, who has a journal article somewhere about this, is Dr. James McMillan, of Medina Eye (in Bellevue, WA). Expensive ($400 for a visit), but great care.

by rdl 9y ago

diegorbaquero 9y ago

Hey! I'm having the exact same issues right now. Why did you add demodex? How could you tell you had mites?

kragen 9y ago
All adult humans have eyelash mites. "Demodex" is the name of the mite, not the mite-killer.
- foobarian 9y ago
  Having never heard of this before I am now terrified. [1] :-) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demodex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demodex
rdl 9y ago
Killing the demodex both helps with dry eyes apparently, and is supposed to reduce infection on eyelid margin (which I'd had a few times).
- rdl 9y ago
  (And we had the "yeah, but by changing two variables at once (vit D and ivermectin) it means we'll never know which helped, but since the ivermectin is one-time and the vit D has other benefits, who cares?" discussion in the office, for about 30 seconds.)

jesalg 9y ago

This is interesting, my wife experienced something exactly the opposite. She started taking Vitamin D couple of years ago since she was quite deficient just like you. After a year or so of 5k IU daily, she started experiencing severe eye issues, including daily crust buildup, irritation, redness, and blepharitis. We tried all sorts of drops and cleaning regimes to no avail. She went for another blood test and learned her Vitamin D levels were through the roof (somewhere around 90+). She immediately stopped the Vitamin D supplements and after a few weeks, all her eye issues were gone! Goes to show we definitely need some good studies examining long-term Vitamin D intake.

theshrike79 9y ago
Yeah, that's the weird thing about Vitamin D, every single individual metabolizes it differently. Some people get adequate amounts just from "regular food", others (like me) need extra large doses to keep up, especially during the winter months. And then there's people like your wife who go through the roof if they see a supplement at the store :D
marcosdumay 9y ago
> Goes to show we definitely need some good studies examining long-term Vitamin D intake. Goes to show that the recommended level of it are about right.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  No, one person needing support at 2.5-5× the recommended upper limit and another person experiencing problems at half the low end of that range doesn't shown that the recommended level is about right.
tomatsu 9y ago
5,000 IU per day is an excessively high dose. 4,000 IU is the upper limit. 2K is high. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervitaminosis_D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervitaminosis_D
- 9y ago

rdl 9y ago

Apparently my memory is bad - it was treated with oral ivermectin, to kill dermodex (which are the mites). The eye doctor, who has a journal article somewhere about this, is Dr. James McMillan, of Medina Eye (in Bellevue, WA). Expensive ($400 for a visit), but great care.