Testosterone for dry eyes

[Maria3667]

Wow, this is something of a scoop to me! I've just been given the green light by my opthalmologist to commence with a an eye treatment using a whopping 10% of testosterone.

'New' is relative, as the unorthodox method has been practiced by opthalmologist Dr. Brian S. Boxer Wachler (Beverly Hills) for almost 15 years now. He claims 95% effectiveness when patients apply the cream to their eyelids 2x daily.

I've experimented with testosterone before but never with such a high dosage. Hope this will finally improve the dryness issues I've been battling for so long! One does get desperate after so long...

See:
healio.com/ophthalmology/cornea-external-disease/news/online/%7Bf1c6b3e3-b0c5-415d-b18c-942ee3768247%7D/testosterone-cream-may-provide-relief-from-mgd-related-dry-eye

[bluegardenia]

am I wrong or somebody here was using estrogen cream??

[Sharon]

I've read testosterone eye treatments mainly help those whose condition is caused by ageing.
I have tried 5% in the past but to no avail.
Let us know if this helps you Maria!

[Maria3667]

A miracle!

My eyes have not felt & looked this good for decades. Within 2 days it obliterated the painful dryness, redness and unblocked the meibomian glands. As if Sjogren's never happened 

Even a chopped up onion didn't bring me to my knees in pain this time.

[bluegardenia]

which is the name of the cream that you use please??

[Maria3667]

Hi Blue,

The cream is made by my pharmacy. They use 'Testim' ('Androgel') as a base, which is readily available as an androgen replacement therapy for men. My opthalmologist decided to prescribe it after I showed her the article above-mentioned.

I tried progesterone cream before and find it helps to produce more eye moisture too, but unfortunately doesn't stop the blepharitis/meibomian gland dysfunction as effectively.

[Sharon]

Wow Maria, so happy to hear this! 
Do you know what they add to the Androgel base?
Do you simply rub it on your upper eyelids twice a day or also on lower lids?

[Maria3667]

Hi Sharon,

Sorry I was a bit premature in suggesting I already had the cream. My pharmacist provided me with a few sachets of regular 'Androgel' first off whilst they searched for a compounding method. Yesterday they informed me they can't produce it, so I've passed the prescription on to a natural compounding pharmacy. Hope to receive it soon and will fill you in on the details.

However, the results of the 'Androgel' (10%) - a few drops used on a q-tip and rubbed in between lashes of upper & lower lid - yield amazing results! The dryness, pain and telltale signs of blepharitis on the lids have almost totally been eradicated! Much better than any ointment or Restasis could do

[araminta]

Very interested to hear this, Maria, I hope you get good results with the cream, do keep us posted.

Might there be any hormonal problems, e.g. unwanted hair growth etc?

[Maria3667]

Might there be any hormonal problems, e.g. unwanted hair growth etc?

Yes probably, but I don't care. Prefer to have a few stray moustache or beard hairs that I can easily tackle with tweezers, than feel my life withering away by constantly disabilitating and painful eye infections! A choice between the lesser of two evils, then I'll gladly pick testosterone.

[Sharon]

Thanks for the update Maria,
I can't find any listing for Androgel 10%.
What I find on the web is only Androgel 1 % or 1.62%.

[araminta]

Yes probably, but I don't care. Prefer to have a few stray moustache or beard hairs that I can easily tackle with tweezers, than feel my life withering away by constantly disabilitating and painful eye infections! A choice between the lesser of two evils, then I'll gladly pick testosterone.

   Yes, I'm beginning to think a full beard may be quite acceptable too, ha ha!

[Maria3667]

What I find on the web is only Androgel 1 % or 1.62%.

Hi Sharon,
That makes it even more confusing! I was given the sachets and after doing some calculations I too conclude it must only be 1%! (Still waiting for the compounded product from the natural pharmacy).

Even so, how come this 1% is superior to anything else I've tried?? Maybe due to the alcohol content killing bacteria/mites/aliens that live between the lashes?? In fact, it's so effective the lash growth has started to align itself again... 

The 5% you tried earlier, did it contain a high alcohol percentage?

[Maria3667]

   Yes, I'm beginning to think a full beard may be quite acceptable too, ha ha!

Hilarious!  !
So you all understand why I need to transition from female to male soon! 

[Linda196]

One thing that can be confusing is not knowing how the percentage is calculated. There are two methods, percentage by volume (the volume measurement of additive compared to the total volume of solution) or percentage by weight (the weight in Grams of the additive compared to the total weight of solution).

For example, the volume of 5 ml of sodium added to 100 mls of solution results in a 5% solution, but the weight of that amount of sodium, 2.17, in the same amount of solution with a specific gravity of 1 g/ml, is not 5%, it's 2.17% (I think, it's a very long time since I did these calculations on a daily basis)