Lipedema, Inflammation and Dry Eyes, Oh My!

Earlier this month I shared how abruptly coming off Wegovy (due to insurance denial) caused an inflammation surge in my body, and one of the results was a very painful Dry Eye flare up.

It was so painful. If you have not experienced it before, For me it feels like something is in my eye that I cannot get out, tears streaming down my face, I couldn’t keep the eye open as it gets super sensitive to light, causes a nasty headache, and my eye feels so swollen, and inflamed, just plain ouchie, in all the ways.

I was surprised when I researched inflammation and dry eye syndrome - that there was indeed a connection. I read they even describe dry eye syndrome or dry eye disease (DED) as a vicious cycle of inflammation.

I had learned about DED during perimenopause a few years ago.  Did you know DED is a common symptom of menopause, due to the hormone changes we experience? Like 61% of us, common.

But nobody was talking about possible connection to lipedema, or more specifically, living with chronic inflammation. 

I’ve been more aware of inflammation since menopause, as it has been showing up more in my body, and also in my face/head. The almost overnight inflammation reduction with Wegovy was one of the first things I experienced. So having the inflammation come flooding back, and going through some very painful, seemingly unconnected symptoms, has made the last month extra challenging.

Thankfully the Lipedema Community had great suggestions for DED relief - from supplements, to moisture drops, to the Bruder Eye Mask - thank you delirious4dolphins for recommending it 😍 I purchased the mask and added it to my nightly vibration/meditation self care routine. 

The mask is a moist heat compress that I microwave for 20 seconds on a small plate, and then place over my closed eyes, and it feels really nice. Very soothing. It gets a little too hot right out of he microwave, so I just massage it in my hand for a few seconds to cool it down.

The warmth of the mask causes the oils in our meibomian glands to flow, the oils are the outer protective layer of our tear film that keeps the tears from drying up too fast. Which also helps reduce inflammation and bacteria, which are, you guessed it, common causes of DED.

When you take the mask off, your vision can be blurry (their website says that is due to the oils flowing), it does clear up in a few minutes. But was alarming at first.

Grateful to our lipedema community. Sharing things we deal with, and what we find helpful, is so important, even when we think they may not be connected to lipedema. I realized after purchasing this mask that it is the same mask my eye specialist recommended (number one recommend DED treatment by Optometrists) when I was initially dealing with dry eyedness during peri menopause, I even found the original one in my bathroom closet, but the way delirious4dolphins described it in her comment on my Instagram post made such sense.

Didn’t think I could add more to my nightly self care routine, it is already jammed packed with vibration plate, meditation, deep breathing, self MLD, big 6, etc., but the mask is such a perfect match. It is so soothing and makes the self care routine more enjoyable.