Problem with yellow eyes (Gilbert's syndrome)

[Fhcucchcj]

Hello guys

I am sorry for constantly complaining about my yellow eyes but I really need a solution

I am obsessed with them... Today I've just catched a glimpse of my eyes in the mirror and here I am getting depressed all day ..

This is interfering with my life. i can't concentrate on anything, i can't live my life without worrying about them

I realise that i fixate on my yellow eyes a lot .. I keep watching them in the mirror, taking pictures with my phone to see how yellow they are and compare them with other people's eyes

The problem is this will interfere with my college life.. i keep worrying about if people will notice my yellow eyes or not and so i am developping social withdrawal

Do you guys have any tips or solutions to just accept this and live my life normally?

Also do people really notice the yellowness like i notice it myself? This is driving me crazy ...

[AyrshireK]

Have you been and had a check up with a doctor? Yellow eyes or jaundice has a very specific cause i.e. build up of bilirubin. Your doctor should have been able to run a basic set of bloods and assessed you face to face to see if indeed you do actually have any yellowing.

It's possible you've got perfectly normal eyes and obsessing about them constantly isn't doing your health any good.

Katie

[Fhcucchcj in reply to AyrshireK]

Yes i did. They're yellow because of gilbert's syndrome. The thing is they don't whiten at all which bothers me whenever i look at my reflection

[AyrshireK in reply to Fhcucchcj]

If it's due to Gilberts Syndrome and therefore due to your elevated bilirubin it is something you might have to learn to live with - it's part and parcel of having your specific condition. If people comment on it you can use it as an education point to tell them about GS. As for yourself then it's obviously something that somehow you need to adapt to having ......... my hubby has no front teeth because of his liver disease but he just gets on with it and that's probably more noticeable than a yellowing of the eyes. Can you wear tinted glasses/lenses to help disguise the issue.

[Fhcucchcj in reply to AyrshireK]

Oh so sorry for your husband ... yes you're right i need to learn living with it this is the difficult part lol i need to stop obsessing about it and comparing my eyes with others

As for tinted glasses, no i can't wear them all time

[Hidden]

I have a Gilbert’s too. I am sorry your obsession with yellow eyes is affecting how you feel when in social situations. It does seem from what I’ve found on line, that people with Gilbert’s suffer anxiety often too. What causes that is unclear but anxiety is very common in today’s challenging world. Which I find reassuring in a way, as know I’m not the only one who worries a lot. As you’ve been checked by your GP and had reassurance, I would concentrate on dealing with the anxiety. I have found qi gong and yoga helpful.

Try not to concentrate on the negatives. It’s human nature to do that, but getting mindful and noticing can be helpful if hard work at first. Remind yourself worrying won’t help, if nothing you can do about it, in fact worrying will most likely cause a downward spiral. Concentrating on what’s good, what health we do have, what we are grateful for can ( if you can do it) be helpful.

Make yourself an uplifting list of music that you enjoy. I find this helps reprogram my subconscious mind.

Get out and enjoy gentle exercise and drink plenty of water and hopefully you will feel all the better for it and help calm the anxiety in your mind.

best wishes

[Readlots]

A technique I was told to help my ( now adult) son with anxiety when he was younger was to allow him 15 mins of ‘worry time’ per day, schedule it in, and once that period of time was over move on. The theory was that worrying is like growing tomatoes, the more you feed it the more they grow. Looking in the mirror and taking selfies is feeding your worries. Maybe try allowing yourself 15 mins per day to look in the mirror, take photos etc and vocalise your worries, but then cover the mirrors, delete the photos and tell yourself that you’ve done your worrying for the day. Eventually you’ll find that you’ve missed your allocated worry time for that day, and then 2 days etc, because you don’t need that worry time any more. I hope this helps.

[Poppy234]

My husbands teeth were discoloured when I met him. He was very self conscious about them. He has had them whitened since. But weirdly I thought him so handsome back then I never really noticed that much or paid attention. I think when you like someone you don't notice these things which is how we can grow older together as in we remember them as young and see their happy smiles or eyes or whatever. And I think it's the same with friends, it's not a big deal. It's a different colour is all, loads of people have something different and most are self conscious about something. As others have said I would try and put this aside and work on the anxiety and other sides of this, concentrate on the ways you feel good about yourself and what people love about you.

[Poppy234 in reply to Poppy234]

I'm not wanting to be flippant but I would keep a picture like this in my mind, different and so pretty. What do you think about trying coloured contact lenses if they still do those, to accentuate the difference and feel different on a night out, like we might colour hair for a special occasion.

[Researchfreak]

the short answer is no no one notices them. My sister has Gilbert’s syndrome has had all her life. I get yellowing of the eyes and because I weat glasses you can’t see them at all. Only me can see them when I take glasses off and have nose presses against the mirror. People notice my yellow skin but what the heck. Stop fixating on something which is nothing or something to others. If you take no notice others will be the same honest. I’m assuming you know all about Gilbert’s syndrome and how it should not impact on your life sisters eyes are not yellow all the time as are mine. Good luck

[Fhcucchcj in reply to Researchfreak]

The problem is my eyes are always yellow and they look terrible under bright light and yes people notice it i can't even count how many times people asked me why my eyes are yellow

[donnaejm]

If you are referring to the whites of your eyes, yellowing is a symptom of liver failure. it can have many causes, usually hepatitis. If this is the case you need to see a doctor asap.

[Ubwa]

Gilbert’s should not give you yellow eyes, unless something else is causing complications. I have had Gilbert’s my entire life and only had them go yellow once outside of my main liver damage caused by a bad infection.

Otherwise just accept it. My bullirubin is 657 today, I literally glow. Quickly learned to not care. I am sure most people won’t even notice it.