Eye swelling

[Chiachops]

Hi can anyone help me get to the bottom of this. I have hashmotos and am.on levothyroxine, just increased to 125. Sine being diagnosed I can't rid of this swelling above my eyes, I am seeing a private thyroid doctor and we are trying supplements etc before anything else. My TSH has reduced since increasing levo but T3 and T4 still not great at 4.6 and 17.6 respectively. Vitamins all OK.Has anyone found that their swelling/puffy face has gone when they went onto NDT or T3?

[PurpleNails Administrator]

Welcome to forum

Could you add lab ranges to the TSH, FT4 & FT3 results?

Do you test as recommended (early morning blood draw, fast over night, delay dose until after draw, cease biotin 3/7 prior) had you been on consistent dose 6 weeks before test?

What supplements have you tried? Have you actually tested nutrients to see what level you might need to supplement (folate, ferritin, B12 & vitamins)

Swelling of upper (& or lower lids) in both of 1 eye can be a sign of Thyroid Eye disease. TED is commonly associated with Hyper Graves, but it does occur without it.

Drs can be very poor at recognising it.

Is there any redness too?

Any impact on vision, including - blurring, double vision, dulling of colour or difficulty with light?

Any pain / pressure of eye or feeling difficulty moving of eye.

Are eyes dry / watery / gritty ( all 3 can occur at once).

You could add a 200mcg selenium supplement for up to 6 months which can help eyes.

I found optician quite helpful, they can often facilitate a referral & recommend eye drops.

You could also try cool compresses, preservative free wipes, drops & gels.

[Chiachops in reply to PurpleNails]

Hi, I am taking selenium and zinc, ashawangha, B12 and D. The B12 and D were really low but now in range. There is no redness, I will ask the optician as the GP couldn't have cared less. My ferritin.and foliate were all in range.

[PurpleNails Administrator in reply to Chiachops]

I’d recommend TED charitable trust tedct.org.uk/home

I believe it’s free to join & they have helplines & seminars. They also have a Facebook page.

Serious complications with vision or changes to eye appearance are very rare.  Don’t Google and panic over worst case scenarios, they are always the most severe examples. Don’t over do Google.

It can also help to keep a photo record of eyes eg take a photo every 2 or 3 weeks. I used to store in an album on phone & hide behind a cute kitty picture.

(buddy195 tip 👍)

Further advice I usually give regarding TED.

For dry eyes I recommend warming eye mask & *preservative free* eye wipes / drops / gels. Some like to use drops in day & gel at night, but I use carbomer gel eg Ocufresh gel which is a lighter gel which melts quickly into eye. Rotating different brands seem to help.  

Very gentle massage toward lash line, you can use fingertips or carefully with roller ball tool or gua sha facial stones.  Warmth & message “unclogs” the blocked Meibomian Gland (tiny glands along lash line) and allows lipid oil layer to flow.  This protects eye and helps retains water.  

If eyes more swollen, inflamed or painful, I switch to cold compresses.

If you like to moisturise near your eye area use water based clear gels not oil / cream, this will lessen any clogging. I stopped using rich creams as developed milia white spots round eye.

It can also help to keep a photo record of eyes eg take a photo every 2 or 3 weeks. I put in an album on phone & hide behind a cute kitty picture. (buddy195 tip 👍)

If professionals are dismissive of possibility of TED without hyper Graves there is a collection of information here.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Anthea55]

Do make sure that all eye drops are preservative free.

Here's a previous post about problems with eyes

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Apodemus]

Yes sadly I agree it sounds like thyroid eye disease which has many ways of appearing. Google Thyroid eye disease clinical score /assessment to see the range. There is a very good support group on Facebook called Thyroid Eye Disease Support UK. The consultants normally recommend 200mg selenium a day.

[RoseF3]

eye/facial swelling was a big symptom of mine, it improved slightly after starting levothyroxine but now I’m on T3 only I have no eye/facial swelling at all.