I can't believe it....
 

PINK EYE AGAIN! :mad:

My right eye was pretty red yesterday morning, it was mostly bloodshot at the bottom of the eye. I already had my contacts in so I thought I'd just leave it for the day, maybe I had gotten some dirt or something in it gardening.

Last night it was no better, and this morning my left eye had started to turn pink instead of white. They aren't watering but they are a little sore and itchy. I figured I might as well go to the doctor in case it is pink eye and I can catch it at the start. And yep, he gave me some antibiotic eye drops again. I'm glad I'm starting them today though, because I'm going to visit my pregnant best friend this weekend and I don't want her to be worried about getting it too!

I can't help wondering if it's being misdiagnosed though. I had it at least 3 times between December and February, and now 4 months later it's back again. Scott hasn't caught it ONCE. There are no germs from last time that should still be alive this time, and I haven't been anywhere except work lately. I'm home from work today though anyway, just in case.

It's just one thing after another with me!

I wonder about the diagnosis, too. I'm so sorry you're having MORE problems, Lindsey! Geezzzz:eek:

That is funny to have pink eye so many times in the last few months.....you probably need to talk to your doctor about it.

Do you use a product called Reun with moisture loc? There are problems associated with that.

http://www.weitzlux.com/renu/eyeinfection_612312.html

You might do a search on chronic eye infections and see if anything looks like what you have. I hope you get to feeling better. Hugs!!

Diana, I have used Renu before, so I just checked but that's not what I'm using at the moment. I think I'll stay away from it now though! Thanks for the information.

I put in the eye drops when I got home, and they were itching a bit so I laid down, closed my eyes, and fell fast asleep :rolleyes: My left eye (that just seemed to start this morning) looks white again, but just with a bit of redness still showing. The right eye is still pretty red.

How are your eyes now, Lindsey? Did you decide if it was pink eye or not?

I'm still wearing my glasses and using the antibacterial eye drops. Both eyes are not yet WHITE like they should be, and are still a bit veiny. Yesterday my left eye was bad... very very bloodshot from the inner corner right to the iris. I used the drops last night and it's much better today but still not good. I really don't know what's going on. I wasn't using the eye drops a lot over the weekend and it started getting bad again, so I am going to try to use them 3 or 4 times a day now. Hopefully this will be resolved before Tuesday when we leave for our holidays. We will be driving 9 hours or more on some days and I would really like to be able to wear sunglasses!

My eyes aren't watery at all though, and there should be discharge with pink eye. My eyes are just really sore most of the time. Of course, my glasses are an old prescription, and I'm sitting in front of a computer for 13 hours a day most days now because I'm so stressed out and working so much overtime. I'm not getting much sleep either, especially the nights when I don't get home until 10 pm and still need to make a meal and eat before bed!

I just think I need a break all around, and a chance to be able to just rest my eyes and hopefully they will get better. I also hurt my jaw last night and it's so painful to chew! And the scab on my foot still isn't healed so I'm walking funny. I'm just falling apart all over the place lol!

Poor Lindsey!!!:bighug:

Gosh Lindsay! I hope you are feeling better - all over - soon!

I'm really concerned about your eyes especially since you work so much with a computer. You could be right that they just need a rest but I wouldn't think that not resting them would cause an infection. Maybe you need to call in and talk to a nurse at the doctor's office and see if there's anything else that they can do.

It's still not clearing up and I leave on vacation tomorrow night :( I guess I'll just have to wear my glasses. By the end of the day my eyes hurt so bad it causes headaches that just won't go away. But I use antibiotic drops before bed and when I wake up they feel fine, although they are still red. Since yesterday they have both had yellow goopy stuff which is a sign of bacterial pink eye. I've been trying to use the eye drops 4 times a day, but of course have days like today where I forgot them at home.

I'm sorry your eyes aren't better for vacation. There should be a doctor somewhere that can get to the bottom of this...when you get back, you gotta find the answer! Have fun, and don't forget to take your drops!;)

I hope that you're able to get rid of it soon.

Well I may have a verdict....

I ran out of the antibiotic eye drops on Sunday before vacation was even over. My eyes have been getting worse and worse, painful and red all the time. So I called the optometrist today and got in just after lunch. She figures I had a viral eye infection at the start, maybe from a cold or flu. I started using the prescribed eye drops, the same brand I had used way back in December and January (and they didn't totally work then either). And now my eyes are STILL red, sore, and itchy. So her conclusion is that the infection is probably gone, but I'm just allergic to those antibiotic eye drops! She said it's very common to be allergic to that antibiotic, and the drops are just the drug combined with steroids. The steroid would make my eyes feel better for a little while, but then they'd get sore again. What I have now is just dry eyes with inflammation, an allergic reaction to the antibiotic.

Phew!

She gave me a box of artificial tears to put in my eyes every hour until I see her again on Friday. Hopefully this is the end of it!

I'm glad that you finally found out what's wrong. I couldn't imagine that you were getting pink eye that many times so close together. Being allergic to the eye drops makes sense. I hope that your eye problems all disappear now!!!

I hope this is the end of your eye problems now! I have dry eyes, and it can really be bothersome. It sounds like your will go away quickly!

I have put in three sets of drops now and my eyes are still sore and red but it feels so nice when the drops first hit! If this ends up NOT receeding by Friday, they will just give me stronger antibiotics. I am so not used to wearing glasses so I'm anxious to be able to wear contacts again. I've mentioned this before but my glasses are an old prescription so they strain my eyes too. I don't know if it's worth getting new ones now because I am hoping that next year I will be cleared for getting lasik!

There is still no change so far. I still had yellow goop and crusties on my eyes when I woke up this morning so I don't think the infection is gone completely. I have a feeling I'll be getting stronger antibiotics tomorrow.

Have you considered lasix surgery? I used to wear contacts for a long time, then one day I was driving and the sun ray's hit my eye's and I was just tearing badly, I had to pull over. It was a normal sunny day but my eyes got fed up with the contacts. After that day I couldn't wear them or my eyes would start tearing badly. Well long story short the contacts did damage my eyes a little bit.
Do a little research on lasix surgery I love it.

Yeah, I'm hoping to have the surgery next year. My dad had it done at least a year ago now, and he is doing great. My optometrist wants me to wait another year to make sure my eyes aren't changing prescription much (there was only a slight change over the past year). So if they're staying stable by my next eye exam I'll look into it further!

The optometrist said she thinks I still have a slight infection left. She gave me a prescription for the strongest antibiotic eye drop available, and wants me to use it for 5-7 days. If it's not better then, I get to go back to her again. Luckily this one is only 3x a day instead of once per hour! Anyways, I thought I'd be paying for these appointments just like I'd pay for an eye exam because my insurance doesn't cover vision care. BUT apparently these consultations are just covered under my general provincial health care! Who knew! So when I went to Walmart for my prescription, I got to do a little shopping for myself too with that money I saved lol.

I'm glad that the doctor is finally paying attention to your eye problems. It shouldn't have gone on this long. I hope you're better soon.

Good thing the doctor finally figured it out! I had lasix and loved it! The only problem was that I ended up with "dry eye." I was much older than you though, and I think that might have been why. I would check into that seriously though.
I used Restasis daily for about 4 years, and now it is pretty much gone!

So the optometrist thought the redness would clear up in 2-3 days but I should keep taking the drops for 5-7 days to make sure it's all gone. Well, it's the beginning of day 4 and they are still very red! This morning it hurt to open my eyes and I kept them closed while Scott drove me to work this morning because they would not stop watering when they were open! The drops are about half gone but I'll use them until it's empty!

Maybe you should find a specialist. This has gone on wayyy too long!

If it doesn't clear up by the end of the week, I will go back and probably be referred to a specialist

I think that if you're still having problems then you should go to a specialist. This has gone on way too long.

I called the optometrist when they opened this morning and got in just after lunch. She agreed that my eyes haven't responded at all to the new antibiotics and it's a really stubborn infection so she called an opthamologist and by the time I got back to my office they called me and would like me to go to the hospital at 4:00 today, so another hour and a half. That was quick! They may do a culture or something to figure out what it really is and see what they can do to get rid of it for good. The optometrist thinks it's probably related to the infections I was having around Christmas, so it's recurring. Keep your fingers crossed for me and my poor eyes!

I'm so relieved that you are seeing another doctor. Eyesight is nothing to fool around with. Please keep us updated.

I saw the specialist, and he didn't know what it was, so he called in another specialist, and he didn't know what it was either. They took scrapings and I am going back in a week. Yes, SCRAPINGS of my eyeballs. So uncomfortable! They also put in dilating drops, which I've had before, but if I'd have known that I wouldn't have drove. I had to get Scott to come pick me up. The amount of time I had to sit there with dilated pupils and a bright light shining straight into my eye was almost unbearable, it made me start to feel faint and nauseous. But, hopefully they can figure something out.

I know it was uncomfortable, but I'm really glad you saw a specialist and that they took some samples so hopefully, they will determine the problem.

Let us know!

I'm glad I went too because I really want this to be done. Oh I didn't even mention the worst part... turning my eyelids inside out! That was sooooo uncomfortable!

YUK! I know it was awful. My g-daughter had to have that done too, for a sty - she said it hurt like heck!

My boy's do that, they know they look hideous but they have outgrown it.:rolleyes:

I'm glad they took samples, that should narrow thing down. I hope it's just something simple that they missed. Crossing my fingers for you.

Well, this is my first day of putting NOTHING in my eyes! Scott said they weren't as red this morning, just very veiny. And they are super itchy! I'm trying not to touch or rub them.

Hopefully the itching is a sign that they're healing. I hope this goes away and you don't have any more problems. I curious to hear that they find out from the scrapings.

Diana, they're not feeling so itchy anymore. I just checked in the bathroom mirror and they are still very very veiny, but in between it is white instead of pink. I think that's a good sign!

I got a call this morning and I have an appointment next Wednesday around noon. I am betting they'll do the same things as yesterday to check for changes, so I'll get Scott to take some time off to drive me there because they'll probably dilate my eyes again. I needed him to get a ride to pick me up yesterday because I couldn't even open my eyes if I was looking towards sunlight. I probably wouldn't be safe on the roads :rolleyes:

Well, the specialists have NO IDEA what's wrong :mad: My eyes are still red and sore and there is no explanation. I got a prescription for a steroid eye drop to take for a week, and I go back to see them in 2 weeks. I started the eye drops yesterday and there has been NO improvement at all yet.

For over a month now, every day I look like I've been crying or had a late night or whatever, and I'm just so sick of looking like this. I am so frustrated.

That sucks!!!

Is there another type of specialist you could go to? An allergist maybe?

Gayle, what do you think?

I guesss if there's no improvement when I go back in two weeks they'll have to figure out where else to send me. Scott said this morning that it doesn't look like anything has changed.

Gosh I'm sorry Lindsey.

I don't know a thing about eyes - but I would say you do need to go to some sort of specialist. I don't know what kind though......