Pink eye AGAIN!

[Lindsey]

I am going to the optometrist on Wednesday for my annual eye exam. I'm hoping I can still go with this problem and ask for advice, instead of just going to a general doctor.

[Blueyes]

That's great that you'll see the eye doctor. It's bound to be something else! Take care, sweety

[Lindsey]

Ugh. My right eye is fine. I think it just looked a little red last night because I had just gotten up from a nap. The left eye, however, is RED. I'm 99% sure this ISN'T pink eye. Most of the eye is fine, and it looks normal when I'm looking forward, but when I look up, the whole bottom side of the eyeball is bright blood red. It's also painful to close my eyes even just to blink, and the whole area around my eye hurts to touch. I decided to stop with the antibiotic eye drops.

On top of that I had a massive nose bleed on my way to work this morning... it bled for about 10 minutes of driving and another 5 minutes at the office

I am so ready to have nothing wrong with me again lol

[gja1000]

OK now, maybe you have a bleeding problem - or a clotting problem - which is why the eye is red - the red is blood that has leaked out.

See what you eye doc says tomorrow (I think it's tomorrow) and then maybe go to your family doctor to get checked out.

[Lindsey]

Thanks for your reply Gayle. From what I researched today it looks like it could be either a burst blood vessel, or an object scratching my eye, or something about too much pressure (it feels like a lot of pressure and is very painful to close my eyelids over the eye). Some of it can be really serious so I stopped reading so I don't get too nervous about tomorrow.

[gja1000]

Yeah, you can freak yourself out reading the internet. But, if you are feeling pressure, then I'm really glad you have an appointment tomorrow! Let us know what you find out.

[Lindsey]

Scott thinks it looks a little worse today, but I think it looks the same. The dark redness hasn't moved to both eyes, it's staying in just one. It's not too painful to blink anymore, but the whole area around it is still tender and painful to touch (even washnig my face it's hard to wash on that side at all), and it hurts to try to squeeze the eyelids shut. I'm leaving work for my appointment in about an hour, so I'll let you know how it goes when I'm back!

[Lindsey]

My optometrist thinks I had a viral case of pink eye, not bacterial. That's why it has been lasting so long, and the eye drops really wouldn't have helped much. She said the redness I have now is just on the very outer layer of the eye so it doesn't look like it's a big issue. I have to go back in 2 weeks for a follow-up. My eyesight isn't as sharp as it was, so she thinks it might be just from the infection. If it gets worse I need to go back sooner. But now I'm stuck with wearing my glasses for at least another two weeks I think I look like a dork lol.

Here's to hoping it clears up!

[judy]

Poor Lindsey! It sounds painful and scary! It's good that the doctor diagnosed it as a form of pink eye. Did she give you anything for it, or will it just go away on it's own?

Do you think that wearing sun glasses might make you feel better? Less light, more soothing?

[Lindsey]

Lol I like the flamingo ones!

It's not nearly as painful today. She gave me just regular eye drops to use, and told me to keep them in the fridge to keep them cool. The redness seems to be going away a bit, but it's still pretty prominent. Even though I'm swamped at work I decided not to stay any more late nights this week, because staring at a computer screen constantly isn't so great for my eyes either.

My cousin told me this morning that he had something similar a year ago and it turned out to be a symptom of arthritis. It was an auto immune reaction. I had rheumatoid arthritis when I was 6 years old in my hip, and from some research today I saw that it can also affect your eyes in a flare up. BUT I don't think the juvenile arthritis would be coming back to affect me as an adult now. I'm just going to hope it clears up on its own!

[judy]

Did you tell the doctor about the arthritis? I"m so glad your eye is getting better Linds.

[Lindsey]

No, I didn't. I was always told that it would likely come back in my other hip, but it would happen before I was 18, and it never did. Juvenile arthritis and the arthritis adults get are different, so I think I'm past the stage of it coming back now. I am just related to so many hypochondriacs who think they and everyone around them have the worst thing imaginable So I need to stop listening to them!

I have good news though! The spot is still there but it cleared up substantially overnight I can even squeeze my eye tight with no pain anymore, and it was still a bit painful just last night.

[judy]

Excellent! You just shot the arthritis theory out of the water

[paula1961]

I'm so glad your eye is getting better Lindsey! Hopefully you won't have any more problems with it.

[Shada]

How are you today Lindsey?
Hope it is better..