Pink eye

[lize566]

So I think I have pink eye. :whyme: Maybe. I don't know. I've never had it before. Like 4 hours ago somebody noticed my eye was red, and it's been like that ever since. It hurts, but I wear contacts and I slept in them last night so maybe my eye is just irritated, but I've slept in them before and never had a problem. It's just kinf of burns, and almost seems like it's starting to get that gunk in the corner. I've put visine drops in it and have taken out and cleaned my contacts really good. The only problem is that I don't have insurance until the 1 so if it doesn't get better it's going to be so expensive to go to the dr. I mean obvioiusly I am going to b/c I am getting married in 3 weeks! Plus my bachelorette party is next friday, so it has to be better. Does anybody know anything about pink eye? I'm not looking forward to waking up with my eye all crusty :worry:

[hummingbird521]

you need to get to the doctor if you think it is pink eye. it is very contagious for yourself and anyone else around you. sorry to say that but true. till you get to the doctor to find out for sure, do not touch your other eye without washing your hands really good, don't use the same washcloth to wash your face with. wash that eye and get a clean cloth for the rest of your face. is your eye scratchy? this is often a sign as well. i don't know anything about contacts, but i would not be wearing them now and use my glasses instead till it is better. it probably irriatates it worse. and can you tell one contact from another? if not definetly don't be switching them from eye to eye. doctor can give you drops to put in to clear it up. i had it once a few years ago (caught it from one of my kids) and ended up with it in both eyes. not pleasant at all. i had to patch both eyes for days and was blind basically.

[frenchie]

Yes, definately leave your contacts out. Chances are it's not pink-eye, I get my eyes irritated like that about once every other month because I left them in too long, I just keep them out for a couple days and it gets better. If you're worried go to the doctor though.

[lize566]

Well it's not as red this morning, but still hurts and feels scratchy, so I didn't go to work so I could leave my contacts out. I am going to see how it is again at 9 and maybe go in then. If I had glasses I could see out of maybe I could actually function better today, but my glasses are like 5 years old and my eyes have changed a lot since then. Hopefully it is just irritated and I can give my eyes a rest and it will get better. I guess we will see (lol no pun intended).

[exoduslaughin]

It could be an eye infection. Keep your contacts out as long as possible. If the redness is still there, I would go see an eye doctor. Regardless if it's pink eye or an infection, you will need medicated eye drops. It shouldn't cost too much to see the doctor. But the doctor may say not to wear your contacts until this is cleared up. And I see that you have no glasses, so that may be an issue.

[Doglover]

my friend used to always get pink eye and she said you know its that when you wake up and can't open your eyes cause they are crusted shut. EHHH! Sounds narstyyy. Hope it gets better!

[val24]

well if it is pink eye do not put those contacts back in. it will just reappear.
is it possible to maybe go to a clinic or call around for a clinic and get pricing. some of those clinic based on what you make or what you can afford just to let you know.
plus if you to walmart or target the gentamycin (sp?) is pretty cheap. that is usually prescribed for pink eye.

Costco or Sam Club is usually the cheapest place to get rx's if you do not have insurance. so if you go to doctor to get the rx, make sure you ask what it is (cuz 9 out of 10 times they are hard to read) then go home and call all your pharmacy to see what the price is.

[lize566]

Thanks guys! I have glasses, just not ones I can see well enough in to do a lot. And I can wear one contact, but I can't drive like that. I will probably just hang around the house today and tomorrow and hope it gets better. It does feel a little better after three rounds of Visine drops, so I don't think it was pink eye (plus, my eye never got gross and crusty, like Jen said lol) so hopefully it was just irritated and will get better soon!

[rainbowtreat]

The crustyness comes the worse the pink eye gets. The pinkness showing is jsut the start of it. ( I have worked in child care and have seen this plenty of times. ) Kids get pink eye by rubbing their runny noses and not washing hands and then it gets in their eye and causes an infection. And it is easily passed around when hands are not washed. I am not sure of any other way to get pink eye if it is not passed from some one else. My 6 yr old had pink eye when he was only 6 days old. The doctor said one of his cousins most likely had a runny nose and didnt wash their hands and then they touched my baby's hand and he transfered it to his eye. He had so much yellow goop coming from his eye I felt so bad.

If your eye is itchy and has yellow discharge in the near furture then it may be pink eye.

[lize566]

Okay, so I don't have to have the goopy stuff right away? So that means it could still be pink eye, I guess. Hoepfully it will be gone tomorrow! Thanks for the info Gwen!!

[Nekochanpurr]

GO TO THE DOCTOR!! I had that problem.. it wasn't an eye infection.. it was an eye UCLER! Those can really cause scarring (sorry if i'm scaring you!) so you should get it checked out right away! the main cause is leaving your contacts in too long.. Mine was because i produce too much stupid eye sleepies though.. >.<

[lize566]

I looked up an eye ulcer, and all I could find was a corneal ulcer, so assuming that is the same thing, the only symptom I have is redness, and that is almost gone. It's looks much better jsut going 24 hours without contacts, so hopefully by tomorrow it will be all better. It doesn't hurt anymore at all, and hopefully when I put my contacts in again it won't come back.

I'll be honest though, an eye ulcer does NOT sound fun and eye stuff creeps me out anyway (weird since I have been wearing contacts for like 10 years but whatever) so I almost got queasy reading about it!

[Nekochanpurr]

It felt fine to me too, till i tried to put my contact back in, trust me on this.. Its better safe than sorry.... You'll also notice your eye being sensitive to light.. >.< I'm sorry i don't remember the techinical term..

[lize566]

No sensitivity to light, at least not yet. Did you notice the symptoms happening at different times, like the redness, then it might go away but still be sensitive to light, or something like that? I'm going to try to put my contacts in tomorrow b/c we have errands to run. I'll let you know how it goes! I have another question. Does anybody happen to know if Visine will make the redness go away even there is a bigger problem, not just an irritation? B/c i've been using it but if it is just going to cover up the problem I'm going to stop, KWIM? Thanks Stacy, by the way for the information!

[gennymac]

You can get a Borac Acid wash and use it to lessen the swelling and the pain. It is not actually acid and you do not put it in our eye. You use it with warm water and place a cloth soaked in the solution over your eye. It works like a charm.

Check with your pharmacist - they sell it over the counter.

Good luck - be careful cause it is one of the most contagious infections out there !

[Nekochanpurr]

No prob lize, just tell us how it goes. I don't want you suffering like i did! :( If your contacts burn, take them right out! i don't want to hear that you even tried to wear them more than a half hour if it burns! ::gets all mommy on you::