Gunky eyes but not conjunctivitis?

[93amy93]

Hi all, my 16 month old DD woke up on Sunday with slightly gunky eyes and very watery eyes. She’s had a bad cold the past week and her eyes have gotten progressively worse, I took her to the GP on Wednesday who prescribed 1mg/ml of Benadryl as he didn’t think it was conjunctivitis but more like hay-fever that was causing the issue. I was under the impression that antihistamines would get to work pretty quickly but if anything over the past 2 days since she’s been taking it it’s got worse. Her eyes don’t seem too red but they’ve gone from being sticky when she wakes up in the morning/ a nap to streaming with flecks of very light green goo pretty much all day. The GP said to come back if her eyes became red and/or the gunk got thicker, neither of which has happened but the goo is getting more frequent. Does anyone have any experience with anything similar? How long should I wait before going back or asking for some eye drops?

TIA!

NHS advice is it can take 2 weeks to clear if it is conjunctivitis. Rarely does it actually need antibiotics. There are things you can do to help like cleaning with cooled boiled water or breast milk.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/conjunctivitis/

I had an eye infection recently which came back after Id done a course of the drops. So I used coconut oil, a dab in the corner of each eye soon melts and spreads. Stopped the infection very quickly.
It's soothing as well as anti bacterial

Bit sticky but doesn't take too long to clear. Might be better when she's asleep though if it does bother her. Or just one eye at a time.

Thanks for the replies @ShowOfHands and @LunchAtTeatime she had already gone to bed so wasn’t able to try the coconut oil.

Just rang 111 and waiting for a call back as she’s woken up and her right eye is now swollen and red. Hoping it’s nothing too serious 😓

I'd say that's clearly conjunctivitis, but you need a prescription for antibiotic eye drops as she's under 2 years so don't let 111 send to a pharmacy!

Following as my 19 month old has been exactly the same. We thought it maybe due to a cold but then one morning he woke up & couldn't really open his eyes. Saw a nurse and she gave some eye drops but said don't use them unless we really have to & they don't really do much anyway! He still has some dry bits when he wakes up but no wet gooy stuff during the day

111 got a Dr from the local walk in centre to give us a call, he asked a few questions then booked us in for an appointment. She’s been prescribed flucloxacillin bless her, the Dr said she has viral conjunctivitis (despite what the local GP seemed to think!!) and a bacterial infection in her right eye. She’s woken up this morning and her eyes are even more gunky and her eye still swollen so going to keep a close eye on her.

Thanks for all the advice!