another conjuncititis question...can i increase the dose of drops??

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

My ds has had conjunctivitis really badly since monday. It doesnt really seem to be getting much better at all, hes been on antibiotic drops since monday, on wednesday it spread to both eyes. Hes miserable with it.
Im a childminder and have cancelled all kids this week, but next week, dp is going to take time off and take him to my mums house to look after (they are away on holls) if he is not better as if i dont work, I dont get paid, and also i felt i cant ask parents of the mindees to take any more time off. I really am desperate to get this cleared up, its miserable for poor ds, and really difficult for us too, financially!!

Is there anyone medical out there, who knows if I can give the drops more frequently? Or is that a total no no, or wont it make any difference? At the moment he is having them morining and evening. Is there any other type of medication i could try? I am also bathing his eyes in salt water, and am changing his bedding, towels and flannel after each use. I am getting desperate for this to clear up now!!

Many thanks for any advice...

I would say twice daily is not often enough. To treat an infection you would usually start with at least four times daily. In fact, it's not unreasonable to recommend use every 2 to 4 hours (though not waking overnight) for the first 24-48 hours, until the symptoms begin to resolve, and then reduce to four times daily for rest of course. Ideally you should have separate bottle for each eye.

Of course depends what drops they are - I am assuming chloramphenicol? If it is one called Fucithalmic then twice daily is normal.

Having said all of that, would not recommend increasing frequency without first speaking to GP, if he only recommended twice-daily use.

Make sure you are using separate bowls of salt water/ cotton wool for each eye.

are you breast feeding? If you are, put some breast milk in his eyes two or three times a day. It clears it like magic.

if not, I'm afraid I have no advice, sorry!

How old is DS? Another option is to have ointment rather than drops, as it 'stays in' better, though is fiddly to use.

Depends on the drops. If you've got fucithalmic, it recommends twice a day. Chloramphenicol is four times a day. different medicines so different doses.

thanks so much everyone for the advice, the drops are fucithalmic, it is the ointment. So twice a day is enough? I just can't believe how long it is taking to clear up, is it normal for the eyes to show little improvement for five days? How long do you think it will take to get better? Ds is 2.3yrs, hes just woken up from a nap and his hair and face is plastered in gunk
Im not breastfeeding anymore, powpow,but am on verge of asking a breastfeeding mum down the road im friendly with for a donation of about an ounce to try!!!

If there are no signs of improvement after 5 days, it is worth seeing GP again. May need to try an alternative.

ok, thanks Juwesm for all your advice, much appreciated, will persevere with the drops over the weekend as am unlikely to get to the doctors today now, and if no better on monday I will go back and ask for alternative.

Good luck Geraldine, hope DS is better soon.

There is not a lot of info, but this document from Health Protection Agency says there is no need to keep children away from school/ nursery/ childminders unless there is an outbreak, so possibly no need to keep your mindees away. Possibly worth contacting the HPA to find out.

I do feel for you; my children had this for a week each and really had to be off school as they were in so much discomfort. For both of them, on the same medication as your child, it took until day 5 to see any improvement at all. DS13 only looks normal now after 10 days.

Thankfully, I seem to have managed to escape it. [crosses fingers]

Oh, thank you whotookmymemorystick, fingers crossed it will start to clear soon then, have just sneaked drops in while hes asleep in bed, as it was getting traumatic trying to get them in while awake!!

Hi Geraldine,

Generally if fucithalmic isn't working after 5 days it is because if isn't a bacterial infection. If it is viral then antibiotics won't work but it will settle after about 10days like whotookmymemorystick's DS. Keep going with the cleaning and continue the antibiotics now you have started. If the discharge from the eyes is pus (ie thick and creamy, not watery or like 'sleep') then DS will need to see doctor on monday as that would be more bacterial. They would probably do a swab and try and grow the bacterial to see which antibiotics it was sensitive too and try a different one because it has continued so long. In general bacterial conjunctivitis doesn't need antibiotic drops either and clears up after about a week with bathing.

Hope it starts to clear soon.

Ok, thanks for the advice, ummadam, there is pussy, green,thick, discharge but also more stringy stuff. His eyes are quite watery. I thought they looked a lot less inflamed today, his eyes almost look bruised. I also thought they were less weepy,but then this lunch time they started oozing green puss again. Will continue with drops and bathing, and send to docs again on monday if no better.

if you're still getting green pus geraldine it's back to the doctors on monday even if it's just for a progress check. Good luck.

Ok, will do, thanks so much for the advice, I appreciate it!