one eye very red itchy ,running ,going on for weeks

[gingeroots]

Any suggestions - DP has had for weeks ,varying degrees of severity .
Been to GP and has antibiotic drops prescribed in case infected which he is using .
Also anti histimine tablets and drops .
But nothing is helping .
Any suggestions ?

Oh I've had exactly the same thing! Was told it was allergies, but in one eye? I don't think so.

Had antihistamines plus anti allergy drops which didn't touch it, so went back and got stronger drops. No joy.

Went back again and got the strongest drops plus artificial tears, which has helped slightly.

Dr said that if the last lot of drops didn't help I would need steroid drops which only ophthalmologists can prescribe. She said I would have to go back and get referred to an ophthalmologist, but that would take around 3 months for an apt, so suggested that if no better to go to an eye casualty department where I would get assessed and treated immediately.

It drives me mad, to the point I'd rip it out if I could, lol!

Forgot to add I had 2 lots of antibiotic drops too!

Your poor DH - I feel his pain!

Do you have an eye casualty locally? If his eye is painful or sensitive to light then go to eye casualty.

Thanks for suggestions ,thinking of ringing Mooefields for advice as apparently they have a help line .
But they'd need to see it really I'm sure .
TBH I think it's an allergy /maybe slightly infected now due to rubbing .
But it's not responding very well ,no gradual improvement just some periods when it's not quite as bad as others .
And it's only one eye ,so how does that work on the allergy basis ?

mumofjust1 - commiserations . Damp fridge chilled hankies,flannels are soothing ....

Is there any gunk (yellow/green) coming from the eye, is it stuck closed in the morning? Or is it clear when it's running? Has he tried an eyewash in case there's something stubborn (an eyelash or dust) wedged somewhere?

No gunk and not stuck .
Wonder if it could be an eyelash .... off to buy eyewash .

If no gunk doesn't sound like bacterial infection (hence why antibiotics have done nothing).
If its clear liquid when it's running could be viral (again antibiotics wouldn't do anything but usually clears on its own so you'd expect to see improvement by now) or an allergy (but like you say, I'd expect that to affect both eyes and antihistamine would have improved it).

Sometimes you do get excessive tear production if the tear duct is blocked as the tears can't drain away. So if no luck with the eyewash, that would be my next guess! Sometimes if you massage below tear duct it will move the blockage, depending whats caused it, but it usually need seeing to by hospital.

HTH

I wouldn't leave it too much longer though, in case there's something not obvious that needs sorting.

ie pain in the eye or visual disturbance needs "seeing to" (excuse the pun) quickly.

(keep posting too quick hence multiple messages!)

DS got an ulcer in one eye a couple of years ago, caused by hay fever. The symptoms were exactly as you describe. It took 8 months of treatment to get rid of it, and at one point it looked like the scarring would permanently damage his sight.

The GP could see nothing wrong, but when anti histamine and antibiotic drops didn't work, referred us at once to the emergency eye clinic, where they could see it through their huge magnifying thingies.

Tell your DP not to mess around any more, and get back to the GP.

Yeah you can't be too careful with eyes, I'd probably ring Moorfields for advice if you can't persuade him to go back (if he's anything like my DH he's a nightmare to get anything health related sorted!)

Thank you everyone - the viral/baterial thing is making sense to me .
He has a GP appointment on Wednesday so we'll see ....

I have something very similar in both eyes. Drops didn't touch it, the doctor said it was viral conjunctivitis which could last weeks. Its just starting to get better now after nearly two weeks.

how did it go, Gingeroots?

Hi - it actually seems to be impoving now thank heavens .
So I'm not so anxious .

I'm wondering if DP's use of two different drops - allergy ones + antibiotioc - while not used both at same time was a mistake .
Improvement has been since dropping allergy drops ,the antibiotic ones are ( I'm told ) also for treating viral infections .
Or perhaps now that DP has resumed his activities ( after a long Christmas break ) taking him out of the house ( away from cats ) is the significant factor .
And the Norway Spruce Christmas tree is now also long gone .
Good luck to other sufferers .

Have you considered keratitis?

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