Conjunctivitis?

[inadreamworld]

My right eye is sore, red and producing green gunge (Yuk). I have never had this before, is this conjunctivitis? If so are there any drops/cures I can try?

I am going to ask pharmacist tomorrow but would rather avoid the doctor as we are staying in Ireland for a few months and it will cost me 50 euro! We have two young children so have been washing hands frantically trying not to infect them!!

i think you can use optrex infected eye .

You can get antibiotic eyedrops over the counter in England, so presumably you can in Ireland.

As well as hand washing, make sure you use a separate towel.
Do you wear contact lenses? If so, you'll need to take them out and keep them out until the infection is cleared.

Thanks people, I will ask pharmacist tomorrow. Want to get rid of it before the children catch it!!

The main symptoms of conjunctivitis are red, watery eyes that feel gritty? I don't think lots of green gunk is a symptom, though eyes can be sticky.

Conjunctivitis is usually self limiting - it can be either viral or bacterial, and patients are often given AB eye drops (chloramphenicol) as that clears bacterial form a bit quicker.

The eye drops you can buy over the counter are not as strong as the ones you get on prescription.It sounds like you have a bad infection,so I would see the Dr. or the Nurse practitioner (if your practice has one) and she should be able to prescribe some.
I hope you are feeling better soon.

Are you sure there is a difference between the prescription ones and OTC ones?
I had a script for eye drops a couple of weeks ago and the pharmacist suggested to buy the OTC ones as they were cheaper - no mention was made of the strength.

Thanks everyone. the green gunk has nearly gone. Eye still very red though so will go to pharmacist tomorrow - I didn't go today hoping it would get better but def need Optrex Infected!

I would get some drops/ointment asap, even if it's getting better, as I was told that treatment will easily sort conjunctivitis out but that it's very contagious. So in your shoes I would buy something straight away to avoid infecting the kids. I have also been told that, for adults anyway, the stuff you can buy is as good as on prescription. In any case, I think it would help to have a pharmacist look at you - so far this is all guesswork.

The other thing to consider is it could be an allergic reaction - do you get hay fever at all? The season is about to kick off.

Er, the thing with the antibiotic eye drops is... they don't make any difference. Really, they don't. There have been several studies which show that a placebo is as effective (unless the infection is persistent in that it reoccurs very frequently or doesn't clear up itself within 10 days). And while conjunctivitis itself has no bad side effects, chloramphenicol (the antibiotic used) does have potential side effects including (temporary) reduced immunity.

Cochrane report here

The best treatment is to wash hands loads and use a saline solution to rinse the eye several times a day. Usually it will clear up within a week - if it doesn't, get thee to a GP.

Sorry, I have just spent the day arguing with the school and a useless pharmacists that my 11yo does not need to be quarantined or given potentially harmful yet utterly useless medicine for a sticky eye.

Thanks for advice everyone. Codswallop I agree with you about antibiotic drops.

The infection/allergy/whatever has gone now. It may have been a reaction to an eyeliner I had just started using. I used it again yesterday and the redness began to return so I wiped it off immediately.

Beamur - no I don't get hayfever.

Thanks again - MN can always be relied apon for advice!!