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Original poster

8 month old with conjunctivitis - over the counter treatments ?

18 replies

Grrrr · 07/05/2007 15:17

ds2 appears to have conjunctivitis and we really need to start treating it as he can't go to nursey tomorrow as planned if he hasn't started being treated. I will be letting lots of people down if I don't go to work tomorrow but I feel cheeky phoning for a bank holiday out of ours drs appointment just to get treatment started 24 hours earlier.

Isn't there an over the counter treatment available now ?

have just typed this once and posted to find it not there so apologies if it is now up twice.

OP posts:

Nbg · 07/05/2007 15:18

There is but I think you can only buy it for over 3's.

Original poster

Grrrr · 07/05/2007 15:23

Bu88er,

Is it being unreasonable to go for an out of hours appointment then, he's only 8 months and I could fib and say it's distressing him (it's not at all he's cheery as anything) but it would make a huge difference not to lose another days holiday off work, I may not even have a fortnight to go away as a family due to lots of time off earlier this year for children's illnesses.

OP posts:

Nbg · 07/05/2007 15:24

I dont see why not.
I've been to tons of out of hours appts with dd and her eyes.

It'll just be a PITA for you to find somewhere to get the ab's at this time on a BH.

frances5 · 07/05/2007 21:16

If you are breastfeeding by any remote chance then breastmilk is brilliant for conjunctivitis. If not then you can get saline drops from the chemist.

Is there any chance that your partner or someone else could take your child to the doctor tomorrow, if you can't get to see a GP? Dads can take days off work as easily as mums.

I hope your lo is feeling better soon.

Pannacotta · 07/05/2007 21:20

Was also going say if you breast feed then b milk is the best thing you can give for this. If not am sorry but I dont know but you could try an alternative remedy, perhaps google and see if there are any homepathic things you could use, not that this will sort it asap though...

fizzbuzz · 07/05/2007 21:28

My GP (the good one at the surgery) won't prescribe for eye infections. She said they eventually get better on their own........dd's did......

mummytosteven · 07/05/2007 21:31

Agree with NBG - you won't be able to get OTC for this age. And GPs won't prescribe unless infection is getting worse/and or isn't shifting after a few days. Lots of bathing with cotton wool and clean water will shift it quicker.

Many sympathies, it is a PITA when your child is perfectly healthy, but sticky eyed, so can't go to nursery.

amidaiwish · 07/05/2007 21:32

there is a liquid called "euphrasia" tincture. put a few drops in some cooled boiled water and dip cotton wool pads in and wash his eye.
that really helps.
i always do a "preventative" clean if i spy anyone at nursery with dodgy looking eyes when i pick DDs up! has worked so far!

gingernut · 07/05/2007 21:36

I have used Brolene for ds1 in the past, and I have just checked the leaflet in the pack which says it can be used for children.

Enid · 07/05/2007 21:37

we had chlorphenical (sp) prescribed for dd3 when she was 11 months

it was 0.5 strength - same as optrex over the counter

so I would buy that instead of waiting

just lie to the pharmacist

pelvicflawed · 08/05/2007 07:23

Ds got conjunctivitus about 6 weeks ago and we lied to the pharmasist (felt bad as we'd been in the day before and they had refused to sell us Optrex infected eye drops as he was 11mths - suddenly DH got got it overnight!!!!-hmmmmm!!!). He'd had it before and had a prescription from the doc but we were away for the w/e and had the nursery dilema. As he had a prescription before we were confident that the strength etc was the same. I didn't like doing it but I knew that it was conjunctivitus and that we had treated successfully with the generic form of Optrex Infected Eyes.

pelvicflawed · 08/05/2007 07:24

Should add Boots own version is the same but a little cheaper.

pelvicflawed · 08/05/2007 07:33

Sorry brain working slow to day - when I took DS to nursery they said a lot (but not all as mine had) GP's don't prescribe for this anymore and they seemed a bit chilled about whole issue of conjunctivitus so next time - I might try some of the other remedies before I rush for ab's.

Original poster

Grrrr · 08/05/2007 08:01

Thanks for all the messages,

We had been bathing the eye with saline but it was getting worse and the conjunctivitis spread to the other eye too.

I took ds2 to the out of hours dr but only got to see a nurse practitioner who patronised me about using saline- not recommended anymore, apparently boiled water is best (shame the gp still isn't up to speed on this one then), I explained the nursery dilemma to her and she said "you can wait and see a dr and ask for a prescription but it probably won't cure the eye any quicker than cleaning it with boiled water"

She barely looked at the eye and I left foolishly thinking it would start getting better on it's own because it started on Saturday. This morning it's much worse so I'm condemned to at least a couple of days off work (already overdrawn on holiday time form last year ) and dh is refusing to have any time off himself for some unknown reason.

I feel I have no option but to go to a pharmacy and lie to get some "infected eye drops" by saying it's for my dh or something whilst keeping ds2 out of sight of the pharmacist. Thanks for the information pelvicflawed/enid et al

Providing I am treating the eye, nursery will usually take the child back after 24 hours but without any treatment being undertaken they simply won't have him with obvious conjunctivitis so I'm just playing the system/jumping throough the right hoops.

OP posts:

belgo · 08/05/2007 08:08

Why isn't saline recommended? I'd say it's better then cooled boiled water, as saline is more similar to naterl tears in the eye.

Sometimes, babies do need antibiotic drops. Eye infections can be very nasty, and take ages to clear up with just cleaning the eye.

I've always found the antibiotic drops to cause a signifiacant improvement within a day.

belgo · 08/05/2007 08:09

natural

Srarodriguez · 08/05/2007 08:17

Viral conjunctivitis can spread to the cornea, the white of the eye. This is called keratitis and can be serious because some viruses, such as the herpes virus, can cause blindness.
Infective conjunctivitis is common in newborn babies, but sometimes they can have very severe conjunctivitis because their immune systems can not fight it properly. It is important to see your GP if your baby has the symptoms of conjunctivitis. It is often caused by the bacteria that normally live in the birth canal, which the baby comes into contact with during labour and birth. Only in rare cases may it be due to serious infections such as gonorrhoea or chlamydia.
Conjunctivitis can also be a symptom of other infections such as measles or leptospirosis, a bacterial infection.

Original poster

Grrrr · 08/05/2007 09:09

belgo

I agree that the right drops can make a substantial difference and you start to see the results even in the first 24 hours which is probably why nursery will let the child return 24 hours after treatment begins.

I agree that viral eye infections do eventually get better on their own and if I was a stay at home mum I wouldn't be so pushy about wanting to use drops to speed up the healing process.

I'm not so sure about bacterial eye infections but presumably Drs only swab the eye to determine if this is the true cause if it simply isn't clearing up by itself after a certain length of time.

OP posts:

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