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Corneal ulcer

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I am feeling a bit sorry for myself atm :p I was meant to be enjoying a few days in the town where I'm going to uni in September, but instead I spent it checking out various health facilites it seemed.

It started yesterday, I thought I'd got shampoo in my eye so rinsed it out, and then the pain just didn't get any better, and was up most of the night. This morning I got an appointment at the opticians and after a line of trainees coming to look at my eye, I was at the eye hospital within half an hour. Been given a truck load of eye drops, but one of them leaves my pupil totally dilated, so having to wear sunglasses all the time, even for looking at my pc screen.

So yeah, anyone ever had anything like this, or any sort of corneal abrasion? Just wondering how long its gonna take to heal up.

I've gotta go to my GP tomorrow and get a referral through to my local eye hospital now I'm home, so they should be able to tell me more... I just did the stupid thing of searching on the internet and it came up with some "worst case scenarios" of losing eyes etc lol. I'm hoping it won't come to that ;)

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What's causing the ulcer ? A mate's son has one (or did as i haven't seen her for some time) caused by herpes and the only curative option for him was a transplant.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ive had one twice, once by sleeping in contact lenses, and the second time by swimming in contact lenses and not washing them straight after.

    really painful. Cant remember how long it takes to clear up. I guess it depends how bad it is
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Rubberskin - I wear contact lenses so I'm more susceptible to them anyway. Not really sure what caused it though, as it came on really suddenly after I'd taken my contact lenses out. A nurse at the eye hospital said it could have been the shampoo, so caused by a chemical - needless to say I'm not using that shampoo again :p

    SuzyCreamcheese - Yeah really painful :( And thanks for the info - gonna make sure I never swim in contact lenses again as really don't want another one of these again!

    Saw GP this morning, will be going back to the eye hospital on monday. I've stopped taking one set of eye drops (the one for the pain) as they cause more pain, literally like dropping acid in my eye. Those are the ones that caused my pupil to dilate, and despite stopping them yesterday afternoon, my pupil is still massive.

    Don't really know what to do with my time.... I'm having to wear sunglasses all the time even inside because light is just too painful. Reading / looking at a screen is difficult so can't do that for more than a few minutes at a time. And I have a headache coz I can't wear my normal glasses and sunglasses at the same time. Andddddddddddddd.... I'm meant to be starting a new job next week :grump:

    Sorry for the moan... but it felt good :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    by swimming in contact lenses

    Where'd you find a contact lens big enough to swim in ?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I swim in regular daily disposable lenses. I know you're not meant to, but I've never had any problems using goggles.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    its ok to swim in them normally, but try not to get water in your eyes or put your head underwater too much, especially with your eyes open, and if you do, take your lenses out as soon as you can and clean them properly asnd wear glasses the rest of the day
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I had an abrasion in my right eye a couple of months back, also contact lens related. Very painful! I think I wore sunglasses all the time for the first 3 days or so and avoided looking at computer screens etc to give it chance to heal. I was off work for around 6 days I think, then it felt much better and didn't really give me any more problems. I started with the dilating drops and some (antibiotics or something), with ointment on a night. Think I was putting the drops in every hour or so for the first few days. Second appointment at the eye clinic (after a week of starting on the drops) they told me I could cut out the dilating drops and moved me onto steroid drops, 3 times a day I think. Got the all clear after 2 weeks (was told I'll always have a tiny scar) and was told not to wear contact lenses for a few weeks. Had no problems since and back wearing contacts, so fingers crossed you'll be feeling better in less than a week like I was.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks for the help and info guys.

    I went back to my local eye unit today and :banghead:

    I'm now on different eyedrops, 2 different ones every half an hour :shocking:

    I'm fed up - the staff I met at the hospital today were all so rude and unhelpful. Not going to bother listing everything I thought was wrong with the way they treated / talked to me but :grump: The doctor also wants me to go back on the ones I stopped taking (the acid-in-eye type feeling ones), ermmm and tbh as much as I went it to get better, I can't actually put them in my eyes - it results in me rolling around on the floor in pain.

    Starting work on Thursday is looking more and more unlikely :(
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Had to go to back yesterday, and then again today. I've got the all clear concerning infection, so next appointment is next tuesday now. Still in so much pain though, can't really figure it out. Had to call up and quit my job before I even started... noone from HR was around, so I left a message and will call again tomorrow. This week seems to be one big FML. :rolleyes:
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