Eye infection - should I go to ER folks?

I'll try to keep it short cos I'm on a tablet and I hate typing on these things.

Last night got severe stabbing pain in my right eye. Took painkillers & went to bed. This morning I kept on cleaning my glasses thinking they were smeared. Took them off and realised it was my vision which was blurry. Also realised my right eye was throbbing with pain but not as badly as last night. In the mirror it looked all red.

The local chemist was closed naturally, so me and mum drove to the nearest town, where we went to two chemists and a Spec Savers (on the advice of the second chemist). The optometrist at Spec Savers didn't look at my eye or even see me, but on the basis of the symptoms she was given said I should go to A&E straight away. That was about 2 hours ago.

I think my eye is a bit better than it was. Reckon l can leave it until tomorrow or should I go tonight? There aren't words with which to express how much I don't want to sit around in A&E on a Saturday night, but not sure how serious it is. I can drive for example; my vision isn't that bad.

If it is Crohn's related then you might need steroid drops. Don't mess with risking your vision. Get a great book, take your tablet, and camp out in A&E.

Oh I am so sorry!!!! It wad meant to be a joke. :'(

Sounds like it might be uveitis. Go to the emergency room and get steroid eye drops.

If this is uveitis, you should see an opthalmologist, and maybe get them to prescribe steroid drops that you can keep for whenever it flares up. I have a friend (who doesn't have IBD) who gets uveitis. The emergency rooms weren't very good at treating him. But he sees an opthalmologist now and just gets a standing prescription for steroid eye drops whenever he needs them (which may be once every few years, sometimes a little more often).

Yeah, let us know how it goes

Hi folks. I'm back. That was a long and fun wait, only to be largely fobbed off at the end of it.

I decided to go to my local hospital, rather than the one which treats my Crohn's. It's been so long since I've been there that I had completely forgotten how the parking worked and went the wrong way down the one-way system.

Made my way to A&E, registered at reception and sat in the corridor. The only interesting thing about this corridor was that it was hot: very hot. I could have rocked a pair of shorts and t-shirt quite easily. Instead I was dressed up for a cold British winter. I took off what clothing I could without actually being arrested for public indecency. Eventually the heat made me feel parched so I searched for liquid refreshment. There was a Costa coffee machine which sold only coffee: I felt like tea, so **** that. Went back to reception and asked where I could get a cup of tea: she directed me to the Costa coffee machine. I asked for some water instead, and the receptionist went and filled two jugs of water.

After about an hour, the triage nurse called my name. My heart sank when she directed me to an eyesight chart test: I wasn't there to get a new pair of glasses. It sank even lower when I passed with flying colours: I already I knew I was at the bottom of the queue, priority-wise, but if there was a place even lower than the bottom of the queue I saw myself descending to it.

Waited about 3 more hours after that was over. I mostly read. I was astonished to find out there was public wifi - that is a first in the NHS. Tried to post on here twice, but the browser crashed and I lost my post both times. Suspect it's my crappy and by now fairly ancient smartphone: it can't handle the bantz. The only bright spot in all this was that it was surprisingly quiet and there were no loud, obnoxious drunks. By the time my name was finally called at 2am I was the only person left.

I told the A&E doc my symptoms: I nearly felt like hitting him when he said conjunctivitis. Told him that two phamarcists earlier on hadn't thought that it was conjunctivitis, and also said I had Crohn's and was worried it might be uveitis. He took me 1% more seriously after that, and said that uveitis was basically advanced conjunctivitis: it could be that, conjunctivitis (grrr...), or iritis - he wasn't sure.

The guy made me stare with my right eye into a light that was brighter than a thousand suns: as much as I tried to keep it open, it was just too painful, so he put some drops into my eye which somehow made it bearable. He then prescribed me an antibiotic ointment (Chloramphenical) and told me to apply it 4x a day for three days. Also gonna have an appointment made with the eye department soon.

My right eye is seriously blurry now - I'm hoping it's because of the drops the doc put in them. I'm gonna apply some ointment now, go to bed, and hope for the best. If I do lose my sight, with the way Trump is going, it prob won't be very long before that's the least of my worries.

Goodnight folks! >.>

Thanks gumby. Missed a call on my phone this morning because I was asleep. Tried phoning back but all I got was a recorded message saying the eye department was closed. I'll have to try again tomorrow.

Think the ointment is helping. My eye doesn't hurt anymore and looks a bit less red than it did. Vision is still a bit cloudy though - that's the part which worries me most.

Thanks Clo :p

Somewhat unexpectedly I got a call back from a woman who asked if I could come straight in away. I said I could, and then managed to park in the wrong car park and go to the wrong building. Then by the time I found the right place, my stomach of all things began to excruciatingly hurt. Popped two paracetamol, codeine and, just to be on the safe side, nurofen - yeah I keep all this stuff in my bag. Squatted for a while by the coffee table. I was the only person there and it helped.

The opthalmologist was far more helpful than the A&E doctor. He tested my eyes again and said that there was quite a bit of inflammation inside the right eye. He said it could be related to my Crohn's and prescribed me steroid eye drops and also something to dilate the right eye in order to prevent any damage from the lens sticking to the, uh, I forget. The main problem with the dilator is that I won't be able to drive while I take it, as it apparently makes your eyes blurry and the opthalmologist said my left eye vision wasn't good enough to drive with alone :-/

In fact he even asked if I had a lazy eye. I said as far as I know I didn't, but my vision has always been worse in my left eye than my right eye. My optician even did a re-test a while ago but they couldn't find anything wrong, so I don't think it's the prescription which is wrong. The opthalmologist said he'd take a look next week: I couldn't have my eyes dilated today 'cos I drove in and apparently this stuff makes your vision blurry for 8 hours. So I've got an appointment for next Friday.

I seem to be surrounded by blurry vision lately. Could go out and pretend it's all foggy, I suppose.

Anyway, so yeah, it seems to be uveitis after all that.

PS: Clo, I hope you enjoy your tea. What type is it? <_<.

PPS: My right eye has felt either filmy or gritty but there's been no discharge. Nothing on my eyelashes either.

Post Edited (NiceCupOfTea) : 1/29/2017 10:40:14 AM (GMT-7)

Can you call to ask? Maybe you can call when the office is open tomorrow. My guess is that you don't need the antibiotics, just the steroid but I am only guessing. Sorry the evil Crohn's is causing yet one more problem. I had herpes simplex virus in my eye this summer and needed anti-viral medication.... I know how stressful it is to worry about diseases affecting your eyesight.

Sorry NCOT that you have to deal with another Crohn's "gift". I know how painful and stressful any problems in the eyes could be. I tried before dryness caused by pred where tears used to fall out of my eyes and which necessitated a long course of steroid drops (isn't that a paradox: pred caused it and steroid drops treat it) , anti-inflammatory drops and and a tear lubricant. I wear eye-glasses but that dryness caused my eyesight to change temporarily to the extent the otphlamologist suspected I have diabetes. Diabetes tests were negative and up till now no one knows the cause of the fluctuation in my eye sight.

I'm posting to tell you I have a "lazy" left eye. For which I was told I have two options: either to wear my eye-glasses all day or the contact lenses provided they are lubricated all the time.

It's good that you're getting some help. I think you would know if you had pink eye because it causes a lot of gunk in and around the eye - especially when you wake up. There are 2 types though, bacterial and viral. Viral should go away eventually regardless. I do think uveitis sounds more likely - but who knows. It sounds like your'e doing better at least. I am addicted to coconut tea lately - both white and green!

So glad you got seen pretty quickly and they figured out what was wrong! Definitely can't waste time with your eyes. I just read an article last week about ER doctors and their inability to correctly diagnose eye issues. Ophthalmologists were annoyed at how frequently they blame it on conjunctivitis and don't refer patients to them.

Sad there was no tea in the ER. I basically live on tea especially with this cold. Trying to appreciate camomile because it has no caffeine but I rather have English breakfast. My favorite was a royal wedding tea my friend brought back from the UK but I can't find it anywhere now:/.

Post Edited (Labradorite) : 1/30/2017 6:19:15 PM (GMT-7)

My eye looked red again when I looked in the mirror this morning >_<. The steroid drops I used about an hour ago have already made a difference, but yeah, this inflammation is obviously being quite persistent.

@Labradorite - Got a link to that article? I have to give credit to the A&E doctor. I thought he was fobbing me off at first, but he did refer me to an opthalmologist and the opthamologist did get back to me the next day. My local hospital has gone up in my estimation now - although I still won't go back to it for my Crohn's.

You have good taste in tea ;p I sometimes have English Breakfast, although I'm drinking Yorkshire Tea right now. The royal wedding stuff definitely sounds like it was bought from a specialist shop rather than a supermarket - maybe Fortnums & Masons if they were in London.

@nssg - I only am dilating one eye, which makes a big difference - reckon it would be miles harder if I had to dilate both eyes. I did drive yesterday, even though I'm not supposed to :/ But I had no issues. Wouldn't have done if I had been struggling to see, but I wasn't. In a weird way, night time driving was actually easier, as, even though the headlights and streetlamps were blurrier, the glare bothered me less.

I'm almost tempted.... >.>

/www.whittard.co.uk/tea/how_do_you_brew/loose_tea_1/coconut-truffle-flavoured-white-loose-leaf-tea.htm