Conjunctivitis and eye pain when trying to sleep

Concretions don't require treatment, Delirious.

Sorry you think this. Concretions can cause immense pain and severe headaches not to mention abrasions to the delicate membrane of the eyes. That is why my consultant ophthalmologist removed them with a sterile needle.

Yes, very occasionally they're removed, but the majority of ophthalmologists just leave them alone.

Hi Chrissie,  Moderator blocked my PM from emailing you. I can't reply to you. 

Thanks for the replies so far. I've looked in the mirror and can see nothing that suggests concretions but I will have another check later.

I had a feeling it might be dry eyes. At the minute I am using Viscotears Liquid Gel which I am told is supposed to be good for dry eyes. It seems to have an effect in the day but to be honest at night it is of negligable use... The steriod cream / eye drops sounds like a good idea.

I am in the uk - I would ideally try and get some advice from my doctor, the probem is it takes ages to see my GP because they are booked up so far ahead, and then she seems to want to do as little as possible so I am not really left with any solutions which I find quite frustrating... There is an eye casualty but it is some way away but I can go if necessary.

Thanks again for the replies.

 

Concretions can only be seen under the slit lamp by an opthalmologist which has inbuilt microscope features.

Your eyes are precious. Dry eyes is a serious condition and should be treated by a qualified ophthalmologist. It is not a good idea to instill your own choice of eye drops or even those suggested by a pharmacist. My ophthalmologist prescribed a cream that had to be instilled into each eye ech night whilst in bed because it causes blurred vision for about twenty minutes.

The cream has to be melted first.

Do you have any private hospitals with walk in or urgent care centres locally?

 

You could try to see a High Street Optician, who can examine your eyes & then refer you to the hospital if necessary.  It may be quicker than trying your GP who may not have access to a slit lamp to examine your eyes anyway.  If you explain to the Optician that you have a problem with your eyes, then they should offer you what they refer to as an emergency appointment.  They can explain how to deal with dry eyes.  Then, if the optician doesn't refer you to the eye hosp, you can take yourself!  You will have a better idea of what is going on with your eyes.

Delirious is right about dry eyes being a serious condition but I think you will get sensible advice from an optician, who will have more time than your GP.  GPs can be a little dismissive of dry eyes, particularly if they have no specific interest in eyes.  They are also constrained by the clock.

You might find that warm compresses on your eyes might help to unblock the Meibomian glands, which secrete the oils that lubricate your eyes.

I use Hyabak drops during the day & this can be as often as every 30 minutes & VitA-POS gel at night which lasts a lot longer.  They were prescribed for me by one of my Ophthalmologists.

And, personally, I use Specsavers as my Opticians but you could ask your friends who they use.  Good luck.

I would not expect a GP to have a slit lamp available . 

When examining the eye for concretions it is very important to invert the upper eyelid as any concretions can be embedded there causing severe pain when the lid is closed as they act as an irritant.

Prsonally I would opt to see an ophthalmologist at an eye hospital whether it be NHS or a private one. High st opticians can act as a referral service to an ophthalmologist but I have not come across any who would even attempt to crry ou an invasive procedure as in removing using a steriile needle the concretions under the slit lamp.

If your condition is dry eyes and you have concretions once they are removed you will feel the relief instantly.

Your eyes aree precious and I cannot urge you strongly nough to consult with an ophthalmologist asap.

The eyes will b

PRSOBNALLY 

 

Thanks again for the continuing advice. Today I decided to go directly to the eye casualty department of the main hospital in my city. After a wait and initial consultations by a triage nurse and then a doctor, I was seen by an ophthalmologist who did a considerable amount of looking in and around the eye area and concluded that I had epidemic keratoconjunctivitis with a bad case of pseudomembrane and these membranes would be removed there and then after the application of anasthetic. She mentioned this would then help with the issues of excessive eye pain when the eyes were closed. 4 x removals later I am back and things feel a bit different in my eyes already.

I'll continue to update to see if / how well this procedure will help with my pain and therefore sleeping ability over the next few days.

Just to give an update: the removal of the pseudomembrane removed the pains and I've been able to sleep again so that's great news.

I have a new problem now which is that for the last 4 days or so I'm having blurred visiion - this is not caused by excess fluid in the eyes as the fluid levels have returned to near normal.It does not seem to be getting better or worse. My feeling is that it may be because the conjunctiva is healing but I might be wrong...

I think if the blurriness remains I wil again have to go to eye casualty and get it looked at. So many complications, depressing

Hi folks

2 months on I thought it might be useful to post what will hopefully be my final update on this and draw things to a conclusion.

After my last post I continued to have blurry vision, halos and weepy eyes so went back again to my eye casualty and was prescribed 2 different types of eye drops for 4 weeks. Subsequently these vision issues gradually cleared up and vision is as near enough to normal as can be and will probably over the next month get fully there. 

Occassionally my eyes still can be watery, this doesn't last very long and soon goes back to normal. I guess this is because I've recently finished with my course of eye drops prescription and is also exaggerated by the colder weather here.

The "feeling" in my eyes is the one thing that remains and I guess will be the last to get better. It is hard to describe other than although it does not feel generally uncomfortable or painful some of the sensations are that it is hard to move my eyeballs to their extremities (it can be described almost like a muscle providing resistance), the other noticeable thing is the soreness and tiredness in the eyes which is more noticeable than previously. These things I'm guessing / hoping will clear up in time but it will be over the months instead of weeks.

This was an eye opener for me (literally!) and hopefully will never get something like this again. Since I originally caught this from my girlfriend (who has long since recovered) I've also learnt the importance of simple things like washing hands as much as possible and general hygiene in order not to spread viral infections like this and also isolation from other people where possible when contagious.

I'm glad you have reached a satisfactory conclusion user1, long may it last & do you have an SOS number in case it flares again?

Good luck to you.