Darth Maul wasn't my father, why are my eyes red?

December 28, 2007 11:28 AM

Obviously I need to see a Dr. and you can't give specific advise. But what the heck is going on with my eyes?!?

I've switched to a new pair of contacts, twice because my eyes are getting VERY bloodshot. This has slowly built up over about 2 weeks. They are not just slightly red, but scary red. As in, people I barely know are asking me about them. Pink eye is, I suppose, a remote possibility, but I've not had any symptoms except the redness. I popped out the lenses and put in some "All Clear". 20 minutes have passed, there is no real difference. They did start itching when I pulled the contacts out, that hasn't gone away. I can't leave work (to see a Dr.) because we're short staffed due to the holidays!

posted by TheDukeofLancaster to Health & Fitness (19 answers total)

when i had that problem years ago, a doctor told me that i had developed an allergy to my contact lens solution.
posted by lester at 11:32 AM on December 28, 2007

You need to AT LEAST go home, take out your lenses, put on your glasses, then go back to work.

Seriously, you need to get those lenses out and let your eyes rest. See a doctor. Screw work. It's your EYES.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 11:34 AM on December 28, 2007 [2 favorites]

FWIW, there aren't many other symptoms to pink eye, except increased mucal discharge. Also FWIW, I think you're utterly mental that you consider your work more important than this.
posted by forallmankind at 11:35 AM on December 28, 2007

Bye bye contacts for now. Glasses and an eye doctor, today.
posted by davejay at 11:39 AM on December 28, 2007

Something similar happened to two of my coworkers. One of their eye doctors was able to give them a diagnosis (some sort of allergy), the other wasn't, but neither of them have been able to go back to wearing their contacts.

And yes, you need to get to a doctor right away. Your eyes are far more important than work.
posted by boomchicka at 11:47 AM on December 28, 2007

Response by poster: They contacts are out. Glasses are on.
posted by TheDukeofLancaster at 11:49 AM on December 28, 2007

You can't leave work to do go an eye dr., but you can screw around on metafilter? :) C'mon, go take care of your eyes.
posted by runningwithscissors at 12:06 PM on December 28, 2007

Response by poster: My job involves a lot of phone time. Amazing what I accomplish while people have me on hold. I envy those who's job isn't "locked in" to specific times =)
posted by TheDukeofLancaster at 12:27 PM on December 28, 2007

these are your EYES. You need to go to the optometrist ASAP.

I developed an allergy to the old acuvue contacts and had to be taken out of them - the newer kind at the time (silicon I think) were fine for me - I had also become allergic to the enzymatic cleaner that you have to use on "permanent"contacts. I've gone from the year-long, cleaneverynight sort of lenses to the two week kind and now I am on the daily throwaways b/c I cannot tolerate the protein buildup on regular contacts. You can get what I eventually got - Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis - and it is not fun and it can, as I understand it, endanger your vision. GO, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Get thee to the eye doctor.
posted by Medieval Maven at 12:29 PM on December 28, 2007

Do you take your lenses out daily and clean them? When I was a young dumb teenager I would sleep in mine and leave them in far longer than was recommended which resulted in corneal ulcers and scarring. After leaving my contacts out for a couple of days (eyes heal incredibly fast!) I could usually put them back in. My doc would then see the scar and lecture me about how precious my vision was and how I should should be a more responcible contact wearer. I am not your doc ymmv. I do feel your pain, it hurts to even keep your eyes open and that really sucks.
posted by meeshell at 12:39 PM on December 28, 2007

Response by poster: I do take them out at night and rub them in the morning, after my shower, before my hands get dirty. I rinse my hands throughly under the sink and shake water off to make sure I don't have lint on my hands or soap.

Many people feel this is worth rushing to a Dr. over, I should stress, this has been going on for more than 2 weeks. I think a few more hours will be fine.
posted by TheDukeofLancaster at 12:44 PM on December 28, 2007

If it's pinkeye it's contagious as all hell.

(that's your ticket home. Use it.)
posted by konolia at 1:00 PM on December 28, 2007

A similar thing happened to me after five years of wearing contacts and using OptiFree contact solution. My eye doctor said that he had seen many cases where people had developed an allergy to OptiFree after using it for years. I switched to a peroxide-based cleaning solution and haven't had an issue since (aside from having to be very careful that the peroxide solution is completely neutralized into water before putting my contacts back in, warning friends and roommates about the contact solution and hiding it during parties after several friends found the bottle and squirted it directly into their eyes, resulting in pain, screaming and ER trips. Be forewarned.)
posted by bonheur at 1:27 PM on December 28, 2007

I had to ditch contacts permanently because of this. Slowly it has gotten better...but it has taken months. I bet I could go back if I wore glasses while doing computer stuff/work and then switched to contacts for other situations that don't involve such heavy eye strain.
posted by melissam at 1:34 PM on December 28, 2007

You might want to check that your contact solution wasn't recalled.
posted by Monday at 1:47 PM on December 28, 2007

Best answer: Could you call your doctor to see if you need to come in NOW, or for tips to get you through until you can get an appointment (tomorrow, right?)?
posted by runningwithscissors at 1:55 PM on December 28, 2007

Happened to me last year and I went to the eye doctor the day after. He told me that I had a bacterial infection from wearing my contacts too much, gave me an anti-biotic to put in my eye and made me were my glasses for 2 weeks straight.

It was terrible because it had been years since I had worn my glasses and I couldn't see out of them anymore, it took me a full week to adjust. However, was much better than going blind, which I was told could happen over time.

Anyway- put your glasses on and go to the doctor for some medicine.
posted by thebrokenmuse at 5:08 PM on December 28, 2007

You only get one set of eyes, as I recall from my old biology texts.

That said, I would be extreeeeeeemly cautious and ditch the plastic thingies you put directly on said eyeballs and go with those lenses with little arms to hang on your ears -- glasses. Mr. Smalltown Girl's got a pair that makes him thank Coca-Cola for inventing them. (Truthfully, he's legally blind and cherishes what eyesight he has.)

He does have a pair of contacts, but last time he wore them, he had to call me into the bathroom so I could use my long fingernails and peel them off of his eyeballs. He has learned that he prefers wearing his thick, un-lovely glasses to having a long fingernail slowly pull a plastic disk/disc off his eye.

So I guess the moral of my "story" here is -- screw vanity! Save your eyes! Please?
posted by Smalltown Girl at 10:32 PM on December 28, 2007

Best answer: The problem was rather simple, a sinus infection was causing the problem. No contacts for about a week since the prescribed drops (4x daily) will ruin them. Thanks for all the feedback all!
posted by TheDukeofLancaster at 7:00 AM on January 2, 2008 [1 favorite]