Chronic allergic conjunctivitis

[nori2015]

I've been here before, I had LASIK 6 years ago and had a top up by PRK four months ago. I had some corneal erosions due to dryness which is now under control. I was experiencing an uncomfortable feeling in my eyes, one eye being worse than the other. My symptoms are swollen eyelids on waking which last well in to the day, and red veins onthe whites of my eye, which get worse as the day goes on. My symptoms are worst when im outside, in air con or if I wear eye make up.
I was told by my laser clinic to wait it out and that things would improve. I went for a second opinion with an opthalmologist for a second opinion and he said My eyes were not dry, he thinks I have chronic allergic conjunctivitis. This was a shock to me as I've never had any allergies, as far as I'm aware. I don't suffer from hay fever or anything. Anyway, I've been prescribed a steroid drop
for 6 weeks and an allergy drop for 3 months. I've massively cut down on my artificial tear use and I'm no worse so that's good news. I've been on the new drops for a week now though and I'm still waking up every day with very swollen eyelids and red eyes. The doctor said I had swollen glands. Could it be that im allergic to the artificial tears? Or is it an allergy like dust that has suddenly developed? I'm wondering if I should go to an allergy doctor or just stop artificial tears completely? Has anyone had this condition?
Many many thanks to everyone who has offered help and advice so far, you've been a real support.

[KarenRB53]

What is the allergy eye drop you are using? I was diagnosed with allergic conjunctivitis also. Was prescribed Pataday eye drops. Also use Blephasol to clean eyelids. Not helping much. I also get the white string mucus in my eyes.

[nori2015]

What is the allergy eye drop you are using? I was diagnosed with allergic conjunctivitis also. Was prescribed Pataday eye drops. Also use Blephasol to clean eyelids. Not helping much. I also get the white string mucus in my eyes.

Thanks for your reply.
Opatanol is the allergy drop and pred mild is the steroid. I'm just so confused as to why I've suddenly developed allergies after having PRK that I never had prior. Do you get the very swollen eyelids and red veins too?
I've not tried anything other than water to wash my eyes. I thought about anti histamines but I'm afraid they'd bring on dry eye. Also, the right eye is much worse than the left. I'm wondering if its allergies how is it that it affecting one eye much more than the other.

[Guest]

Thanks for your reply.
Opatanol is the allergy drop and pred mild is the steroid. I'm just so confused as to why I've suddenly developed allergies after having PRK that I never had prior. Do you get the very swollen eyelids and red veins too?
I've not tried anything other than water to wash my eyes. I thought about anti histamines but I'm afraid they'd bring on dry eye. Also, the right eye is much worse than the left. I'm wondering if its allergies how is it that it affecting one eye much more than the other.

Hi Nori,

At the beginning of last year my eyes became a painful red and would just not go away for months. Endless visits to GPs just ended up with me being sent away with steroid drops and told to use artifical tears which I did use, a lot. I was told various things, I had conjunctivitis, I had allergies... And I kept weakly argued back I never had allergies before. But it seemed like an easier answer. Finally months later I was diagnosed with blepharitis but it was all too late. The thing that was ruining my eyes was the cocktail of drops I was taking. All with harmful preservatives which was disrupting my tear film. I had abused my eyes for months.

Long story short do you think it could be the drops that are causing the damage? Especially if you don't use preservative free and use them more than 3 - 4 drops a day? My eyes only started looking/feeling better when I dropped the drops. I just relied on warm compresses, v gentle eye scrubs and vitamins instead.

[KarenRB53]

Thanks for your reply.
Opatanol is the allergy drop and pred mild is the steroid. I'm just so confused as to why I've suddenly developed allergies after having PRK that I never had prior. Do you get the very swollen eyelids and red veins too?
I've not tried anything other than water to wash my eyes. I thought about anti histamines but I'm afraid they'd bring on dry eye. Also, the right eye is much worse than the left. I'm wondering if its allergies how is it that it affecting one eye much more than the other.

Opatanol is same as Patanol in Canada and Pataday is same but stronger I believe. My eye doctor said allergies can start anytime. I don't get swollen eyelids but have the red veins. And the white stringy mucus all the time. Hate it!!

[nori2015]

What do you recommend for cleaning your eyelids? I'm using preservative free tears and am weaning myself off them. I now use them only 3-4 times a day, when I was using them 20 times a day. I feel no better or no worse so I'm going to maybe being the tears down to twice a day if possible. I'm just so fed up, I get one diagnosis and then another one. If it's blepharitis how do you recommend I manage it? I may as well start treating myself for that too!

[KarenRB53]

What do you recommend for cleaning your eyelids? I'm using preservative free tears and am weaning myself off them. I now use them only 3-4 times a day, when I was using them 20 times a day. I feel no better or no worse so I'm going to maybe being the tears down to twice a day if possible. I'm just so fed up, I get one diagnosis and then another one. If it's blepharitis how do you recommend I manage it? I may as well start treating myself for that too!

I use Blephasol, which I ordered on line. I don't think it works any better than baby shampoo diluted. My eyes lids are crusty in the morning so they are better when I clean them twice a day.

[nori2015]

I use Blephasol, which I ordered on line. I don't think it works any better than baby shampoo diluted. My eyes lids are crusty in the morning so they are better when I clean them twice a day.

I have no crusting or mucus or anything like that. Just red veins, swollen eyelids in the morning and difficulty opening my right eye in the morning (not because it's stuck, but because its heavy). I'm going to start cleaning them more thoroughly to see if it has any affect on my symptoms. My opthalmologist didn't really listen to me when I was there but just rushed through my appointment. Over 200€ for a 5 min appointment. I'm thinking of getting another opinion elsewhere but I dropped so much money on that guy I was thinking I should follow his plan and see what happens.

[Guest]

Blepharitis management

Hi,

I think it's important - that with how irritated your eyes sounds - that you're so very gentle with them. Inflamed eyelids normally does mean blepharitis, I don't know why but I feel very skeptical that allergies is the cause of your problem. Best get a second opinion especially if you feel the first one was rushed.

You can buy a diluted foam called Ocusoft to clean your eyes with. You just use the foam along the lash line and wash the residue away with lots of water. There's online tutorials on YouTube that shows how to clean them properly. I'd only do this once a day, your eyes sound very sensitive.

Yes 20 drops a day sounds far too much - it can do more damage than good. See how you go limiting them.

Also I used a heated compresses, a Blephamask, it warmed up my glands located under the lash line to encourage a healthy tear film. I did this for ten minutes every two days.

I think the less tampering you do with your eyes the more they'll survive without the drops. Like I said I was told numerous times it was allergies but it was toxicity to all the drops they were giving me.

[nori2015]

Hi,

I think it's important - that with how irritated your eyes sounds - that you're so very gentle with them. Inflamed eyelids normally does mean blepharitis, I don't know why but I feel very skeptical that allergies is the cause of your problem. Best get a second opinion especially if you feel the first one was rushed.

You can buy a diluted foam called Ocusoft to clean your eyes with. You just use the foam along the lash line and wash the residue away with lots of water. There's online tutorials on YouTube that shows how to clean them properly. I'd only do this once a day, your eyes sound very sensitive.

Yes 20 drops a day sounds far too much - it can do more damage than good. See how you go limiting them.

Also I used a heated compresses, a Blephamask, it warmed up my glands located under the lash line to encourage a healthy tear film. I did this for ten minutes every two days.

I think the less tampering you do with your eyes the more they'll survive without the drops. Like I said I was told numerous times it was allergies but it was toxicity to all the drops they were giving me.

And were the drops you were using preservative free also? Because all I've been using are preservative free. Could they be irritating me even though they are PF?

[herefishy]

Don't know if it would help you, but I helped my dry eye a lot by just doing warm compresses, rice baggies, 6 or more times a day. I used different kinds of drops all day so I wouldn't get a sensitivity to them. I only took about a month to substantially improve them.

[nori2015]

Don't know if it would help you, but I helped my dry eye a lot by just doing warm compresses, rice baggies, 6 or more times a day. I used different kinds of drops all day so I wouldn't get a sensitivity to them. I only took about a month to substantially improve them.

That's really interesting, and do you still do this or do you now have a new routine? And what's rice baggies thing?

[anncorr]

I have a similar problem with painful inflammation that started with allergic conjunctivitis which I believe was caused by preservatives in eye drops and made worse by antibiotic drops ( dr thought it was bacterial pink eye) Then I was given steroid drops for 2 months which made me worse. Found out same preservative in all these drops. Now just doing warm and cold compresses and preservative free drops just a couple of times a day for past six weeks. Still lots of pain and inflammation though. Hoping that it will improve over time - eye doc says will be months. I am also on doxy, omegas and have punctual plugs. How are you doing now nori2015?

[nori2015]

Hi anncorr
I'm much the same to be honest. The numerous docs I've been to can't find anything wrong with my eyes other than my TBUT being low (5 seconds). They say it's the same in both eyes but one eye gives me constant trouble, the other rarely bothers me at all, so I don't know how that makes sense. I got lower plugs last week, not much improvement, my eyes feel a little less dry when I wake up but that's it. My eyes are still really red and irritated and made worse by environmental things like being outside, air con, heating, computer use. I'm almost 9 months post PRK now and I've lost hope. They said if the plugs don't help they'll put me on restasis at my next appointment which is in 6 weeks time.