eyes caked shut in the morning and red

hey there, for the past 4 days i've been waking up with my eyes litterally glued shut in the morning. i have to pull them open, wipe them and put drops in them to soften the hardened stuff that was holding them shut.

the first day, my left eye was red and my right eye fine, the second day both were red, the third day i would wake up and both would be red however only my right eye would stay red....its been pretty much like this since.  last night i went to bed with two clear eyes, no redness in either, but woke up this morning again with my eyes crusted shut and now my eyes are red.

heres the catch, for the past 8 days i've had a stuffy nose and a soar throat, started out like a heavy head cold but now its just a soar throat and stuffy nose (no dripping or sneezing)

i'm known to have allergies a lot but i have never experienced this with my eyes before...

also, i figured it was pink eye, however what i know and have red about pink eye is that it goes away in 2-3 days, its been 4

the catch is that my eyes havent gotten worse...they've gotten a little better but basically have stayed the same throughout the 4 days.

sorry this is so long, but i'm in Massachusetts with my grandma for the summer and i dont have a doctor up here so i figured i'd post here first before i go to the emergency room or have to find a doctor.

thanks if you read this far

brian

[Forum-OD-MP]

if you are a contact lens wearer, you need to go to the eye doctor.  if you are not a contact lens wearer, then this could be allergies or viral "pink eye", among some other things.

if it is allergies, the classic symptom is ITCH.  do your eyes itch and do you rub them?  if so, you'll probably need Rx antihistamine eyedrops like optivar, paanol, zaditor, etc.

if it is viral "pink eye", it usualy takes about a week to 10 days to resolve.  not 2-3.

i wouldnt go to the ER for this.  find some actual eye doctor and make an appointment

[shuteye]

A related discussion, dry eye lids shut was started.