Veiny eyes with occasional cloudiness

Recently, I had an infection in my eyes though I'm not sure which as the doctor didn't specify. (A run down of the symptoms was waking up to my eyes being bloodshot-- the whites were pink, and a darker patch of red on the corner of one eye. No stinging, burning, pussing. Vision was the same as it always was, no blurring or anything. Sorry if this is very vague and sounds like it could be anything!) So the doctor prescribed me 2 sets of drops and a night time gel. A week later, the infection has cleared up (as stated by the doctor) and I stopped using the medicated drops. However, I've had some pinkness to my eyes that have not gone away yet. The doctor said I have extremely dry eyes now and have started using Blink and Optive brand eyedrops. My eyes have been veiny for a week and sometimes theres slight cloudiness to them (the eyes, not my vision). Could it still be the dry eye? This spanned over the course of 3 weeks.
    
***Note, I am a contact lens wearer but have stopped wearing them since the infection started.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Extreme dry eyes are unusual at your age. You may need to stop wearing contacts for several months to let your eyes clear up. Your problem could be due entirely to contacts.

JCH MD

[Ms_Bambina]

Thank you for your quick reply, Dr. John.

I have been wearing contacts for over 10 years now and have never had this problem before. Is it normal to develop a reaction to contacts without any pre-symptoms? Or have I just been unlucky by picking up a different brand than the ones I regularly use?
I'm also wondering if I have a mild case of eye strain since I work in front of a computer all day.

Your reply is greatly appreciated, Dr. John!
Thanks again.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The older you get the more likely problems are to develop not just in your eyes but all over your body.

Dry eyes is more common in women than men, much more. Even young women, especially those on BCP or who have thyroid problems can have dry eyes.

Dry eyes is the most common reason people cannot wear or have to stop wearing contacts.

In our lasik practice 20% of the people that have it done is because they lost the ability to wear their contacts.


Discuss your particuliar situation with your contact lens fitter.

JCH MD

[Ms_Bambina]

Thank you for explaining and showing me some light at the end of the tunnel for my situation, Dr. John.