Severe Chronic Red Eye, Please Help

[mkotz]

I have eye problems for the past 4 years and I have been to 4 different eye doctors and they dont seem to be helping and Im worried about perminant damage and plus I want it fixed.

First Doctor felt my glands and asked me if i reciently had strep throught and i did so I said yes.  He said I had some sort of viral pink eye and said it would go away on its own in a few weeks.  Months past and my red/irritated eyes did not go away so I went back and he said I still had the same thing and sent me away again.

Months past and i still had had red irritated eyes so I got referred to another doctor who thought it was a bacterial infection and gave me eye drops for that; those did nothing.  Then he gave me anti inflamitory eye drops which did nothing and then he tried me on allegery eye drops which did nothing.  He finally gave me steroid eye drop (Torbradex and then FML)  These work to make my eyes 100% back to normal but as soon as i stop them with a few days later they start getting bad again.  The doctor said long term use of steroid eye drops is bad and can cause problems so he has reciently taken me off of these drops and my eye are worse then ever.

I have also been to two other eye doctors with no help, one said i have bleparitis and gave me general eye care tips which i have already been doing for the past year with no help.  The other doctor had no idea and referred me to someone else.

Here are my symptoms:

Eyes Extreemly Red somethimes to the point where no white is left
Eyelids are also very red - When i close my eyelids my eyes burn
Mucus in the eye - not all the time but I am frequently pulling out long strands of mucus from bottom and top of eyes
Irritated - Gets worse throughout the day (by the end of the day sometime they are so irritated that sometimes I itch them)
They do not generally leak anything any fluids
They are generally not itchy

Headachs - This started happening reciently (withing the past 2 months)
Sinus pressure - not all the time but i can definatly feel it sometimes
Sore throughts - not to the point where i need to go get checked out but i do get sore throughts lots and right now if i feel the top of the throught with my toung it feels gritty.

Some weeks are better then others
Sometimes one eye will be worse then the other

I have also explored the allegery issue again by taking Claritan which seems to actually help with the stuffy nose but does nothing for the eyes, so i wanted to get an allegery eye drop while on claritan.  I have tried Patanol and Zaditor which do not help, i have only tired the eye drops and oral meds together for 1 week with absolutly no improvment.

Location does not seem to make to much of a diffeence, I currently work in an office building and they still red, I have been to mexico twice and they they really bad, possibly due to heat?  I have gone camping and still red.  Dry dusty plaes to seem to irritate them more but im sure thats due to the partiel dry eye that i have devolped due to whatever i have.

I am only 23 years old and i have been dealing with this problem for 4 years now and I have had enough of it.  My eyes were perfect before all of this.  I do wear glasses and my vision has decreased since this started but i dont know if it is from time or whatever i have it causing the decrease.  I had my eyes operated on when i was a baby because i had lazy eye.

Thank You,
Mark.

[jbf130]

I feel your pain, the symptoms you are describing and to short term effect of tobramycin is the only thing that works for me. Everything is identical to your problems. My eyes have been doing this for the past 8 years now from age 23. It is unbearable! I have a primary immune deficiency known as XLA, where I do not produce B cells or make antibodies. Some of the immunologists that I have seen that treat individuals with my condition tell me that it is common in individuals with my disease. XLA is a serious disease that will be very apparent at shortly after birth, so I'm not suggesting that you have this condition, however, there are a significant amount of individuals that go undiagnosed with partial IgA deficiencies. IgA is the immunoglobulin isotype of antibodies that are produced at mucosal sites like the eye. It is a long shot, but perhaps that migth be something you would want to look into. These partial immune deficiencies can have an adult onset and are generally mild in terms of clinical severity due to the fact that these individuals are capable of producing B cells and sufficient amounts of IgM and IgG antibodies. Good luck dealing with this, I know how bad it is. If you come across any useful information, let me know. I hate dealing with this especially the discomfort and the appearance it presents to others. It makes interacting with other individuals a bit uncomfortable at times, good luck

[mkotz]

i have also been reading that mold could be causing these symptoms, have you ever came accross anything like that?

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

A good diet and a multivitamin will do fine.

JCH II MD

[mkotz]

is there any oral medication that would be the best to take specifically for eyes.

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

Only sometimes. The best OTC allergy drop now is Zaditor.
JCH IIMD

[mkotz]

I do not wear contacts, i tried them out once but they did not work well so i never tried again.  

If i had a really bad allegery to something would eye drops and OTC allegery meds work?

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

I'm assuming you DON"T WEAR contacts. as they could cause all your symptoms.

I would suggest you see an Eye MD ophthalmoloigst that specializes in cornea and external eye disease. find one at www.aao.org


Have your thyroid checked also.

JCH III MD

[SwanSong]

Have you been tested for any autoimmune diseases/conditions? I would get a doctor to test for several different ones and see if that might be the cause of your symptoms.

I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and that can cause Thyroid Eye Disease. Some of the symptoms are:
Bad night vision
Blurring of vision
Bulging eyes
Chemosis (edema/swelling of the mucous membrane of the eyeball and eyelid lining)
Corneal abrasion
Corneal ulcer
Deteriorating vision
Double vision
Dry eyes
Eye grittiness
Eye strain
Globe lag
Headache
Inflammation of eye tissues
Painful eyes
Puffiness of tissues around eyes
Red eyes
Sensitive to light, even indoors
Tearing