In a lot of pain!!

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dalbeath
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In a lot of pain!!

Postby dalbeath » Mon 08 Aug 2011 6:11 pm

Long story, basically woke up at 1am Sunday morning in agony, huge pain behind my right eye and could not tolerate any light at all in either eye, not even the small amount of moonlight from under the curtains.

Took some pain killers and 30 mins later it was worse not better. Called NHS24, who asked a lot of questions, I told them I had KC and had had CXL 6 weeks ago. They sent an ambulance for me as they thought I could have meningitis!

Went to hospital and after several hours they thought it was my eye not meningitis, so called the on call opti specialist. he says I have an infection of my cornea right on top of my pupil so the muscle that should operate pupil has gone into spasms - Hence sensitivity to light. I have drops to dilate my pupils, antibiotic drops and cream to put in my eye at night. Go back to hospital on wed.

Questions
1) Anyone else had this?
2) How long til I can wear lenses again?
3) Will it spread to my other eye?
4) What can I do to prevent it from happening again?

Many thanks
wendy

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Andrew MacLean
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Re: In a lot of pain!!

Postby Andrew MacLean » Tue 09 Aug 2011 6:24 am

I am afraid that eye infections are part of the heritage of people with keratoconus. This is why we have to be mega careful about lens hygiene, but even then an opportunistic bacterium can find its way into an abrasion on the surface of our eyes and then BAM!

Wait until your infection is properly cleared up (that is, until the ophthalmologist has told you that it is clear) before trying your lens again. Even if it feels better, there may still be some 'staining'. You do not want a relapse.

You should be okay in your other eye so long as you take precautions not to transfer infection from one eye to the other.

Prevention is a matter of reducing the danger of it happening again. Always make sure that you clean your lens when it comes out, store it in fresh fluid, rinse it and drench it in sterile saline before inserting.

All the best.

Andrew
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dalbeath
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Re: In a lot of pain!!

Postby dalbeath » Tue 09 Aug 2011 9:32 pm

Turns out it was not an infection after all just the NHS doctor being rubbish and not spotting that I have hydrops.
God I hate Kerataconus. :cry:

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Andrew MacLean
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Re: In a lot of pain!!

Postby Andrew MacLean » Wed 10 Aug 2011 6:15 am

dalbeath wrote:Turns out it was not an infection after all just the NHS doctor being rubbish and not spotting that I have hydrops.
God I hate Kerataconus. :cry:



?? The doctor misdiagnosed hydrops as an infection? That is dreadful.

Take care.

Andrew
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dalbeath
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Re: In a lot of pain!!

Postby dalbeath » Wed 10 Aug 2011 7:42 am

Andrew MacLean wrote:?? The doctor misdiagnosed hydrops as an infection? That is dreadful.


Yes, my optician spotted it straight away, I've been taking hourly antibiotic drops and 2 other types of drops since Sunday morning for no reason as definitely no infection.

Have managed to cancel my follow up appointment today with the eye specialist at the NHS hospital who thought it was an infection and get an appointment with my private specialist to see about treatment for the hydrops.

Having had serious Crohn's disease in the past I've been in and out of hospital for years and always thought the NHS provided an excellent service but I have to say ,without exception, every NHS Kerataconus experience I have had has been very negative. None of the people I have seen have had a clue. The standard of service is terrible.

Lizb
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Re: In a lot of pain!!

Postby Lizb » Wed 10 Aug 2011 8:15 am

From my own experience, regarding KC care, if u are under a smaller nhs hospital then the knowledge isnt there so the care seems lower. However at the more specialist eye hospitals the knowledge is more extensive and therefore the standard of care seems better. My treatment at my initial hospital was always good if i look at it objectively, it was just unfortunate that the KC knowledge and experience wasnt available.
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Andrew MacLean
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Re: In a lot of pain!!

Postby Andrew MacLean » Wed 10 Aug 2011 10:09 am

I agree with Liz. In your place I'd exercise my right to ask for a referral to another clinic; the larger hospitals with bigger ophthalmology departments are generally better at providing a bespoke service to people with keratoconus.

Every good wish

Andrew
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Lynn White
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Re: In a lot of pain!!

Postby Lynn White » Sat 13 Aug 2011 12:08 pm

Hi All

Let me try and put this into perspective...

If you are admitted into hospital into a general ward, the on-call ophthalmologist may not be a corneal specialist and may never have seen KC. Eyes attract a large number of specialisms: Cataract, retina (of which there are even further specialist areas), cornea, squint, neurological etc. To get an accurate diagnosis, one would have had to have been seen in a cornea clinic.

Additionally, antibiotics would prevent any secondary infection and the dilating drops given to reduce pain by "resting" the iris would equally work in Hydrops. Therefore, the treatment given was not "unnecessary" as such. The ophthalmologist was treating the signs and symptoms and as many different conditions present in a similar way, it was an entirely reasonable thing to do.

Lynn
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GaryD007
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Re: In a lot of pain!!

Postby GaryD007 » Wed 07 Sep 2011 2:56 pm

Hi Wendy

I had a hydrop last November and had exactly the same pain you described. The doctor said it was caused by tiny blisters caused by the pressure of the hydrop and some of the blisters had burst separating the layers of the cornea.

On the plus side the hydrop has actually flattened the KC cone so my Left eye which was always my 'bad' eye is now my 'good' eye with 20/20 vision (when wearing my new lens)

Hope your feeling a lot better now anyhow

Gary
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dalbeath
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Re: In a lot of pain!!

Postby dalbeath » Wed 07 Sep 2011 9:33 pm

Thanks Gary,
Pain has gone and the eye is settling down. Good to hear you have had a positive outcome after a painful situation.
wendy


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