Sunday, June 8, 2008

Will Visine get the red out?

My little princess is having MAJOR eye troubles. It all started yesterday right before Pete and I left for the wedding. We noticed that her one eye was looking red. She was also itching it quite a bit. I figured that it was nothing and hoped it would go away. When we called to check on E from the wedding my MIL said the redness was coming and going but not any worse.

This morning her eye was still red. As the day progresses the redness grew worse. Now both of her eyes are very red an itchy. Pete and I tried to figure out what could be causing the irritation. We thought it might be allergies, the suntan lotion we have been using, or the chlorine from the pool. I hate doctorless weekends.

When we saw NO improvement Pete called and spoke to our pediatrician. He said it could either be allergies or conjunctivitis. He advised us to put one drop of Visine AC in each eye before bed and then again in the morning. He also said if it wasn't any better we would need to make an appointment.

Now I have had conjunctivitis once and I thought I kne what it entailed. However, being the nut ball that I am, I decided to look up conjunctivitis and now I am more confused then ever. I always thought there were two kinds of conjunctivitis: bacterial and viral. The website I found listed other kinds such as Allergic conjunctivitis and Reactive conjunctivitis. Now I am not sure what the heck little E has.

These are the descriptions according to Netdoctor.co.uk

Allergic conjunctivitis -Allergic conjunctivitis is common in people who have other signs of allergic disease such as hay fever, asthma and eczema. The conjunctivitis is often caused by antigens like pollen, dust mites or cosmetics.

Reactive conjunctivitis - chemical or irritant conjunctivitis. Some people are very susceptible to chemicals in swimming pools or to smoke or fumes and this can cause an irritation of the conjunctiva with discomfort, redness and watering. In such cases these irritants should be avoided.



Eliza could really have either of these types of conjunctivitis. It could be from her allergies or it could be from chlorine and/or suntan lotion. I am so freakin frustrated. It breaks my heart every time she rubs her eyes with her tiny balled up fists. I wish there was something I could do to make her better.

Here she is at the park today. You can tell her eyes were starting to get worse.
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Here she is rubbing her sweet little eyes.

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I hope we get this resolved tomorrow so my lil' angel can start to feel better.

16 comments:

Laski said...

Awe . . . I'm so sorry! It just stinks to watch your little one in pain or any kind of discomfort. J is just getting over his first cold. It killed me listening to him cough and struggle to breath with all the congestion.

Did you try warm or cool compresses on her eyes? Both work to relieve swelling and the itchiness depending on the type of conjunctivitis she has.

You are right . . . it is frustrating because it could be anything. Don't stress out . . . this is common. Just stay on top of it and call the doc if it gets worse or you become more concerned.

Let us know how it goes :)

Amanda-The Family News! said...

Does she have any other symptoms or just the eye irritation? If she does she could be getting sick and dealing with pink eye...that goes around at daycare fairly often it seems.
I hope she gets past it soon...

Christy said...

Poor baby. I hope she is feeling better soon.

Pam said...

my first thought was pink eye- but it could be due to other irritants as you said. I hope she is doing better in the morning. She is so cute in those pictures though!

Andrea said...

Aww...poor 'lil girl! She does look just precious in that pink dress and sunhat though!! I really hope you can get this resolved quickly too because I know it is NO fun to see your kids feel sick or anything of that sort! I do have some EXCITING news for you though!! You won the latest contest on my my blog for the kimono! So if you'd email me at andraya3 at yahoo dot com with which one you want (out of the three on this page: http://www.tomoandedie.com/clothing/organic-kimonos.php#long and your mailing address, that'd be great!!

PletcherFamily said...

Poor baby. That can be very frustrating. Is she having drainage from her eyes. The bacterial conjuncivitis (like pink eye) usually comes along with colds (or other kids in daycare having it) and it causes the eyes to drain a white puss (I know gross). You will wipe it away and it will keep reappearing. That is usually pink eye. But if her eyes are red and itching, and no real drainage, it could be allergy. Poor little girl. I am glad tomorrow is Monday and you can hopefully get it resolved.

Marni's Organized Mess said...

I'll cross my fingers!

Dana said...

i hope Eliza feels better soon.. Hopefully it's just allergies!

Heather said...

Aw poor baby! I don't know if you are nursing or not but if you are - squirt her in the eyes! I kid you not, it will help. Is it possible she has blocked tear ducts? I hear that's another common thing. Hope she feels better soon!

Mommy Mechanics said...

Oh poor thing, I hate when they get stuff like this. I hope it was just from the chlorine or something and hopefully it will just clear up on it's own tomorrow. My entire family has eye problems, like every time we get a little cold it seems to go to our eyes. Keep us updated.

Tracy said...

Poor peanut :< Madison has been going through the same problem lately. Lucky for us she is older so she can tell us what doesn't feel good although this one is obvious with Little E. I think allergies have been worse than ever this year 'cause lots of strange things besides the runny nose have been going on. Hope she feels better soon. Oh and congrats for winning the kimono from Andrea!

Pierrette said...

Poor little one. This might sound crazy but if you are nursing her squirt a bit of breast milk in her eyes; its a traditional cure for almost all form of eye irritations or infection. I know some people who have done this and it works great. Just repeat each time you nurse until it's cleared up.

Mama Smurf said...

poor thing! She's adorable by the way!

Anonymous said...

So sorry she's bothered by her red eyes...allergies?

But these, pics....are so gosh darn cute! You must have an awesome camera or some serious photography skills!

Anonymous said...

o poor lil thing. but she still looks so sweet!

CC said...

Hugs!!! But she sure does look cute in spite of her owies!