pink eye...again | Arthritis Information

i think i have pink eye again. i dont know if its what i actually had the first time either. but i read up on pink eye and it sounds like thats what i have.
its the second time ive gotten it in the last few months. but i havent been around anyone who had had it...this time or last time.

i read on a website that, "Persistent conjunctivitis can be a sign of an uncommon underlying illness in the body. Most often these are rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus."

its wierd, cuz my doctor seems to think i dont have RA. and i dont blame him, my pain has nearly disappeared, my SED rate is at 58, which is a lot lower than last time's 129, although its still high. i dont have any swelling or stiffness. but then i get this and it makes me think i do have it. its frustrating and confusing!!

so i think im gonna ask my doctor about it on monday when i go in for my doctors appointment.

do any of you guys have frequent pink eye?
Is it in one eye or both eyes? Do you have nasal congestion also? I frequently get allergic conjunctivitis in the spring to go along with my other allergy symptoms. Usually after being on antihistamines for a couple of days, and using antihistamine eye drops (not regular visine... got to get the ones with an antihistamine in them) it clears up. both times in my right eye. no nasal congestion. as far as i know, ive never had allergies. it started earlier today, and i didnt get a chance to drive into town to the pharmacy, and all i have is regular visine. its not working. I don't, but my 3-yr old does. He's had it about 4 times in the past 3 months, and I never see/hear that anyone else at his school gets it. Other than he's quite healthy. I have another healthy friend who said she used to get it all the time.

Does your RD think you have something else besides RA? A virus? Or just an unknown, un-diagnosis?

[QUOTE=perlat04]both times in my right eye. no nasal congestion. as far as i know, ive never had allergies. it started earlier today, and i didnt get a chance to drive into town to the pharmacy, and all i have is regular visine. its not working. [/QUOTE]

It's probably a good idea to go see the doc for this one; perhaps it's pinkeye, perhaps it's something else. Whatever it is, there's almost certainly something out there that can get rid of it.ive only seen my RD twice so far. he hasnt told me flat out, "i dont think you have RA" but both times ive seen him, i get the feeling he doesnt actually think i do. so far hes just done blood tests. i see him again in three weeks and im gonna ask him exactly what he thinks after the three blood tests ive had. [QUOTE=JasmineRain]
It's probably a good idea to go see the doc for this one
[/QUOTE]

i have my doctors appointment next monday. ill ask him about it then. its hard to get an appointment with my doctor on such short notice. maybe ill take a picture of my eye to show him, in case its cleared up by then.
Regular Visine is pretty much just for cosmetic use - it constricts the blood vessels to reduce the appearance of redness. It won't actually help you to feel better and if used frequently can make other conditions worse due to the reduced blood flow. It's more for the occasional hangover when you have to look alert at work the morning after. oh i didnt know that about visine. im gonna apply a warm compress to my eye. hopefully that will help. Interesting. I kinda get the same feeling from my RD, altho I think technically I have been diagnosed with RA. My RD was on maternity leave when I had sudden onset of arthritis, so I started off with a temp doc who was really great. She ran some blood tests and waited about 4 weeks to rule out virus (it's supposed to be 6 but I couldn't move) before she started me on plaquenil and pred. I've seen my regular RD a couple times now, but I get the feeling she doesn't think I have it - she never saw me swollen and in excruciating pain. Tomorrow I go in for my first MRI which seems a little futile since the plaq is keeping the pain/swelling under control pretty well. Sometimes I wonder if it's not all in my head, but if I mess up on the plaq, the pain returns right quick.

Good luck getting some answers from your doc. I often think the hardest part is not knowing what's going on.

[QUOTE=perlat04]oh i didnt know that about visine. im gonna apply a warm compress to my eye. hopefully that will help. [/QUOTE]

That often helps when I get allergy-eye. Save the Visine for "special occasions" (like a night out with Sam Adams, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam and their friends!). When my oldest son was little, he was constantly having goop come out of his eye. We took him to the dr for this several times; each time he said it wasn't pink-eye, just snots backing up from his congested nose. I've had the same problem a few times when the allergies went out of control... nothing like boogers shooting out of your eye when you sneeze! what im getting out of my eye is kinda like thick water. nothing green or anything, just clear. and its not a lot. the pain is what bothers me the most. and that fact that now i have one big eye, and a really small one. lol

You might have dry eye.

I kept gettingwhat I thought was pick eye a few years ago. Like one after the other. I think I had it like 3 times in month. I finally went to the eye doctor and he put those paper strips in my eye to test dryness and he said I had severe dry eye which could be a complication of RA.

You might want to get that check out. He gave me drops to use. I haven't had a problem since.

I was going to say the same thing Snow. Go to your eye doctor. If you don't have one.....get one. Your RD isn't going to know what's going on with your eyes and an eye doctor is just another one we need to keep in our group. Several things can arrise with RA that relates to your eyes and you'll at the very least want to go ahead and get some records started at an office that you'll likely visit many times in the future. I originally started seeing mine when I was prescribed plaquinel but I have seen him several times since being monitored for that. It's nice to be established somewhere so you can get right in if there's ever a real problem.

I have dry eye and although it's not as bad as some folks have it was dx'ed using the strip test like Cah mentioned....but I wouldn't describe it anything like what you're describing.

Unless you've been around someone with pink eye is it really likely you've got it? I don't know. No one in my family has ever had it but I remember when my kids were in school it use to be passed around pretty often. Luckily they avoided it somehow. If you had simular symptoms not too long ago and now you've got the same symptoms again I'd say it warrents a visit to an actual eye doctor.

I have a friend who had a horrible time with her eyes. Surprisingly enough it was her eye doctor that sent her to an RD because he suspected RA.

I was told that you could catch pink eye from a cat? SO TODAY, I MANAGED TO GET AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT.
I WENT IN AT 11AM.
IT IS PINK EYE. HE SAID ITS MORE THAN LIKELY NOT ASSOCIATED WITH RA BECAUSE ITS ONLY IN ONE EYE, NOT BOTH.
HE PRESCRIBED ME SOME EYE DROPS AND ZYRTEC.
I THINK HE SAID THE EYE DROPS WERE ANTIBIOTICS.
HE SAID I HAD AN INFECTION WHICH CAUSED ME TO GET AN ALLERGIC REACTION. SO THATS WHY HE ALSO PRESCRIBED THE ZYRTEC.

HOPEFULLY THIS WILL GO AWAY SOON. IT HURTS AND ITCHES LIKE CRAZY!!

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