Teary, red, itchy, light-sensitive eyes- one then the other?

Question

My eyes have both felt this way in the past 3 weeks, at alternating times. Suddenly one eye will get bright red and start tearing like crazy. It is hyper-sensitive to light and itchy to the point of being painful. It feels like I scratched it or have something stuck in it, and I take my contact out until that feeling eventually goes away and the eye clears up. Then I pop the contact back in ... and then in 2 days or so it happens again, often in the other eye.

I noticed that rinsing it with saline sometimes relieves the pain. I am living in a developing country and though there are doctors here, honestly I don't trust them and will only go to one if nothing I do at home works. I thought at first it was an eye infection so I've been taking Cipro (antibiotic) as directed, rinsing my eyes with saline and foregoing my contacts when this is happening. However, there has been no gunky discharge that suggests infection so I just popped an antihistamine thinking maybe it's allergies.

Anyone?

Answer 1

Just reading your symptoms, it sounds like you may have CLARE (contact lens associated red eye) and sometimes you have to discontinue wear for quite some time while your eyes heals.  Possible causes are that the contact is no longer a good fit or brand for your eyes especially in the environment you are talking about.  Or you have suddenly developed an allergy to something there and it is being exacerbated by contact lens wear.  Keep taking the Cipro (drops, right?) four times a day and discontinue contact lens wear for at least 2 weeks.  It may seem OK sooner than that, but it does take longer for things to quiet down properly.  Wear your glasses as frequently as possible from now and contacts infrequently (unless you can change brands there).  And what you REALLY need is some steroid eye drops to quiet down that inflammation.  Can you get your hands on some?  Preferably Lotemax or Pred Forte...they work like a charm!  Good Luck!