Frustrating
I started to have a problem with my eye after going on a boating holiday. I went to my GP who sent me to the local hospital and they diagnosed blepharitis. Three weeks later I still had problems and was diagnosed with Corneal erosion. The treatment made matters worse so a third trip to the hospital resulted in the diagnosis being Herpes simplex and so I was treated with antivirals. Matters got worse, my sight became very blurred and I was in a great deal of pain but when I phoned the hospital I was told it was an effect of the medication. Finally after seeing 9 GPs and 3 Opthalmologists when I went for a review at the hospital they sent me to Moorfields in London as an emergency case. The doctors at Moorfields were very good and diagnosed Acanthamoeba keratitis which is very rare, difficult to diagnose, very painful and hard to treat. It results in extreme photosensitivity, and causes corneal scarring resulting in sight loss. The inital treatment involved drops every hour and I was warned it would take many months to kill all the amoeba. It is now 5 months after the initial problem, I now also have immune mediated scleritis and I am still attending Moorfields. I am still using 14 eye drops per day plus oral anti inflammatories and my sight is still very blurred but I am hopeful it will improve. When the infection is cleared I may need a corneal transplant. I am not sure how I got the infection but it is found in people who wear contact lenses which come into contact with water. SO IF YOU WEAR CONTACT LENSES DO NOT WASH OR STORE THEM IN WATER AND NEVER SWIM IN THEM.
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