I've got some concerns about this and am hoping someone can give educated advice....it's a really long story, but here's the short version:
My eyes had been irritated for quite some time. While in WDW for Halloween, they were unbearable. I would use contacts one day, then by mid-day they'd be so red and sensitive that I'd have to take them out, and my vision was blurred. I assumed it was just because they had been irritated so much. I skipped a couple of days wearing them, then went back to them on Halloween. By lunchtime, my eyes hurt so bad I couldn't open them. Took out my contacts, put the glasses on and discovered that I could hardly see, the vision was so blurred. For the remainder of our trip, I could barely open my eyes...they were THAT light sensitive. Literally. I can remember going through the wardrobe building at the Studios and opening my eyes to see one costume on display inside the DARK tunnel, and they burned like someone was shining a 100 watt bulb directly in my face.
Got home, went to optometrist. She was perplexed, but gave me some drops and an ointment, guessing it was a cornea ulcer. By day 2, the ointment had cured the redness, but my vision was still EXTREMELY bad, and my eyes were very light sensitive. I couldn't watch tv or work on the computer, and I had to have dim lighting anywhere I went. Continued using the drops, with nothing getting better.
After several more visits to the optometrist and several new medicines, nothing seemed to be curing it. The light sensitivity had decreased somewhat, but vision was still blurred. Even when I wore my glasses, it felt like I didn't have them on. In fact, I often took them off if I could get away with it, just because my eyes felt so strained to be able to see when I had them on.
Finally, about 6 weeks after the initial problems, I was referred to an opthamologist for second opinion. He diagnosed it as a condition called Thygeson's Disease and told me that the lenses or something over my cornea were very lesioned and damaged. Gave me MORE drops and an antibiotic and sent me on my way until the next week.
His drops seemed to help the vision slowly, and over the next few weeks, I saw him regularly. I continued using the drops until mid-February. He told me I could stop using them, warned that I may not be able to wear contacts ever again, but suggested I could try them if I felt my eyes were better. He also warned that flare ups for the Thygeson's were unpredictable and could just go into remission for a while before popping up again, and, when they do, he told me there wasn't anything they could do to cure the condition or the symptoms, only relieve some of the discomfort.
So I tried my contacts....three months later, I can have them in for no more than, on average, 12 hours a week. And even that's pushing it, and I have to take days off in between 4-6 hour "shifts".
SO....
Anyway, as for this B&L thing....I've only ever used B&L because I have sensitive eyes. I used that particular product, so when the news first broke, I had friends and family alerting me to it because my symptoms so directly matched what people were reporting. I called the opthamologist, who did not return my calls for a couple days. When he did, he told me that my condition has nothing to do with the fungus. He said that the treatment for what my eyes had would have made THAT condition worse...
HOWEVER....
I'm still a little skeptical, because I'm wondering if the treatments I initially sampled with the optometrist may have either masked or warped the problem, you know? Like, I went in there with one thing, but then the treatments catalyzed something else. Plus, I don't know if the Thygeson's type of keratitis can be caused or worsened by fungal keratitis. AND, to top it all off, I can't read the opthamologist, and I'm wondering if he doesn't want to revisit the diagnosis due to his own ego and reputation.
Anyway, sorry this is so long, but I'd really like some input. I'm not a sue-happy person, but if there's something else to come of this (such as other treatments that could help my vision), I'd like to be a part of it. Between doctor visits and new glasses, I've spent well over $1,000 on this condition, and my vision is still not comfortable. It's possible that it may never be, or that surgery may be a route to explore. Either way, I'm a curious person by nature, and I'd like to know if the B&L product had any role in what happened, or if it's all just a coincidence.
Thanks for reading all of this!!
She put some sort of drops in my eyes and then looked at them, I think that's when she was checking for the infection. MY RX did change, but I don't really think that's the problem. She gave me new contacts and they too are bothering my eyes so maybe I have allergies or maybe there is something that was in the solution that is irritating my eyes. She did tell me throw away the B&L stuff and gave me Opti Free.
