Itchy, red, allergy eyes --UPDATE!

[rszdtrvl]

Any advice or tips for us?

DS is suffering from massive itchy eyes. I know it is because of grass pollen. Poor kid - he was sobbing a few minutes ago because I can't give him anymore eye drops for another 4 hours. I ended up giving him the Similisan "all natural" eye drops and pray that it does not affect him having taken the other eye drops we are using.

Right now I am using "Alaway Eye Itch Relief" by Bausch & Lomb and I just gave him a Benadryl.

I will take him to the doctor if it does not clear up using the combination of Benadryl and the eye drops soon.

Any advice for us? I am hoping he outgrows it, as I had horrible allergies at his age, the main symptoms being itchy, watery eyes. He is just down and out miserable, with the itchy and red eyes (he does not have pinkeye - we know that for a fact, as he has had it before due to allergies) and massive congestion.

Should we keep on the Benadryl, or try something else (he does take a Zyrtec tablet daily for allergies)?

Help!!! (please..........)

 

[golfgal]

I would take him to an allergist and get him on some better allergy meds. If he is taking Zyrtec and still having symptoms, it isn't working. My DS15 gets red, itchy eyes with his allergies and he uses Patinol (the newer version and I can't remember what the name is now), prescription eye drops. They work great!! He uses them once/day and has zero problems with his eyes. He also takes Allegra for his allergies. He tried Zyrtec and that did nothing for him.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I have the dreaded grass allergy. Sad to say that I feel it gets worse as I age...but I've learned to take steps to help limit exposure.

Eyedrops alone do not work on me and in find only one prescription one does. Lubricating my eyes seems to be the key. Wetting alone isn't enough--visine for me is a complete joke.

I'd give your son the benadryl if it is working. The antihistamine wi help to stop his body from reacting to the grass.

I'd also schedule to see the allergist to help come up with a better protocol.

For this minute, have him shower and cleanse thoroughly and then put on fresh pj's for the night. Give him his meds and that should help.


I also take Veramyst nasal spRay. Can't recall how it works in my regime...something like it helps the nasal passages deal with allergens or something. Messed up that explanation...but my grass allergy acts up on contact or just from airborne pollen or particles.

Good luck---I am severly allergic (scratch test for that allergy inflamed my entire back) and I can totally empathize with how crappy it gets, especially with the eyes.

 

[minkydog]

I think I'd take him to the doctor tomorrow rather than waiting longer. Clearly the drops aren't helping enough. I have grass & tree allergies. My eyes water so much that I can only wear mascara about 4 months out of the year. Last summer I had such a bad time of it that my eyeballs swelled up like big gelatinous masses. It was disgusting looking. The doctor put me on a steroid eye drop, plus prednisone and it went down pretty quick. I was amazed at how fast the steroid eye drops worked to settle my eyes down.

 

[holycow]

You are doing the right thing but if you want to try something else until you can get him into a Dr. Seriously try the Allergy Multi-symptom Walgreens brand..


I've been suffering for a while now and I have tried so many different meds. If you want the list I'll give it to you. I went to Walgreens and thought I'll try anything! This one works!


Good luck!

 

[Abbie]

Poor little guy, I feel for him since I often have the same issue. And this year has just been horrendous for allergies!

I used to have great luck with the patanol (used to be pataday) but it was crazy expensive so I just switched to the allaway which seems to help. I would be concerned about adding benedryl in addition to the zyrtec since they are both similar things. You might ask about the med that replaced the zyrtec, which is zyzal, and a bit stronger.

Make sure you stress to him to keep his hands away from his eyes, no matter how badly they itch! That will only make it so much worse. And I second the allergist recommendation.

Hope he gets some relief soon!

 

[rszdtrvl]

I am going to try to get in to the eye doctor tomorrow. It would be easier to get him to that doctor instead of his pediatrician, plus the the eye doctor would have better information about what to do about his eye issues. I did mention lat his last appt. about the eye allergies, but said that they normally happen during the summer and his appt. was in February. He is the one who gave me samples of the all natural eye drops.

Isn't it crazy how I never thought of that until I made this post? Amazing how the mind works (or doesn't work), LOL.

He is going to take his nightly shower in a few minutes, so he will be all ready for tomorrow.

I plan on sticking with the Benadryl through the weekend, to see if that will help also. And hope that we can get in to the eye doctor tomorrow (we are normally able to have a "same day" appt).

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the information and advice!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

DH is an optometrist. I know there are some good prescription eye drops for allergy. He would also recommend cool compresses for relief tonight.

 

[minniecarousel]

I had a post last night about ONE eye hurting & itching. I finally took an antihistamine today & made an appt woth the opthamalogist tomorrow. I have no idea what mine is, with only one eye involved.

Good luck with your son!

 

[busyshrew]

I won't bother repeating the medical / prescription advice of other PPs here, but I too, suffered terribly from grass allergies and it always hit my eyes the worst.

Here are some things to try that might help your son feel a bit better:

cold tea compress for the eyes : either soak tea bags in ice water or make a very strong tea solution (use lots and lots of ice cubes and get the compress as cold as you can). apply the cold cloth for 20 minutes over closed eyes. this should help reduce the swelling and soothe the itching a bit. If you have one of those eye-masks (the kind you can chill), then even better.

get your son to (ahem) gently & thoroughly blow his nose and if at all possible, to wash it out with a gentle saline spray. My girlfriend swears by her neti pot but I've never figured out how to use those things! it's the same idea as taking a shower - to get rid of any bits of pollen on the body.

I have to agree with some of the PPs - benedryl does very little to help my itchy eye problems. I wound up getting allergy shots, and using a combination of eye drops and a nasal spray in just in the grass season. The nasal spray worked WONDERS.

Good luck!

 

[rszdtrvl]

Got him in to the eye doctor this morning.

He is to use steroid drops (prescription) for the next week - 3x/day and then let his eyes rest for one week. After the week on the steroids, or after the week without them, if his eyes are still bothering him he needs to go back in for another checkup and some allergy eye drops.

He said that his eyes are definitely inflammed.

Poor kid. I am glad I got him in today.

Now I am off to fill his prescription so we can start it tonight!

 

[Binnie]

I have struggled with allergies for my whole life, and have had nasty eye alleergies for the last 10 years or so. Even when my allergies are well-managed (antihistamine working well, allergy shots in process, etc.), I sometimes have to supplement with eye drops.

I have had good luck with OTC Zaditor (sp?) and prescription Pataday. I don't use them at the same time, of course, but they provide good and quick relief so that I don't get to the point of allergic pink eye anymore (which was a daily problem at one point!).

Good luck. I feel for the kid.

 

[minkydog]

I'm glad you took him in. The steroid eye drops really soothed my eyes when I had such a bad time with allergies. It was pretty amazing how fast they worked, too.

 

[Kae]

Itchy eyes are the worst, let my nose run off my face but please leave my eyes alone. DS & I shower before bed, change pillow case daily & do cold compresses on our eyes.

kae

 

[stsomewhere]

I have really bad allergies.

Have him wear a ballhat and sunglasses. It will help keep pollen out of his eyes.

 

[DizBelle]

I just wanted to throw out an alternative OTC allergy eye drop. Opcon-A. It contains the antihistamine pheniramine maleate. Ketotifen (the active ingredient in Alaway and in Zaditor) didn't really do anything for me. Ketotifen is supposed to provide 12 hours of relief. If he isn't even getting 4 hours out of it, perhaps you should try a different drug. If, after the course of steriod eye drops, his itchy eyes come back, give it a go.

There is also the oral antihistamine chlorpheniramine maleate (Chlor-trimeton). If Diphenhydramine HCl (Benadryl) doesn't seem to help much or makes him loopy, you could try this one.