Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis - a pit of my own stupidity

The BBQ Pit
1

Normally I’m pretty intelligent and display some common sense, but for some reason I applied neither to my contact lens use. Instead of throwing out each pair after two weeks of use like I was supposed to, I kept wearing them till they got uncomfortable. That way I could go a whole year using the number of boxes my insurance covered. Dimly, in the back of my mind, I figured if it ever caused any problems, I’d stop doing it and all would be well.

WRONG!

Lately my lenses have been getting all gooey and gross, impeding my vision and feeling uncomfortable. So I went to see the doc.

He turned my eyelids inside out and took a look, and diagnosed me with the aforementioned giant papillary conjunctivitis. Basically, my eyes have started to have an allergic-type reaction to the protein and other stuff that builds up on my contacts, and the insides of my eyelids have transformed from relatively smooth and happy to bumpy and mucousy. By the way, the “giant” refers to the bumps. This must be the only time in recorded history the adjective “giant” has been applied to something .3 to 1 mm in diameter. Oh, and further by the way, I was surprised at how being subject to the descriptor “giant” bothered me. Oh well, I suppose it could have been worse - could have been a “giant” ass-related malady.

So now I will never ever be able to wear contacts regularly. Luckily, I can still wear them occasionally for short periods (once I get through a regimen of steroid eye drops and my eyes recover a bit). But I absolutely loathe my glasses. They slide down my nose, get grease all over them from my eyebrows and eyelashes (long eyelashes are nice, but this can be a drawback), and generally piss me off.

What’s that you say? Get laser surgery? If only I could! My pupils are too fucking big for laser surgery.

At least I’m getting new glasses that barely touch my face and have all the bells & whistles to make them more comfortable.

Still, I’m kicking myself. How dumb can I be? Did I really say to myself, “I want to save money, let’s see, how about I put my eyes at risk - they’re replaceable, right?”

Congratulations, Dummy, you get to be reminded of your stupidity every time you put on your fucking glasses.

2

Sympathies from a fellow GPC sufferer, Aeryn. I didn’t know this malady could take such a severe form.

I was diagnosed with GPC about 2 years ago and told it wasn’t all that serious and would not affect my ability to wear lenses – just make sure not to wear them past their rated life. My symptoms were dryness and red-eye on waking and sometimes at the end of a long day’s lens wearing, but with minimal discomfort.

3

GIANT PAPILLARY CONJUNCTIVITIS

(I just like saying it.)

I have it too. It’s a pain in the neck…er…eyeball. Sorry you have to deal with it. I didn’t know that it was something that you could bring on yourself, though. I gave up on the contacts thing years ago, and I’m happier for it.

I does give me the willies when the doc turns my eyelids inside-out. Eek!

4

When I had GPC a year and a half ago, I had to give myself Patanol eyedrops and wear only glasses for two weeks. After that, all I have to do is make sure to wear them for at least an hour or two a day every day after that (I tend to do that in the mornings and late evenings, so no one actually sees me wearing glasses.) I still wear my contacts for fourteen plus hours at a stretch, though - you might want to get a second opinion.

5

My husband is an optician, and you wouldn’t believe the stories he comes home with about the risks people take with their eyes.

It’s great fun to ask him to tell the one about the kid who didn’t take his non-extended wear contacts out for a week, and then found that couldn’t get them out. When the optometrist carefully rehydrated them and removed them, the left one came out okay.

Taking out the right one peeled off the top layer of the kid’s cornea.

At least your sight isn’t damaged, Aeryn. Enjoy the sexy new glasses.

6

Disclaimer: I have liked everyone of my eye doctors. Yet they are all freaks. They all relish in telling me all kinds of weird and horrifying stories about contacts, eyes, glasses, etc. Regular doctors wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing.

AerynSun: :eek: I will change my contacts every two weeks even more diligently now. How horrible for you.

7

Podkayne, can I send you the bills for my therapy now?

I will definitely, definitely be taking my contacts out every night before bed. Oh, man, I will be having nightmares tonight.

(But I won’t be able to see them because my contacts will be out, just like they’re supposed to be!)

E.

8

I had GPC in high school. In my case, it was because I’d developed an allergy to whatever solutions I was using (and there weren’t any alternative solutions back in the stone age). I had to take a year off from wearing contacts, and was only able to wear them again when “sensitive eyes” solutions came onto the market. Thank god I was able to get RK surgery in '92.

9

Only if you kept wearing the disposable panties that your insurance company bought for you.

Being an intelligent sort, I’m guessing you would have chunked those.

By “chunked” I of course mean “tossed”.

Be well.

10

From what the doc said, fourteen hours is probably asking too much (that’s about what I wore them for before this), but I suspect I might be able to get by without too many people seeing my glasses, if all goes well.

I think he was trying to underpromise and overdeliver - in case it’s really bad, I’m prepared to be Glasses Girl, and if it turns out I can wear my contacts most of the day, I’ll be really happy.

I should also point out that he in no way said, “You did this to yourself with poor contact lens hygiene.” He is too much of a sweetheart for that. He said I have this, and mentioned it was way more prevalent when people wore the same lenses for six months or more. I did some more research online and came to the conclusion that I probably did it to myself, but he was too diplomatic to berate me for it. I suppose it’s possible I would have developed GPC anyway, but I doubt it.

11

You know I was seriously considering getting contacts but now…

12

gurgle

turns absolutely green

I’m sorry I clicked on that spoiler box. :eek: :frowning:

13

I’d like to thank the OP for scaring some sense into me. I just now put in a new set of contacts and threw out the old ones I’ve been using for two weeks past their recomended use.

14

Me, too! Or rather, I will, when I go to bed tonight.

Although I’ve been entirely too cavalier about my contacts for a long time, I really DO need to be more careful. Thanks for the, uh… eye opener.

15

So, is that what it is when your eyes get all red and gooey while wearing contacts? I finally quit wearing mine regularly after my left eye got swollen shut, and I would wake up in the mornings and it would be all crusted over. Can it be worse in only one eye? Does it not ever go away by itself?

16

Okay, people, let me say this nice and clearly - RED, GOOEY, CRUSTED EYES ARE BAD! Normal eyes are not red, gooey, and crusted. If you’re doing something that makes your eyes red, gooey, and crusted, STOP DOING IT IMMEDIATELY!

And quit rubbing them, too. That just makes it worse.

All you contact wearers complaining cause you have to wear glasses once in awhile, let me tell you about my dry, allergic eyes. You know those contacts that you can wear for a month? I get about four hours out of them before they have got to come out RIGHT NOW. Just a little perspective for you.

17

Ugh. All this stuff about contacts makes me really, really happy I’ve always worn glasses. My glasses might be a bit scratched from fiberglass insulation and unbuffable because they’re plastic, but at least they don’t cause an allergic reaction in the most sensitive freaking tissue in my exposed body.

And they don’t threaten to rip off the top layer of my freaking cornea when I go to bed at night! GAH! GAH! CORNEAS RIPPING OFF!

All you people are freaks. You’re putting foreign bodies on your eyes! My rimless glasses darken in the sunlight, protecting my eyes. Your contact lenses cause allergic reactions, turning your eyes into a freaking medical textbook.

I should probably go now.

18

During Basic, they pounded it into our heads not to wear contacts, because you don’t have time to take care of them. To further reinforce the point, they put a poster over the urinals in the latrine to show what could happen. One of the pictures was of Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis.

About the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen. Hope you get over it.

19

I wore contacts for a couple of months back when I was in college. They were never comfortable at all; I guess my eyes are too dry or something…

I also always had a hard time getting them in for some reason. One morning, I woke up with a hangover and spent about 15 minutes poking myself in the eye trying to get my contacts in; I thought “I do not need this!” and tossed the lenses out. I never looked back. I love my glasses! :cool:

(sorry 'bout your eyes!)

20

I sympathise. I’ve been there and I hated, hated, hated my glasses when I had to give up my contacts, but I got used to them. Try and find an optician with some expertise in fitting and shaping frames, it does make a lot of difference if find flattering frames that fit your face.

And I can still wear disposable contacts, the ones you wear for a day and throw away, although it took a few years for my eyes to get back to normal so that I could wear contacts again. As an all the time proposition they’re probably not cost effective, but they’re useful, and you don’t have to worry all the time that you’ve just dropped a couple of hundred dollars of flimsy plastic down the basin plug hole.