Just over a week ago, I visited various medical professionals for a persistent eye infection. I was prescribed Prednisolone acetate 1%. On Tuesday I was making good progress and the optician instructed me to start tapering the Prednisolone (from once an hour to once every 2 hours) and until this morning all seemed well. My eye was clear etc. But yesterday I came down with a cold and this morning I woke with a clearly infected eye. Should I stop tapering the medicine and revert to a dose once an hour?
I’ve rung the optician and left a message but haven’t received a reply - and it being Sunday I am unlikely to. NHS 111 appears to be overloaded. Be assured that I will be round to the optician first thing tomorrow!
Did he give you an antibacterial/antibiotic eyedrop as well, or just the prednisolone? I ask because prednisolone won’t treat actual infection, it will just reduce the swelling. (And I don’t mean that as if it’s not important, it is important, but it’s not going to get rid of an infection.)
Is your vision okay? If you’ve developed blurry or double vision, or are missing any part of your field of vision, go get in line today. Don’t wait.
Otherwise, I’d suggest some black tea to help soothe and astringe the eye. Teabags make this easy for us 'Muricans, but if you’re a proper Brit who uses loose tea, you can make a good strong cuppa and let it cool a bit, then soak a clean soft towel in it and apply it as a compress. If you use teabags, then make a cup of tea and use the teabag itself as the compress. If you feel up to it, you can alternate the tea compress with a poultice made of grated carrot, which is soothing and cool, to reduce inflammation further. Historically, grated carrots have been used to “draw” infection out of wounds and eyes, but I don’t suspect there’s actual evidence to back that up. Feels good, though.
If I needed to get rid of an actual eye infection and couldn’t use antibiotics, I’d use a mix of goldenseal, eyebright and calendula to make compresses with, alternating with poultices of grated carrot, but it’s unlikely you have those hanging around in your kitchen.
I’ve just got back from the optician. No need to stop tapering, and I’m making good progress. He reminded me to take breaks from VDU usage.
To answer your other question, I’m on Cyclopentolate which I take 3 / day and is an instrument of utter torture. One drop really smarts; an accidental squirt is enough to blind me in that eye for some minutes.
