So, I get this on a recurrent basis:
eyepox dendrite
I call it eyepox. My ophthalmologists ((I have two, and I have their cell phone numbers.)) call it infectious epithelial herpes simplex virus (HSV) keratitis.
Lo, I have the superpower of manifesting normal medical conditions in relatively odd ways. I had recurring self-resolving appendicitis from the age of 15 until 31. No doctor could figure out my weird “stomach attacks.” Finally my doctor told me to go to the ER the next time I had one, and voila! No more appendix for me.
And so instead of getting cold sores like the vast majority of people with activated HSV-1, I get infectious epithelial herpes simplex virus (HSV) keratitis. Hooray.
The overall experience is different every time.
The first time I had an outbreak, I suddenly realized I was 70% blind in one eye. That was extremely frightening.
Once I got double vision. Once I just got halos around lights. Once my vision was fine but my eye felt like I’d been holding it open for five days. Once it felt like the inside of my eyelid was made of coarse sandpaper and it hurt so much to open my eye that I laid on the floor of my office with my eyes closed for two days, listening to podcasts and talks on the Interwebs.
There is an unmistakable familiar feeling associated with an outbreak, though, and I felt it today: a dull ache behind my eyeball that occasionally became sharp, accompanied by a feeling of slight pressure, like someone’s finger is laying across my eyelid. Not pushing, just touching. My doctor sees no evidence of outbreak, but has previously commented that I’m “exquisitely sensitive” to the sensation of the early stage of an outbreak.
Now I am on 2000mg a day (up from my normal preventative 800mg) of acyclovir and pins and needles about whether it is going to develop.
I write this partially because it is what is going on. I left work early today for the eye doctor, and then slept most of the late afternoon before going out for sushi and ice cream with my friend TJ. I slept because I was annoyed by the feeling of having my eyes open.
I write this partially because I will write something related to it later.
I write this partially to celebrate better living through chemicals, as my doctor informed me today that, as of April of this year, a new antiviral eyedrop is available that a) is not toxic to the healthy cells of the eye and thus will not hurt as much to use; and b) does not have to be administered as frequently as the drop I’ve always used before.