Well I woke up to a lovely shade of pink this morning in both of my eyes! i am so upset! The first day of my summer vacation, and sick as a dog. I sent my dd to my Mom's for the day. thanks goodness for my Mommy.

Any one know when pink eye is contagious? Is it before symptoms appear or only during? I am so afraid that my dd is going to catch this from. UGHHHH!

By Karen~moderator on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 07:47 am:

True pink eye causes a discharge and/or crusting of the eyes. It's contagious when you have that.

By Kittycat_26 on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 07:52 am:

Once you start the drops for pink eye, you should no longer be contagious after about 24 hours. The discharge and crusting of the eyes that Karen is talking about should also stop about 24 hours after starting the drops.

The only reason I mention how quickly the irritation and all should stop is that my husband was diagnosed with pink eye. When it hadn't cleared up in a week's time with the drops, we found out that it was something completely different. Something that we have been treating for over 15 months now.

Good luck and don't forget to change washclothes everytime you use one so you don't get recontamination.

By Agreen on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 07:55 am:

that's what i had through the night and woke up with, ooze, crusty lids and shades of pink, except now seems to be oozing less. i had put a few warm compresses on it to help rid of the discharge. Thanks for letting me know that is only contagious while oozing. I just dont want my dd to catch it.
Now I am wondering where I caught it...

By Marcia on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 09:34 am:

When I was teaching, we had to be off for 48 hours if we had pink eye, and so did the kids. Most antibiotics take 48 hours to kick in. It is highly contagious, and it would be wise to bleach toys and anything else that you've touched.
You could have caught it simply by touching something that someone else touched, and then rubbing your eyes.
I am allergic to the common meds for pink eye, and have been in the ER for it more than once. Yuck!! Feel better!