Careful with those eye drops, Eugene...

[paperfist]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...s-eye-drops-south-carolina-police/1188709002/

"Clayton, 52, admitted to police she snuck eye drops into her husbands' water between July 19 and July 21.

A South Carolina man died after his wife allegedly poisoned his drinks with eye drops, police say.

Stephen, died from poisonous levels of tetrahydrozoline — an ingredient in over-the-counter eye drops."

Holy cow 3 days of eye drops in his water killed him.

I regularly just squirt that stuff in my eyes and end up ingesting it. I wonder now if it's even safe for your eyes!

 

[bradly1101]

Now we shall see a rash of deaths known as The Visine® Suicides.

 

[skull]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...s-eye-drops-south-carolina-police/1188709002/

"Clayton, 52, admitted to police she snuck eye drops into her husbands' water between July 19 and July 21.

A South Carolina man died after his wife allegedly poisoned his drinks with eye drops, police say.

Stephen, died from poisonous levels of tetrahydrozoline — an ingredient in over-the-counter eye drops."

Holy cow 3 days of eye drops in his water killed him.

I regularly just squirt that stuff in my eyes and end up ingesting it. I wonder now if it's even safe for your eyes!

I thought it was common knowledge visine was bad for your eyes. Didn't know it would kill somebody like that though.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

It is a decongestant, which means it constricts blood vessels. Surprisingly, the wiki page for the chemical is already updated for this incident.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yikes, would not have figured it would be deadly. That said I freaking hate using eye drops, or anything involving the eyes. When I got Lasik I had to use drops 3 times a day for a few weeks. That was the hardest part of the surgery tbh.

 

[paperfist]

It is a decongestant, which means it constricts blood vessels. Surprisingly, the wiki page for the chemical is already updated for this incident.

Decongestant? Man no wonder they dry my eyes out!

 

[paperfist]

Yikes, would not have figured it would be deadly. That said I freaking hate using eye drops, or anything involving the eyes. When I got Lasik I had to use drops 3 times a day for a few weeks. That was the hardest part of the surgery tbh.

Any regrets? I’ve been thinking about getting that done. Contacts are starting to be a hassle.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Any regrets? I’ve been thinking about getting that done. Contacts are starting to be a hassle.

Nope best money I ever spent. I was just getting fed up of dealing with glasses. Always getting dirty, glares from lighting in some situations, getting foggy when walking in the house, getting full of dots when it rains etc... So glad I got the surgery. I'm super squeemish when it comes to eyes so took me a lot of courage to do it. (not as much courage as what it takes to remove a headphone jack from a device that can play music though). I lost track of the years now but been like 3-4 at least. I was still at 20/20 at my last eye checkup.

Only thing I find my "contrast ratio" is not as good now. Like at night I find I don't see darkness shades as well, it's just all the same. I also still get halos a bit when looking at bright points of light but it's only really at night. But other than that it's fine. Those small symptoms are worth it imo and I'd do it again even knowing. Some people do get issues though like constant dry eyes but thankfully I'm fine. The actual surgury is fast too. It's not comfortable, but it's not painful either.

 

[OutHouse]

yea its crazy how poisonous eye drops are. a couple of drops is all it takes to kill a person. there are stories on this a few times a year.

 

[brianmanahan]

Yikes, would not have figured it would be deadly. That said I freaking hate using eye drops, or anything involving the eyes. When I got Lasik I had to use drops 3 times a day for a few weeks. That was the hardest part of the surgery tbh.

there is no way i'd ever be able to get lasik done, it terrifies me

 

[Exterous]

Huh - I had no idea they were dangerous

 

[nakedfrog]

I think I remember watching some TV show where it turned out someone had been poisoned with eye drops, that was the first I heard of it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

there is no way i'd ever be able to get lasik done, it terrifies me

Honestly I was terrified too but even more tired of glasses. And no way I could do contacts. At least with Lasik I go through it once and it's done. I did so much research and picked one of the best doctors in the region. I think the most risky part of the whole thing was that we almost hit a moose on the way. He was standing right on the shoulder but kind of blended in so only saw it last minute. Thankfully he stayed there and we were able to slow down and move over.

I was not too worried about complications but it seems to be super low probability. Biggest thing for me I didn't like was the idea that they cut a flap because what if it does not fully heal, or gets dislodged during the healing process etc. I was actually toying with PRK originally because that scared me so much, but I figured because lasik is the more popular option there's probably less risks in general.

 

[pete6032]

there is no way i'd ever be able to get lasik done, it terrifies me

Same.

 

[paperfist]

Nope best money I ever spent. I was just getting fed up of dealing with glasses. Always getting dirty, glares from lighting in some situations, getting foggy when walking in the house, getting full of dots when it rains etc... So glad I got the surgery. I'm super squeemish when it comes to eyes so took me a lot of courage to do it. (not as much courage as what it takes to remove a headphone jack from a device that can play music though). I lost track of the years now but been like 3-4 at least. I was still at 20/20 at my last eye checkup.

Only thing I find my "contrast ratio" is not as good now. Like at night I find I don't see darkness shades as well, it's just all the same. I also still get halos a bit when looking at bright points of light but it's only really at night. But other than that it's fine. Those small symptoms are worth it imo and I'd do it again even knowing. Some people do get issues though like constant dry eyes but thankfully I'm fine. The actual surgury is fast too. It's not comfortable, but it's not painful either.

Thanks!

So even after the surgery your vision may change?

Lol I hadn’t considered that your eyes have to be open while the laser cuts your eyes. Hmm

 

[Red Squirrel]

Thanks!

So even after the surgery your vision may change?

Lol I hadn’t considered that your eyes have to be open while the laser cuts your eyes. Hmm

Yeah they can change as it won't stop the normal changes. They check your records to make sure your eyes have not changed for a few years and for other checks to make sure you're a candidate. Basically as you grow into adulthood your eyes change, then they stop. So want to do it once they stopped. If by chance your eyes change anyway most places will guarantee the surgery so you can go back for free. They will reopen the flap in the same spot so you don't end up with multiple. One thing though is after lasik it means you'll have to wear reading glasses by 40. But you're still trading in the need to wear glasses all the time, so it's worth it. Once I hit 40 I'll just own like 10 pairs of reading glasses and leave them everywhere like most old folk do. And who knows maybe they'll eventually come up with a surgery for that too, though it would probably be more involved as it involves messing with the lens. lasik only really touches the cornia which is not that far.

And yeah, eyes are wide open the whole time, basically they put a suction cup that keeps them open and in position, and you're staring at a blinking light the whole time so that your eye stays straight. They tell you the critical points where you absolutely need to not move your eye, as there is still some play. If you do happen to move your eyes while it's doing the laser, it can correct trajectory like 40x faster than what your eyes can move. When they're flipping the flap is when it's really critical as it's still a manual process that the doctor does with a tool. If your Lasik doctor is Micheal J. Fox, run.

It's definitely a weird thing to go through especially if you're squeamish when it comes to having your eyes touched but I'd do it again. so great not needing glasses or contacts or anything like that.

 

[esquared]

This story still seems kind of wonky.
The LD50 for tetrahydrozoline is 785mg/kg for a rat.
https://www.caymanchem.com/msdss/23004m.pdf

The amount of tetrahydrozoline in a 30 ml bottle of visine is 15 mg.
It's given as as a 0.05% solution.

If the dude is an 80kg man (176 lks). The LD50 for him
would be 80kg x 785mg or 62 grams of the stuff. Or the amount of tetrahydrozoline in
over 4,000 bottles.

My guess is that tetrahydrozoline is contraindicated with some other drug.
Here's a list of 74 other drugs that known to react with tretrahydrozoline (ophthalmic)
https://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/tetrahydrozoline-ophthalmic-index.html

Either that or he's got an acute sensitivity to it.

 

[gorcorps]

Thanks!

So even after the surgery your vision may change?

Lol I hadn’t considered that your eyes have to be open while the laser cuts your eyes. Hmm

That's currently my problem. My prescription is still changing slightly every couple years, continuing to get more near sighted (most likely due to staring at paperwork and screens all day). So chances are if I got lasik, I'd just end up being nearsighted again (less so, but still). It's best to do it once you've had a long stretch of your vision not changing at all.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That's currently my problem. My prescription is still changing slightly every couple years, continuing to get more near sighted (most likely due to staring at paperwork and screens all day). So chances are if I got lasik, I'd just end up being nearsighted again (less so, but still). It's best to do it once you've had a long stretch of your vision not changing at all.

Yeah you'd have to wait till it gets more stable. Hopefully that happens. Not sure if for some people it does not. If they feel it's near the end, what they actually do is slightly overcorrect.