URGENT: shingles/herpes(?) infection getting in/around eyes

I have a shingles/herpes infection (not sure) that was responding
exceedingly well to 1 gm 2X/day of Valtrex but that really flared up again
with a day or two of reducing the dose to 500mg 2X/day.

I understand that this is quite serious if it gets into the eyes. Last
night I had a leison inside my eyelid that ruptured as I was looking at it.

I went to one of those walk-in places that was quite happy to serve me as I
had plenty of cash in pocket or on my debit card to pay upfront (new job:
healthcare already signed up for doesn't become for two more days) but it
was close to closing time and when the doc realised this might be more of a
complicated situation than he wanted to get into that close to closing, they
refunded my money (!) and told me to go straight away to the emergency
room.

Unfortunately at the EM I didn't get the option to pay in advance (and thus
assuage their terror of the potentially unpaid account) and because my
healthcare plan wouldn't go into effect for the next 38 hours, was put into
the "have-not" category with the expected effects on treatment: suddenly
there was no rush and the focus was firmly on finding any excuse to cover
the dr's @ss for a refusal to do anything costly (like, God forbid,
expensive antibiotics (which I had plenty of cash for, BTW but no one was
asking). Waited 4 hours to see the doctor (and only then because I was
about to leave to go to some other EM!). (Were they gonna charge me
megabucks just to sit in their facility until normal business hours?!)

Result: "I'm not convinced it's shingles" (basically he totally ignored
all symptoms/history/prior diagnosis and anything he couldn't see himself
right then (which included ruptured lesions inside the lower eyelid ("but
the eye can get all kinds of rashes")) and told me to see his opthamologist
in the morning (_his_ opthamologist will be the last one on earth I'd see!)

Questions:

What is the appropriate treatment if it does/is getting into they eye(s)?

different oral antibiotics (to get into the eye)?

eye drop ABs?

IV ABs?

Wondering if the urgent care could have addressed the problem right there
with an appropriate prescription and just didn't because it was too close to
closing to check it out and what kind of treatment I might have received at
the EM had my healthcare plan already been in effect.

PS: Getting my prescription refilled today and going to a _different_
opthamologist!

PPS: this is ~some~ kind of viral infection: very seriously
exacerbated by stress, sleep deficit and most especially chocolate/nuts*
and, to a lesser extent, caffeine; helped significantly by lysine (but that
effect has, unfortunately worn off so that even 1 gram every three hours
around the clock barely has an effect (and that's way too much of an amino
acid imbalance for more than a short period!)


* even a very small amount of either is absolutely positively guarenteeded
to cause a flare-up!


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Headlamps - any recommendations?
    ... flashlight handy for rough terrain. ... I like your idea of closing one ... eye for the quick look around or at a map. ...
    (uk.rec.walking)
  • Re: Reading with one eye shut
    ... > Over the past year or two, I've caught myself closing my right eye ... and have been wearing glasses/contacts to correct ... > -2.00 in my right eye, ... > eye is closed when reading, ...
    (sci.med.vision)
  • Re: How do women read maps?
    ... can't see her turning anti-clockwise no matter how hard I try. ... Clockwise. ... But then I tried closing one eye and was able to make her go the other way. ...
    (uk.rec.walking)
  • Re: Reading with one eye shut
    ... > reading a computer screen, and more often, a book. ... > -2.00 in my right eye, ... > do I often find myself closing one in order to read? ... Either a focusing issue or a convergence issue. ...
    (sci.med.vision)
  • Reading with one eye shut
    ... reading a computer screen, and more often, a book. ... and have been wearing glasses/contacts to correct ... -2.00 in my right eye, ... do I often find myself closing one in order to read? ...
    (sci.med.vision)