Shed / Eye Issue...getting scared here...

[Arconna]

My oldest leo just recently started acting very odd and looking very sickly. She hasn't eaten a big meal in a while, but she has been eating and nothing seemed out of the ordinary until last weekend.
She was having big issues shedding--she wasn't shedding. Half of her body started turning like she was shedding, but it all looked like it had just started and stopped halfway through. I tried soaking her, but it didn't really seem to help as the issue still stands today.
One of her eyes was closed and looked like it was swollen. She wouldn't open it on her own and I had to coax them open with water. Her eyes were relatively clear except along the edges of the lids where there looked to be a little bit of something. I took her to my vet on Wednesday and her eyes were open and the doc just looked and said she was fine. I don't think I trust this vet anymore because he also told me that I need her on a UVB light, but I've been told by dozens of you on here who have kept leo's for years upon years that they don't need UVB...
Now, I checked her again and now both eyes are shut. I had to really coax her with water to get them open, and they looked even worse. They were clear, but it was like the eyes themselves were extremely swollen, almost as if the eyes had grown in size but kept the clarity.

I don't have a digital camera, but I'm thinking I will just buy one tomorrow because I'm tired of not having pictures.
My dilemma is that when I took her to the vet both her eyes were open and looked fine, but now she looks really bad. She is still active, not lethargic, but obviously not eating. She's old, could be anywhere from 10 to 20 years old, I guess around 12 since I have had her for 6 years and the kid before me had to have her for quite a while as well.

So does anyone maybe have an idea of what this is or what I should do? If I need to drive into the city to find another vet I will. It will be expensive since the city is like that, but I don't care. If it costs me my savings to get her better, so be it. I've had her for so long. I love her and my mom is so attached she actually begs me to let her have her...

So...help

 

[gko reptiles]

I have never heard of symptoms like this but I have to say that 12 years old is pretty old for a leopard gecko. I hate to say it but she might be dying of old age. Average life span I think is around 7 or 8 years. Good luck with her and I hope you find what you are looking for.

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

Leos can live about 20 years if well taken care of. So she may be that old.

There is some kind of salve you can get to put in the eyes but I cannot rememebr what it is. Just keep an eye on her, she may just be at the end of her time.

 

[Arconna]

Thanks all. If anyone else has any advice I would appreciate it.
Maybe she's just old and this is part of it. I'm just not ready for this yet . She's been a part of my little family for so long.

Is there anything I might be able to do for her to make this whole situation better for her? Maybe something to make it more comfortable or something of that nature...

 

[Bert-N-Sheila]

We took in two adopted baby leos this past April and both were extremely lethargic, dehydrated, suffering from very bad MBD, and horrible shed problems. I spent nearly 3 hours combined a day on their eyes alone because of shed problems and dehydrated eyes, let alone the time spent creating some crazy cricket, mealworm, multivitamin, insect supplement witchcraft concoction and trying to feed it through a syringe. Anyway....They both had conjuctivitus also. Vet gave metronidazole for the 'pinkeye' and I applied .01 ml 3 times daily. I was also using really really soft qtips and purified water and alternating every other time with multi-purpose contact solution. The solution breaks down protein on the eyes so just keep that in mind. Anyway, I came across cosmetic swabs(pointy qtips) that did the job WONDERFULLY. I was able to remove buildup from the eyes everyday. The very first buildup I removed can only be described as this: imagine tanning goggles, how small and half-balllish looking with just the little black lens. That's what I pulled out of the eyes for the first week. It was so yellow and mucus-crappy looking and the only thing the babies could look out of if they even could open their eyes would have been a pinpoint where their iris is. I was like OMG, no wonder why the eyes are so swollen.

I highly doubt this is what is causing your leo's swollen and lethargic looking eyes but then again you haven't had a really decent reptile vet take a look at her either going by the UV comments he made. I guess it could be possibly conjunctivitus so maybe take a look into that....?