My eyes hurt.

This could be something as simple as eye strain due to a change in your vision - you may just need new glasses. I recently had pain and blurred vision on one eye and it freaked my shit out. A visit to the eye hospital to see an opthomologist because my primary care doc was concerned but clueless resulted in interesting but non-terrifying things, the most likely of which was that this was a symptom of my chronic sinusitis. (They can tell all kinds of neat stuff looking in there - the smartest question I was ever asked was "Do you have diabetes?" by an eye doctor peering at my eyes.) So look: it could be a really horrible brain tumor, or it could be something really simple like a need to update your glasses and/or contacts or a need to join me in the line of Sudafed junkies. Either way, if you're in an insurance gap, get to an opthomologist or at the very least an optometrist at an independent store and not, like, LensCrafters or whatever to be assessed. Spend the money there as your first port of call, and do it soon - there's no need to panic but better not to wait.

Sounds like you need new glasses to me, with perhaps a side order of seasonal allergies (they are horrendous in the Northeastern US and Canadian Maritimes this year--I don't know where you are, though). If you can't get new glasses until November, I would encourage you to lay off the video games and watching movies on the computer and save your eyes for work. :( I know that's a bummer. If the insurance you're waiting for doesn't have coverage for eye care, hie thee to an optometrist pronto. If the problem isn't just that you need new glasses, he or she will let you know that and you can then decide what you're going to do with that information. Weirdly, you can become aware of needing new glasses just as suddenly as you describe here. It's like fine fine fine fine fine OH MY GOD MY EYES I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING OW OW OW.

Hm. I think you're outside the scope of MeFi ophthalmology, OP, sadly. As DarlingBri says, I'd suggest you run this past your friendly independent optometrist who can negotiate a sliding scale (or look the other way and extend you a military discount based on your husband's apparent service, judging by your profile photo)-- they'll be able to tell you if you need an actual ophthalmologist to help you out. Your profile suggests you're too young to be experiencing age-related vision changes ("needing bifocals"). You might be developing astigmatism, you might just need your glasses scrip changed, you might have glaucoma (although I think that's an outside shot; most people don't develop acute closed-angle glaucoma in both eyes simultaneously). You don't describe any changes in your vision-- flashes, floaters, odd new colored spots, blurriness-- so it doesn't sound like a retinal or vitreous humor issue. It's both eyes, so it's not a corneal issue from foreign bodies or ulceration. You could have inflammation in the internal stuctures of the eye, although that usually comes with light sensitivity (but not always). I'd also check your blood pressure at the drugstore and see if that's going OK, and make sure your sinuses are OK. In short, you don't quite fit any of the things I'm familiar with from firsthand experience, and I think that probably warrants a quick look by a pro. I am not your optometrist, but I think he or she would like to see you before November, honestly, and check on your scrip and do tests for glaucoma, astigmatism, and possibly dry eye.

And yeah, that inflammation thing? About the internal structures of the eye? That's what immlass is talking about. That's actually pretty darn serious and requires specialized treatment. BTDT as well.

I had this happen recently- I was freaked out and worried that something was wrong with me. I went to the eye doctor, found out my prescription had changed slightly, and all was well once I got my new contacts. HOWEVER, my pain was never quite as bad as what you're describing. My pain was more of an annoyingly constant presence than anything. You should try to get checked out as soon as possible- I did, because I didn't want to be screwing around with my eyes.

Look, go to your doctor or your optometrist. I had the same thing, thought, oh crap, need new glasses, it got worse, doc said, dry eye, take these eyedrops, it got worse again, turns out it was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uveitis which can be caused by all sorts of things, infections, bacterial or virus or woo-hoo, parasitical, or my personal favourites, lung cancer or syphilllis. You need someone to look at your eyes properly. If you let something serious go, it might cause permanent damage.

OK, you've all convinced me! I've got an appointment for tomorrow at 9:45a. Will let everyone know what the outcome is!

The doctor did a full examination and a few different tests on my eyes, and found them to be in perfect health. There has also been no change in my vision and no need for a new glasses prescription. He told me that my eye pain was most likely caused due to a migraine. I have never had a migraine before and I am not at all familiar with the symptoms, but I've never heard of one lasting 10 days. He said that it is rare, but it can happen, and to give it another week. He said that if the pain hasn't dissipated by next Tuesday, to have a full workup done by my regular physician to see if it's a systemic problem. He said that whatever it is, it is definitely not related to any diseases or injuries of the eye. So, a mixed bag. I wish I had gotten a straight answer, but at least I know I'm not going blind. Plus, getting those dilation drops in my eyes gives me an excuse to wear sunglasses indoors for a while.