Poll: were you a contact lense wearer or not?

[sazy123]

Rebecca can i do a poll, just out of interest to see how many people here who have bad dry eye were contact lenses?

I dont want to start any debates about contacts causing/contributing to dry eye (because i appreciate there are arguments on both sides) but im just interested in this as there is alot of people on here who wear contacts compared with the general population. the lasik connection is one reason for this but you never know...

So:

1) Have you worn contacts at some point in your life?

2) If so: Did you manage to wear them successfully for a period of time (months/years- how long?) but then gradually decrease your wear time and drop out due to discomfort/intolerance or what you presumed was dry eye?

3) do you have a definate root casue i.e autoimune disease, Rocasea? or is the cause unknown?

4) How did you handle them, i.e did you take good care to clean them properly? Did you have problems with insertion/removal? did you ever leave them in to long and/or sleep in them?

Personally for me i think i may of had a very mild MGD but it didnt bother me and i was able to wear contacts successfully, i think they could of Exasperated the problem so i then couldnt wear them anymore-maybe i misshandled them or not/had problems removing them, i slept in them once coz i was to drunk to get them out, but it still not a really big problem, and then the antidepressants sent it into full blown dry eye. Other than this i am healthy and other causes are unknown.

Thanks for your assistance.

[Jade9923]

1. Yes, wore them for about 15 years.

2. I wore them successfully but had a lot of problems with them drying out. I could never wear them as long as my sisters wore theirs.

3. No one has ever really figured out for sure what caused my severe dry eyes.

4. I handled them well. Never slept in them, but I remember a few times almost needing to peel them off my eyes because they were so dry. I never slept in them.

When I was about 30, I could no longer wear them at all because my eyes were too dry. As long as I didn't have them in, my eyes were fine. About 2 years later, all the sudden my eyes were dry without wearing contacts. This is when my life changed forever. There was no longer a way to get comfortable since they were dry all the time. I, like you, have always really wanted to know for sure what caused my dry eyes. I don't have any auto immune disease etc. Thankfully, after about 2 years time of torchure and pain and almost not being able to function with dry eyes, I found a doctor who was knowledgeable and took the time to help figure out how to get relief with handling the MGD and with plugs.

Good idea for a poll.

[kitty]

1) Have you worn contacts at some point in your life? Yes, I wore them for about 18 years. Most of the time was extended wear. I removed them once a week to clean and/or replace them.

2) If so: Did you manage to wear them successfully for a period of time (months/years- how long?) but then gradually decrease your wear time and drop out due to discomfort/intolerance or what you presumed was dry eye?

My DES hit suddenly. I always had some mild issues with dryness, but in the Spring of 2006 I tried new daily wear bifocal lenses and could not tolerate wearing them for more than 4 hours. My new eye doctor thought that was a tolerable wear schedule. Things went downhill quickly. By July/August, I could no longer wear them for more than an hour or two, and that short bit of time was pure H---.

3) do you have a definate root casue i.e autoimune disease, Rocasea? or is the cause unknown?

I believe it is due to perimenopause

4) How did you handle them, i.e did you take good care to clean them properly? Did you have problems with insertion/removal? did you ever leave them in to long and/or sleep in them?

I was faithful with my wear schedule. I did stop the extended wear about a year or two before I was diagnosed with DES. I woke one morning with a pre-ulcer/infiltrate. That was the end of extended wear, and now that I think about it, probably the first sign that I was headed for trouble with DES.

[Rebecca Petris]

I think this is a good idea. I think we need to be VERY cautious with this kind of information - it's so easy to assign cause & effect to things that may be related but in a different way, for example, but it's still interesting information.

I want to suggest a 5th question - particularly pertinent given the trend to no-rub solutions and the issues surrounding them: WHAT KIND OF CLEANER DID YOU USE? (Or did you notice/care?)

Anyway, here's my info:

1) Have you worn contacts at some point in your life?

Yes - soft lenses of varioius types for about 20 years; then (after lasik) Macrolenses and now sclerals.

2) If so: Did you manage to wear them successfully for a period of time (months/years- how long?) but then gradually decrease your wear time and drop out due to discomfort/intolerance or what you presumed was dry eye?

I was mostly successful in soft lenses but I had a recurring problem in my left eye that would periodically put me out of lenses altogether for anywhere from a day to months at a time. Never diagnosed.

3) do you have a definate root casue i.e autoimune disease, Rocasea? or is the cause unknown?
LASIK. Also MGD, slight lagophthalmos, possibly hypothyroidism tie-in; but I had no noticeable symptoms before LASIK.

4) How did you handle them, i.e did you take good care to clean them properly? Did you have problems with insertion/removal? did you ever leave them in to long and/or sleep in them?

Never slept in them. Probably wore them too many hours. Was very faithful about care when I was a teen; probably poor care during my 20's; then when I went to 2-week lenses so-so.

I don't really blame contacts for my dry eyes except indirectly: Contact lens problems drove me to LASIK, which is my main cause of dry eye.

[calli66]

Contact Lens Poll:
1) Have you worn contacts at some point in your life?
From 17-20 (hard lenses, old style). (Soft lenses) From 33-37, 39-49, 53-57 (present).

2) If so: Did you manage to wear them successfully for a period of time (months/years- how long?) but then gradually decrease your wear time and drop out due to discomfort/intolerance or what you presumed was dry eye?
Wore them successfully, but have always had trouble with dryness/intolerance. Have not dropped out yet, but am close---continuing problems with L Eye and lens power availability. Can only wear 2 or 3 brands--limited choices.

3) do you have a definite root cause i.e autoimmune disease, Rocasea? or is the cause unknown?
Not yet. Currently monitored for borderline hypothyroidism, but not taking meds. Environmental: live in a dry climate. Sensitive to city air pollution.

4) How did you handle them, i.e did you take good care to clean them properly? Did you have problems with insertion/removal? did you ever leave them in to long and/or sleep in them?
I've been pretty lax about care except for the last 5-6 years. No problems with insertion/removal. Didn't tend to overwear, never slept in them. I used to over-use non-preserve saline spray to relieve dry feeling and re-wet lenses, which made my tear film very bad.
Job related/ contacts-related injury to my L eye sclera in 1986--imbedded ceramic dust rubbed a "callous" which had to be surgically removed (closed). Left eye is drier now, but my Right eye feels more irritated.

Rebecca's question about lens solutions:
I used multi-purpose, then no-rub solution mostly. Used to use MiraFlow cleaner till the company discontinued it, and haven't found a new cleaner that's as good. Now using ClearCare Peroxide system to avoid chemical sensitivity--it's better.

My problem with contacts now is that my L eye produces lots of debris --gunk, and that collects on the inner surface of my lens and sticks there, making it opaque. Not "strings" or mucous, but almost like salt crystals. Weird. Have to change lens brands again (appointment tomorrow with eye doctor).

Calli

[Rebecca Petris]

Used to use MiraFlow cleaner till the company discontinued it, and haven't found a new cleaner that's as good.

Just fyi... I believe Miraflow is still available online although they lost their drugstore shelf space. I'm working on trying to get some stocked in our shop for scleral users. I would also recommend Lobob. Their ESC for RGPs is tops. I have never used their soft lens cleaner but just based on my respect for the company I would have to believe it's good. It's available on Ocusoft's online store among others.

[liz56]

1) Have you worn contacts at some point in your life?

Yes, from my early teens until about age 32, and I switched from hard to gas permeable in my 20s. My usage really dwindled in my 20s, however. (I'm 40 and tried to go back and use soft lenses about two years ago, which lasted for one day.)

2) If so: Did you manage to wear them successfully for a period of time (months/years- how long?) but then gradually decrease your wear time and drop out due to discomfort/intolerance or what you presumed was dry eye?

They always made me feel like I had something in my eye. I never liked them, but I always thought I should try-- especially since I heard that wearing the gas perms would slow the worsening of my nearsightedness.

3) Do you have a definite root cause i.e autoimmune disease, Rocasea? or is the cause unknown?

I guess mine was epithelial / anterior basement membrane dystrophy, though I cannot be sure.

4) How did you handle them, i.e did you take good care to clean them properly? Did you have problems with insertion/removal? Did you ever leave them in to long and/or sleep in them?

I took really good care of them. One time, I fell asleep with the hard ones in (when I was in my teens), and I suffered a corneal abrasion. I had to struggle with insertion and removal all of the time. Something in me does not like a contact lens, and I think it is my dystrophy.

This is pretty off topic, but I never liked opening my eyes under water, either. Now, I think I know why.

[Judy]

1) Have you worn contacts at some point in your life?
I wore contacts starting when I was about 30 until I was about 48. I started with soft contacts, extended wear and would wear them for 1 week at a time, then remove and clean, probably for a few years at least. Then I began wearing disposables and removing and cleaning them daily. Now I wear them once or twice a year for VERY SPECIAL OCCASIONS and it is torture.

2) If so: Did you manage to wear them successfully for a period of time (months/years- how long?) but then gradually decrease your wear time and drop out due to discomfort/intolerance or what you presumed was dry eye?
I did wear contacts successfully probably for 12 years before they really became troublesome. I started using several different eyedrops, including Prefrin and Visine to remove the red as my eyes were getting more red and more red as time went on. This only made things worse. At about 45, my eyes also started becoming very dry, along with the red. What a sight!

3) do you have a definite root cause i.e. autoimmune disease, Rocasea? or is the cause unknown?
I don’t know of a definite root cause, but I believe it is related to extended contact wear (including not taking them out, even at night initially), overuse/abuse of eyedrops (with preservatives which appeared to worsen things over time) to treat the red, menopause and extended computer use due to my occupation.

4) How did you handle them, i.e did you take good care to clean them properly? Did you have problems with insertion/removal? did you ever leave them in to long and/or sleep in them?
I believe I took good care to clean my contacts at all times, did sleep in them for extended periods of time in the beginning, but back then, it was not considered an issue. I did not have many problems with insertion/removal.

Rebecca's question about lens solutions:
I don’t really remember all the lens solutions, but I know I switched around quite a bit due to possible allergies, etc.

[calli66]

Just fyi... I believe Miraflow is still available online although they lost their drugstore shelf space.

Thanks! I had no idea it was still available. I mentioned it to my optometrist today, and she said they sold it in their office, so I bought some. It's good stuff.

C66

[ihatedryeye]

1) Have you worn contacts at some point in your life?

yes for about 5 years as a teenager.

2) If so: Did you manage to wear them successfully for a period of time?

Yes i wore them with no problems for 3 years. I started getting discomfort but not all the time, so i wore them less and wore glasses. Then they became uncomfortable most times so i would only wear them for going out, but then this became a strugle so i stopped them.

3) do you have a definite root cause i.e. autoimmune disease, Rocasea? or is the cause unknown?
Not that im aware of, i have always been healthy. dont have any other symptoms. My eyes really started irrating me one night with no contacts, i thought it was alleric reaction to something, when i woke up in the morning my eyes were so dry and they havent recovered.

4) i wore daily disposable so cleaning wasnt an issue, i did leave them in to long and wear them i shouldnt due to the discomfort. i tried different types but they were all uncomfortable.


I found this, it further backs up my thoughts:
http://blogs.webmd.com/eye-on-vision...-eyes-new.html

Contact Lenses and Dry Eyes: New Thoughts Emerge



Folks with a proper fitting pair of contact lenses would rather surrender their firstborn (okay, too harsh, make it the TV remote) than give up the convenience and crisp vision offered by their daily disposables! That means they would possibly continue wearing contacts even if they were told that it was no longer a good idea.

Eye doctors often identify contact lens wearers that have developed dry eyes, typically middle-aged females. Up until now the dry eyes were attributed to the fact that baseline maintenance tear production decreases with age and with decreased sex hormone synthesis.

Oh, forgive this digression. Did you notice I used the phrase "sex hormone" and not simply estrogen? Researchers now say the balance between androgens (present in both genders, more so in men) and estrogen (present in both genders, more so in women) is critical in moderating tear production. Both men and women develop dry eyes but more so women, possibly because of the abrupt estrogen shift that occurs in women. We know for a fact that hormone replacement therapy in eligible menopausal women can greatly relieve their dry eyes.

Back to the conflict involving dry eyes in contact lens wearers. One myth perpetuated by eye doctors is the "competing sponge" theory. Dry eye patients already make insufficient moisture for the naked eye. Introducing that thirsty soft contact lens will absorb what little water is available in the tear film to further dessicate the cornea.

Useful, new information is now available. In many patients the contact lens itself is responsible, not hormones, not sponges. The presence of the contact lens partially (or totally) numbs the surface of the cornea. Here's what happens. The delicate sensory nerves residing within the superficial cornea, (the tiny nerve fibers that sense smoke or overly chlorinated pool water), also sense very tiny changes in tear film chemistry (pH, osmolarity, etc.). These nerves automatically send the appropriate signal to the lacrimal glands: make less tears, make more tears. Loss of corneal sensation interrupts that critical tear feedback loop. Numb corneas don't send signals!

The race is on to develop contact lenses that do not anesthetize the ocular surface, thus permitting continued, comfortable wear for many folks who stand ready to surrender that TV remote.

Related Topics:
WebMD Video: Contact Lens Comfort
WebMD Video: UV Contacts
Technorati Tags: contact lenses, dry eye, tears, vision, health and wellness
Posted by: Dr. Lloyd at 9:20 AM


EMail This Ask Dr. Lloyd a question Link to this post


3 Comments:
Anonymous said...
This is why I don't wear contacts anymore. I couldn't stand the constant feeling of dry sand in my eyes and no matter how much I'd swear it was the contacts causing the problem I'd get told no, no, it was hormonal, etc. Thank you for confirming with science what I knew in my gut.

8:27 PM
Anonymous said...
I always thought it was unusual that I would not "cry" etwhen cutting onions when wearing contacts! Now it makes sense....and I am also no longer able to wear contacts due to dry eye.

9:44 PM
Anonymous said...
Im sure contacts caused my long term dry eye, i stoped wearing them due to discomfort, and i am now suffering from severe dry eye. I am young so i doubt hormones are to blame.

8:31 AM