gp contacts for dry eyes?

[odydnas]

Hi Dr. G,

I have been wearing gas permeable contacts for almost 10 years, since I was 13, and I have never experienced any problems with them. I recently started a new birth control and within 2 days, my eyes felt so dry that I could not wear my contact lens. I have since stopped the birth control for over a week (I was on it for a week), and my eyes have gotten a little better, but still too dry to wear my contacts for more than a few hours. Do you think that it is possible the birth control caused my dry eyes, and if so, will this go away with time? Also, what type of contact lens, (soft and gas permeable) do you think are the best for those who have moderately dry eyes (TBUT of 5)?

Thank you so much!

[DrG]

Birth control pills frequently cause problems with contact lenses and are often associated with sudden onset of dry eye. However, large numbers of women do take BCP's and can tolerate contact lenses, and so I think it depends on other factors with the BCP's being the trigger.

If you cannot tolerate the RGP's, you probably have more than "moderate" dry eye, and I would refrain from contacts altogether until I got this under better control. But, if you are determined to wear them, why not give one of the silicone-hydrogel lenses a try? If that doesn't work because of optical reasons (astigmatism), then a mini-scleral type of RGP might be the better choice (although more difficult to obtain).

Work on treating the dry eye first.