Bandage contact lens dry out over nite - leading to very painful eye and poor vision

[mgshutterbug]

My ophthalmologist placed a BCL on my L eye because of corneal erosions. Anyone who has worn one 24/7, can you please tell me of any way to keep it moist without waking up every 2-3 hrs at nite to place more drops in? (Socrates had suggested that, and it's an excellent idea for short term, but I can't do this for the 7 weeks I'm supposed to wear this thing. I didn't call my ophth today, as I had intended, tried to deal with it and try one more thing. I did sleep with tranquil eyes onyx last nite, still had greatly diminished vision this a.m., though alot of moisture was held in by the tranquil eyes. The lens had dried out again. Other dry eye sufferers must have experienced this. Has anyone else had this experience?

[Rebecca Petris]

I know you mean onyix but just to clarify for others reading this... don't use tranquileyes (that's the one with the foam pads) overnight when you're wearing bandage contacts. It may increase risk of infection and it's also not ideal for the pads to push on your lids when you have lenses in.

Maria I hesitate to suggest this because I don't really like the idea of anything touching the eyes when those lenses are in but... maybe the old standby solution of plastic wrap? - Like I said I'd be concerned enough to get the durned things out at this point :-) as I'd worry they were doing more harm than good overnight....

[mgshutterbug]

Thanks Rebecca, I will call the ophth tomorrow. Was going to do it today, but I got distracted w/other things, my computer wasn't working right, had to take it to Apple, etc. I am not comfortable with this thing on overnite. I did set the alarm as Socrates suggested and put artificial tears in q 3 hrs, but I still felt like I had another erosion when I woke up. So I definitely will take care of this tomorrow. Thanks for looking out for me! I know you wrote a response saying something similar 2 days ago when I wrote about this somewhere else. I'm procrastinating, so sick of doctors. But this needs attending to pronto. Thanks again for your concern.

Maria

[mgshutterbug]

I have written about my present dry eye problem with BCL in another thread as well - sorry for the duplication. I did make an emergency visit w/my ophth today, and after she examined both my eyes (the R eye is not quite as dry as L eye) carefully, she said she will remove the present contact lens. She replaced it with an OcuVue Oasis, which immediately felt so much more comfortable. I don't feel it as much as the other. She said with that one, I can use gel at nite in that eye to keep it from drying out. She said it must be replaced every week to 10 days. The one I had previously, she said I would wear for weeks. So in monetary terms, this is very costly. But I don't have much choice. Costs me $35 copay each time I go, plus I pay 20% of visit cost. But if this is what must be done for another 6 weeks, then I'll just have to figure out how to do this.

[Rebecca Petris]

I wonder, if the lens replacement goes OK the first couple of times could they let you do it at home? I mean, the visit is good for checking on your progress and all that, but I wonder if it will continue to be necessary - as opposed to giving you lenses and letting you change them during some of those interim weeks? Might be an ignorant question on my part but it couldn't hurt to ask at your next appt.

[mgshutterbug]

Remove BCL on my own?

I wondered about that too, Rebecca. I asked my ophth when I saw her today. She said she is too afraid that I would disrupt the healing surface of the cornea, dislodging or tearing off new cells when removing BCL. Particularly since I've never worn any contact lenses at all, I'd be even more likely to damage the outer layer of the cornea. This wouldn't be a good time to learn to put them in and remove them. She did say that the cornea is healing, and I may not need to wear the BCL for the full 7 weeks. She's thinking a total of maybe 4-5. That would be an additional 2-3 more weeks. That's music to my ears. My vision is always blurry, but it has slightly improved.

Maria