My Exp with Systane

[rhohltjr]

What I've heard...

Just had my annual checkup at Dr. Tylock in Dallas. (my lasik do-er ).
One of the staff informed me that Systane is apparently developing a
thicker gel for night time. So I'll add that to my list of night time stuff.

Hope this isn't old info for yall.

rhohltjr

[Rebecca Petris]

One of the staff informed me that Systane is apparently developing a
thicker gel for night time.

It's a new liquid gel called Systane Free. I believe it's already available in the online pharmacies.

[neil0502]

I've been using a veritable buffet of Soothe, Systane, Thera Tears, GenTeal lube (nighttime), and Blink Contacts Lubricant drops (blur me pretty badly).

I stay away from Benzalkonium Chloride (preservative) -- far, far away (apparently, it's what caused my dry eye), but don't see any harm in trying to coax each drop's particular benefit out of it....

[Rebecca Petris]

I've been using a veritable buffet of Soothe, Systane, Thera Tears, GenTeal lube (nighttime), and Blink Contacts Lubricant drops (blur me pretty badly).

Wow. A little chemistry experiment on the epithelium, in fact?

[neil0502]

Wow. A little chemistry experiment on the epithelium, in fact?

Yeah...

In Spanish, my name translates into "Confounding Variables."

For a while there, I tried just one for a week, then switched, and on and on. Since nothing seemed to work any better for me than anything else, I just threw caution to the wind and started rotating through the day. Besides that, I'd acquired quite a collection of fast-expiring and expensive drops. Figured I'd rather use 'em up than throw 'em out

[Rebecca Petris]

Well, it's not that I think you'll hurt yourself (esp. assuming plenty of time is allowed between applications) but I'm inclined to discourage other readers from doing that, on the basis that the effects on potential efficacy of any of them could be questionable when they're being rotated that way. Different ATS are based on different polymers and nobody's tested all the interactions. If you're just trying to use them up, I'd sure suggest not using more than one type per day?

[neil0502]

Fair points.

I do allow significant time--typically hours--between application of different drops.

I noticed that Aging Eye Times seems to endorse the 'interchangeable or sequential' model:

It is apparent that there is no single artificial tear eyedrop that provides all of the surface healing strategies (bicarbonate ions, hypotonicity, viscosity, non-preserved). Therefore perhaps it may be beneficial to use different eyedrops interchangeably or sequentially - i.e. a drop of Systane or Refresh liquigel followed 5 minutes later by a drop of Bion Tears (Murine Tears has the preservative BAC, therefore avoid it) followed 5 minutes later by a drop of Thera Tears or Thera Tears liquid gel (Hypo Tears and Akwa Tears has BAC, therefore avoid them). This cycle may be repeated every 2 to 4 hours. At night use a non-preserved ointment like Refresh PM ointment. Avoid Lacrilube as it has preservative (chlorbutanol).

[Rebecca Petris]

Wow, that's a new one to me. Of course, differences in opinion about medicine and chemistry are even more prolific than brands of artificial tears.

[shells]

Systane Free

The new liquid gel product, "Systane Free", is available in some stores now. I bought some at Target about 2 weeks ago. It does not seem as thick to me as some of the other liquid gels I have tried, and it comes in a bottle which is nice. It is supposed to be "preservative free in the eye", kind of like the Genteal products I guess. So far I like the new liquid gel even better than the Systane drops. It seems more comfortable to me.

Shells

[aLensUsr]

preserved vs non-preserved systane

Oddly I have found the preserved systane to work fine, but the non-preserved systane to be very irritating (I even asked for my money back).

I also find the "preservative free in the eye" claim a cause for caution. Sodium perborate (found in Softwear saline, GenTeal, etc.) hangs out in the eye for a minute before disappearing. In my case my eye is torched for the rest of the day. I am curious how the preservative in Systane Free works.

So far Purite (in Refresh Tears) has never bothered me.