Do you prefer preservative-free drops?

[Maenad1]

I am just wondering how many DEZizens are users of preservative-free drops, or feel they are allergic to preservative-containing drops.

Here's why. I tried an experiment over the weekend. I used only preservative-free Refresh Plus and Celluvisc as lubricants (with a few drops of Dwelle here and there, but not much), and I used Clear Care on my contacts, whereas previously I'd used Opti-Free Replenish. The result? My eyes have been great all weekend, and are still doing well today.

So now I'm wondering if my DES is an inflammatory reaction to preservatives in the products I'd previously been using. I know it's too early to tell for sure, but I'm curious as to how common this may be.

Which kind of drops do you use -- bottles, or single-use vials? And if you use preservative-free, is it because you've reacted to a drop that had preservatives, or for some other reason?

[Toril]

Hello!

I use only preservative free eyedrops as my eyes tend to get irritated by preserved ones. Just as an example I had to use a cortisone drop (containing BAK) for a period of 2 months (as a kick start before starting with Restasis), but my eyes got worse than ever after 1 month or so, most probably due to the preservative.

I'm using TheraTears (single vials), Systane (single vials), Refresh (single vials) and Hylocomod (in a bottle, but with a special mechanism keeping the bacterias out, and you can use it for 3 months after opening). At night I use Celluvisc (single vials) and an vit. A ointment without preservatives.

Greetings, Toril

[indrep]

Maenad
You have found out on your own what Dry Eye Experts in the Dry eye Workshop reported back in April. Preservatives can have negative efect on eyes. Unfortunately when you add up the preservatives in contact lens solutions, eye meds, eye lubricants it adds up quickly to the epithelium of the cornea.

[Rojzen]

a THERAPEUTIC preserved drop may best a PF drop

I would urge those of you who are selecting eyedrops primarily on the basis of the absence of preservatives to look at Dr. Holly's recent discussion of the preservatives used in his product line. Here is a passage from a posting by Dr. Holly in which he attempts to clarify why it may be more advantageous to use a truly EFFECTIVE product preserved by a very safe preservative than to use a product that is not therapeutic (even if it feels good) that has no preservative:

per Dr. Holly, regarding the PARTICULAR preservative used in Dwelle, Dakrina, and NutraTears]: "I was part of the study when the new preservative was tested. 0.001% preservative in saline was dropped in my eye once every minute. The same saline solution without the preservative was dropped in the other eye at the same frequency. After 30 minutes the control eye surface exhibited slight damage that could barely seen after vital staining by fluorescein under a biomicroscope with cobalt blue filter. The eye with the preservative had no detectable damage!

Just out of curiosity I prepared a solution that was 10,000 times more concentrated in the preservative (10%) and dropped in my eye. The sensation was tolerable; the damamge to the epithelium was slight and disappeared rapidly.

Ther other significant property of the preservative is that it makes surface hydrophilic (water loving). Almost all presevative has the opposite effect which has toxic consequences."

For context, please see Dr. Holly's specific section in Dry Eye Talk.

I am living proof that at least some patients can do LOTS better on preserved drops than on PF drops, when the preserved drops have high oncotic pressure. There are others here who share this experience.

[dianat]

Rojzen,

I do love your dogged determination!

D

[Rojzen]

outdogged

Thank you, dear dianat. . .But for determination and wisdom in the face of adversity, and for sheer ingenuity, I am totally outdogged by you

My girl doggy (see Avatar), moreover, can be credited for teaching me doggedness. I adopted her in 2000, one week after getting a corneal debridement that required nursing for a month, and within moments of her arrival home, her demanding and very dogged personality compelled me to start going outdoors like crazy, bandage lens and all. This helped pass that month quickly. To this day, my doggy girl remains the little body-slamming tyrant of my dreams. (At 18 pounds, she can only make her point by full body blows and leaps from floor to shoulder. . .)

[dianat]

Thank you, dear dianat. . .But for determination and wisdom in the face of adversity, and for sheer ingenuity, I am totally outdogged by you.

Hardly has such a compliment been paid on this board. I can almost not accept it, at least not the "totally" part.

Keep up the communication about Dr. Holly's drops and informative missives. I've been intrigued by your experiences and your understanding of the chemisty/physiology of it all. There is valuable information to be shared on this board with regard to these drops, and it is worth keeping fresh and front and center for as long as dry eye patients continue to commiserate here.

The description of your body-slamming tyrant reminds me of my two-year-old. He's got a doctorate in doggedness and doggedness instruction.

[Rojzen]

compensatory blessings

Sometimes I dare to think that we have enough blessings, in the form of our little ones, to be compensated the ordeal we've been dealt... With human little ones there is the added blessing that they will take something important from our ordeal, and bring this wisdom into the next generation. . .