Plugs and Contacts???

[flcaoh]

Hi everyone!

I'll be getting plugs pretty soon (next week) and was just wondering if anyone has had any success with plugs and contacts. I have been, or rather WAS, a long time contact wearer until about 1.5 yrs ago. (I started wearing contacts at 16, and am 25 now.) The dry eye issue started when a dr (diff one than the one I have now) switched my contacts from biomedics 55 to the acuvue oasis. Strangly enough, something with the oasis triggered allergies and dry eye and I have had problems and have been stuck in glasses ever since. I have a very strong prescription and hate the way my glasses make my face look. They make my eyes look super teeny and beady even though I have the thinnest lenses money can buy. I already have small eyes so glasses just make it worse.

My TFBT (I think that's how you abbreviate it) is about 1-3 seconds depending on the given day. It did get better (approx 7-8 seconds) about 6 months after I started taking thera tears dry eye omega supplements and when my dr tried to put me back into contacts and it was like we started back at step one.

I've tried possibly every drop known to man, plus some. I'm super sensitive to most cause I am allergic to a lot of the preservatives. I'm tried restatsis, but it's too costly for my measley college student budget, plus it burns to no end.

So my doc is putting plugs in my tear ducts next week.

Has anyone had any luck wearing contacts again after plugs were inserted? I have pretty much ruled out getting LASIK any time in the near future so I would LOVE to be able to wear contacts again.

Thanks!

[LasikLady]

If I was you I would NEVER consider lasik with eye issues like this. Forget the near future...NEVER is a better option. If you already have dry eye issues, even if only in contacts, lasik would probably spell permanent dry eye discomfort for you.

[mflores22]

Interesting about Acuvue Oasys

I have read on some random eye forums the theory that Acuvue Oasys and Advance can cause an allergic reaction in some people. I asked Dr. Latkany about it on this forum, and he pretty much scoffed at the idea. My dry eye is caused by Ocular Roscea and Blepharitis, but I got it when I started wearing Advance, and it hasn't gotten a stitch better in Oasys. I still have my doubts in the back of my mind, even though the consensus among opticians is that they are great.

The theory behind why Oasys and Advance can cause an allergic reaction is that those two contact get very dirty quickly. I dunno, take this info with a grain of salt, but you're not the first person to articulate problems with those contacts.

[calli66]

Those lenses are the silicon-hydrogel type, I believe. I think it was Dr G here, who explained the problems people have with them. The material doesn't "wet" easily, so there's more friction and irritation from the lenses if you don't make enough tears. Also, these 2 lenses (more than other brands and other sil-hydrogels) tend to get "dirty" quickly--- saturated with eye/tear debris (less than the 2 week replacement time recommended).

If you have dry eyes, you tend to made more eye debris---products of chronic inflammation--mucous, bacteria, toxic tears, whatever. So if the lenses quickly become coated and saturated with that, then there's an overload of irritants they have to deal with every time you put the contacts in. Even stronger lens cleaners and soaking solutions can't get rid of the lens contamination.

The solution is to quit using them, and switch to a different type lens or quit wearing contacts for awhile.

C