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Anyone wearing contact lenses again?
Has anyone been able to begin wearing contact lenses again after being on Restasis for a while? Would be interested in hearing what types of lenses others have tried and if they've had success with any particular cleaning solutions. I wore soft contact toric lenses for 22 years without any issues until I developed dry eye earlier this year. Wearing glasses for the past several months has been quite an adjustment with headaches, etc.
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I can wear Extreme H2O lenses--but they don't come in toric. I have tried almost every new lens that has come on the market, and the Ex-H2O is the only one I can tolerate. I'm not saying it's the greatest--it doesn't come in .25 D power increments above -6.00 D and the clarity and strength aren't that great either, for me.
I use a disinfecting solution by Alcon, Opti-Free. I DON'T use the "No-Rub" solutions because they contain a detergent, and that irritates my eyes. I use a cleaning solution and rub, and rinse with aerosol saline, and a protein remover drop every couple of days. I put a drop of re-wetting solution Aquify in each lens before insertion, and to re-wet occasionally throughout the day. I have my good days and bad with the lenses, though.
People on this forum are probably sick of hearing me mention Extreme H2O--but hey, the question comes up every now and then.
I really think with any lens that it takes a while for the eyes to adjust to any new foreign body in the eye--the chemistry of it all. Even with me, if I wear my glasses for a week, I have to go back to adjusting to the lenses before I can wear them for extended periods.
C66 -
Sick of hearing about something that's WORKING? Naaahhhhhh.Originally posted by calli66
Let's face it: the more times we post about truly workable options or truly horrible products, the easier they'll be to find in future searches.
On THAT subject, I've decided that--if and when I can actually remember to do it--I'm going to start using the scientists' little trick to facilitate searching. Quite often, on a publication, they simply add a section called "Keywords."
For example, at the bottom of one of my all-too-frequent posts about BAK, it might say:
Keywords: BAK, BAC, Benzalkonium Chloride, preservative, cytotoxic
It's a little bit of a bother, and a little bit of an art, but ... over time ... it really SHOULD help increase the efficacy of people's searches on this forum.
NOW ... a little more relevant info ... my ophthalmologist sent me this while I was in Europe:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_DocSum
Clinical performance of daily disposable soft contact lenses using sustained release technology.
Peterson RC, Wolffsohn JS, Nick J, Winterton L, Lally J.
Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, UK.
PURPOSE: Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a successful tear film stabiliser and is widely used in comfort drops and some soft contact lens materials. A PVA-containing lens, nelfilcon A has been modified to include additional (non-functional) PVA in order to provide improved comfort. This study aims to examine the clinical performance of this nelfilcon A lens with AquaRelease (AquaRelease). METHODS: Two contralateral, investigator masked, open label, subjective and objective evaluations were conducted. The first examined the effect of adding increased molecular weight PVA to nelfilcon A (n=5), and the second compared this AquaRelease lens to ocufilcon B (n=34). The principal measures were non-invasive break-up time (NIBUT) and subjective comfort, which were assessed at the beginning and end of a week of daily wear, and three times throughout 1 day at 8, 12 and 16 h. RESULTS: All subjects successfully completed the daily wearing schedule of 16h. On initial insertion, subjective comfort and NIBUT improved for AquaRelease than original nelfilcon A lenses (p<0.05). Initial comfort was better for AquaRelease compared to ocufilcon B lenses (p=0.01); however, NIBUT was not statistically different (11.7+/-15.6s versus 8.4+/-6.8s; p=0.26). Subjective comfort decreased with time (p<0.001), but there was no significant difference between AquaRelease and ocufilcon B lenses (p=0.16). NIBUT was not significantly affected by time (p=0.56) or between lenses (p=0.33). At the end of a weeks' wear, subjective initial, end-of-day, overall comfort and vision were rated significantly better with AquaRelease than ocufilcon B (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Release of additional non-functionalised PVA from the nelfilcon A lenses appears to enhance comfortable contact lens wear.Comment
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After being on Restasis since April, I am now problem free with my Acuvue Oasys contact lenses. I am wearing them approximately 14 - 15 hours per day now. I use Miraflow daily cleaner (which I think is unavailable for purchase right now) and then rinse the cleaner off with Unisol (or its generic from CVS) saline solution. I use Clear Care solution (hydrogen peroxide based) for disinfecting my lenses. I have to use enzymatic tablets (Unizyme available at Walmart) to give my lenses a good cleaning sometimes (usually once a week). The Oasys lenses seem to attract protein deposits on the lenses, so thorough cleaning is a must.Comment
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@Frosty's Mom:
How were your eyes before you started taking Restasis??? And how long did it take till you were able to wear contacts again?
I started with Restasis four weeks ago and I just hope that it will help me!Comment
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I started my dry eye problem last January. It was horrible. I had difficulty reading, watching tv and being on the computer. My vision is bad, so glasses don't provide me with the same good vision that contact lenses do. I had pain, irritation, and suddenly couldn't wear my lenses. Even having glasses on my face irritated my eyes. I was quite miserable. I started using the Restasis in April, taking it in the morning and at night, and continue to do so. I never got much relief from lubricating eye drops but you'll have to experiment with those to see if you do. I was only able to wear my contacts occasionally until the summer. Then I found that I usually could wear them for a few hours, sometimes not very comfortably. In September, about five months after starting Restasis, I noticed a significant improvement and was able to wear my contact lenses most hours of the day. Now I wear them comfortably from 7:00 AM until 9:00 or 10:00 PM, taking them out before going to bed. I have to stress that I have used the Restasis regularly and will continue to do so. I finally feel like I have my life back! Good luck to you. Let me know if you have any other questions.Comment
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Forsty's mom
so glad to hear that someone is able to wear contacts for a full day!! gosh, I sure hope I will be able to at some point, I can usually get about 3 hours w/ comfort and 5.5 or so tolerably. But to be able to put them and not think about them until bedtime would be like....joy. What do you use for rewetting drops during the day? Do you have the Oasis two week lenses?Comment
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I wear the Acuvue Oasys two week lenses. I seldom have to use rewetting drops now. In fact, I might only use them once a week or so. I do use them prior to removing and cleaning my lenses at night. I find that it makes it less likely I'll tear the lenses while rubbing them. The rewetting drops I use are Aquify.Comment
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Frosty's mom
one more question for you....do you know what caused your dry eye? Is Restasis the only treatment you are doing for it?Comment
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this just sounds so great! I would even be relieved if I could live with my glasses without pain and irritation. I was able to wear my contacts at least for a few hours one year ago and now I put in drops every 10min without them....it's horrible and I just want it to go away, I'm only 20 years old! :-(Comment
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Sparrow,
I don't know for sure what caused my dry eye. I have worn soft contact lenses for almost thirty years but am not sure if that had anything to do with it. I'm 42, so hormones could play a part in the problem. Another possibility is that last Jan. and Feb. I was prescribed two different eye drops from my former eye doc for what he diagnosed as viral conjunctivitis. Those drops contained preservatives, which he said wouldn't be a problem after I told him that I had a problem with thimersol (a preservative in some saline solutions I used in my late teens) in the past. To be honest, I'm not sure that I even had viral conjunctivitis. He thought so since I had just experienced a cold or allergy problems.Comment
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Stephgurl,
Do you take antihistamines regularly for allergies? If so, that could contribute to your dry eye. My doctor gave me a prescription for Singulair to control my allergies, so I never take antihistamines anymore. I try to stay away from eye drops that contain preservatives. Maybe you should check to see if the drops you use frequently contain a preservative that could be contributing/causing your problem. I know what you are going through and hope you'll be able to resolve your dry eye problem soon.Comment
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Good news - after being on Restasis for about 6 weeks, I've had considerable improvement! I've also started wearing my contact lenses again, about 5 to 8 hours a day during the week. Although my eyes look red and irritated by the end of some days, I do notice that my eyes are tolerating the contact lenses much better than before. I've also begun using the Clear Care solution and I believe this has made a big difference.
I truly believe, Restasis has helped me. Just a few months ago, each eye had approximately 100 pin sized dry spots on the cornea, was using Zylet drops 4 times a day, using Systane drops every hour, and using hot compresses 4 times a day. For the past month, I've only been using Restasis and my doctor says the dry spots have reduced by 95%!Comment
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Alex's Mom,
Congratulations on your improvement! If you've seen that much improvement in just six weeks on Restasis, I bet you have great results after a few more months using it. I didn't show improvement as quickly as you. It took about five months until I saw significant improvement. Eight months after starting Restasis, I'm doing great now.Comment
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Of course, I'm glad this regimen is all working out for you, but ... be very careful with the Zylet. According to the manufacturer's website [1], it uses Benzalkonium Chloride (BAC or BAK) as a preservative. That's very bad for us DES patients.Originally posted by Alex's Mom
There's lots of information about this on the DEZ forum, if needed. Just use the search feature and ye shall find.
Neil
[1] http://www.bausch.com/en_US/ecp/phar...let_brand.aspx
Keywords: preservative -- benzalkonium chloride -- BAK -- BACComment
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