Has anyone had a problem with lenses clouding with oils?

[farmgirl]

I went for a consult regarding scleral lenses today. He fitted me with a mini-scleral. The good news is that the lens immediately relieved the minor burning I had in my eye in my eye. The bad news is that with a minute it gunked up with oils and clouded my vision. He took it out, rewashed it and with a minute it happened again. I am aqueous deficient but have sufficient oil production and I don't know if that was the problem or if I had excess oils from the eye drops that I put in. That was a trial lens and the technician said that the actual lens has different coatings and he was hopeful that those coatings would make a difference.

Has anyone had a similar experience and if so what came of it?...F/G

[PotatoCakes]

I have issues with clouding of my scleral lenses. I have to use saline or artificial drops (Refresh Plus) to prevent it.

[farmgirl]

do you use them exclusively or only when you have the lenses in?

[PotatoCakes]

I have both serum drops and Refresh. When I wear the lenses, I use Refresh exclusively (but I make sure I use my serum drops before putting my lenses in) and when I don't wear the lenses, I try to use my serum drops as much as possible but still rely on Refresh Plus a lot. If I have a bottle of Unisom handy or open, with lenses in, then I use that but otherwise it's Refresh Plus. I don't produce enough tears to let my lid slide over the lense well without extra lubrication and I also don't produce enough tears to prevent the oils I do have from gumming up (becoming mucous-y) and clouding the lense. When I got my sclerals, the doctor noticed it and we talked about it; she said it's not uncommon to need Unisom or artificial tears when using the lenses.

[farmgirl]

Thanks PotatoCakes. I am going to have the same problem because I produce enough oils but not enough tears. My eyes are so dry that when they did the schirmers test on my left eye the skin pulled off of the eyeball as they removed the strip. I know for a fact that I will need extra lubrication to tolerate them. I hope that the oiling issue is not so bad that I can't wear them. Are you able to wear yours for extended periods without removing them to clean them up? How long have you had yours and do you feel that the relief is worth the inconvenience?

[Amyfloor]

Hi all,

I develop debris in one lens but do not have the time to take it out and clean it during the day. Dr at BFS said this is not harmful, merely annoying. I am going to go back for a refit to see if the lens can be tweaked. This will be my fourth visit!! In the meantime, I use a lot of drops during the day which helps. Celluvisc inside the lens is another option but it irritates my eyes so I only fill the lens with Unisol. I too, do not have enough tears to slide over the lids and this is my biggest challenge with the sclerals. Some days are better than others-- I do wear them for 10-12 hours a day. Hope this helps!

[PotatoCakes]

I wear mine about 8 hours tops and usually for skiing or other things where I know I'll be in agony without the protection of the lense. With the drops, I'm usually fine with the mucous issues. The only time I need to remove them during wear is if I end up with mucous underneath the lense. If it's on top, it's pretty easy to fix -- add drops OR wet a Q tip with Unisom / saline and wipe it, gently, right over the lense. It's kind of a bizarre thing to do but you can't feel it because the sclerals are hard so as long as you're gentle, it's pretty easy to do. Just don't do it in front of friends because you'll definitely freak them out!

[farmgirl]

Mine didn't get debris, in about 2 minutes it was like i was looking through a piece of dirty plastic. He says it was oils so I am imagining something like an oil slick. I literally would not have been able to wear them. I hope that I can source Unisol and Unisom I have never heard of either but then again I am not an expert on drops. Maybe they are are in the contact lens department.

[saralynn143]

farmgirl, also look into sterile saline packaged for nebulizer use, like these: http://www.amazon.com/5ml-Sterile-Sa...=IRHNEF8BDH05Q

They contain no lubricants or buffers. I get much clearer vision than with typical eye drops.

[farmgirl]

Thanks saralynn. I just tried to order those and they don't ship to Canada....sigh!! I'll look elsewhere. Maybe my drugstore can get them in for me....F/G

[Guest]

F/G - for the Unisol, you can only get it in Canada through an optometrist's office - they will probably have to special order it for you.

[farmgirl]

YAY! I have good news. I tried the minis today and had NO problems. I was very careful not to put systane in during the night. I got up and used my serum drops. I could get them in and out no problem at all. Took a couple of tries but I did it. I could see perfectly after the first 1/2 hour and I was able to wear them for a full 4 hours, no problem. I felt a little bit bullet proof, kinda like Wonder Woman. I didn't even need to add any additional drops for lubrication for my eyelids during the 4 hour time. I think this is going to be good. If it all works out the cost will be cheap - $550 for the pair. Oh and by the way Amyfloor and SAAG the Dr. has the Unisol so he gave me a bottle to start with.

I AM HAPPY SO FAR....F/G

[saralynn143]

That is great news.

[Amyfloor]

Great news! Keep us posted.

[farmgirl]

I was able to tolerate 6 hours today without much problem. One of the lenses feels a bit like there is something in my eye but I think that is something that can be adjusted. I did add one drop of Blink to that eye after about 4 hours but nothing in the other for the full 6 hours. I need to swap lenses tomorrow (correction is pretty much the same in both eyes) and see if the feeling moves over to the other eye or stays in the same eye.

One thing I did notice which I am not sure is par for the course is that when I took the lenses out the sclera was quite bloodshot where the lens sat on it. It disappeared after a few hours but overall my eyes are more bloodshot than they were. Is that par for the course and will improve as I get used to them or is it always going to be like that? Any opinions?....F/G