Synergeyes Contacts for Dry Eye

[rubyslippers]

I was at my eye doc's yesterday and he has several people in the synergeyes. He said they were mostly going to people who couldn't see well in soft lenses and couldn't stand regular RGP comfort-wise. From a dry eye perspective, the one downside according to him is that drops don't really get behind the skirts the way they do with normal RGP. This is contrary to the experiences people have related here, so I'm not sure what to think about that.

Incidentally, he says he used to dispense Macrolens sclerals all the time, but almost nobody could get through a full day with them since the fluid underneath doesn't circulate. Four hours or so was the limit in his experience, at which point you'd have to remove them, insert some drops and reinsert. According to him, they were great for sports and things relative to normal RGP, but he'd go with synergeyes for that now.

The downsides for synergeyes are that they have a small optical zone, so may not give good night vision to some people, and also they can be difficult to remove. One patient he mentioned never could do it so couldn't even try them long term (they make you prove you can insert and remove before going home the first time).

The optical zone is equal to that of a regular RGP. The fluid DOES circulate under them. It is wonderful as it seems to trap the moisture better. One drop of Refresh and I can feel the cool fluid go under the edge and stay on the eye for a little while. Less of the eye is exposed than with regular RGP's so your eye does not dry out as quickly.

Yes, they are hard to remove at first, but the tips I posted make it doable. I can now remove both in 5 seconds each on the first try with each eye. You learn little tips. I have also learned to start to pull it down and then blink and it just pops right out. I will admit it was frustrating for the first 3-4 days but now there is nothing to it.

I have been doing a lot of reading of anecdotal reports of these on other sites. Many, many people who have had no success continuing to wear any sort of contact at all after they got dry eye, not only can wear these, but find their symptoms of dry eye to lessen or go away completely.

[rubyslippers]

Hello!

I'm very interested in the Synergeyes and will see if I qualify for them for my problem. Since they actually helped your dry eye problem, are they ever covered by regular insurance?

If so, that would be terrific, since they might be more expensive than regular contacts.

Thanks for keeping us updated on your progress!

Yes, my insurance paid for them at 80%.

[Mastiff]

I was at my eye doc's yesterday and he has several people in the synergeyes. He said they were mostly going to people who couldn't see well in soft lenses and couldn't stand regular RGP comfort-wise. From a dry eye perspective, the one downside according to him is that drops don't really get behind the skirts the way they do with normal RGP. This is contrary to the experiences people have related here, so I'm not sure what to think about that.

Incidentally, he says he used to dispense Macrolens sclerals all the time, but almost nobody could get through a full day with them since the fluid underneath doesn't circulate. Four hours or so was the limit in his experience, at which point you'd have to remove them, insert some drops and reinsert. According to him, they were great for sports and things relative to normal RGP, but he'd go with synergeyes for that now.

The downsides for synergeyes are that they have a small optical zone, so may not give good night vision to some people, and also they can be difficult to remove. One patient he mentioned never could do it so couldn't even try them long term (they make you prove you can insert and remove before going home the first time).

[lilahp]

Synergeyes - dry eye treatment - insurance?

Hello!

I'm very interested in the Synergeyes and will see if I qualify for them for my problem. Since they actually helped your dry eye problem, are they ever covered by regular insurance?

If so, that would be terrific, since they might be more expensive than regular contacts.

Thanks for keeping us updated on your progress!

[bernmee]

Rebeccca,

Is there a link where us dry eye babies can get a defintition/explanation of these type of lenses and how they may or may not help us. I don't even know what RGP means

Hosadas...I was using bandage contact lenses for three weeks after my Lasik procedure. I started having recurring cornea erosions a few days after the procedure so the bandage contact lense was put in to allow the part of the cornea that was eroding to grow back without the eyelid bothering it. It is called a bandage contact lense but it is a regular contact that is used as a "bandage". I think, though i am not sure that some Lasik surgeons use (or used to use) bandage contact lenses immediately after Lasik.

I am not a pro on this but this is what my surgeon told me. There are probably people out there who can give you a better explaination, but this was my experience.

B.

[rubyslippers]

Update on the two other people who were going to try Synergeyes for their dry eye (one moderate and one severe). Both have had outstanding results. The one with moderate dry eye feels almost all symptoms are gone and the one with severe dry eye says she is 50% better after just this very short time with them.

[Mastiff]

Very interesting thread. I heard about the hybrid contacts a while back, but for those of us with large pupils, the optical zone on these is apparently pretty small, so night vision really suffers. I wear regular RGP's that are as big as they can possibly be, about the size of the colored part of my eye, and my night vision is still a little off.

The most irritating part about this for me (and I'm sure others) is finding an educated and motivated doctor who will work with you. I've managed to force some things to get done, but at the end of it I'm always the "problem patient" I'm sure. They make their money by cranking people through, selling them designer frames and getting them out the door without revisit for two years. They have no business plan for working with people on a repeat basis to get things really dialed in.

I'd really like to try something like Macrolens, but nobody around here does them. I'm sure it would also be a battle to get into the hybrids.

[rubyslippers]

A very helpful reader here sent me these removal tips and they not only work well, they work easily every time. For anyone with removal issues, here is helpful info:

Drop an artificial tear in the eye right before removal.

Make sure fingers are 100% dry.

Move the cl down first, then pinch and push up.

[rubyslippers]

Last 5 days and not a single symptom of dry eye, IF I wear my contacts every waking moment.

[rubyslippers]

Update: My dry eye symptoms are gone almost all the time that I have the contacts in my eyes. It is hard not to overwear them because my eyes feel so much better with them in. Today and yesterday have been hard days and when the contacts are out I have significant dryness. This always happens the first 2 days of my period so I expect tomorrow or Monday will be much better. My new Synergeyes should be here late this week with the bifocal more accurate for me. I can take them in and out with great ease now.

[rubyslippers]

Update: The burning is completely gone when I remove the contacts now. The doctor thought maybe, because I was having trouble getting them out, that I had touched my eyes so much and that caused the irritation and the burning. My dry eye symptoms are completely gone 75% of the time now and mild 25% of the time.

[hasan]

Dear RS,

Thanks for your nice post. My doc talked about hydrid contact lenses too. What's about the Synergeyes contacts? Are they one type of hydrid contact lenses?

Thanks,

Hasan

[rubyslippers]

My friend, who sees a different eye doctor than I do, just called all excited. She has dry eye badly enough that she has been unable to wear contacts at all for 2 years and does not see well with her glasses. She saw her eye doctor and he told her that he is also having very good results with Synergeyes. She called to tell me about them, LOL! and I told her my story. She has them on order and is excited about the possiblity of wearing contacts again. She also feels that her bare eyes suffer more than if she could get a comfortable contact to protect them from the air. She is 58 years old. I will let you know how it goes for her.

[calli66]

RS--you are SO fortunate to have such an intelligent and supportive eye doctor. I am amazed that he is doing such a careful followup and can even treat the lenses in case of infection. This guy sounds like a gem.

Thanks for the update.

Calli

[rubyslippers]

Just came from my appt. My inflammation in my eyes is 90% better than it has ever been since I got my dry eye. He said he can see the health of my corneas greatly improving. My fit is perfect. Need to change the correction for reading just a bit. He says I am free to wear them 16 hours a day if I wish now.

For those who asked, you get 2 pair when you pay for them. They are slightly more expensive than my bifocal RGPs were. Supposedly you can use them only 6 months, but he said at the 6 month point, come back and he will examine them for wear and some people get another few months wear out of them.

I could not be more positive about what they do for my dry eye. Today I only used drops once and really, I could have gone without. I am back to jogging every morning!! Yes!! That helps my health so much. Now that my eyes don't suffer the whole way I can do this again. He said I should be absolutely fine at the beach with them or for any outdoor activities. My dry is not gone, but he said that my eyes don't know that. He said these are being used with superior results by doctors specifically for dry eye people.

Also, due to my proclivity to pink eye, I asked if I would throw them away if I got pink eye. Nope, he said he can treat them so they will be very safe again.