allergic to many drops- Unisol 4 seems to help--finally no pain- is it ok to use?

[laurig]

Hi - I'm Laurig and have had blepharitis for about 17 years. I had difficulty wearing my RGP contact lenses and my dr. told me to use the Eye Scrubs daily, and that seemed to fix my problem. Over the years my eyes have become slowly dryer and dryer-- something I simply attributed to the aging process and my multiple allergies. I had been using Refresh Plus at night and Blink contacts when I was wearing my lenses. About six weeks ago under my right eye became very irritated and sore feeling and the dryness in both eyes was horrible. I tried about 6 different types of eye drops and nothing worked. The dr gave me Patanol which made it worse and then Tobradex for 2 weeks. That helped a bit, but my symptoms came back when I stopped it. I have been unable to wear my contact lenses, I went to another Dr. who told me I had MGD (no tears) and the only thing that would help me are long term antibiotics. I was recently quite ill and developed a major allergic reaction to an antibiotic and a prednisone rebound that left me with a lot of symptoms that I am still recovering from - so antibiotics are not for me now. I started using Unisol 4 yesterday and for the first time my right eye is not painful. Is it ok to use instead of drops for a while?I now think I am allergic to the Refresh plus and am wary of trying different drops since my eyes are finally feeling better---not perfect but better. I have been using the compresses and trying to do the massages. Is Unisol safe to use as a drop substitute? Any good recommendations as an alternative to refresh - most drops seem to have some sort of cellulose in them similar to refresh.This site is amazing. Thanks Rebecca!!!

[Rebecca Petris]

Is Unisol safe to use as a drop substitute? Any good recommendations as an alternative to refresh - most drops seem to have some sort of cellulose in them similar to refresh.This site is amazing.

It's safe, yes, though like any drop it's not good if you overdo it (dropping constantly). It's just saline, compared with lubricant drops which are mostly polymers. But you might want to post in Dr. Latkany's Q&A forum about this too. And hopefully others will be able to suggest some drops for very sensitive eyes.