In trouble...only contacts I can wear have changed

[Zarla]

Finding this forum has been the only light moment in a pretty dark week for me. I'm 40 and was diagnosed with dry eye in 1998 and treated at Moorfields. 100mg Doxycycline twice a day plus all the usual stuff eventually improved it enough for me to wear a certain make of contacts (the heavy Zero 6, formerly by Hydron). I am a teacher and literally can't do my job in glasses - one of my eyes is -6.50 and one -9.50, which makes for poor vision. Worse, it makes for a lop-sided one-eye-bigger-than-the other look that doesn't go down well with inner city comprehensive kids (not the kindest of creatures en masse, and becoming less so).
Like many of you on here, I lost faith in British opticians last century (they told me I'd never achieve 20/20 again) and they certainly weren't prepared to experiment with different lenses. By trial and error through the internet I found Zero 6 myself. Now they're being remanufactured by Coopervision and the edge of the lenses has changed. My eyes won't tolerate them for more than a couple of hours without horrible pain, redness, blurred vision etc.
I have ONE pair of the original ones left (which I'm wearing now). As I'm typing this my hands are shaking because I'm so scared - I could literally have to give up my job.
This seems to be a great, well-informed community and I'm hoping someone might be able to help..? I have a 9 base curve, which rules out a lot of contacts. The -9.50 eye also rules out a lot of ranges. I seem to only be able to wear 38% water vial lenses (monthlys and dailies just dry out straight away...or did back in the late 90s). Any suggestions of more recent lenses that come in 9 base curve and 14 diameter would be so useful. I've already searched lots of websites. I wonder if there is one which would make zero 6 like they used to be, a kind of bespoke lenses? Price would not be an issue here with a 40k a year job at stake.

[Lucy]

Hi Zarla, you are in a good place to ask questions! I am not in a position to give you info on contact lens for a number of reasons. There is a wide variety of experience on here and also on a "step-sister" site....
www.Lasermyeye.org.

It's the weekend and people may not be around much tonight, but hold tight and see what information you're given. Best luck. Lucy

[Silverlady]

maybe...

I am just now starting down the journey to find contacts for myself due to severe dry eye from Sjogren's. I have a similar problem but certainly not as severe as yours.

I'm wondering if possibly you might be able to contact Coopervision and see if they have any back stock left that you might be able to use until you find a solution.

Good luck..
Billye

[Rojzen]

possibly a silly question; but must ask

Welcome Zarla. . and yes, you are in a great place for seeking real answers. . .We have Dr. Gemoules on board, by the way, who is a major scholar in contact lens technology and ocular health. . .Possibly you should direct questions to him directly through the special link for qs. to him, at our Dry Eye Talk main page. . .

In meantime, do you mind my stepping back just to clarify that you are uncorrectible by glasses. . .I know of post-LASIK patients who can no longer be corrected by glasses, but I was wondering if you have ruled out all possible correction by glasses. . .I wasn't sure from the reference to the different eye-size effect whether this was somehow related to poor vision in glasses. . .Apologies if I have misunderstood. . .

[Rebecca Petris]

Did you ever come across Ken Pullum at Moorfields? He works with sclerals but I would bet he keeps up on all types of contacts and may be able to help.

DrG no longer participates in Q&A here but he may be willing to answer questions over at D'Eyealogues. Note that membership there is not instant like here (due to spam problems) but if you register there you should be activated within a day or two.

[Zarla]

Thanks for all your replies. I do have poor vision in glasses due to the discrepancy between the eyes (one is 3 whole diops weaker than the other, which I've been told is fairly rare).I was wondering if anyone had tried O2 Optix (the custom made would be within my specifications)? Or if anyone could suggest another lenses that has been invented since 2000 that may be worth trying for dry eyes?

[dryeyes2]

contacts and glasses

Hi Zarla,

I understand about having different prescriptions for each eye too. I am a -13.50 in my right and -10.00 in my left eye. I also have progressive bifocals on top of this. I could see better with contacts, but because of the dry eye, I could not tolerate them anymore. I would love to be able to wear them again. Wearing glasses is more difficult, but I am correctable. They aren't like wearing contacts because you have a wider field of vision with contacts. They have come a long way with the type of lenses. Have you tried the high index plastic? They are thinner and less heavy.

Have you tried ridge gas permeable contacts? Those were the only kind I could use when I wore them. Soft contacts dried out too quick for me and were uncomfortable.

I understand about worrying about having one eye looking smaller than the other. That certainly doesn't make me happy, but I don't have a lot of choices right now. The most recent glasses I purchased don't look quite as bad as my old ones. I wonder if it might have to do with going with a smaller frame size. That cuts out a lot of the outer edge and I think helps with this aspect. I mean small too - my frame is 45/17. Perhaps if you spoke with an optician with a lot of experience and tell them of your concerns, they could help you.

Best wishes,
dryeyes2

[Stanza]

hi, my prescription is much much higher and I too was using zero 6 by hydron to be honest, I'm not sure it's as good as it's cracked up to be for dry eyes, I think they advertise them as suitable for dry eyes but just out of the fact of the low water content....Anyway, I'm actually switching to PROCLEAR by Coopervision, had my first fitting and the material felt good, they feel thinner (and my prescription really is very bad), and the material should be more natural for the body to cope with. From what I can tell they're the best to go for in soft lenses for dry eye sufferers. And they make them tailored, so your prescription isn't an issue with them.

sorry to those suffering british optometry, I have to say, I'm glad I'm no longer living in the UK as the opticians I've had in Europe have been far better, don't comment on how I'm in trouble with my eyes and actually are capable of putting a prescription together. I'm still shocked that all my opticians as a kid thought it was normal that the floor slopes (it's not - they're too strong if it does) when you get new specs and didn't care at all what they did with my eyes. It's a real shame.

[Zarla]

Thanks for your replies. Stanza, I am going to have a look at Proclear now. My -9.50 seems to really like thick lenses, so they might not suit. The -6.50 is less dry and will actually tolerate the new type of zero 6. I tried a new one in the left first not realising the right one had already been wearing the new type with the rim for a few months. I know this sounds really stupid of me but the difference is only visible very close up. Like quite a few people here, I might end up with a different kind in each eye.

[Zarla]

Sorry, me again...Proclear are 62% water and the others I've tried like that just dried on my eye and kind of curled up. Also I need the 9 base curve. I was wondering if anyone had tried 02 Optix?

[Stanza]

proclear use a different material it sort of matches more closely to what the body resembles, I found they didn't dry as fast the hour I wore them and the rims were good, I know what you mean about rims!

maybe just try a couple...I don't know if you can get the O2 Optix at higher prescriptions though you might be lucky, but it's usually only the ones you can tailor

[Zarla]

proclear use a different material it sort of matches more closely to what the body resembles, I found they didn't dry as fast the hour I wore them and the rims were good, I know what you mean about rims!

maybe just try a couple...I don't know if you can get the O2 Optix at higher prescriptions though you might be lucky, but it's usually only the ones you can tailor

Hi Stanza, I would definitely try Proclear but the sites I've looked at only seem to do a 8.6 base curve (not got a good optician here so always order from on-line sites). I usually have a 9 curve, unless with Proclear it doesn't matter? What was your base curve on the zero 6, if you don't mind me asking?

[Stanza]

8.7 with the zero 6... I think some of the proclears are different shapes, - I was told one of them was flatter - but I'm not sure if that was more the ones you see in the catalogues that don't go up to the tailored higher prescriptions. They do a couple of different ones you see so maybe you'll have to check them out.

Shame you can't go to an optician as then you can try different ones for free You can always private message me in a month after I get my proclears - they had to send off for a slightly different one - and I can tell you how it goes maybe and if I got a 8.7 in those, I think so...but I can check and I can let you know how they are going.

[Stanza]

Also, to add as well, I also was concerned on the high water content but apparently the shape and material counter it and for some people with dry eye it is a solution - of course it won't fit all of us but I decided to try it as although the zero 6 is ok, it is really uncomfortable with drops - they cause it to really suck on my eye and then my eyelid is very irritated, so actually drops end up causing me another sort of pain than the dry eye problem!! so I figured I'd try something different to see if I can use fewer drops. I am not able to wear the zero 6 very long and don't expect a miracle with the proclears to be fair, I just like having an option when my glasses are so thick.

[Zarla]

Definitely let me know how it goes with Proclear. I have great tolerance with zero 6 (12 hours plus a day) which is why I'm so very disappointed the design has changed. My eyes are always quite dry and painful in the evening (barely a day goes by without me resorting to a couple of Syndol then, sadly). This seemed even worse with glasses for some reason; my eyes kind of went into an arthritic spasm...hard to explain but the contacts seem to encourage what tear film there is to stay in the eye...this kind anyway.