QUESTION about Celluvisc 0.5% and 1%

[thistledown]

could anyone here tell me please - what is the difference in consistency between Celluvisc (Carmellose Sodium) 0.5% and Celluvisc 1% ?

is the 1% solution thicker than the 0.5% and, if so - does it last longer?

i'm having to wake up twice in the night, to put more drops in - at the moment i'm using the 0.5% - and i wondered if i could cut that frequency down, by using the 1%.

urgently needed reply, please - because i have to reorder the vials very soon.

thank you!

[Sabrina]

celluvisc

I use the Refresh with 1% and it is the only thing that has given me relief and I have almost tried every other OTC drop there is. I only use it twice a day usually. Of course I do the rest of the routine; heat, massage, restasis ,plugs ect... but the drops have really made a difference. Have never used 0.5 so can't tell you how it compares.

[Rebecca Petris]

The higher concentration is thicker. Whether it lasts longer, is one of those 'your mileage may vary' things but theoretically it should. - Are you also using any kind of barrier at night (plastic wrap, sleep mask, goggle etc) to cut down on the need for re-lubricating during the night?

[thistledown]

celluvisc question

The higher concentration is thicker. Whether it lasts longer, is one of those 'your mileage may vary' things but theoretically it should. - Are you also using any kind of barrier at night (plastic wrap, sleep mask, goggle etc) to cut down on the need for re-lubricating during the night?

thank you, both of you - that helps.

no, i'm not using any barrier, because it would stop me sleeping. i'm such a restless sleeper anyway, that i'd rather wake to do more drops, than be kept awake by goggles etc!

i'll try the thicker goo. hopefully it'll stop me waking up feeling as if a vulture is tearing at my eyeballs. aaarrrggghhh.

[irish eyes]

This is so true.

I have 2 strengths of Vismed and still haven't got the hang of which to use at bedtime. I used to think the thicker stuff caused my eyelashes a lot of grief during the night so I changed. Now my eyelashes are a bit better but the eyeball itself is sore in the morning.

I'm a restless sleeper too; I really need a bed that is half a mile wide to enable me to move round. When I get up, I feel as though I've already done a day's work. I don't even get time to dream.

[thistledown]

sleep deprivation

This is so true. I have 2 strengths of Vismed and still haven't got the hang of which to use at bedtime. I used to think the thicker stuff caused my eyelashes a lot of grief during the night so I changed. Now my eyelashes are a bit better but the eyeball itself is sore in the morning. I'm a restless sleeper too; I really need a bed that is half a mile wide to enable me to move round. When I get up, I feel as though I've already done a day's work. I don't even get time to dream.

last night i tried using lacri-lube again (didn't like the way it was so difficult to apply, so i stopped it before) and, bar waking up at half past midnight, during which i blearily smeared a bit more of the lacri-lube into my eyes, i actually slept right through to 6.30 am - first time for ages! i then applied some celluvisc - a whole vial (i was feeling expansive) and slept till 7.15 when the alarm went off. the longest sleep for ages!

although i don't like the way my eyes get all sticky and gummed up with the lacri-lube, it did make a difference, and didn't dry out nearly as fast as the drops. i'm hoping the thicker celluvisc will do the same? but as all these things seem to react differently with different users i guess i'll just have to try it out.

i do agree about the big bed! i have a big bed - all to myself now, thankfully. i roam all over it at night, exchanging the hot areas for the cool ones, and the wet ones for the dry ones (night sweats - thank you menopause), getting up to do eyedrops, pee, use hand cream (dry hands are worst at night), drink lots of water - and generally, as you said, feeling as if i've done a day's work by morning. i do dream, but usually very frenetic dreams, to do with trying to board, or leave, trains - whilst collecting up huge amounts of widely dispersed luggage! hmm...

anyway, getting at least five hours straight sleep last night was a huge bonus. i actually feel half way to human today!

wishing you all many good nights and sound sleep...

[irish eyes]

Don't you feel sometimes that just looking after yourself has become a full time job?

I didn't do too bad for waking up last night but it seems ages since I slept right through and got up feeling all refreshed and eager to get going.

You dream about luggage? I think that's something to do with excessive burdens or worries. I used to have dreams about appearing in public - often in a church - and dressed completely inappropriately.

(Maybe I didn't dream it at all!)

[SallyP]

You both made me laugh with your dreams! Beeing seen inappropriately dressed as you put it, in public is supposed to be a fear of looking silly.
Haven't been on here for a while, couldn't face it, as nothing is working for me at the moment, but I don't want to dwell on that, because it will only get me down, and I must become positive again. I'm going to try and get an NHS referral to the Moorfield Hospital, but I don't know if that's going to be possible, so will go privately if necessary, possibly to be told what I already know, but in a more comfortable chair with a cup of tea/coffee, and maybe the nurse will place the yellow dye carefully into my eyes instead of throwing it in, narrowly missing my clothes. Think the plugs have come out, and I will not be having them put in again, as it causes me so much discomfort after, and quite honestly, does absolutely nothing!

[Sabrina]

sleeping with goggles/ vultures

You both are making me laugh as well. Particularly the part about feeling like vultures are tearing out your eyeballs. Many of us can relate , unfortunately so....

I used to think "high maintennance" meant an entirely different thing than I do now.

Also, for Thistledown. I didn't sleep well with the goggles at first(also a light sleeper) I'd get a few hours in and then somehow rip them off in the middle of the night. You may get used to them. It seemed I got a little farther every night and now am keeping them on till morning. With your ointment or thicker drops they can make SUCH a difference. Imagine waking up with hydrated eyeballs.. I didn't think it would ever be possible again.

And as someone else stated it is cumulative so if you don't notice a big difference at first keep at it. I am feeling the "vultures" less these days

[thistledown]

... Imagine waking up with hydrated eyeballs.. I didn't think it would ever be possible again.
And as someone else stated it is cumulative so if you don't notice a big difference at first keep at it. I am feeling the "vultures" less these days

i'm trying to imagine the hydrated eyeballs! sounds wonderful. but i don't think i can really bear the idea of goggles.

well - after that good night, i had two absolutely dreadful nights - during which i used up three full vials of drops plus two applications of goo - each night. last night, though, wasn't too bad, apart from waking up with what felt like a heart attack - but clearly wasn't, since i'm still here today! i think it was indigestion. hmmm. hope so...

tomorrow i go to collect the thicker Celluvisc, from which i expect great Things. well, one can dream.

yes - sometimes it does indeed seem as if ones whole time is taken up with 'maintenance'. not only the eyes, but everything else as well. i'm just thankful i no longer live with a critical, and younger, MAN !!! i can actually be a pitiful human wreck without having to apologise for it!

[thistledown]

Glue!

tried the Celluvisc 1% today... it's GLUE!

yes, i bet it would do for hanging wallpaper.

the first few minutes after sticking the goo in my eyes i couldn't see a thing - blurry and horrible. my eyes felt as if they had contact lenses in. tried cleaning my eyes with cotton wool wrung out in hot water. slightly better, but still blurring.

after ten minutes (i kid you not) i could see again. and since then my eyes have felt ok. (as ok, that is, as when i've used Refresh Plus, or Celluvisc 0.5%.) i went out to mow the lawn - always a good outlet for rage and frustration, as my 'lawn' (huh) is all hummocks and dips and moss, and perhaps two pieces of grass. driving the mower over that takes a lot of womanpower...

however, being in the open air helped - as it always does. the horrible conclusion is that i should get out more.

anyway - i have to conclude: this Celluvisc 1% stuff is... GLUE!

definitely only for the brave.

[Tempestuous]

Hi there.

I see that celluvisc, vismed and lacrilube are mentioned here along with quality of sleep.
Although my condition is RCE it is something I have some experience with.

Celluvisc (0.1%) and vismed (0.18%) were only suitable for me for day use. Of the two, Vismed was far better.
However, if vismed is used at night it crusts up on the eyelids.
Getting a warm mist humidifier in the bedroom can help alleviate this.

Lacrilube was for night time use but I found it particularly useless.
Far better for me was Simple Eye Ointment. Using this stuff enabled me to get a full nights sleep for the first time in a year.
Its not the easiest to use, but its better than the insanity from lack of sleep!

I understand that everyone's different but its worth experimenting if you haven't tried it yet.

Good luck!

[thistledown]

... Far better for me was Simple Eye Ointment. Using this stuff enabled me to get a full nights sleep for the first time in a year.
Its not the easiest to use, but its better than the insanity from lack of sleep!

where do you get Simple Eye Ointment? and why isn't it easy to use? and does it contain preservatives?

[irish eyes]

Hi

Simple Eye Ointment sounds like something I might have used decades ago unless I'm confusing it with something else. I checked the ingredients:

Yellow soft paraffin 80% w/w, liquid paraffin 10% w/w and wool fat (lanolin) 10% w/w

Each tube contains 4 grams of sterile eye ointment. The product is sterile until the seal on the tube is broken.

So - no preservative mentioned. This looks like a product that you might find in one of the smaller pharmacies but I found references to it on the internet.

All the ingredients would send me over the edge! I'm sure its `gloopiness' makes it not that easy to use.

[thistledown]

sticky stuff

Hi

Simple Eye Ointment sounds like something I might have used decades ago unless I'm confusing it with something else. I checked the ingredients:

Yellow soft paraffin 80% w/w, liquid paraffin 10% w/w and wool fat (lanolin) 10% w/w

Each tube contains 4 grams of sterile eye ointment. The product is sterile until the seal on the tube is broken.

So - no preservative mentioned. This looks like a product that you might find in one of the smaller pharmacies but I found references to it on the internet.

All the ingredients would send me over the edge! I'm sure its `gloopiness' makes it not that easy to use.

thank you for info i wonder if it's like Golden Eye Ointment?

Lacrilube ingredients: white soft paraffin 57.3% mineral oil 42.5% lanolin alcohols 0.2% and no preservatives.

sounds similar in content, doesn't it? i don't like the stuff but use it two or three nights a week, to start the night. during the night i revert to Celluvisc 0.5%. and sometimes i even get through a night without waking with that awful tearing sensation, and soreness.

but last night was a bummer: i did all the right things and still woke with a sore eye. my eyes have been very dry and sore lately. does anyone else connect extra dryness with stress? or depression? or is it the other way around? the sore eyes make one depressed and stressed?

i don't know. i feel very down today. haven't had an uninterrupted night for months, and if i do sleep more than four hours at a stretch, without putting extra drops in, i suffer for it.

pity the thicker Celluvisc is so horrible. does anyone else here use it (the 1%)?