Oily film on GP lenses with Restasis use

[gee_ess]

I am a long time GP contact lens wearer who has developed dry eye due to my contact use. My dr has prescribed restasis (as did two other docs over the past 5 or so years).. Each time I try it, I get a build up on my contacts that is flimy and oily. Nothing seems to help it. It is almost as if my tear film is dirty and gets my contacts "gunky". In my previous restasis trials, I just quit using it without trying to find what was causing the trouble instead of giving it a full three months. I am trying to be a better patient this time, but I am so frustrated with these oily contacts that I can't see through!

My limited research online seems to point toward the fact that there is a castor oil product in the restasis? Any thoughts on this causing the problem?

Any GP wearers out there also using restasis?

Also are there different types of dry eye?

Thank you in advance.

[Rebecca Petris]

Any GP wearers out there also using restasis?

Not a lot of GP lens wearers here except the Scleral lens users but probably some of them use Restasis.

Also are there different types of dry eye?

Three different doctors have prescribed you Restasis and none of them educated you about the types of dry eye? I hope at least they've diagnosed what's wrong more specifically than "contact lens induced dry eye" or whatever, even if they weren't very talkative Yes, there are different types. While there are many different possible elements, and frequently lots of overlap, one of the most basic distinctions is between aqueous deficient dry eye (that's where your lacrimal glands do not produce enough moisture) and evaporative dry eye (that's where your meibomian glands do not produce enough oil, or produce poor quality oil or get blocked, resulting in your tears evaporating too fast).

My limited research online seems to point toward the fact that there is a castor oil product in the restasis? Any thoughts on this causing the problem?

Seems like a reasonable starting place to ask questions anyway. This is a new one to me. Give it a little time and probably some scleral lens wearers who use Restasis will come out of the woodwork. Meantime you might want to see a corneal specialist ophthalmologist, if you haven't already.

[gee_ess]

Thanks so much for responding Rebecca

I feel so ridiculous asking such simplistic questions, but the truth is just as you said. Three drs ( 2 optometrists and an opthamologist) have all said " oh, you're in your early 50's, having trouble wearing your contacts for long periods. You have dry eye. Here is a restasis prescription." end of discussion. I have tried to use restasis each time and quit because of this flimy stuff.

I will research the two types of dry eye further and see if I can gain a better understanding of my situation. I know my dry eye is very very minor compared to the trouble experienced by those in this forum. However, this forum is the best I have found. I just can't find any info on restasis and GP wearers.

Thank you again.

[PotatoCakes]

I have scleral lenses and use Restasis. For a while I was using compounded cyclosporine, without castor oil, because I was experiencing sensitivity to it but now that my eyes are healthier (due to serum drops), I have been able to go back to the regular Restasis.

It's important that you not administer Restasis, serum drops or other "medical" drops (vs Refresh Plus, Unisol, etc for moisture) while wearing your contacts or the medical properties won't be as effective (you are wearing a shield).

I can't remember exactly how long my scleral lense doctor told me to wait after drop administration, to put my lenses in but my base wait is always 30 minutes. I tend to wait longer than necessary just to be sure, for instance, it's important to wait at least 15 minutes between different types of drops, ie: apply Restasis, 15 + minutes, apply serum drops but, I wait at least 20 minutes to be safe. I'm guessing you may not need to wait the full 30 minutes since I always try to wait longer than necessary but you should probably wait at least 15-20 after drop application, before putting your lenses in. Because I use both Restasis and serum drops, I have to schedule quite a bit of extra time in my morning if I plan to use my sclerals but I haven't had a problem with cloudiness or oiliness.

I do have mucus buildup but that's not due to the medication, it's because of my low tear production and I have that problem regardless of whether I put my lenses in after soon after using Restasis / serum drops or hours later. The only way I've found to reduce the mucus build up is to liberally use Refresh Plus or Unisol. One note: I tried using Refresh Optiv once with my sclerals -- that did not work well, I developed a film on my lenses.

Hopefully that will help?

[zuzu70]

One note: I tried using Refresh Optiv once with my sclerals -- that did not work well, I developed a film on my lenses.

I heard that any eyedrops with glycerin in them (e.g., Refresh Optive) are not good with contact lenses. The one time I mixed Optive with my soft lenses, I had blurry vision out of that eye most of the day and I freaked cuz I thought I was losing my vision!