Since I moved to Yuma 3 years ago, I started having a lot of allergy issues with my eyes. I mean, painful, burning, irritated eyes. I started using the generic version of Zaditor, which is an OTC allergy eye drop. That worked quite well for a awhile, but my eyes were still slightly irritated most of the time.

Since moving to Farmington, my eyes are more irritated- constantly itching and always feel like something is stuck under the lenses . I stopped wearing mascara and eye makeup and that helped a bit, but still, my eyes were always irritated!!!

Yesterday, I visited an optometrist (Walmart optics is having a sale on their exams and lenses right now, so I decided to take advantage of the sale) and she informed me that I probably developed an allergy to the preservatives in saline solution!!! She explained that it can take years to develop and it's very annoying for soft lens wearers. She gave me a trial pack of the Clear Care (preservative free) and some new lenses to try.

I know this is way off topic, but I wanted to let others know that if your eyes are constantly itching and sore, it might be your saline solution! I never would have thought that would be the very thing that was causing the problem.

Are contacts your only choice? I had LASIK done 14 years ago. Best thing I ever did for my self.

Both my sisters had LASIK and it was a life changer for them. For awhile, I could wear my contacts to sleep as long as I cleaned them daily...then the move to Yuma happened

It sucks being poor with no insurance...I wish I had done the LASIK when I actually had money.

Such is life!

or finance it. I've never known insurance to cover it.

Yup, me too! I didn't want to get it back then because people kept having issues with the surgery. This was when LASIK was still in it's infancy and working out the kinks.

It was a long time ago that I had insurance that would help with the cost of LASIK. It wouldn't cover it completely, but I guess it's more cost effective to have LASIK than spend the rest of your life with the co-pays for glasses, eye appts and contacts.

great vision. Except that now he's starting to need reading glasses ;-)

If so, did it help that?

My vision is HORRIBLE. I mean, I can barely read something right in front of my face without contacts or glasses. I'm definitely legally blind without a vision correction.

It may have just been the local LASIK operations I heard about. I also had a loony optometrist at the time who would tell me all sorts of nutty stuff, so that may be were the misinformation came from. This guy told me that if I switched from gas permeable rigid lenses to soft, scar tissue would form in my eyes and I'd go blind!!!

I have the same problem with my eyes. I have astigmatism in my left eye and a lesser one in my right. I'm also farsighted, and I can't really even wear contacts. There isn't a prescription close enough, though there used to be when I was 16. I don't know what that's about. Anyway, I just wear glasses. But now my eyes are changing. I wonder if I'm even a candidate for LASIK.

I've got enough in my right eye to correct it with a Toric lens!

I just throw them away every day.
But I do use Refresh artificial tears for Contacts.
I have gotten irritation from different brands of solution in the past. There were only certain brands I could use, because some of them were really irritating! I'm sure it was the preservative.

Funny. My optometrist in Yuma said I'm becoming contact intolerant. The dry air and wind here doesn't help.

I have an extreme case of "Dry Eye" that makes it difficult to wear contact lenses for extended period of time. I use Systane Ultra high performance lubricating eye drops.

When you're old, everything dries up. One day, I'll turn into a cloud of ashes and blow away.

Both you and Badgirl gave me some ideas of stuff to stock up on and try. It's so damn dry here and the cedar and juniper are awful allergens.

You might also try daily wear, the kind you throw out every night and put in a new, sterile pair the next day. It's a bit more expensive, but then you're not having to buy any cleaner and you can sleep without your lenses in. I was much happier when I switched to those.

It gets a little too pricey for me to wear the Dailys, but when I have a job with good pay, I'm going to switch to those for a few months. :) Thanks for the tip.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2013 01:13PM by Itzpapalotl.

You can't even get the old monthly contacts, at least not in the ONE material I can tolerate.
I wear Ciba Aqua Plus (or whatever it's called now).
Many of the newer lenses are made from a material that cause a suction-cup effect on my eyes. I think it's because it dries too quickly.

The Wallyworld optic center still carries the biweekly contacts, just under a different name now.

Fidge, that sucks so bad! I let mine sit in the H2O2 solution last night an it neutralized this morning. Is Eco preservative free? I feel you on the bad vision.

I've come to accept that throwing them away every night is probably the healthiest thing for my eyes anyway.

But the branding recently changed to Air Optix Aqua O2. Same type of biweekly though.

little suction marks on my eyes.
Mine are made of the original soft material -- I think it's getting harder to find.

The Lasik scares the crap out of me. My doc said I'm a good candidate now that my eyes are stabilizing finally. But I've heard so many horror stories. I neighbor had it done two years ago, now his vision is worse than before.

My vision is bad enough that I everything a foot or more from my eyes is blurry. I cant move around without my contacts or glasses.

The clear care works wonders if you give it the whole time to sit and rinse it before you insert the contact into your eye. I burned mine pretty good in high school. Now I use an Eco saline solution that is my favorite so far.

I wear the monthly ones, but I take them out every night and sometimes wear my glasses on Sunday.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2013 01:20PM by fidget.

I had lasik about 9 years ago and loved it at first. But after about 5 years, my eyes reverted back to their previously "messed up" state and I was forced to wear glasses when driving.

You could try Clear Care. It's hydrogen peroxide solution that breaks down into water. The extra oxygen atom breaks off (H2O2 > H2O) and combines with others to form O2 - common Oxygen which form bubbles that rise and clean your lenses. The peroxide breaks up the protein on the lenses, and the oxygen moves the solution around and helps sterilize the lenses. In the morning, you have just normal saline.

---

I ended up not wearing contacts at all. I started with the 2-week ones which were fine for a few months. Then I started getting nothing but dry sticky eyes after a few hours, and drops only helped for maybe 10 minutes.

So I went to Clear Care. It has no preservatives and feel like new lenses each day. That lasted another 6 months or so until I hit the dry and stickiness again.

So I went without contacts for a few years, and then tried the daily disposables with the intent of "every once in a while." Over three years, I've worn about half of them.

Contacts just aren't for me, unfortunately. I love them to death, but my eyes disagree.

OP, you might want to read the stickies, off topic posts are not allowed.

Get a life.

Thanks for the info Itzpapalotl.

I've been miserable with itchy, watery eyes for the last two or three years. I've tried every allergy eye drop out there without a lot of improvement. The only thing that's helped me a little is Claritin. I even mentioned it to my optometrist and didn't get any help.

I'm going to the store TODAY to get a different solution.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2013 02:33PM by want2bx.

My optometrist said it's the best OTC allergy eye drop you can get.

And def make sure you get the preservative free and follow the directions to a "t."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2013 02:34PM by Itzpapalotl.

That clear care stuff works great! I had to switch to that stuff years ago. Just make sure you don't put your contacts back in your eyes before six hours are up! That stings.

Also, even though they say you can sleep in your lenses, I've had doctors tell me it's never a good idea. It increases irritation in your eyes. They told me overwear is the worst thing you could do to your eyes and that it could even cause blindness. Sheesh, huh?

Anyway flag you found something that's working for you.

*glad*

I used to pine for LASIK for my distance vison until a good friend of mine had it done (also just for distance) about ten years ago by a doctor who was supposedly one of the best in the field (Gloria Alred was in the waiting room when she went for her consult). Her near vision deteriorated wihin a very short time to the point that she needed glasses for reading, and she was back to needing glasses for distance in just a few years. Seeing what's happened to her, I wouldn't risk it; at least I can read and function throughout the day without glasses as things are.