Can't tolerate contact lenses in one eye - any advice?

[FairTurtle]

Shamelessly posting again here for traffic - sorry!

ny contact lenses wearers here? I wore contact lenses for 12 years with no issue! But for the past few years, whenever I wear them, I get a dry, itchy, gritty, 'foreign body sensation' in my right eye within 20 minutes! It gets worse and worse despite me applying eye drops. My left eye feels totally fine. I wear daily senses and the optician said I've got the best quality daily ones!

I saw an eye doctor about this a few months back after wearing them for a day and he said there was some scratching on my eye from wearing the lens, as well as something about my tear film not secreting very much and the "break up time" of my tear film was too quick. He mentioned something called meibomian gland dysfunction.

I don't mind wearing glasses but I would like to be able to wear lenses occasioanally without discomfort.

Has anyone had something similar?

Yes, sadly I have never tolerated contact lenses since I was mid twenties despite having previously worn gp lenses since I was 14. I also found friends and colleagues commented my eyes would look red and bloodshot after a few hours. I did try soft lenses, but these were no better and my vision wasn't great due to a complex prescription 😞

Get your doctor to prescribe preservative free thea lipid eye drops and put them in once or twice per day 15min before putting lenses in. They have changed my life!

Thanks. Would a GP prescribe these? The optician already gave me some called Hycosan which are for severe dry eye, but they haven't really helped with the lense issue (or maybe they have but I still can't tolerate lenses in my right eye).

Yes GP. You can get through amazon too but more expensive

Did your optician advise on using warm compresses to help unblock the glands? If not he should have done!

Not sure as lenses have probably changed since I last wore them 5ish years ago, but you might find non-daily lenses more comfortable.
I'd Google the gland problem, and make a note of the drops people have mentioned, and go back to the optician with a list of queries.

Contact lens wearer here for 30 years. Have you tried monthly lenses? I find they are better quality than daily ones.

If the optician thinks you have some scratching should you stop wearing for a week or two (using eye drops regularly) to let things heal properly and then try again using the best recommended eye drops for use with lenses and building up gradually the length of time you wear them.

This happened to me. I 100% recommending what others have suggested: giving contact lenses a rest, switching to dailies or monthlies, trying a different lens, eye drops etc.

However, I was shocked to learn it was due to my contraception. Intolerance to contact lenses is actually listed as a side effect on some of the pills and mini pills. I faced it with the combined pill, mini pill and hormonal coil. I switched to the copper coil after many many years and my contact lens (and other issues like hair loss) stopped. It was ages later when I read that "difficulty wearing contact lenses" is a side effect of several different birth control pills.

Worth a thought if you exhaust all other options, and you're on hormonal contraception.

I had a similar issue after wearing contacts for many years - although it was both eyes for me. Have you thought about night lenses? They are special hard lenses you wear overnight and they shape your cornea in your sleep. You take them out in the morning and can see perfectly. As they’re hard lenses they are less comfortable than soft lenses, but I find it ok, as I’m only wearing them whilst I sleep.

A monocle?

Second the warm compress- this is the standard advice for MGD.

Lubricant eye drops 3/4x per day- even if not wearing lenses- will help the tear film be in best shape for when a lens disrupts.

How old are you OP? Dry eye disease is extremely common in peri-menopause and later.