Contact Lenses query...

[JESSnutsRoastinOnAnOpenFire]

I have worn contact lenses for well over ten years now.. started off with Specsavers monthly disposables, then a couple of years ago, when I had a small corneal ulcer, the opitician advised I either stop wearing them (!!!!! Not bloody likely! !!) or go onto daily disposables. So, at double the price, I did so.

Today I had a bi-annual full eye check and she commented on my red left eye. I hadn't noticed it felt sore and told her my eyes are often a bit red as I am always so tried (sleep deprived.) She checked it out extra throughly (with yellow dye etc) and said the blood vessels are a bit big and my eye is 'not very happy', which indicated that there is not enough oxygen getting to my eyes, especially since I wear my lenses constantly except when asleep. (6.45am until midnight or 1am approx!). So she has told me to go for a contact lense check at the first available opportunity (Wednesday!!!!) and to WEAR MY GLASSES UNTIL THEN!!

Obviously, I am doing as I am told as won't compromise my eye health depsite my serious aversion to glasses (it's not just vanity.. really!.. it's that I HATE the feel of glasses.. always have.. and the feeling now, after a decade of contact lense wearing, of not having 20/20 vision - ie not being able to see 'round the edges' actually makes me feel quite disorientated!

I asked what would be the effects, theoretically, of ignoring her advice and she said the blood vessels would grow more and grow over the cornea towards the pupil! And that this would affect my vision.

She said I can have a new kind of lense.. actually cheaper than the daily disposables, that allows oxygen to pass through much better. Although these come with solutions etc again which I hadn't had to deal with since getting rid of the monthly disposables. But I can't get these until my appointment for the lense check obviously.

Has anyone else had this kind of problem with their contact lenses?

SJ x

Wow that's amazing Jingly! I want some!! Are they very expensive?

i want some too! ...but i don't think i could afford it. my mum's very coy about the cost so i reckon it could be high! muttered something about 50.00 a month once but i'm not sure if that's at all accurate! CAT hunkermunker, she's lovely, i bet she'll give you some info!

Roll on Wesnesday... my glasses are pssing me off more than I can express!! And talking of rolling.. I trod on the f*s on Saturday when I was getting ready to go out and trying to apply makeup to my eyes when I couldm't actually see my eyes (what is the knack of this?, someone help please!).. and they are now held together with sellotape. (The shame ). And if you're wondering where the 'rolling' comes into it (probably not.. but..!).. on Sunday, at church of all places, I was grappling with DS2 who was being a right bgger and a lens rolled out and away down the pew!!

I got in back in.. applied more sellotape once home.. and now my glasses are sitting crooked on my head because they are weighted on one side due to tape.. I am having to go about my semi-normal life looking like this! I look a right trog I can tell you!!

I WANT MY CONTACT LENSES BACK! I am exhibiting SUCH self control, not wearing the ones I have and waiting for the new ones.. I bl**dy better get them on Wednesday!!!!

(Needed to vent.. sorry...)

Oh and PS I SWEAR I can't see half as well out of my glasses and they are the same prescription as my lenses! I keep 'testing' my eyes while driving (scary!) by looking at number plates closing one eye and then the other... other mototists clearly think I am winking at them!

Jess - how spooky - I am in almost exactly the same boat!Not enough oxygen getting in but exacerbated by over dry eyes. I thought I was getting an horrific infection so it was quite a relief to find out that's 'all' that's wrong. Have to wear my specs for 2 weeks!!!! so In a fit of mnadness have splurged 140 quid on funky new glasses - as the thought of wearing my horrid very thick glasses (which only surface in neccessity) is grim. I am walking around with my head down so noone will see me [blush}

CAT me if you want more info re these ortho-k lenses, SJ - or I'll bang on about them on here if you have specific questions? Puff wears them too. They're brilliant. My eyes have NEVER been more comfortable.

have you ever met an optician that wore lenses ?

I've been wearing lenses for nearly 20 years (eek) & I've never seen one.

If your eyesight is so bad & you really loathe glasses, what about laser surgery ?

Alternatively, do what I do & change from lenses to glasses around 4pm & wear glasses if you aren't going out. There are some nice very light frames & lenses available &, afterall, we all only have one pair of eyes !

PS I too suffer from the not-enough-oxygen-getting to the eye & have a monthly disposables from Dolland & Aitchison for £14.95 a week, which are supposed to let more oxygen pass through.

Yes, my optician wears ortho-k lenses and says that he's not met another optician who would have laser surgery!

Just found this on the web - so it basically changes the shape of the eye ?

also suggest no good for young (counts me out) patients with corneal problems.

Orthokeratology is for people of any age who are nearsighted. The FDA has approved CRT for people with up to six diopters of myopia (-6.00 on your prescription); the VST approval is for up to five diopters. Astigmatism can also be treated: up to -1.75 with CRT, and -1.50 with VST. Many doctors believe the best candidates are people who have low amounts of myopia, about four diopters or less.

The procedures can be performed on practically anyone of any age, as long as their eyes are healthy. Ortho-k holds particular appeal for people who participate in sports, or who work in dusty, dirty environments that can cause problems for regular contact lenses.

Because ortho-k offers similar benefits to LASIK, it's also appealing to adolescents and teens, who are not eligible for LASIK. However, there are some concerns about corneal infections in young people who have used ortho-k, so it's wise to pursue this with an eye care practitioner who is experienced in treating this age group.

Fullmoon - nice to know someone is suffering with me, altho with £149 glaSSES YOU OUGHT TO HAVE YOUR HEAD HELD HIGH!! [SHOCK] (oH BUGGER, CAPs.. cant be arsed to retype.. DS kicked me in the head while I was putting him in bed and lens came out again. DH now looking for it cos I can't see sh*t! I have my eyes against the screen as I type this I kid you not!)

Hunker I was going to CAT you but was looking into the other lenses (oh how blissful they sound!) but know I will not be able to aFFORD THEm. cAn't justify the £23 pmonth I have been spending really. Luckily the new good-at-letting0oxygen-in monthlies that i am getting from Specsavers hopefully Wednesdays are £13 pmonth which is better! Can't resist a couple of questions though even tho I am just torturing myself really..

Are your eyes still 20/20? (Was reading the old thread.. wow!) Are you wearing them every night or every other?

And are they still £40 p/month? I can't pay more than £25 but if they came down to that and I could get them in my area (doesn't look as if I can) I would get them like a shot!

And Mojo, ditto laser surgery.. I would love it but no chance unless I am lucky with the lottery!

Fullmoon you were saying about thinking you had an eye infection.. I have had no symptoms at all of this blood vessel thing.. my eyes felt perfectly fine until I was stripped of my lenses! Glasses make me feel disorientated and really quite yuk!

SJ x

Think that was the one I read Mojo..

Yes, it changes the shape of your cornea by tiny, tiny amounts - it flattens it, but only noticeably if you're a laser camera!

Young people often don't have the lens care skills, shall we say? Hygiene's a big factor in wearing lenses you have to clean each day - I wore lenses from 14 (so have for the last 16 years) - and I know when I was a teenager, I was far from scrupulous!

Eyes are a bit skewy atm because I'm pg and have gestational diabetes - my left's a little bit long-sighted, my right's a little bit nearsighted, but it will go back to 20/20 after I've had the baby.

Yes, still £40pm, but this includes all my eye check-ups, two pairs of lenses a year and all my solutions and eyedrops (you need to put drops in in the morning to get them out).

I wonder sometimes if the monthly lenses is a bit of a scam ? I need new ones (have cancelled my dd) so might see what Specsavers do - did you know Asda do lenses now ?

PS My mum had the same pair of lenses for 10 years !! They were a german pair & she was meticulus with cleaning them. The optician was horrified when she told him. Interestly she hasn't worn lenses since as she's never had a comfortable pair.

(When'a the baby due Hunker? Did you see you starred in my dream.. with the baby!!! )

Mine are gas permeables, btw - can't cope with soft ones - they're too bendy!

January 14th - and NO - where?! Blimey!

here

Definitely go with gas permeables, they are way healthier for the eye, smaller and easy to care for. I only started using lenses about 9 yrs ago and tried on a GP lense and a "soft" lense and found the soft ones just too weird - I could feel them the whole time, whereas GP lenses you can only feel when you blink.

You do have to build up tolerance, which takes two weeks and is uncomfortable, but after that, they last 5 yrs and are really cheap (mine are £28 each and I've only had one change when my eyesight got a bit better).

Can I just add for ALL contact lense users, please please please follow the cleaning/hygiene instructions, my best friend was very laisser faire about these (cleaned every other day and would stick them back in without washing them) and she picked up a virus in her eye and is now blind in that eye...Hygiene is important... public health message ends

You can feel them when you blink? Not sure I could cope with that. With disposables (even monthies) you can't feel them at all! That's what I've always liked about them. I think the ones I am getting are gas permeable monthly disposables..

right here goes...not wishing to stir things up but i remember reading something on some sort of news media (or was it i dream?...i think not so i'll keep going...) saying that soft lenses were all practically the same and that it was bending marketing laws for opticians to be able to sell them (daily, monthly, yearly) as a different product as it was false description when they are all the same. the opticians replied that they do not sell them as a different product but as a different method, i.e dailies needing no cleaning, monthlies needing some and yearlies needing the full caboodle of protein removal tablets etc. therefore the arguement is, if you have a pair of monthlies and are very meticulous in cleaning them there's no reason not to keep wearing them for longer. I'm just passing on what i heard or read or dreamt, but i'm 99% sure it was real! i wear dailies but sometimes i am naughty and i wear them for a couple of days, i am 26, i am young and foolish and very very bad!

Mine are also gas permeables and I either take them out when I get hme from work, when I bring DD home from school or when I put her to bed, unless I am going out.

I always see an opthamologist at our local opticians. And she's always v thorough.

I've been told that the new soft dailies etc do not give such good vision correction (they wouldn't be suitable for me) and that they are a bit of a cop out/moneyspinner as they don't require fitting like gp lenses.

I used to hate my glasses but last year I had to go without lenses for a while after I damamged one and I discovered that they added character to my face - and I tended to wear more eye make-up and didn't worry about it falling into my eyes and irritating my lenses e.g. mascara. So I frequently looked better in glasses than in lenses!

I pay around £100 for my lenses but I only have to renew them every 3 years or so. Solutions are not particularly expenseive and the cost is certainly nowhere near the cost of disposables.

Don't worry Jess once you build up tolerance, you don't notice them (except when you get a lash in your eye - ouch). They are much better for your eye than most soft lenses as they cover a smaller area and move/are washed with your blinking.

I have twice slept in mine (by accident, if you can imagine that) and they were fine, tho I wouldn't recommend it!

Yay! My glasses are ready to pick up tomorrow Only 4 days and they said 10 ) It's amazing, a week ago, I'd have been in deep depression at the thought of wearing glasses all the time, but I'm actually quite excited!. Still can't wait til Dec 5 when I can go back to beloved lenses though (Vanity, I know...but I'm one of these unfortunate people with quite strong features and glasses make me look like a real plain jane mouse - which I am NOT)
Jess, how you doing? Is it today you get your lenses 'back'?

I wear daily disposables and buy mine off the internet here . Much cheaper than buying them straight from the opticians...saves about £100