Issues with contact lenses

[TryLikingClarity]

I've been back and forth to the opticians for the past few months, starting to get the feeling they think I'm being fussy, but I don't mean to be!

I initially tried daily lenses - always felt my eyes were gritty and I couldn't see too well out of them.

Got put onto fortnightly ones - eyes not so gritty, but still couldn't see right, esp when driving or reading.

Went last week for another eye test and was given -1.50 in one eye, -0-75 in other. Vision is a bit better now, but I still have that gritty feeling.

Anyone else always feel like that? Would love to take my eyes out and rinse them under a tap, or just zap them with laser surgery.....

Hayfever? I wear contacts and have dome for years but hayfever months are hell

Hmmm, could be hayfever, hadn't thought of that.

They are expensive and it's a pita to keep having to go back to see optician if they aren't going to feel good when I'm wearing them.

Hope it gets better soon.

I was going to start an EXACT same post today
Yesterday I went for yet another contact lens appointment. A new pair a slightly changed prescription and fitting and they are still crap. I have already given up on them today and put my glasses back on.
My eyes are a bit gritty but I have been persevering for about 2 months now. However my vision in them is terrible and I am now thoroughly fed up with it all.
Each time I have returned I have seen a different optician and had to explain it all again everytime. So far that's 4 different opticians for 4 appointments. None of them seem to have a clue. I am so annoyed as i previously wore contacts for YEARS with no problems and i was looking forward to going back to them.
I too have been considering laser surgery i even started a post on it yesterday and looked online at options today.

Sorry to hijack your thread a bit! I Hope yours get more comfortable soon. I think I am going to give up now and ask for a refund and buy some new glasses.

Are they trying you with lens from different manufacturers?

I'm currently trialling some different lenses - a toric lens because I have astigmatism and an extra 'moist' lens.

yeah apparently mine are a 'really rare' toric lens
still crap thou...

The other toric lenses I had didn't work properly - they're weighted so should sit properly on your eye and they just didn't . Mine had tiny green dots on so that the optician can see that they fit properly and I kept seeing the dot every time i blinked because they moved about so much. I have odd ones in at the moment and the non-toric (Acuvue moist I think) is much more comfortable than the toric one.

I'm not sure the fit of them is the problem. The lenses themselves seem fine, it seems to be the prescription that's wrong.

I've tried different brands and moisture levels - currently using Acuvue Oasys - the most expensive ones, of course!

Fruitshoots... you and I sound very similar! I've seen 3 different opticians at the same clinic and have to explain over and over again.

I do think my prescription is correct now, but that up until now I'd been wearing the wrong strength, but the grittiness is a pita.

Must go now and do a search for your laser surgery thread...

Have you asked the optician to test you for dry eyes? Dry eyes often cause a gritty sensation and contact lenses suck the moisture out of eyes that are already insufficiently lubricated for one reason or another. And there's more than one cause of eye dryness, as there are three different layers of lubrication on the eye's surface, coming from different parts of the eye, so it's often not immediately obvious that you have a dry eye problem.

Yes, last time I was there she put dye in my eyes to test for scrapes or dryness. All was fine, so she's a bit confused as to what the gritty feeling is.

I must just be a freak!

As someone else said it could be hayfever so why don't you try buying a packet of one a day hayfever pills and see if that makes a difference. My eyes feel itchy if I don't take these pills during the summer and I've been wearing contact lenses for many years.

Just wanted to say that if you have astigmatism and don't have toric lenses then your night vision will suffer, that's certainly what I've found anyway. I only have mild astigmatism in one eye, so don't bother with expensive lenses. I just try to make sure that I'm wearing my glasses to drive at night instead of my contacts. My friend has had problems with hers, and I think that's down to hayfever/allergies as she's usually fine.

Interesting ideas, thanks!

Will try using hayfever tablets and eye drops and see if either help.

T

Putting dye in your eyes won't necessarily reveal whether they are getting dry when you wear your contact lenses - it only really shows up scratches and particularly dry patches (ie severe cases). I never had anything show up with orange dye in my eyes, but still got very dry eyes when using contact lenses (they were fine without the lenses - moist enough not to cause a noticeable problem - however contact lenses feeling like cling film in my eye after just 3 or 4 hours and blood vessels growing into my cornea, which should be bloodless, were a clear indication that my eyes were probably not moist enough, as most people would only experience this after many, many hours of overuse!!!!!). You really need to know how quickly the moisture evaporates from your eyes, whether your meibomian glands are producing a normal consistency of oil or look a bit clogged, etc, which requires other tests. Or you could see if the problem is alleviated by using copious quantities of dry eye drops suitable for contact lens wearers (although I generally found these didn't work, as the problem in my case was not with tear production, but with my meibomian glands, and contact-lens suitable products don't tend to hang around in the eyes for long, ie don't help very much for people like me...).

ps hayfever tablets often make dry eyes worse (I found that when I tried them to see if they would help my eyes stop feeling gritty - they made my eyes feel even more gritty and even affected the quality of my vision). Therefore they might be worth trying - if your eyes feel better, that's great; if they feel better for a bit and then start to get uncomfortable again, then you know what having dry eyes might feel like; and if they don't make the situation any better, then it's worth having a closer look at whether your eyes might be getting slightly dry when you wear your lenses. A feeling of a lash or something in your eye but with nothing visible to show why it feels like that, and no obvious redness or swollen blood vessels is a classic sign of mild dry eye.

I am using the "night and day" ones and they are the best I have ever had. No more mad blinking or drying out by the afternoon. And the best thing is you just leave 'em in for a month. Yep, sleep in em and everything. But the best bit for me is that they are comfortable and dont dry out. Dont worry about trying different ones until you find the ones that suit you and your circumstances.

It may be worth changing the solution you use to clean and store the contact lenses. There are different ones available and can improve how long you have the contact lenses in for.

fruitshoots What is the make of your contact lens? Interested to hear what a "really rare toric lens" is!

saggar Sounds like the base curve of your contact lenses is wrong. Also if you have an unusual shaped cornea you will have problems with CLs. I can't wear a contact lens in my left eye because "my eye is a weird shape" (my cornea is thicker than it should be). They still gave me a lens anyway and despite it not fitting at all and hurting my eye they kept telling me that "I had grit in my eye". Err, no.

To the posters having problems: how long do you wear your contact lenses for? Do you wear them every single day?

Amy - I got fortnightly ones but only wore them about 8 times in 14 days as they were not comfy.

If they were comfy and good I'd wear them all the time!

That's why I started the thread and why I'm trying to find one that suits me, as I don't want to wear my glasses as much, want contacts to be the main thing.

The search continues!!