Specsavers stopping peroxide contacts lens solution!

[RedCarsGoFaster]

I've had a letter and a phone call this week from Specsavers - they are withdrawing the hydrogen peroxide contact lens solution. Completely. With no similar alternative offered. As of March 2023.

The only option provided is to use the "multi purpose" one where you have to rub the lenses each time.

Does anyone actually know why? The staff at my branch haven't a clue why this is happening, just that they aren't offering it anymore.

I use the peroxide because a dear friend nearly lost an eyeball to infection from badly cleaned lenses many years ago and I have no desire to cock it up and do the same. I've worn lenses for 18+yrs and always had this solution!

Can anyone advise if it's just Specsavers or a shift in, say, production or an international shortage or something? I can't find any references to it online!

@RedCarsGoFaster If you're just worried about the risk of a microbial infection, the one step peroxide solutions are no more effective than the all in one solutions at killing microbes and you could actually argue that they are less good as after 6 hours they are sitting in basically water and if there was any microbes on the lens, they would then have a window to start to grow again.

The solutions which were more effective were the 2 step peroxide solutions which haven't been available for around 10 years.

For those people who find dailies more comfortable and vice versa, it's very dependent on the individual, there is no one size fits all solution when it comes to comfort. If you're having issues with the vision just ask to try a different lens.

@America12 they are made from a material called silicon hydrogel. There are a few brands available, if you go into your opticians you can have a fitting appointment and try some.

You said you’ve had monthlies since the early 2000s. A lot has changed. I wear daily ones and they are rated better than the extended wear ones for moisture retention and oxygen permeability. So it’s no longer true that extended wear stay wetter for longer on the eye.

For dailies I find they don't dry out if you pop a drop of solution on them before inserting them. It helps to keep everything moist.

Ive been told the same! I do have a shit tonne of solution stashed so should be ok for a bit but it has panicked me I can't lie!

I might look into laser eye surgery.

@RedCarsGoFaster have a look at these and see if Specsavers can do you a free trial. I have very dry eyes and these dailies were recommended by the optician and work really well for me.
£30 per month though, I could have paid for laser treatment twice over the years

@RedCarsGoFaster

Do you have any idea where I can get the original lenses from? I’ve never bought them from anywhere else. I’m slowly being driven mad by these new lenses. I do a lot of close up work and I’m constantly blinking. The appointment was pretty useless as the optician just said these new ones are more modern technology (I’m guess that means more profitable).

If anyone knows anything about finding the original ones online I would be very greatful.

Okay so motivated by this thread I found an old box in my cupboard and the old manufacturer is Alcon. I think I have found them online. You can buy for a similar price online but it doesn’t include contact lens checks.

I was advised laser did not correct forever. I am lucky I am so short sighted in one eye I can read without glasses or lenses if it is close enough to my nose. Handy for reading in bed. I would have lost that with laser.
I go to an independent optician. One very experienced optician can prescribe perfectly for me. I like to be able to see to drive and nowadays need reading glasses (Cheepos ) for reading when not in the house , see above. I do not want varifocal lenses . I had a soft lens once when I lost one and needed one quicker. To me they weren’t as sharp .

I don’t know which ones you’re after, but I’ve always had success finding lenses on here www.visiondirect.co.uk

I also received this message and I asked at the branch today why it was being discontinued and not replaced like for like. The staff also didn't have a clue. I was wondering if they had discovered something negative with regards to using peroxide for contact lenses as just very strange there has been no explanation...

Sorry for dragging up an old thread but can I ask what you ended up doing OP?

I got the email saying they were discontinuing my solution in Feb and was told I'd be contacted to discuss alternatives. I never was and forgot about it until my new pack arrived today with new solution and the silly lens case I struggle to get lenses out of, saying I need to rub them every day! But with no mention of the change or why.

My dailies are superior to monthly/biweekly lenses in terms of moisture content and oxygen permeability. As you haven’t looked at the dailies on offer for 18yrs, I’d suggest having a discussion with your optometrist at your next eye check. There are acuvue moist dailies and civa vision aqua comfort plus to consider.

@MercanDede weird assumption - it's literally discussed at every contact lens check as to whether these are the best lenses for me. Plus the dailies are twice the price (literally) and highly wasteful (IMO) which doesn't appeal to me.

@Emma6363 I'm still using up the last of the bottles and lens cases I managed to get hold of before they stopped it. The branch haven't given me a satisfactory explanation still and haven't been able to offer an alternative I'm currently happy with. Unfortunately my prescription is still unstable and about to change again for the second time in 11 months so I'm loathe to go to another optician due to the locations being highly inconvenient for me (bloody Cornwall! 😂).

Thanks for your reply! I had a quick look elsewhere for peroxide solution but it looks like I'd be paying double what I pay for it from Specsavers (and I presume lose the benefits like free eye tests etc), so I'm hesitant to change too. Very frustrating! I'll see what they say at my next appointment in a couple of weeks, though sounds like I won't get much out of them.

Monthly/2 weekly suit some people better in terms of dryness as they’re thicker and can sometimes have a better edge profile. Me included - I’m an optometrist.

@Emma6363 you need to run them to get off the biofilm which your eye coats onto the lens. Then the lens can be disinfected by the solution. There are different types of cases you can buy though, maybe investigate those?

I’ve never worked for spec savers, but I wonder whether you can get the lenses without solution and just buy that elsewhere.

Someone mentioned upthread - you can ask Specsavers to amend your plan so they don't supply the solution (it's a few pounds cheaper), then you just buy it elsewhere.

We did this because both my DDs have monthly contacts but we only seem to get through half the amount of solution they supply, so we now have one plan with solution and one plan without.

Thanks for the replies. I considered this, but my solution on the plan is £3 a bottle and looking elsewhere for a peroxide replacement looks like I'll be paying £23+ for 3 months supply.

Sorry, realised this is an old thread so deleted

@CormorantStrikesBack not really, it's an ongoing issue which we're all still getting to grips with.

I'm not 100% sure of the ins and outs but I think hydrogen peroxide as a whole is no longer available.

My hippy dippy mother who uses it for mouthwash and everything else inbetween said that you weren't able to buy it anymore but I don't know why. Therefore I assume anything with hydrogen peroxide in is the same.

@Iloveraccoons no, it's definitely available. I use it occasionally as a mouthwash too - it's amazing for whitening teeth but also for abscesses and I get a fair few of those... But it has to be watered down 1:4 if anyone is reading this!!

You can even buy the 3% solution on Amazon - I've just checked. I also saw the 5 or 6% solution on the shelf in my local pharmacy last week.

The staff at Specsavers suggested it might be to do with the precious metals in the tub, but to remove it without giving us the choice to pay more for the products seems odd. They really aren't explaining it to their customers or staff!

Sorry, you had posted in response to a suggestion for daily contacts:
“No good, I have dry eyes so I have monthly ones which stay wetter for longer on the eye.”

I presumed you thought this because you had been using monthly contact lenses for 18 years as this is not technically a true statement. In fact, most monthly contacts are not as good as daily contacts for dry eyes in terms of eye health ie, being “wet” on the eye for long duration wear.

I have dry eyes too and I go with dailies because they are the best for eye health on all counts although you are right they do cost twice as much.

Wanting to also have a lower price and less waste, as to why you prefer monthly contacts is a perfectly valid compromise while maintaining adequate eye health. I would not have questioned your comment if you’d said that up front.

The manager at my branch said he was under the impression that they had changed solution because of supply issues with the peroxide solution, and he thought they might be looking into alternative suppliers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed he's right, but I'm not holding my breath!

I may be able to shed some light on this @RedCarsGoFaster

So last night I went to open my lensmail box and found three bottles of multipurpose solution which I can't use, as I'm allergic to the preservatives in it.

I had two more boxes, which both also contained the multipurpose solution - so I had to bin my lenses.

Called the opticians this morning about the error to be told they had discontinued and I should have been notified (I wasn't). I'd had my Lensmail subscription on pause because I had loads of packs of unopened lenses and I'd been buying peroxide solution from Costco.

The store told me that they have discontinued peroxide as they were having problems shipping it and it wasn't cost effective for them any longer. I can imagine the cost is more the reason, as they're charging £3 a bottle and I can't find it cheaper than £6 anywhere else.

They did find me enough peroxide in the stock room to replace the nine bottles of multipurpose I was sent but they have no more.

Annoying that I wasn't notified (they checked their systems and admitted they hadn't told me) but I've got enough to last me and a further 12 bottles on order from Costco.

I also agree with you that peroxide solution is much more sterile - I don't want to be rubbing my lenses before soaking them.