Contact lenses - dry eyes?

[Ellemeg82]

I've been wearing contacts for about 8 years now. I have the Johnson & Johnson daily disposable - 1 day acuvue moist for astigmatism.
They've been fine for a while but in the last year or so I've been increasingly suffering with dry eyes. I do use drops but they only offer temporary relief.
I'm already paying £45 per month for these lenses and the only ones the opticians mentioned to help with dry eyes are £57 per month which is just too expensive.

Any recommendations for contact lenses you've found help dry eyes? Or drops that really help? I've been using Boots and Optrex.
I do need toric lenses for astigmatism.

I have to say that my eyes also improved with hrt but I have to come off it.

So I am very seriously considering the lens replacements myself, to the point of booking the suitability appointment soon.

My astigmatism is so bad that glasses or lenses aren't that great plus it is basically a cataract operation which means I won't get cataracts. Medicine I'm going to start could increase that risk too.

The boots eye drops are I think their version of hyclosan. I think I bought the red hyclosan and then, when comparing eye drops, noticed that boots own version was marginally stronger. (I compare all the ingredients.)

However I'm finding boots' tired eyes drops works well.

It really does make a difference to me if I use Vaseline over night too on the skin around and over my eyes.

What's the recovery like?

When I asked it's very quick. I work part time and I'd be back in the following week as normal with no time off if I timed it right.

You do need a suitability check first though. 24 hours not using contacts and they put eye dilation drops in eyes so you can't drive the rest of that day. I was told the op could be within 3 weeks after that.

Try trehalose drops, they fix the damage down by dryness as well as moisturising. So you use less and symptoms improve

I’m having my second IPL next month having had my first ten years ago. Both due to cataracts developing. I’ve been very shortsighted since childhood and have astigmatism in both eyes. I’m looking forward to getting my second eye done as the first was and is miraculous. The op is very quick and very safe and recovery quick. I could see well as soon as I took the eye pad off the following day and it has been great ever since.

I had to stop wearing lenses when my dry irritated inner eyelids began to scratch my cornea. I had blurred vision and optician warned me I could have caused permanent damage.
Now I only wear glasses. At night I use a hot compress and massage my eyes before applying Viscotears gel before sleeping. I also use Opticrom (or own brand version) drops every day.

The Systane range of drops for dry eyes is good. Available online or at Boots and Superdrug.

My eyes have been becoming increasingly dry since my last pregnancy which is also when I started a medication which can cause dry eye. Started working at a new job, near a dusty road with full time air con a few months ago and suddenly started to get the sticky eyes described up thread and real discomfort upon inserting my lenses.
I've taken a break for now. I felt really self-conscious in them at first but have different pairs for different moods / looks and feel like I can manage my makeup better with them now. It's great not having to faff around with lenses and lotions.

I wear these. They are made of a different material than most of the other brands.
I switched to them due to dry eyes and have had no issues.
I get them from Costco but they are available in other places
They are daily disposables

Hey I’m an optometrist, you’ve had lots of good advice here (which is nice as often I’m horrified at some of the eye advice I’ve seen on here!) I’d say the ease are the most important considerations:

• Lenses wise defo worse trying a silicone hydrogel lens as others have said - much better for dry eyes, can be dailies, monthlies, toric etc
• I absolutely would not suggest online purchase of lenses when you have dry eyes - you need to be monitored regularly by an optometrist
• Try not to overwear - if you’re around the house wear glasses not lenses, this will make lenses more comfy when they’re in.
• Drops wise the best ones have sodium hyaluronate 0.2% as their active ingredient. Red hycosan is exactly this. Can often get own brand drops cheaper but always make sure they still have this active ingredient
• Environment makes a difference, someone above did a great list - keep fans/air con to a minimum, especially keep away from blowing directly on face

Sometimes you can do all the right things and the eyes are just too dry unfortunately, but you & your optometrist can discuss this if stopping is necessary. Good luck!

These are good lenses 👌🏻👌🏻

Re my IPL/ICL surgery (actually yes I think it was called IPL)

Recovery time very very quick. Back wfh the next day and back in the office a few days later. No pain. A bit of blurriness which cleared up quickly. The main practical issue was the need to take various eye drops at regular intervals for the first few days (and some for another week or two) and they need to be in a fridge, so it was easier to wfh. I did get halos for a while so avoided driving at night for several months. And had to avoid swimming for a couple of weeks.

Cataracts - I gather the op used to have a risk of accelerating cataracts but the design of the implanted lenses has now been improved which much reduces this risk.

The main issue I guess is that it corrects to a fixed prescription. My short sight might get worse again in which case the implanted lenses won’t quite do the job (I could have a bit of laser at this point). And at some point I will need reading glasses like everyone does, the implanted lenses won’t correct this. So it’s not a perfect “once and for all” solution.

This was in reference to the dailies total above!

might be worth taking omega 3 if you don't already - I was advised to do so over ten years ago when dry eyes /contacts were bothering me & have only recently started to have the problem again now (obviously 10yrs older!)

My optician recommended the red hydrosan plus the overnight gel stuff

Have you tried Xailin gel in your eyes at night before you go to sleep? Using this at night stops your eyes from being dry when you wake up in a morning.

Another vote for Theoloz or Hycosan (For Theoloz the ones in the individual vials are much more gloopy and better than the bottle) and also a night gel which is a restorative DREAM. I find Hycosan bottles really awkward to use - I just have never got the knack - so go for the Theoloz generally

I have to wear RGPs due to corneal eye condition (unable to see with glasses) but have dry eyes and regular corneal erosions so keeping lubricated is important. It's a fucker - if I didn't have to, I wouldn't be bothering.

For me, the gloopier the better - it's blurry for 5 mins or so but it actually lasts a couple of hours, while the more liquid ones only relieve for a few minutes.

Maybe try monthly contacts, I find my eyes HATE new lenses, but after a few days of wearing them in they work fine. Also I buy mine online via FeelGoodContacts... I pay about £12 a month and I have complex prescription with astigmatism. I also use eye drops in red bottle.

Also make sure you drink plenty of water!!!!

I agree Hycosan extra and heated eye mask at night, mine were always stuck shut when I woke in the night or in the morning, I had bottles of eye drops scattered around the house! I ended up not being able to tolerate contacts for longer than an hour and was diagnosed with contact lense intolerance possibly caused by starting wearing them at a young age.

Thanks so much for this! (And @WarriorN too.)

Damn, that's even more tempting now…

I get what you mean about the fixed correction, though — I'm late thirties and I don't think I've had two eye tests in a row with the same prescription (and I don't mean wobbling back and forth a quarter of a dioptre of short-sight that could just be put down to testing differences or whatever, I mean things like randomly developing a full dioptre of astigmatism in the eye that had previously been non-astigmatic, in my thirties 🙄). But even having to wear glasses again, they'd be cute, slim, non-distorting ones, in any damn frame you wanted rather than one of the only two pairs in the entire shop that the assistant thinks will work with your prescription 😅

Thanks @Allsizes8to14 !

Drops wise the best ones have sodium hyaluronate 0.2% as their active ingredient. Red hycosan is exactly this. Can often get own brand drops cheaper but always make sure they still have this active ingredient

Yes this is what I've found - when in boots or Superdrug etc compare the ingredients on red hycosan with their own brands.

Boots was slightly cheaper (plus more so with boots card, they've changed how all that works) and a very slightly 'more' solution. Which may or may not be useful but I preferred the boots version.

Thanks for that info mini. I will ask more qs as one of the main selling points they gave me (the optician) was less likely to get cataracts. He did also say I could need glasses or reading glasses (off the shelf) in the future but it won't be the frustrating prescription I have now.

@Allsizes8to14 Is there any other product you can suggest for dry eyes at night? I've tried various tubes of gloop such as hycosan night / xialin etc but it's a nightmare to get any in my eye and if I do it sort of dries out by morning. Is it time for the moisture chamber sleep goggles ?😩
I took omega 3 for months - no change. I stay hydrated. Bought humidifier for next to bed.
I will ask at my next checkup but wondered if you knew of anything.
I thought ages ago that I read about a rice grain sized, slow release gel that you put in your bottom lid but I think that was only in the States.

@Nat6999 Thank you - yes, tried Xailin 😞

@off Thanks for that link to goggles/support website - I haven't come across that before.

Xailin night (or one of the alternative brands that are the same) is the best which I see you’ve already tried! It is hard to get it (patients generally hate it) but creates a barrier between the cornea and the eyelids/air to prevent overnight drying when you’re not blinking

Maybe my eyes stay open a bit which is why it dries... mmm. I'll just have to persevere! Thank you - I appreciate your advice.

Just jumping on this thread to see if anyone has any suggestions for a related issue.

I'm 51, shortsighted from early teens, worn contact lenses since then, slight astigmatism in both eyes from 30s but only 1 is corrected as the other is too slight. Last few years my near vision has been deteriorating due to age, I can read fine without lenses in but not while wearing them.
Currently have mono-vision lenses.
-1.75 toric in distance eye / -0.5 in reading eye.
Specsavers easy vision vitrea & vitreous toric.

Diagnosed with blepharitis a few years ago. This doesn't seem to impact in terms of irritable symptoms, my eyes don't feel dry etc. as most on this thread are describing. I do get a bit of gritty sleep residue in the corner of my eyes in the morning, but nothing excessive or more than I've had all my life.

I'm using sodium hyaluronate 0.2% drops several times a day (optician sold me hydrosan, I switched to Amazon basics after comparing the active ingredients) but they don't really help with the fogging.
Also have a heated eye mask, started with the microwave type but found it cooled very quickly and now have a plug in USB one.

BUT I get what I can only describe as "fogging", mainly on my non-toric reading lens.
This impacts to the extent that sometimes I can't read with my lens in (it is definitely the fogging not the prescription) and I sit there blinking it away.
In the evenings I take my reading lens out in order to be able to read.

I honestly thought I was developing cataracts, until it dawned on me that I didn't have the same problem when not wearing my lenses (duh), as I used to wear them all the time.
I now wear them a lot less, if I'm just at home (work 3 days a week in the office) I tend not to bother unless I'm going out somewhere for a significant time.

ANY ideas to help with the fogging?
Would a better quality lens help?