Dry eyes and Contact lenses?

[Sunshinesunset]

Not sure if this is the best place to post but was wondering if anyone has had similar experiences to mine. A couple of years ago my eyesight worsened and I had to go from wearing glasses just to watch tv to wearing them all the time, I got myself some glasses and contacts only to find out at the contact lense check up that I had moderate dry eye and that even with drops the contacts were drying my eyes out too much to wear them.
I looked into laser eye surgery but apparently this isn't a very good idea if you already have dry eye. I obviously put my eye health over appearance but would love to be able to wear contacts even just for half a day a couple of times a month, I really feel glasses don’t suit me and would be great to not have to wear them once in a blue moon for special occasions. Has any with dry eye been able to wear contacts eventually? Was there anything that helped? Thank you

I also am suggesting some of you try gas permeable lenses. Apparently (ive never worn soft/disposables so cant compare) they are harder to tolerate at first because they are rigid but are much better oxygen wise. I have worn them since the late '80s and occasionally try to go to bed wearing them as I barely notice they are in any more.

If you want to wear contacts every day definitely give them a go before giving up entirely.

I have trouble with lenses now despite wearing the most expensive high water gel kind. I got one stuck over Xmas and tried to get it out with a sharp implement (idiot!) and I've not worn them since :( Some handy advice upthread which I'm now going to go back and read through.x

Dry eyes here too. I wear the Clariti hydrogel mentioned up thread - I went from monthly, to fortnightly, to weekly, to daily, via loads of brands until I got to these. I carry drops/my glasses at all times, but can usually go from about 7am to 6pm comfortably. I agree about trying an independent optician too - mine was fantastic about multiple appointments and loads of lens trials before I got where I am now.

I switched to OrthoK lenses a few years ago because my soft disposables were getting too dry. For me they’ve been brilliant I only have them in for about 7 hours overnight and have crystal clear vision all day. Because you have them in for a relatively short period and they are rgp type material there is much less scope for dry eyes.

I’m right on the edge of being ok with my contacts. I have very high water content ones and I can do about 12-13 hours a day in them (which I can see is actually good). If I know I’m going to have a late evening wearing them I tend not to put them in first thing and leave until later in the day , or not put them in the next morning. Sitting in front of a screen all day in an air conditioned office is definitely not helping so prompted by this I’m going to start using drops more often/daily.

For me the thing that makes a big difference is sunglasses. I wear them when it is even only mildly sunny, and also when it is windy and they really really help. I try and have at least one pair with very good quality lenses, as I find those are much more accepting of low light, indoor/outdoor etc. I suspect people think I’m a bit of a knob as I wear sunglasses a lot, but I dont care, as they really stop my lenses crisping up. (Plus I get to wear nice sunglasses) 😎

I've not been wearing my contacts much either the last couple of years due to sudden dry eye syndrome and I'm suddenly really wanting to wear them more so I will definitely try out some decent eye drops, the hycosan look ideal Jasmine thanks

I have dry eyes, but compounded by hay fever which seems to make what tears I do make feel more acidic I had to give up wearing contacts . I'm happy enough wearing glasses though

I picked up my new contacts today, they're myday toric silicone hydrogel's if that's of use to anyone.

I've always used daily disposables, are other types monthlies etc better for preventing dry eyes? And are they rigid? I'm a bit nervous of putting hard contacts in