Saline for Scleral lenses

[Chuck]

Hi,
Apologies in advance for the long post....
I have just discovered this forum and spent a quite a while at the weekend reading through posts. I have Keratoconus in one eye only, diagnosed about 10 years ago. I went through the usual glasses, lenses route and had a graft just over two years ago. Vision post graft is slightly improved but still far from good so I need to have a contact lens to correct the vision. I have just been seen by the contact lens clinic at my local hospital and it turns out that, as before the graft I'm unable to wear corneal lenses - they just fall out after a few minutes. Interestingly though, I took along my old scleral lens that I was fitted with at a different hospital before my graft, and after having no luch with the corneal lenses we tried my old scleral lens. The results were quite incredible, with a huge improvement in vision, so I wa advised to start wearing that lens again. So now to the question, what do people use to fill their RGP scleral lenses? I have read many differing opinions about what to fill the lens with before insertion. These range from things like Celluvisc to multipurpose cleaner/conditioners like quattro and I'm now more confused than ever. I seem to remember using large bottles of saline before, but have read a lot about toxic reactions to preservatives and buffers that may be in these. I'm a bit reluctant to use the multipurpose cleaner/conditioner as it seems like the same problem may exist, which has led me to individual saline vials. Amidose and Normasol used to be mentioned regularly on here, which seem to me like a good option but there is not much reference to them for the last few years so I'm wondering if something else is used now instead? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Anne Klepacz]

Hi Chuck and welcome to the forum,
I've just found this article which should answer your questions.
http://www.moorfields.nhs.uk/sites/defa ... lenses.pdf
All the best for good vision with your scleral!
Anne

[Chuck]

That's great. Thank you. So amidose it is then. Is this available on prescription from the gp? I have a pre payment certificate so it would be good if I could get it prescribed as it looks like it would cost around £1 per vial, which at 1 a day could get pricey. The only thing I've found when googling amidose prescription is that it's on some kind of black list in Scotland. I'm not in Scotland so hoping the same isn't true South of the border. Thanks.

[Lia Williams]

Unfortunately GPs are not allowed to prescribe contact lens solutions.

From Moorfield's website feqs:

http://www.moorfields.nhs.uk/faq/contac ... -questions

How can I obtain contact lens solutions?

One month’s solutions can be supplied on prescription at each scheduled contact lens clinic appointment. The prescription is only valid at Moorfields' pharmacy. Each item incurs the standard NHS prescription charge.
Patients are able to purchase additional supplies from Moorfields’ pharmacy.
Unfortunately, solutions may not be prescribed outside appointments and will not be posted.

and

Can my GP prescribe solutions?

No. Your GP can prescribe eye medication but is prohibited from prescribing contact lens solutions.

Lia

[CrippsCorner]

I get mine from eBay, it's exactly the same stuff that I got from my hospital.

[Anne Klepacz]

There is no logic at all in what solutions GPs can prescribe. While most contact lens solutions, including Amidose, are on the black list for GPs, it seems that they CAN prescribe saline steripod vials which should be just as good for scleral users.
http://www.ouh.nhs.uk/patient-guide/lea ... cleral.pdf

[Chuck]

Thanks for the replies. That's frustrating that you can't get Amidose on prescription, I wonder what the reason is for it being blacklisted - probably the cost as it does seem a bit extortionate charging over £1 for a couple spoonfuls of salt water! It's also a shame it's not available in smaller vials as I'd only need to use a couple of ml and throw the rest away.
I'll speak to my GP and see if they can prescribe Steripod as an alternative. I definitely used to get saline prescribed when I wore a lens before my graft - I've just had found some old vials, and that was called Saline 0.9% W/V Injection so that's another option if there's no luck with the Steripod.

[eyepod]

I use a preservative free saline made by Sauflon to fill my lenses before inserting - a big bottle costs about £4 if you can find somewhere to buy it!