just got my contacts...second day now

[Joe Bloggs]

sixth day into wearing contacts and although they still irritate when i blink its definately not as bad as it was on the first day or two. My eyes still water a lot making my vision blurry, I'm worried because what if theyre always gonna be like this when i have contacts on? I can imagine the irritation going but these watery eyes i just cant? I hope this will go eventually. Also when i eat spicy foods like curries my eyes go watery regardless if i'm wearing contacts anyway so it doesnt help when I wear them when I eat this! So far I found its better than the first day but still getting watery eyes and irritation. How long will it take to get used to? I was told to wear them for two hours on the day i bought them then increase by one hour per day up to 12 hours. I have been doing this too and wore them for 6 hours yesterday and its going to be seven today.
By the way thanks for all your advice guys it has really helped me deal with them I would be lost without you! I might even have given up!

[John Smith]

Joe,

Hang on in there, the excessive watering will certainly stop eventually.

As well as gradually building up your wearing time, it can be good to have a rest day or two from time to time where you don't wear the lenses at all. Just carry on from where you left off.

Also, don't feel that you MUST increase by an hour every day. If you want to stabilise at 8 hours for a few days or weeks, then do so.

The important thing to bear in mind is that you need to be comfortable, and not to over-wear them.

[Joe Bloggs]

Wore them to work (and outside) today for the first time and it wasnt too bad. I definately had to sit closer to the computer screen though and have my head tilted more forward because my eyes are still getting very watery all the time when wearing them particularly after blinking. Tears arent rolling down my eyes just kinda trapped in my eyes all the time when wearing them. So when I blink it makes the vision blurry and distorted then i have to keep blinking until its clear enough to see, but still not really really clear. The stinging when i blink is a lot better though after the first hour of wearing them, hopefully this will go completely.
I noticed when looking in one direction all the time and concentrating they tend to get more uncomfatable/watery whereas when walking outside its actually a lot more comfatable wearing them. I guess this is all normal though and this problem will go eventually.

When I look in the mirror I notice that when I blink the contacts move up slightly then slowly slide back down to the position they were in before - is that because my eyes are too wet?

Also i'm finding i actually still get better vision by wearing glasses rather than contacts. Contacts do give me better vision than not wearing anything at all but still not as good as glasses. I'm surprised by this as I thought they are supposed to give even better vision than glasses? My KC is milder in my left eye than right thats why i can still use glassses, but want to get used to wearing contacts now rather than later.

Also another thing i noticed after taking them out was my right eye have red lines around the eyeball going to the centre which wasnt there before! its not bloodshot but those red little lines on my eyeball look bad!

I'm worried that these lenses are not the right ones even though she did tests by me reading the eye test letters etc before ordering them? They arent providing me the vision i thought they'd give but is this normal - i tested this by looking around when few instances my eyes werent watery so I couldnt blame that - i can tell it definately isn't as good or sharp as wearing glasses. Is this normal? Thats my update so far. I'm finding putting them in and taking them out a little easier though just have to get up earlier now

[John Smith]

Joe,

You'll probably find that these lenses are not a fantastic fit, but then again the first fitting of an RGP lens is difficult because of all those tears.

As you produce less tears, and the lens stabilises, you should go back to your fitter and let them have a look, and probably they'll order a better fitting lens.

In the meantime, keep wearing them to ensure your tolerance builds up.

[Joe Bloggs]

After wearing these lenses for two weeks i have had mixed results. My eyes have been very red lately for no reason i can point to. Obviously its to do with the lenses as I dont normally have red eyes. I dont rub them either. Its strange because its red around the edges of my eyeball and not near the centre so i dont understand why this is happening. Is it a side effect to wearing contact lenses? Overwear? I havent worn them for more than 12 hours a day and usually just 10 hours. I look like a vampire with my red eyes!

The lens comfort is varying from day to day too. I'm getting very random comfort with them. Although its much better than what it was in the first few days it still unomfatable a lot of the time. Sometimes it is ok in one eye where it wont get watery or blurry from blinking but irritates in the other (watery, blurry, irritating) - then the next day its the other way round where it irritates in the other eye instead. I dont understand why this is happening? During the day it seems fine for the first hour of wearing them then after 2-3 hours they start to get more uncomfatable.
The vision I get in my glasses is still better than the lenses too, although not by much. I ordered a new fitting which I pick up next wednesday as I told the opt that when I blink i can see the lens slide slowly slightly from the centre of my eye so they don't appear to be in totally centered. She ordered some slightly bigger ones so they would cover the center better. Hopefully this is the reason why i dont get as good vision with them as I should because my vision is better the first second after blinking then it goes slightly worse because they slide down again.

I'm still really worried about the comfort they are giving me currently because although my brain has stopped sending those pain signals like it was when i first put them in, they still irritate my eyes and i still frequently get red eyes and watery blurry vision right after blinking

[Pat A]

Joe
Unfortunately I don't know the answers to your questions - although I am sure someone will. But I must say that I think you have done really well to persevere - you've managed far better than I did!

But in all honesty, 12 hours sounds rather a lot for a new RGP wearer especially one with KC - after only 2 weeks. Redness where you describe suggests (from my extremely limited experience) that the lenses are also not a good fit and may be too "tight" on your eyes - but that's more a guess than anything else!

Good luck! I am sure someone else will give you some better advice than I can!.

[debbieo]

I was told by my optom that the lenses take at least six weeks to bed down properly. She said I should think of myself as building up tolerance at least until that time.

Then when I went back for my six week check she's decidsed to give me another six weeks before having me back again to discuss possible fit changes, solution changes etc.

I'm getting on generally fine, although I do have bad days which come out of the blue and I have to take the lenses out. Bu I'm dicovering from this site that seems to be a very KC thing!

[GarethB]

Joe,

It might be as Debbio says, back off the lens wear to a couple of hours. The redness will always be the whit of your eye and not go into the coloured part as there are no blood vessels there.

Redness can be down to oxygen transfer, lens rubbing or even pollen. I do not have hayfever, but if pollen sticks to my lenses then my eyelids get sensitised and the lenses iritate. Since overcoming other lens problems I no longer get this.

Now I use a lubricating eye drop called Systane from Alcon, other eye drops did not work, finding the right one is a trial and error. I found by removing my lenses every couple hours to put the drops in and putting the lenses in helped no end. Afetr a couple of months I could back off the amount of times I used the drops and now for the laqst 12 months, most days I only use them twice per day.

It is as iff the drops provide a barrier between the lens and my cornea and another between the lens and eye lids.

This might be worth trying too.

[Joe Bloggs]

Thanks for your advice. I might try the eye drops to see if they help as currently I do not use any drops for my eyes. Also I will try to lessen my lens usage for each day for the time being. I was wondering though when you use eye drops dont they make your eyes wet and make the vision blurry after putting the lenses in?

[Pat A]

Joe
I too followed Gareth's advice and tried Systane. I am still using it before I put my piggy back lenses in and it does help. You really need to put the drops in at least 15 mins (but 30 is better if you've got the time to spare) before your lenses though and that way you avoid the blurriness you would otherwise get