Dry eyes and contact solution

[Jigs Patel]

Hi there,

I would really like some advice. I have been diagnosed with Keratoconus since 2000. Over the last 6 months I am experiencing severe problems with dry eyes. My eyes tend to be very red and it is making it uncomfortable to put in and take out contact lenses. People are always telling me that I look extremely tired all the time which has an impact on my career as a physiotherapist. I am wearing hard RGP's. I have tried systane and moorfields recommended brand of drops (both didn't work). I have been prescribed Hylo tear by a hospital consultant. Unfortunately did not realise that it can only be dispensed by the hospital pharmacy; that particular hospital is over 30 miles away.

This brings me on to my next question. Does anyone use a particular type of solution? I am using Complete Revitalens multipurpose disinfecting solution. A friend of mine has told me that this is not good for hard RGP's.


Would really appreciate some advice and help.

Thank you
Jigs

[Andrew MacLean]

Hello. A great m any of us with Keratoconus also have dry eye. I use Clinitas Soothe (it has the advantage of being preservative-free, and this is important because the preservatives in eye drops can actually cause dry eye). I store my lenses in Allergen Total.

[Anne Klepacz]

Hi Jigs,
I was prescribed Hylo Tears by Moorfields last year and they work very well for my dry eye. Although I got my first bottle from the hospital pharmacy immediately after that appointment, a letter was also sent to my GP confirming I should continue to use these drops and I now get repeat prescriptions from my doctor's surgery. If a letter wasn't sent to your GP, I'd ring the consultant's secretary and ask for one to be sent.
As for solutions, I've always used Boston cleaner and Boston conditioning solution.

[Lia Williams]

I am using Complete Revitalens multipurpose disinfecting solution. A friend of mine has told me that this is not good for hard RGP's.

Hi Jigs,

I don't know if Complete Revitalens multipurpose solution is bad for RGPs - but it is formulated for soft lenses.

At my appointments I'm always asked which solutions I use (I use Boston solutions). You may find that solutions formulated for RGPs give a better clean than a solution for soft lenses. Is there any particular reason that you are using Complete Revitalens? Did the hospital recommend this solution for you? It may be worth asking at your next appointment if they could suggest a different solution.

Lia

[Loopy-Lou]

Jigs my GP prescribes Hylo-tear for me after a Moorfields doc wrote to them to say I needed a lubricant. Just so you're prepared - the practise did ring me up, I had to justify my need to them! I said well, old cornea grafts, only one I can use with an RGP so I've got to look after it because if I developed lens intolerance I'm in deep shit. You can stress your occupation, that will swing it easily.

[Loopy-Lou]

also, don't forget to use it throughout the day, don't wait for the eye to feel dry

[eyepod]

Hi,

I started using Oxysept solution about 5 months ago and have actually been finding I've been using less eye-drops since. I also fill my lenses with a preservative free saline before inserting them (although I use a regular saline to rinse them after cleaning and before disinfection as I found the Oxysept would foam up otherwise). When I do use eye drops, I've been using Blink Contacts as I believe the preservative is neutralised when it comes into contact with light. If you do change solutions though, it may be best to check with your optom to make sure it's OK with your type of lenses.

[jesani-hethcoat]

I have had KC for over 20 yrs and only recently sufferred with dry eye. I was given lacrilube to use at nighttime but i found it too thick. I am currently using celluvisic - it causes blurring for about 5 -10 mins but i found it really helped me.

[Lia Williams]

Hi Jesani,

Welcome to the forum.

It's good to know that you've found something to help you.

Dry eye is one of the things we were discussing at the London meeting today. It affects quite a few people and there seem to be quite a few ways of managing the condition. Staying hydrated, avoiding air conditioning down drafts in offices and remembering to blink when using a computer screen all help.

I find it helps not to put my lenses in immediately I wake up in the morning. Not always possible but it helps.

LIa

[Kris]

Hi Jigs!

I can very much sympathise with your dry eyes, I had huge issues with my RGPs.

My eyes would get extremely dry, itchy and red - up to the point when I was putting in eye drops every 10 minutes. There was just no other way to wear the lenses for me. So I experimented a lot with different drops and found the best one for me were the 'Boots Pharmaceuticals Dry Eyes Intensive Eye Drops' as they are quite thick and seemed to soothe my eyes the most. Ultimately it might take some time to figure out which drops work for you and your eyes the best.

As for solution, I tried different brands and it didn't really make a different to me, but again, maybe try a few and see if they make a difference for you.

But I would also like to offer another alternative. My dry eyes eventually got so bad, that it was becoming impossible for me to wear them and function normally (especially driving, as it's not realistic to have to stop every 10 minutes to put drops in!), so I went to see a new consultant at Moorfields (before at Royal Berks in Reading) and he suggested trying scleral lenses. Theses are big hard lenses (size of a pound coin roughly) that cover pretty much all of your eye. They don't actually touch the eye (except for the edges) but liquid sits between the eye and the lens. For me, this is a great solution, as the liquid prevents my eyes from getting dry and the edges of the scleral lenses don't catch on my eye lids causing further irritation.

If eye drops work for you, that's great, but maybe keep scleral lenses in mind if the dry eyes become to much or get worse. The vision in sclerals is not quite as sharp as in RGPs, but it's so minimal it's not really noticeable. My eyes still occasionally get dry (they just seem to be in general with me) but it's now maybe once a week that I put drops in or so, not every 10 minutes!

Hope my rambling can help and maybe give you another option (now or in the future), best of luck!

Kris