UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

I was given VISCOTEARS about 2 weeks ago but uber dry eyes still

went to pharmacy as a great relationship with the pharmacist since I moved about 4months ago now, ace gp's as well

He had a trial pack of BLINK that are non preservative (in genreal im uber sensitive to preservatives n additives) he also got me to go the doctors to get the gel version of VISCO TEARS when last lot was not gel based

any ideas?
words of wisdom

Lea
xox

Lea

I am afraid that you have a common combination for people with keratoconus: dry eye and sensitivity to preservatives in eye drops.

There is a complicating factor: it seems that we are destined to search for the artificial tear that suits us best. Some find Viscotears the absolute answer to their needs; some prefer Systane; others yet get most benefit from Hypromelose or Carbomber.

My own favourite is Clinitas; they do a range of artificial tears. I use Clinitas Soothe during the day; this allows me to pop my lens in and out without worrying about whether the artificial tears will harm my lens. In the evening I use either Clinitas Hydrate (a clear gel) or Clinitas Ultra (another liquid drop). Soothe is preservative free and comes in neat little single use minims. I buy my dry-eye products online at http://www.dry-eyes.co.uk/acatalog/Clinitas.html

All the best

Andrew

Hi,
I tried systane and viscotears and they are pretty good. Recently tried Hycos but found it burns my eyes. I am using Celluvisc drops now and they are the best I have tried so far.

I have some samples of the Clinitas range which arrived too late to be distributed at the conference. If anyone would like to send me a PM I can arrange to send some samples to anyone interested.

Graeme, Thanks loads for the free samples at the conference! It really helps!!

I have tried loads of eye drops as my eyes like most with KC get very dry. I now use Systane twice a day before I put lenses in and after I take them out. It really helps as lenses go in so much better! I also use Blink drops when I have lenses in as they are nice and cooling and it really helps if my lens gets dry.

It is really trial and error though and finding out what suits you best. Even with my twin sister we don't like the same drops or solutions! So try them all and find out which ones you prefer.

Best of luck! Love Claire X x X

I also used Optive, at one time. I think it is only available on prescription, although I am not sure that I know why.

Andrew

i find artelac and hycosan are the best and both can be got preservative free which is always good for us sensitive KC types...... Hycosan is like silk in ur eyes very nice. Also if u are wearing contact lenses if you put in systane a minute before u put in ur contacts it is great cause the drops cause an extra film to sit o n the cornea and it increases comfort greatly i find , also good if ur eyes are a little red without using a vaso constrictor it usually clears mine up.

hope this is helpful

I found that eye drops take time to work and in my search a number of years ago I found that I would have to put drops in every hour and I tried each type of eye drops for atleast 2 weeks. In the end I found Systane gave relief, initially for no more than 2 hours buit as time went on this increased so I perservered for longer and after just over a month I only needed to use the drops first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

The effect of the eye drops was enhanced by changing my diet from fruit juices to eating whole fruit, cutting out all fizzy drinks and nearly all caffinated drinks (now only have 2 cups decaf per day) and drink plenty of water. In addition I had to rinse off the conditioning solution used to store my lenses with a preservative free saline solution for sensative eyes, the Baush and Lomb saline worked best for me. This took my RGP lens wear from a couple hours uncomfortable lens wera to 8 hours comfortable lens wear and the last three hours bearable. Now with Kerasoft silicone hydrogel soft lenses that situation is improved still further to wearing lenses all my waking hours. Did get a slight dip but now on the anti histamines that has been fixed.

So you can see for me it was more than adressing the dry eye symptoms but also the potential causes, never identified the primary cause simply because I found something that helped my eyes and has done so for a couple fo years now.

Hope this helps.

I use clarimist when i am out and about as it is much easier to apply and gives a refreshing sensation. I use various other eye drops when I am in though. Clarimist is very expensive though, but i use it quite sparingly

They also say that if you increase your water intake along side reducing caffeine intake it ,you should start to see results over a few weeks .i.e cut down on tea and coffee , tea has high caffeine !!!!!! Also if you try an incorporated flax seed oil into ur diet - best to take in straight oil form spoon in the morning or put it in a yogurt if you can not stand to tale it straight . This does really help with the dry eye situation