New member

[Sweet]

Hehe this is the down side of wearing lenses, you can now see all the dirt and dust!!!

Sweet X x X

[Anne Klepacz]

Funny how no one ever mentions the downsides of better vision! I was horrified when I saw all the cobwebs hanging off my ceiling when I could finally put a contact lens in my first grafted eye! The double vision could be just your eyes adjusting to the new sight, or could mean the prescription isn't quite right - did you have double vision when you were looking at the eye chart when you were being fitted?
Anne

[Anne B]

Anne

Not sure about double vision at the fitting but i dont think so. I find the fittings really hard because i am so used to not being able to see clearly and seeing two lines of writing when i read and tend to squint alot so i may of been sqinting . Does that make any sense?

This is so nice being able to talk to people that understand. It is such a hard condition to explain to others.

[GarethB]

Anne

Welcome, it sounds like you are going through all the usual things regarding being able to see properly for the first timein ages.

I think in your origianl post the key thing you metioned was being treated for eczema.

Mine has been under controol for years using a bath oil which is now on prescription. I was first prescribed this in my teens about 4 years before being diagnosed with KC at 17. After about 6 months I was off the steroid creams and in summer or sudden changes in temperature we get in spring and autumn I was bandage free.

Although I rarely show clinical signs of eczema and asthma for that matter, I am convinced there is a link. I would recomend a bath oil in preference to creams if you have not tried this. Can be used near the eyes as it is natural, by putting on a damp flannel and washing your face. At first your skin feels very oily, but gentle patting dry leaves the skin moist but dry so when you put lenses in, your fingers are not slipping off of your eye lids!

I have to use lubricating eye drops as the optomotrist and the dermatologist agree with my hypothesis that the cornea can dry like the skin. With eczema and if you have had treatment for the eyelids, any dry eye sensation you may have felt may predominently been eye lid based, but some may have been from the cornea, hence some of the discomfort you have felt.

This is where really wetting the lens will help, as it will help prevent the lens robbing the cornea of any preceous moisture it has. If this continues to be a problem, ask about lubricating eye drops such as Systane which also help retain the moisture in the cornea too.

Depending on temperature and humididty I have to regularly take my lenses out to use more lubricating eye drops and pop the lenses back in. Others here also take there lenses out on a regular bases to rewet them.

As you build up the lens wear, this may be something you have to consider as an option.

I have spare lens stuff, towel, mirror and tissues. The towel is good for covering surfaces and sinks in public toilets as it provides a soft surface for dropped lenses and a contrasting colour to find them and also covers the plug hole in area where sinks are devoid of plugs for the plug hole!

Hope some of this helps.

Regards


Gareth

[Anne B]

Hi Gareth
thanks for the advice.

My eczema has been really bad at times spending alot of time in Barts hospital and at moorfields when i was younger. I have tried most things like coal tar wraps diets and every cream you can think of and bath oils.( You didnt mention a name it sounds interesting. )The eczema round my eyes was so bad that steroid tablets were the only option so i could get to the stage were i could put in contact lenses.I have slowly been reducing my steroid(prednisolone)and hopefully my eyes will stay clear and i can concentrate on getting used to wearing lenses.

Like the tip about taking spare lens stuff with you.
Do these lenses ever fall out.?

Thanks once again
Anne

[GarethB]

Anne,

As a kid I was in and out of hospital, Great Ormandstreet was my nearest. Used to get mumified and one of the KC triggers I think was when I was coverd in the stroid creams and it rummed onto pillows and then to my eyes so weakening the cornea. Just my theory which I why I am so careful with steroid creams.

Now I use Alpha Keri bath oil, at one point I bathed in it twice a day, but now washing daily and bathing once a week in it helps. Rest of the time I can tolerat pH balanced soap as long as it is the Johnsens stuff, anything causes me problems again.

As for lenses popping out, yes it does happens soemtimes.

Gareth

[Janet Manning]

Hi Anne,
I had terrible eczema around my eyes after stopping the steroid drops after corneal transplants - looked like a red panda! It was very distressing and terrible for getting lenses in and tolerating them. I was offered cyclosporin for animal use by Moorfields, but decided against it. This was one occasion when homeopathy failed to help me, so I went to a Chinese doctor, who is also a qulaified GP. He treated me with herbs and told me to use Vaseline round my eyes. It was cured in 6 months and has never returned.

I am a qualified homeopath and have just learnt something new that might help. You would need to buy some Graphites 12c (the potency) medicating tincture from Helios homeopathic pharmacy in Tunbridge Wells. Tel 01892 537254. Add about 10 drops of this to a small tub of vaseline and stir it in with the handle of a teaspoon. Apply to area around eyes, avoiding getting it in the eye. Graphites is particularly good for eczema around the eyes and combined with the vaseline to lubricate sore, dry eyelids should help.

I used to put the vaseline on at bedtime and when I took the lenses out if that was earlier. It's no good putting it on and then trying to get lenses in, as the vaseline will get under the lenses and that hurts! Once the lenses are in, it's possible to put a little vaseline on very carefully.

Let me know if you try this.
Best wishes, Janet

[Anne B]

Hi Janet

Thanks For that it was very interesting. Do you think it will be ok to try the graphite/vasaline combo with the eye drops that have been prescribed to me or should i check with my consultant first. I would like to find something that will keep the eczema under control once i have stopped the steroids.

I take cyclosporin in tablet form but have tried the cyclosporin drops/cream in human and animal form. You were very wise not to try it! The human form is much worse than the animal form.

Its nice to hear that someone else has been through the pain of trying lenses with eczema. The first time i tried a lens ,18 months ago i cound not open my eyes for them to take them back out. Awful experience.

Thanks once again
Anne

[Janet Manning]

Hi Anne,
Vaseline with graphites should work fine alongside other medication and will not interfere with it. I've used vaseline and homeopathic remedies with allopathic drops - no problem.
Good luck!

[rosemary johnson]

Dear Anne,
Welcome to the forums. I can't help about the hoovering, I'm afraid!
I hope you can get the contacts sorted out.
My feeling is, if they are actually painful from the word go, there's something wrong. When I started with my first ones, I could feel them there (half an hour a day twice a day for starters, then build up to an hour a day twice a day.... very slowly. But: I could feel they were there and it felt a bit odd, but they didn't hurt. It felt very odd if I turned round or looked round suddenly. When I first had them, I used to walk all in straight lines, and then shut my eyes and turn round all of a piece at corners, then start off on another straight line. My faily thought this was very odd!
To this day, if it feels OK when I first try in the hospital I know whether it's a possiblility or not within seconds...
..... but people do vary; some people have managed to get used to lenses that were a big problem at first.

When you say you see double - do you mean that the eye with the contact lens can see one main and a second "ghost" image? - or a pretty substantial second image? - or do you mean that the images from each eye don't match up?
If the former, it could mean that you need a better fitted or better powered lens. Or it may be that you see so much in the way of "ghost" double images that that's th ebest you're going to get. Sadly, for some of us, that is the case (the best-in-years fitting of lens for my right eye still leaves a pronounced double ghost image, and I just had to get use dto puttin gup with it).
If the double image disappears, and the world just looks slightly different when you shut each eye in turn, it's your brain not being used to matching up the uncorrected KC image from one eye and the lens-assisted image from the other. Time, practice and concentration may help this if you can get used to a lens and wear it for longer.
Good luck.
And best wishes with the eczema.
Roseamry