Scared of my contact lenses!

[Jennie Hariri]

I was just wondering whether anyone has felt the same as me. It has been almost two years since I was diagnosed with KC. I have been fitted with almost perfect lenses. I can still feel the lenses on my eyes as I have a bad case of dry eyes. Over the past two years I have been able to put my lenses in but I have wanted to take them out because a: they are very painful and b: I find when I have them in I find the vision very good but very scary and I don't like how focused the world around me is. I find it very daunting and the light is very bright.

I don't put my lenses in because of this problem and I know I should!

Jennie X

[Emma J]

Hi Jennie,

Not sure about the pain, but when I was fitted with piggy backs, after wearing soft lenses for a few years, I struggled really badly with having good vision, and the whole light thing.
I was struggling to go out, cos I couldn't cope with it. My optician checked my lenses and it was nothing to do with them. The only thing she could come up with, was it was my brain trying to adjust.
I started going out with someone at first and not on my own, cos my head used to spin, and I couldn't see, (bit like a panic attack) gradually I started going out on my own, and my eyes just seemed to adjust. I am fine now. It took about a month of constant wear to adjust, at the time it seemed like I would never get on with my lenses, but it happened eventually!
Good Luck
Emma

[Sajeev]

Jennie, I hear you...

I would say its a normal feeling, we are not born doing all this that we must do! I would equally say that there are lenses out there with your name on it, its tough to find someone who will explore all the avenues with you and who has the full stock of various lenses to try, plus with the patient's of a saint and the time. But there are some Angels out there who know their "art".

A good place to start could very well be at this link for KC Friendly Opticians:

http://www.keratoconus-group.org.uk/optoms/index.php

[Andrew MacLean]

I was just wondering whether anyone has felt the same as me. It has been almost two years since I was diagnosed with KC. I have been fitted with almost perfect lenses. I can still feel the lenses on my eyes as I have a bad case of dry eyes. Over the past two years I have been able to put my lenses in but I have wanted to take them out because a: they are very painful and b: I find when I have them in I find the vision very good but very scary and I don't like how focused the world around me is. I find it very daunting and the light is very bright.

I don't put my lenses in because of this problem and I know I should!

Jennie

There seems to be a lot going on here: you say that you are daunted by the improvement in your sight; you don't like how focused your lenses make the world around you. I guess that this is a reaction to the way in which the world around you has been unfocused for a long time!

As to the brightness of the light, most of us manage this by wearing good quality sunglasses (even indoors sometimes). As to the sharpness of focus; this is something to which we have to learn to adjust.

As to the dry eye problem; I used to manage this by using artificial tears just before putting in my lenses. At times during the day I'd take out my lenses and bathe my eyes again in artificial tears before re-inserting my lenses. Before you try this you ought to speak to your contact lens specialist.

It may be that you would find another type of lens more suitable for your eyes, but again, this is something you ought to discuss with your optometrist. For my part I was always aware of the lenses on my eyes; sometimes they were just a little painful and sometimes they were terribly painful. My choice was to keep wearing them although I know others who would have chosen to leave them out.

One problem of not wearing your lenses is that you do not build up wear-time and tollerance. Really, in the end, the choice of how loften or how long to wear your lenses is one that only you can make.

All the best

Andrew

[GarethB]

It is apparent from this forum that one we can see, we see more than others, we take in the whole surroundings that everyone else takes for granted.

I too found it daunting at first when KC part 2 started because I have responsibilities now and that was my motivatin to get through it. When I was first diagnosed as a teenager I had a care free attitude to my KC and never found lenses a problem then.

My employers like they way I see and take everything in which is why they have given me so much resonsibility with safety.

You say you have dry eyes, what treatment are you getting for that?