Hi - new(ish) to KC

[Ann Rumsby]

Hi everyone,
I posted on this board back in December 04 because I was having problems with double-vision when driving.
Well, following a trip to the opthalmic surgeon to confirm what I already knew, that I have keratoconus, and a lot of trips to the opticians to get fitted with lenses, I now have a pair of intra-limbal contact lenses, and a few more questions!!

Does the itching stop soon!? The lenses dont hurt, but they're making my eyes itch even more than usual.

Ae there any eye-drops or anything I can use to soothe my eyes while the lenses are in? It feels like if I could soothe them a bit it wouldn't itch quite so much.

Thanks,

Ann.

[John Smith]

Hello Ann,

If by itching, you mean the sort of irritation that we all feel when breaking in a new contact lens, then yes, after a couple of weeks, the irritation should cease.

There are numbing drops that will ease the problem, but I think these are prescription-only, and they will of course increase the time it takes for your eye to get used to the presence of a lens!

[Ann Rumsby]

Think that's what I mean - the lenses don't hurt, but I'm conscious of them, more so in one eye than the other.
However, if it's just time to get used to them then that's ok

[Andrew Bailey]

I have recently had the lens in my left eye changed. I found that if I wore the new lens during the day, but then took it out in the evening, and then slowly increase the length of time I left it in, that I got used to the new lens quicker than with previous lens. I still do get the feeling like someone has put a greasy finger print on the front of your glasses, but then i blink a few times and it goes.

Hope this helps.

[Ann Rumsby]

Well, I saw the optician again, and he's ordered another set of lenses with a slightly stronger prescription, which might improve my vision when looking at a computer screen.

When I mentioned the itchiness he thought it might be related to the conditioning solution - I might be slightly allergic to it (as keratonics are prone to be), so I now also have saline solution to rinse the lenses with. That's helped a lot, my eyes don't itch as much.

Thanks for the suggestion with the lens build-up time, I'm currently working on keeping them in during the day as long as possible, but it's difficult when working at a computer screen all day. Just have to remember to take breaks & blink

[paula hardman]

I have to rinse the cleaner off properly with saline before storing the lenses in conditioner or else my eyes get very itchy, also get the same problem with the conditioner when the pollen count is high but usually find I can solve this without removing the conditioner by using opticrom last thing at night.

[Lynn White]

Opticrom is a very good idea...

I would also recommend Systane before you put the lenses in.....its a new lubricant that really does what it says on the packet... and it uses polyquad as a preservative which does not yet cause as much problem as normal preservatives.

UK website http://systane.co.uk/index.html

Lynn