I have been prescribed Biomedics Toric lenses. I have dry eyes. My optometrist has recommended that I use only a peroxide based disinfectant solution (Ciba Vision AO Sept) to minimize the problems with dry eyes. Can anyone (especially eye care providers) comment on this? It would certainly be a lot easier when I travel to use a multicare product in a single bottle instead of having to mess with disinfectent, cleaner, and saline solution. He has also recommended Refresh contacts for drops. Are these the best for dry eyes? He did say (when I specifically asked) that I could use the Refresh Plus as well (I like the individual dose packaging -- easier to carry around than the bottles). Thanks for your replies.
I'm not an eye care provider, but I can comment based on my own experience experimenting with lots of different cleaning solutions. I think you'll find that most contact lens specialists recommend peroxide-based cleaners (the docs & opticians can correct me if I'm wrong), but not because it's necessarily any better for dry eyes, but because there are no preservatives in it that can potentially irritate your eyes. AOSEPT Clear Care is the one I've used--it's a one-step cleaner (there's another product simply called AOSEPT disinfectant that is a different product and must be used in conjunction with a separate daily cleaner--I'll leave it to the docs to give their opinion which is better). I like the Clear Care system a lot, but the only thing that has kept me from using it regularly is that it requires a full 6-hour soak, or else you may burn your eyes from the residual un-neutralized peroxide. I sometimes have to put my lenses back in after a much shorter soak (at least I used to before I started wearing Focus Night & Days extended wear), so I prefer to use Complete Moisture Plus. It's supposed to have lubricating properties, and does seem to make my lenses feel comfortable. Here's a very interesting article about it: http://www.clspectrum.com/archive_results.asp?article=12461 I'll bet you won't get any consensus here as to which drops are best, other than to use non-preserved drops (like Refresh). I prefer TheraTears, which comes in multi-use bottles (as well as single-use bottles, I think) and becomes preservative-free on contact with the eyes. It's a lot cheaper than buying lots of single-use bottles (but still expensive). My lens fitters always just seem to give me whatever they happen to have samples of, and don't seem to have any preferences that they have ever told me. I've tried all sorts of rewetting drops though and haven't really noticed any difference among them (personally) other than their viscosity. Lothar
Thanks. I haven't seen the AOSept Clear Care locally (San Antonio). I have been using the AOSept Disinfectent, etc. I will look again and see if I've just overlooked Clear Care and give it a try.
He has also recommended Refresh contacts for drops. Are these the As someone has tried multiple brands of OTC eye drops during the past year(Refresh Plus, Genteal, TheraTears, Bion Tears, Visine Tears, Systane, HypoTears, and Refresh Endura), I can tell you that you are likely to be in for some trial and error. Everyone has a slightly different eye chemistry and different sensitivities. For example, I have found that my eyes cannot take methylcellulose, hypotonic forumulations, or preservatives. I even found that Bion Tears, in addition to irritating my eyes, affected my eye color (changing it from green to brown). Your experience will probably vary. There is an interesting discussion of OTC eye drops at http://www.agingeye.net/dryeyes/dryeyesdrugtreatment.php
I haven't seen it in a lot of drugstores. If you have a CVS near you, they should have it, or you can order it from www.cvs.com or other online pharmacy. Lothar
Interesting! Maybe some pharmaceutical company should research why that happens, and develop an eyedrop for changing eye color. Perhaps that would be safer for people who choose to wear colored contacts when they don't even need correction. Of course, if the color change is accompanied by irritation or other side effects, that wouldn't be such a good thing. Was your color change temporary, and was it gradual? Has anybody else heard of such a thing happening? Lothar
Thanks. I'll check it out. One thing I find interesting now is that it seems that previously, most drops either stated explicitly that they were safe to use with contacts or else that they should not be used with contacts. It seems that many are now silent on the subject. For example, Refresh Plus does not say that it's safe for use with contacts nor does it say not to use with contacts. Obviously, if the packaging states that the product should not be used with contacts, I wouldn't try it. But I'm guessing unless specifically stated not to use them, it's okay to use the artificial tears / dry eye products with contacts.
I've had ophthalmologists/fitters recommend drops to me that are not labeled that they are specifically for contact lens use. One of these was Refresh Endura, which my doc gave me a sample of. When I e-mailed the manufacturer (Allergan), I was told "we do not recommend that you use this product with contact lenses." I also wrote to the manufacturer of TheraTears, which also does not label its product for contact lens use, but I was told "Many of our patients have reported success using TheraTears with their contacts, both hard and soft and many of the physicians we work with recommend TheraTears for use while wearing contacts." (I saved these e-mails--the above are exact quotes). It often seems to me that manufacturers (with a few exceptions) stop short of going on record about whether a lubricating drop is appropriate for contact lens use, and prefer to leave it up to the doctors or patients to accept the responsibility for how it is to be used! Lothar
I even found that Bion Tears, in I think the pharmaceutical companies are aware of this. I think they don't worry about it much since such a large portion of the population is already brown-eyed. My mother has gray eyes and has to use drops for glaucoma. Her ophthamologist asked her how she felt about drops that would affect her eye color. She wasn't thrilled with the idea. The color-changing drops did not help reduce her IOP so he switched her to anoter one that did lower the pressure and did not affect eye color. I was very surprised that this would happen with an OTC eye drop, however. I only used it for two days. It didn't affect the entire iris. I could basically see a brown splash mark where the drops made initial contact. I imagine that if I had continued to use the product that the whole iris would eventually have been affected. Fortunately, my eyes returned to their normal color after a few weeks.
I guess such a product would enjoy far greater acceptance (and have greater commercial appeal for further research) if it worked the other way--make your brown eyes blue, for example. I think there's a song about that... That's bizarre. Lothar
And rather cool. My granddaughter has her Colombian mom's brown eyes and her father's and my dishwater-blonde hair. It would be slick to dye my eyes to match hers. Gotta think about this...
This is not advice I'm giving. However..... I remember there was some concern about someone who couldn't find Allergan Refresh Plus in some overseas market, and it was alleged that Allergan Refresh Contacts (available there) was identical in every way except labelling - that seems to be what your eye doc has hinted at. Their ingredients label seems to be the same. Second - Allergan has spun off their surgical and contact lens care divisions into the AMO (Advanced Medical Optics) company. It seems as if Refresh Contacts is being phased out because Allergan is no longer in the CL care business - I was still able to find some on the shelves of a local Wal-Mart. Third - Refresh Contacts used to be available in single-use vials too.
This is not advice I'm giving. However..... I remember there was some concern about someone who couldn't find Allergan Refresh Plus in some overseas market, and it was alleged that Allergan Refresh Contacts (available there) was identical in every way except labelling - that seems to be what your eye doc has hinted at. Their ingredients label seems to be the same. Second - Allergan has spun off their surgical and contact lens care divisions into the AMO (Advanced Medical Optics) company. It seems as if Refresh Contacts is being phased out because Allergan is no longer in the CL care business - I was still able to find some on the shelves of a local Wal-Mart. Third - Refresh Contacts used to be available in single-use vials too.
I could basically see a brown splash mark where the drops Rare it may be, but it did happen and they weren't flecks or "freckles". About 1/4 of the iris was affected. The color difference was quite obvious -- not a subtlety of the light source. My eyes do have color flecks, but they are gray and green -- a definite Kelly green -- nothing approaching brown. The flecks are distributed throughout the iris -- not concentrated in the area where the drops made initial contact.
I've dealt with rigid contacts for three years. I've never found an eyedrop that allows me to wear lenses for more than a couple hours. Recently Cibavision came out with Aquify, an eyedrop containing sodium hyaluranate. This medication is apparently quite popular with contact wearers in Europe. I've found I can wear lenses for 4-6 hours if I'm using Aquify. It's new and hard to find; I'm still using samples sent to me from Ciba. Hopefully the drops will be available soon. It will be an OTC medication costing under $10 per bottle.
