Thanks, all. Again, I’ve been wearing the dailies, and Bausch & Lomb is the only one here that makes it for my prescription, which is quite strong. I could not switch brands even if I wanted to. I’m a little surprised to hear Re-Nu is not considered a very good solution since I though Bausch & Lomb was a good brand. But that’s just what they gave me, and I didn’t ask about any other brand. But the problem I had in June was not with the solution anyway, it was because I tore one lens and lost the other. If I try the 30-day ones again – they don’t carry 15-day lenses in my prescription here – I’ll check out a different fluid.
The pain is generally after I’ve taken the contacts out. And it’s lasted ever since I last took them out last Thursday night. But before, it went away after a day or so. But there is no redness or anything to indicate an infection, and I can’t see a sty under my eyelid.
As for laser surgery, that’s completely out of the question for me. All doctors agree I’m a poor candidate. The risk is way too high. Something about a super-thin … retina? cornea? Something like that.
Still plan to check into bifocals too, but I really do like wearing contacts … at least, when I can.
Just to clarify, my doctor didn’t say that Re-Nu wasn’t very good, just that it’s not very good for hydrogel lenses (which your’s aren’t).
Looking for a cite, I see that B&L says Renu works just fine for Hydrogel, in fact, they say it works as well as Opti-Free.
I imagine if you dig around, you’ll be able to find other cites saying the opposite. It can’t hurt to try other brands (if you go back to 14-30 day lenses).
About a 90-minute flight, I believe. We’ll probably be there for a few days next year. I have to sign up to read that article though. Will have to do that in the morning.
How long are you wearing your contacts? Do you do a lot of computer or focus work? I bet it is you are wearing them too long, not blinking enough and they are dry and irritating your eyes. I get this when I am on the computer too long, say doing computer drafting as I tend to NOT blink as much. By the end of the day my eyes are very tired and when I take my contacts out they hurt a bit. Try putting drops in your eyes throughout the day and see if that helps. And blink damn it!
As for the bifocals–I have one daily contact lense I see far away with, and one I see up close with. LOVE IT! I thought I would never get used to it but it was instant. I hated the mono contacts as I always had to wear reader glasses–with these split lenses I rarely ever use readers.
My optometrist taught me a little trick as to how to tell which side is which.
If you take your lens, and put it in the crease of your palm below your little finger (both well moistened with solution) and then curl your little finger toward your palm and see how it reacts, then flip it over and repeat. Whichever way it curls more into itself is the inside of the lens that goes against your eye.
Once you realize what right-side out and inside-out lenses look like doing this, it’ll be pretty easy. Eventually you’ll probably just be able to look at them and tell (assuming you’re nearsighted like me) whether they’re right or flipped inside-out.
I wear them pretty long in a day, maybe 14-16 hours typically. But I use lubricant eye drops very often – really, really often – and this current problem is just from the past couple of weeks. Thursday now and it’s been one week since I last wore my contacts, and my eye is still burning, although this morning I notice it’s somewhat better than before. I’ve not had any problem this severe before now, and I’ve been using contacts since last December. We were running around Japan in April, and even during that time, when I kept forgetting to use the lubricant drops, not a problem.
Thanks too, bump, for the tip.
If it feels better still tomorrow, I’ll try the contacts again and see what happens. My doctor’s appointment is next Tuesday.
So I saw the doctor today. I was able to wear my contacts again last Friday and Saturday after an eight-day rest from them, but then my eye started hurting again. There were no cuts or abrasions to my eye that he could see. Despite a lack of redness, he suspected mild conjunctivitis or a tiny ulcer. Gave me some medicinal drops to use on my eye. Hopefully this will clear it up.
So I’ve been wearing them for 15 months now. The odd thing is I had no problems with them the first half-year or so but then started having problems with dry eyes, particularly my right eye. I use lots and lots of artificial tears, but it finally got so bad that now I can only stand to wear them a couple days a week. My eye doctor thinks the culprit’s the material they’re made from, which I think is silicon. They’re Bausch & Lomb, this is the only brand I can find my prescription in here in Thailand, so I’m stuck with them. Why they didn’t bother me during the first six months, I dunno. Some sort of buildup?
I tried the 30-day lenses four times, but usually I just end up tearing one or both at some point when trying to clean them. So I rely mostly on the dailies. I really like wearing contacts, but the dry eye is a killer. Particularly in the mornings when I wake up. No, I don’t sleep wearing them, but my eye is still so dry that my eyelid is often stuck shut.