Daily Use Contact Lens

[Jill Marie]

Hi to all suffering from dry eye!

Thanks again to this board for helping me find the relief I needed.  Elsie posted that she was looking into the scleral lens and that her eye doctor recommended trying a daily use lens first.  I contacted my eye doctor and she said she would like to try the lens on me as well. 

I got my new lens last Tuesday!  The doctor put the lens in my eye and I couldn't tell it was in there at all.  She had me take the lens out and then put it in and take it out again, over and over tell I felt confident enough to leave with the lens in my eye.  About an hour later my eye started feeling irritated, it wasn't because of the lens, it was because my eye was red and irritated from the allergens in the air.  The scleral lens I had been wearing collects protein and the allergens attach themselves to the lens so my eye was red and irritated.  After about 4 hours my eye started feeling better and I wore the lens tell bedtime.  The next day I wore the lens again and my eye was irritated for about 2 hours then started feeling better as the lens was healing my red eye.  The next day I put the lens in and it felt great all day. 

I'm still using ointment as I wanted all the redness to go away.  Now I will start experimenting with single vial eye drops to see what will work for me so I don't have to use the ointment anymore.  I have to see how the tone in my face around my eye is so I know what drops will stay in my eye. 

The lens I'm using is called the Dailies Total 1 by Alcon.  It costs $95 for 90 lenses which means $1.05 a day.  It's more expensive then your normal contact lens but that's ok with me.  The scleral lens had several different soaking and cleaning solutions I had to use which added to the cost of the lens and the lens I used would last about 6 to 10 months and cost $200.  I don't have it figured out yet but I think the cost will be about even.  As long as this daily lens doesn't cause me any problems during the allergy seasons I don't really care about the cost, just about not having any painful days do to the allergens. 

Will keep you posted on how the lens is working for me!  Jill Marie

[Doc]

I’ve enjoyed great success with my Scleral Lens. Cost be damned, I’m sticking with it.

Isn’t it funny how Doctors come to different conclusions. Mine said daily lens wouldn’t help my dry eye as they only cover the cornea, and would only drain my wallet over time. I was lucky, Tricare paid for 100% of the initial cost for my Scleral Lens; fitting etc. Although I would have paid for it out of pocket if I had to.

I found the saline needed to ‘charge’ the lens before insertion at vitalitymedical.com for $13.67 per box of 100 vials, or one a day...and that’s landed cost / delivered. The cost of cleaners is no greater than with conventional contact lens (when bought online in bulk), and I’m not using gels...never did, just lots of tape to keep my eye shut rather than endure the pain. The Doctor recommended I use ‘Blinks’ drops on the Scleral once or twice during the day because I don’t blink normally. Sleeping in the Sclera Lens is not recommended.

FACT: My Scleral Lens has changed my life in a huge way. I lived in absolute misery for six years. No more!

Take Care

Doc

[Jill Marie]

Doc B,

Glad the scleral lens is working great for you, it changed my life in a huge way as well when I got it about 3 years ago.  Never dreamed I would be looking for something else to wear or that I could use a regular lens that only covered the cornea.  For years the different eye doctors I went to told me I couldn't wear any kind of contact so I'm thrilled to have found them to be wrong. 

I too bought the cleaning supplies on line in bulk or at Costco at a great savings.  My lens was covered by Insurance but only after meeting my $1500 deductible so most years I paid all the cost.  I had 2 lenses break about 6 to 8 months after getting them, they just broke in my hand after I took them out of my eye.  The next 2 lenses lasted longer but got protein stuck on them (despite cleanings) that attracted so much pollen that I had a severely painful red eye during the Spring and Fall allergy seasons.  We are all different in what lenses we can use and currently have, different lens sizes, manufacturers etc.  We just have to try different ones tell we find what works.

Hopefully everyone using the scleral lens can keep using them, just wanted to let everyone know there is possibly another option for them if they have issues with the scleral like I did.  It also gives those that haven't tried a lens yet another option to look into. 

Take Care, Jill 

[elsie]

Jill Marie and I have been going through this investigation at the same time - I am surprised and very pleased with how much relief (and not just for my eye) I am getting with the soft contact lens - mine are 1-Day Acuvue TrueEye. 

When I got my first prescription for glasses, I decided to check into scleral lens, as my right eye has produced almost no tears since my AN surgery 26 years ago.  So many of us know the unending pain that can produce - there were days when I could have put any entire tube of goop in my eye every hour and get still get no relief.

 I have been wearing my soft lens for two weeks now and have been amazed at the results - there have been many, many days when I put a very small amount of goop in my eye in the morning and do nothing more the rest of the day until I take the lens out to go to sleep.  Other days, I've needed a very small mid-day and then I'm good to go.

I've been basically pain free since I've started wearing the lens.  A completely unexpected bonus happened, however.  With the return of my AN and a very stressful job, the symptoms have reappeared and along with them, what I thought was extreme fatigue.  Since wearing the lenses, though, my fatigue symptoms have completely disappeared.  I feel refreshed all day long and find that my concentration levels at work have returned to where they were two years ago before my beast reared its head again.  I have no clue why this is happening - maybe taking one unrelenting symptom away may have relieved something in my overtaxed brain - but I honestly feel as if I am getting a big part of my life back.

If you have dry eye, I strongly recommend looking into the new lens.  I believe that Jill Marie is using another brand, so there are several options.  Not all eye docs appear to be aware that these lens are options for us, though.  I got lucky and went to a PROSE center and had a doctor very aware of dry eye options.

[Kerrybr92]

I wish I could have worn a soft lens but it just dried out too fast. And putting drops in all day was what I was trying to avoid.

I have had the same scleral lens since 2012.  I am sorry to hear that yours have broken.  I am not sure if it could be a quality issue.  I have a lens from the Boston Foundation For Sight.

If the soft lens does not work you may want to consider seeing them.

[Jill Marie]

Elsie,  Really glad to hear that the lens is working so well for you.  I too know the feeling of putting in ointment all day long and getting no relief, I actually used 4 to 6 tubes a day trying to relieve the pain.  Now I use less then a tube a day and will soon give using drops a try. 

So sorry to hear that your AN has returned, I had read about that at the bottom of your post before but had forgotten about it as I was focused on your eye issues.  Are you in the watch and wait mode now or do you have plans for taking care of the AN in the near future?  Thankfully the new lens is helping you deal with the regrowth and the fatigue.  I know that when my eye is extremely dry/painful I tend to sleep longer and take naps after work so it doesn't surprise me that you are feeling better now. 

I got a new lens today, it's the same brand as yours, Acuvue, it's the Oasys HydraLuxe.  My eye doctor loves to experiment with new things and I'm always willing to help because she has been so good to me.  This lens is a lot like the one I got a couple of weeks ago but on the plus side it costs about the same as the one you have and should be easier to take out then the one I had.  I'm going to bed in about an hour and will find out then. 

Kerry,  Sorry to hear the soft lens didn't work for you, I too may find that I have to put the drops in way more then I want to, not sure if the drops will stay in my eye.  You're probably right about the quality of my lens being the reason I broke 2 of them.  I would have looked into a higher quality lens if it wasn't for the issue of the allergens attaching themselves to my lens and causing me severe pain.  I could be wrong but I believe the allergens would stick to any lens I wore daily no matter the quality where as it doesn't happen with a daily lens that I throw away after wearing. 

For now the daily lens is working really well, will see what happens next Spring when the new allergy season starts up.

Take Care, Jill Marie

[Jill Marie]

It's been a week since I got my newest daily lens by Acuvue, it's the Oasys HydraLuxe.  I love it, cost a bit less then the other lens I tried and I can take it out of my eye a lot easier.  The other lens on average took me 3 tries to get it out, with the new lens I got it out the first try most nights. 

It's important to find a doctor that is willing to try new things and you have to be willing to do the same.  It's nice to know that the manufacturers and doctors are working on finding ways to help us, sometimes they are trying to help someone else but in the end it helps us too. 

Jill Marie

[elsie]

Hi all,

Not trying to sound like an advertisement for contact lenses, but loving my new relief.

Jill Marie, I just saw my new eye doc for a new contact lens check up.  She said that right after I got my first set, a new Acuvue lens was introduced - same as your new one:  ACCUVUE Oasys HydraLuxe (so really new - listen and read up all dry eye sufferers).  She gave me a trial batch today - i am to call her on Monday with my reaction.  She said that she has tried these with two other dry eye patients since she saw me two weeks ago - gave them a Pepsi or Coke test.  Coke (the new lens) won two out of two times, so she suggested I try them.

I had my jumbo AN removed in 1988 (the beast came back three years ago - just got the word that it is stable at 9mm) and have suffered from dry eye since then.  Tarrsohaphy and massive amounts of goop have kept my cornea pristine since then, but the pain has been non-stop and unbearable at times.  My initial batch of these new soft contacts was amazing - my fatigue has lifted and I seriously feel as if I have eye relief for the first time.  I am anxious to try these new lenses.

For all with dry eye - these are new to the market lenses - if I had received my prescription for glasses earlier in the summer, I may be wearing - or trying to wear. a scleral lens - my tarrsohaphy makes even putting in the soft lens difficult.  These contacts have been comfortable, relatively easy to put in (I am a terminal klutz, though) and bring enormous relief - to the point that I don't use my goop except for first thing on many days.  An added bonus - when I asked how I pay for these, my doctor said that most insurance companies consider the lens to be medically necessary and cover the cost.  Any overage will probably be covered by my vision insurance.  An unexpected, but thankfully accepted, treat!

[nancyann]

The scleral lens is the best thing I've found for my dry eye - total facial paralysis & thank God for Dr. Kenneth Mahler in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  He's an expert in scleral lenses!