wfi@unc.UUCP (William F. Ingogly) (02/03/85)
I had a pair of soft contact lenses for about a year and a half and had no problems with them. I used the heat method of sterilization, and neutral saline solution sterilized with thimerosol (sp?), and was extremely careful about sterilizing them and giving them weekly enzyme treatments to remove protein deposits. Most days, I'd put them in in the morning before work and take them out when I went to bed at night. One night in May, I was watching a movie on television about 10:00 PM with my contacts in. My right eye began to burn/itch, so I took out my contacts and went to bed. The next morning, my right eye was *bright* red and hurt when I moved my eyes or looked into the light. Turns out I had an ulcerated cornea and a nasty infection. Although opthamologists say nothing's permanently wrong, it seems the vision in my right eye hasn't been quite right since. For the last several years, my pollen allergies have been getting progressively worse; this process started about a year before my problems with the contacts. Since I was *very* careful about taking care of my contacts, I suspect either my pollen allergies or a reaction to the thimerosol preservative in the saline solution. Has anyone else had this sort of problem with contacts? If so, what have you done about it? I no longer wear contacts, but I'd like to be able to wear contacts again and ditch the glasses (no, it's not vanity, as most/many contact wearers will tell you). How about the new extended wear lenses? Does anyone know if they're better for people with allergies?
lindley@ut-ngp.UUCP (John L. Templer) (02/05/85)
Both my brother and my sister wear the new extended wear contact
lenses. They had to try several different cleaning solutions, though,
before they found brands that they weren't allergic to. Maybe you
should ask your opthamologist to recommend some other brands of
solution. But first, make sure he thinks it isn't your pollen
allergy; don't risk damaging your eyesite.
--
John L. Templer
University of Texas at Austin
{allegra,gatech,seismo!ut-sally,vortex}!ut-ngp!lindley
"and they called it, yuppy love."doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (02/05/85)
> I had a pair of soft contact lenses for about a year and a half and > ... My right eye began to burn/itch, so I took out my > contacts and went to bed. The next morning, my right eye was *bright* > red and hurt when I moved my eyes or looked into the light. Turns out > I had an ulcerated cornea and a nasty infection. > ... How about the new > extended wear lenses? Does anyone know if they're better for people > with allergies? I would definitely ask your ophthalmologist. My wife switched to contacts last year, and went for the extended wear. The result: two ulcerated corneas after only 20 hours of wear. She required three days of having both eyes patched (in other words, temporarily blind), and another week of having the worst one patched (no driving). As you're probably too aware, it's not just inconvenient, it's excruciatingly painful and pain in those nerves automatically triggers a "panic" reaction which is, well, panicking. The ophthalmologist who treated her for this condition expressed grave reservations about the suitability of extended wear contacts for many people. (He specializes in corneal work, and his workload has gone way up since extended wears came out). In my wife's case, he advised her to forget about extended wear, since she had shown intolerance to them. She later tried conventional soft lenses, but was unable to tolerate them for more than a few hours at a time. She's now wearing gas- permeable hard lenses with some success. -- Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{hao,ihnp4,decvax}!noao!terak!doug
sks@mb2c.UUCP (Sam Spitzner) (02/07/85)
[] I have been wearing the same pair of extended wear lenses for about two years with no problems. The first pair I had, I had sever problems. The reason for the problems was due to an incorrect fit. This was caused by the eye specialist I used at the time only would use Bosch & Lomb lenses. When I switched doctors, I got one who would try different companies to obtain a proper fit. IT WORKED, and I am happy. Sam Spitzner
wfi@unc.UUCP (William F. Ingogly) (02/14/85)
Many thanks to all those who have sent me mail or posted replies on their experiences with allergies and contact lenses. Quite a few other people on the net seem to have had similar experiences to mine, and the problem seems to be related in some cases to the thimerosal preservative used in the neutral saline solution. One person described his reaction as severe. An option I wasn't aware of is saline solution preserved with hydrogen peroxide, which is supposed to be less likely to cause allergic reaction (but isn't H2O2 corrosive? And doesn't it contain its own preservative to keep it from breaking down to water and oxygen? Could this cause problems in certain cases?) Some people reported less problems with the extended wear lenses, but one person had better luck with the ordinary soft contacts. I think I'll make a trip one of these days to my local opthalmologist. At least this time I'll be more informed *before* I go talk to the doctor.