Contact lenses anyone?

[LeRoux Strydom]

I'm sitting here typing this wearing my first set of (soft) contact lenses ever (age 46) since about 4 hours ago.

Aside from alternating stages of near blindness and crystal clear vision, what can I expect short-term and long-term? I'm supposed to try these for about 10 days then go back to the eye-doc to re-evaluate. I had lasik about 10 years ago after wearing glasses for 25yrs +, but crossing the 40's meant getting progressively stronger reading glasses again. I'm not about to start wearing glasses permanently again, hence the contacts.

Any good or bad experiences with contacts out there?

Le Roux

[charlesbahn]

Don't use B & L RENU with moisturelok.

Are they bifocal contacts?

[BGCarrera32]

I've worn disposable soft contact lenses for the last 15 years that you take out every night and store in cleaning solution (Renu), and take a new pair of lenses every two weeks. No issues...

If you bicycle or do a lot of outside activites keep a bottle or rewetting drops handy if your eyes start to dry up.

[widebody911]

I started wearing contacts a couple months ago, although I don't wear them every day, usually just for activities in which I want to be able to see better without wearing glasses.

[Don Plumley]

I've worn soft lenses for a long time. For the past three years I've been using daily disposables (from Costco). Highly recommended. I tolerate contacts better than average - can wear for a 16+ hour day. Best advice I have is to carry a small bottle of rewetting drops in your pocket and apply throughout the day. Blink often.

[LeRoux Strydom]

Originally posted by charlesbahn
Don't use B & L RENU with moisturelok.

Are they bifocal contacts?

This is exactly what the eye-doc gave me! What's wrong with it?

Lenses are single-focal.

[charlesbahn]

That RENU has been pulled from the market in most countries- associated with fungal eye infections (Fusarium).

I would recommend ALCON Optifree express.

Once you get used to the single focus lenses you may want to try a soft bifocal lenses. Up until a year ago they were worthless, but there is a new technology that actually works pretty well. They come as "proclear" which is monthly disposable lens (no astig correction), or as a nondisposable lens that does have an astigmatism correcting component if needed. They are both made by Coopervision. The fitting requires someone who understands how the lenses work and has experience with them (I have no proprietary interest).

EDIT- the proclear lenses are available as no cost trials from the manufacturer, although your eyecare professional may charge for his time in fitting them. The nondisposable lenses (ultraclear) have a generous (? 90 day) return guarantee from the manufacturer. So they are pretty reasonable to try.

[LeRoux Strydom]

Sorry, I had troublle reading the label....

I was actually given RENU Multi-purpose, which I suppose is different from the moisturelok you mentioned.

[jyl]

I have disposable soft lenses, last about 1 week. Am happy w/ them.

Wearing sunglasses outdoors helps ward off dryness later in the day. Less wind, less particles.

Buy contacts on Internet, cheaper than your optician.

For heavy computer use, prefer glasses. Since that's what I do, contacts are a weekend thing for me. I'm getting to the point of needing bifocals anyway.

Bausch & Lomb RENU Moisturelok is being pulled from market, pending investigation into fungal-caused blindness. Apparently BOL and govt can't find a cause or any contamination, but there is a clear statistical correlation w/ this product - kind of a mystery. Haven't heard of problems w/ other BOL products.

I've worn contacts on and off since the old "hard" lenses and the current lenses are just great.

[steve911]

I've worn soft contacts since I was 18 (I'm now 48). Been wearing extended wear contacts for 25+ years. See my eye doctor yearly and have had no instances of corneal ulcers, etc. Only had one eye infection in all that time, and that was 20 years ago.

I wear mine for 2-3 days straight (including sleeping) and clean 2x week. (I used to have the extended wear contacts that I wore for a week+). Eye doctor tried to have me remove them daily, but I said no dice. We compromised on 2x a week provided he found no adverse effects.

Main thing is ALWAYS make sure your hands are clean when handling your lenses and/or fussing with your eyes. I remember a friend in graduate school would 'clean' her contacts by putting them in her mouth - EWWWW!

A few years ago, I found that I needed to add reading glasses -- contacts just could provide the crispness for reading, particularly in dim light) and painting center caps.

Cleanliness is key. If your lenses feel dirty or your eyes are irritated, by all means, take out the contacts and give your eyes a break.

[dhoward]

+1
I had some 'extended wear' lenses in the early 80's that the optometrist said should be in the hall of fame.
Never had a problem, but I did roll the dice a lot more when I was younger...

[M.D. Holloway]

Buy'm through Vison Direst on-line. You'll save about 40%.

[dhoward]

Direct.

[slodave]

Wore them for about 15 years. I had extended, but did not sleep in them (well, there were a couple of drunk nughts). I only lost one - in a pool, but tore numerous. Never did take care of them as I should, but the eye doctor was amazed at how clean the lenses were. I had Lasik 3 years ago (I'm 33) and it's been great. I hated wearing glasses so I only wore contacts. I never had a single eye problem while wearing them. Good luck.

Dave

[86 911]

I've had contacts for about a year now. I love them. It's so much better than wearing glasses imho. The only downside is that I have to drive with sunglasses on or else my contacts will dry out (I have a cabriolet). You should put new contacts in every two weeks, but I leave them in for longer periods of time. I've had my right contact for about 6 weeks and my left for 2 weeks. LOL. Good luck. Hope you enjoy them!

[cashflyer]

B&L announced on 5/15 a full worldwide recall of RENU w/ moistureloc. If you have any, take it back to the place of purchase for refund.

While no evidence has been found that the product is the source of the fusarium keratitis infection, the product is now forever linked with the infections and it is in B&Ls best interest to take the loss and pull the product.

Of course lack of evidence is no deterrent to litigation attorneys who are already rallying for a class-action lawsuit: http://www.renulitigation.com/

[turbo6bar]

I am one of the few who is not fond on contacts. I have mild astigmatism and have never been comfortable in contacts. My eyes feel tired at the end of the day. I have been wearing contacts for a little over 10 years.

I am seriously considering LASIK, but my eyes still change over 18-24 months.

[LeRoux Strydom]

Thanks for all the input.

I have another question: even though the nice lady showed me, I cannot for the life of me tell if the contact is flipped inside out or not before putting it in. I must have put the right one in the wrong way today, because it hurt like hell. I turned it over and smooth like glass. It would be nice to get in right the first time, though.

[legion]

If the edge makes the whole lense look kinda like a bell curve, it is inside out. If the edge makes a continuous curve, it is right side out.

You really have to look at the last millimeter of the curve to see any difference.

[JavaBrewer]

Pinch the lens edges toward each other softly. If inside out the lens will not fold uniformly. Or as legion says look at the outside edge.

I've been wearing soft lenses since Junior year high school (1980). When extended wear lenses came out I wore those for up to a month w/o taking out. My eyes are really messed up and the doctor is amazed at the scars they carry. No I only wear contacts when I get home from work and during the weekends. I'd love to get Lasik but my eyes are starting to change again (I'm 43) so I might hold a while longer.