Allergies for people wearing contacts

[confused25]

I think I may be allergic to my contacts, but I'm not quite sure. I've recently ordered a new pair of contacts and they are the same brand as what I wore before, except this time they are clear instead of colored. I've been having problems with them because my eyes will turn bright red after I have them in and after I take them out my eyes become really irritated and sensitive to light. I went to see an ophthalmologist and was told that I have allergies and told me to stop wearing contacts for a while until they get better. I was also prescribed an eye drop to help with the irritation. Went back after a couple of days and was told that my eyes looked a lot better and that I can resume wearing contacts. Well the problem didn't go away, they still make my eyes turn really red after I wear them. Has anyone ever experienced the same problem? I've debated about switching contacts but they costed me $250!

[kellbell]

Hey there,

 

They could be a bad batch. The same thing happened to me. I wear Acuvue 2 and when I went to the eye doctor this past summer, she was a bit troubled by the dryness in my eyes. So she had me try Acuvue Oyasis. She gave me a free trial pair for a week and sure enough the dryness was gone.

 

I ordered a box from 1800contacts and put them on and they were all blurry!! Like, someone put furniture polish on them. I put on another pair, same thing. I have yet to return them and get a new box. It could be the batch is not good. I would think the colored contacts would cause irritation, not the other way around.

 

Good luck.

[arwen]

Did you use the SAME contacts as prior to the irritation? Because I was always told that when I got an infection:

 

* throw the contacts, fluid AND the container of the lenses away

* don't wear contacts until the infection or irritation is gone

 

If the irritation was not related to the contacts but caused by some bacteria, you can easily re-infect yourself by using the same contacts. I had several infections a year ago that kept coming back simply because I didn't get rid of the bottles of fluid and the container. Cost me quite a bit of money but I am more careful since then.

 

If it IS allergy, you might reconsider plain old glasses *sigh, I know!!* or a lasik operation... but those are particularly expensive!

 

Ilse

[BellaDonna]

Are you using the same kind of solution as before? (just checking)

 

BellaDonna

[rose2summer]

I have had my share of problems with contacts until I used the more expensive ones.

 

I had allergy problems, irritation, redness from the cheaper brands, which work for my friends, but not me.

 

So I use Ciba Night & Day ($120-160/6months), they are 2x the price of Acuvue or Freshlook, but work wonders.

 

You should be able to return the unused contacts for a refund and explain you received a botched pair. My optometrist refunded my unused pairs.

 

Hugs, Rose

[confused25]

Well when I went to the doctor's office they told me my eyes weren't infected, but they were exposed to some sort of allergens that irritated my eyes. I suspected that it was caused by my contacts because I've never had any allergies before this, so I don't think it's caused by pollen or dust. I did however, switched to a new brand of eye contact solution, but I believe that was a couple of months before my new contacts. I've been a faithful customer of Bausch & Lomb solution until I read articles saying that they cause infections, that's when I decided to switch over to OptiFree. I bought another bottle of contact solution last nite and soaked my contacts in them overnight. I think I'm going to try putting my contacts in a few days when my eyes get better and see if that helps. This really stinks because I've been stuck wearing my contacts for the past few weeks and they are a pain in the butt when I'm trying to workout!

 

Btw, I can't wear disposable lenses because of my astigmatism. The ones I'm wearing right now are permanent and they are called OptiFit 3 from Wesley Jensen. They come in colored or clear. I've been wearing the colored ones for a few years now and I've never had any problems. But this time I decided to switch to the clear ones. They costed me $250 for both lens and I doubt they would let me return or exchange them

[arwen]

I had many different solutions for contacts until I discovered that the all-in-one (esp. the NO RUB variants) caused infections. I now use the same brand (home brand of my drugstore) but ALWAYS a two step one with the peroxide step one and neutralizing step two. I haven't had irritation for over a year now.

 

Ilse

[pjbh]

I just started having the same problem: watery eyes and sensitivity to light. It is unbearable when I wear my contacts and still bad without them. I suspect it is allergies in general and it improves with antihistamines. I thought it may be my contacts since I just got a new brand. My right eye waters more (I have different contacts in each eye). I am debating what to do since my eye doctor says it is allergies and dry eyes.

Did you get any resolution to your problem?