Hi all,

I have been wearing contacts since I was 16 years old. I wore them all day, every day, and absolutely loved how well I could see and how much less annoying and uncomfortable they were then glasses.
Around two years later, I was out with friends one night and one of them really started to hurt. When I got home I took them out immediately, and noticed that the area around my iris was very red. I could see many of the blood vessels in my eye, all leading to the center which was the most effected. I assume that the blood vessels were inflamed from trying to bring oxygen to the injured area?
After that, trying to put my lenses in was a bit of a chore. I could wear them for a few hours, but after that experienced a burning sensation and redness. The optomotrist told me that I appeared to have small cysts on my eye and that the lining of my eye was deteriorating. He told me to keep wearing my lenses as I could, but that if it got worse I was going to have to stop wearing them altogether.
I limited my wearage and he told me at my next visit (and all subsequent visits) that the problem seemed to be going away. However, I still (5 years later) have a very difficult time wearing my lenses as much as I would like. I think this may be due to allergies...I have a lot of sinus problems, and notice that my contacts start to bother me when it's smoky or when I'm mowing the lawn. While I still wear my lenses when in social situations, I almost always otherwise wear my glasses. I miss being able to wear my contacts every day, and am constantly annoyed by foggy glasses while doing yardwork. I can't see as well out of glasses, either, and don't feel like I can engage myself as well in what's going on around me because I can't see very well.
Has anyone experienced symptoms similar to these? Any suggestions? I have tried allergy shots, all kinds of allergy medications, changing contact solution, changing lens types, and even using rewetting drops. Except for getting eye surgery (which I simply cannot afford as a recent college grad) I am at my wits end about what to do. Any advice would be VERY VERY helpful. Thanks!!

well, have you tried seeing an opthalmologist? If you have (or had?) small cysts on your eye, and the lining was deteriorating, you should not be treated by an optometrist, but rather a medical eye doctor (opthalmologist). Optometrists are OK for prescribing glasses, but I would NEVER let them prescribe any sort of medication or diagnose a condition, as they are not MDs. (I hope I don't sound mean!) A while ago I tried wearing contacts, and I absolutely hated them, because they were very uncomfortable, painful and kept falling out. The optometrist who fitted me with them never bothered to tell me that this was because my eyes were dry. Maybe he was just not experienced enough to notice. I went to an opthalmologist who told me that I cannot wear contacts, because my eyes are so dry. Maybe your eyes are dry? Wearing contacts with dry eyes can probably cause the injury and problems that your described. Another thing that you have to be careful with, with contacts, is like what you said. After a few hours of wearing them your eye became painful and red. Well contacts are notorious for scratching people's corneas. My recommendation would be to stop going to the optometrist, go to an opthalmologist if you haven't already, and let him give you a complete eye exam. He will be able to tell you if you ever had any scratches (maybe that night, that is what you had?) and can tell you if you have any serious conditions that would not make you a good candidate for wearing contacts anymore. He can also tell you what to do so you can wear them again. In the mean time, try using some tear drops in your eyes. This may give you some relief. Keep me posted. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif


P.S. Most opthalmologists can fit you with contacts themselves, or can recommend somebody who can.

[This message has been edited by purple2067 (edited 08-08-2002).]

Could you get your tear ducts plugged to produce more tears?

Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe EddieDean can get the plugs, but I have already had them. I have sjogrens syndrome (just found out), which causes the body to attack its own moisture producing glands. I have a wonderful opthalmologist who has plugged my tear ducts several times. The problem with that is that the plugs kept falling out. Finally he had to cuaterize all 4 of my tear ducts because I produce such a small amount of tears on my own that we have to conserve the ones that I do produce. The reason I can never wear contacts again is because one minute my eyes are ok, and the next minute they are so dry that I can't keep them open. Artificial tears don't help. My eyes have become sooooo delicate and sensitive, that having contact lenses in them even for a short while, would feel like sandpaper. The only time I ever wore a contact lens since being diagnosed with this was when I had such a severe corneal ulcer (from dryness) that if I blinked the wrong way I could rub off any newly formed surface tissue on the cornea, so I had to wear a contact in that eye to protect it. But I WAS NOT ALLOWED to touch it myself! I had to go back to the eye dr every day and get it taken out and have a new one put in. Now I don't even have the desire to use them anymore. For me, it's just not worth then pain and the hassle. Thanks for the suggestion though. Do you have dry eyes too??

Good luck,
Elyse

P.S. EddieDean, if you read this, whatever happened with your eyes?