Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us
Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network
Home
Discussion Groups
General
GeneralCardiologyVisionDentistryPharmacyLaboratoryNutritionAlternative
Diseases and Disorders
AIDSAlzheimer'sArthritisAsthmaCancerBreast CancerDiabetesEpilepsyGlaucomaHepatitisHerpesLupusProstate BPHProstate CancerProstatitisSinusitisTinnitus

Medical Forum / General / Vision / October 2007

Tip: Looking for answers? Try searching our database.

Dry eyes and artificial tears

Thread view: 
Enable EMail Alerts  Start New Thread
Thread rating: 
sert - 11 Oct 2007 17:24 GMT
About a year ago I had a problem with dry eyes and the doctor
prescribed some antibiotic and artificial tears (Tears Naturale
II.) I don't think they helped that much, but the problem went
away after a while. I think it is most probably an allergy and
has to do with the environment.

Lately I've been getting the dry eyes again and I bought the
same artificial tears thinking they might help. I took them for
a day and they actually made the symptoms worse, but the
following day I felt a lot better. Then I took them again and
the made the symptoms worse once again. Is it possible that
artificial tears are helping long-term (the next day)? I thought
they were only useful for short time periods (an hour or less.)
Glenn - USAEyes.org - 11 Oct 2007 20:06 GMT
Tears Naturale II use Polyquad as a preservative. It may be that you
have an allergic reaction to this preservative or other ingredients in
this particular artificial tear.

As a general rule, the preservative-free artificial tears are best.
You may want to consider switching.

We have a detailed article about artificial tears at:
http://www.usaeyes.org/lasik/faq/lasik-artificial-tear.htm

Glenn Hagele
Executive Director
USAEyes (TM)
Patient Advocacy Surgeon Certification

"Consider and Choose With Confidence" (TM)

Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org

http://www.USAEyes.org

Lasik Bulletin Board
http://www.USAEyes.org/Ask-Lasik-Expert/

I am not a doctor.

Copyright 2007
All Rights Reserved
Neil Brooks - 11 Oct 2007 23:35 GMT
>Tears Naturale II use Polyquad as a preservative. It may be that you
>have an allergic reaction to this preservative or other ingredients in
>this particular artificial tear.
>
>As a general rule, the preservative-free artificial tears are best.
>You may want to consider switching.

Agreed ... and I say this with QUITE A BIT of emphasis.  (I also think
that the P-quads are derivatives of Benzalkonium Chloride ...
basically, Drano for the eye).  

Preservatives, for artificial tears/eye lubricants, are like
cigarettes: there is no safe one.  I could give you hundreds of lines
of support, clinical trials, and reasoning for this, but ... trust me:
it exists ... in overwhelming quantities.

I would suggest that you use ONLY preservative-free tears.  Which one
is best is really subject to a lot of different variables that are
specific to YOUR dry eye case.

Experimenting is reasonable.

Also, you may want to stop by:

 www.dryeyezone.com

They have a BIG FAQ section, AND an online forum (tell them Neil sent
you!).  If you introduce yourself and your particular situation,
people will ask questions about your case, and then help you narrow
down which drops to try.

Best of luck.  Dry eye is a much larger problem than many people ever
imagine.

Neil
Charles - 13 Oct 2007 16:16 GMT
> > Tears Naturale II use Polyquad as a preservative. It may be that you
> > have an allergic reaction to this preservative or other ingredients
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>
> Neil

How does this advice relate to contact solutions?  It seems that just
dealing with contacts is equivalent to at least two doses of eye drops
per day.  I don't really see any preservative free alternative though.

--
Neil Brooks - 13 Oct 2007 16:53 GMT
>> > Tears Naturale II use Polyquad as a preservative. It may be that you
>> > have an allergic reaction to this preservative or other ingredients
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
>dealing with contacts is equivalent to at least two doses of eye drops
>per day.  I don't really see any preservative free alternative though.

Good question, Charles.

In my estimation ... based on looking at lots of information about
preserved saline solutions ... I would avoid them, too.  Same reasons.

When I was wearing soft contact lenses, I used either the AOSept
system (with preservative-free saline solution (available at many
pharmacies)) or the PuriLens lens cleaner/disinfection unit ... again,
with PF saline (the PuriLens people also sell the PF saline).

But ... it should be said ... I've got seriously dry eyes.  If you
don't exhibit ANY symptoms of dry eyes, then this might be a
relatively extreme path for you to take.  

That said, all o these preservatives DO show a tendency to destabilize
the tear film AND hasten cellular dealth in the outer layers of the
cornea.  It's a risk:reward calculation for each person.

What I found was that avoiding the preservatives entirely (AOSept
and/or PuriLens) was really no big deal ... and did seem to prevent
further worsening of my ocular surface issues.

Neil
Charles - 13 Oct 2007 17:20 GMT
> >> > Tears Naturale II use Polyquad as a preservative. It may be that
> you >> > have an allergic reaction to this preservative or other
[quoted text clipped - 60 lines]
>
> Neil

How about RGP's though?  Boston is about the only game in town.

--
Neil Brooks - 13 Oct 2007 17:50 GMT
>> >> > Tears Naturale II use Polyquad as a preservative. It may be that
>> you >> > have an allergic reaction to this preservative or other
[quoted text clipped - 62 lines]
>
>How about RGP's though?  Boston is about the only game in town.

Ah, yes.  I forgot.  Astig only ... rgp's.

Let's see what's in their broth....

http://www.bausch.com/en_US/consumer/visioncare/product/gpcare/bostoncomfort.aspx

Boston Conditioning Solution:

Yup.  Preserved.

Boston cleaner:

Yup.  Preserved.

But there's a HUGE difference here: your RGP's do NOT act like a
sponge, so ...

1) You won't be slapping a soft lens -- hydrated WITH preserved stuff
-- onto your eyes;

2) A really cautious approach would be to simply rinse your RGPs with
PRESERVATIVE-FREE saline (even adding a drop or two into each lens)
prior to insertion;

3) IIRC, the PuriLens system works just fine for RGPs, too, though you
COULD do a little research.  It MAY take a month or two off of their
ultimate useful life .... fair trade to me for ease, thorough
cleaning, and disinfection, but ....

NB: the PuriLens is something like 99.9% effective on its own. Forgive
the analogy, but it's a little like the birth control pill. It's even
SAFER with a condom in the equation.

So ... you COULD use a PuriLens (like 15 minutes), and THEN bathe it
in the Boston conditioning solution.

Just do a thorough rinse before insertion.

HTH,

Neil
Anything BUT a doctor ;-)
Neil Brooks - 13 Oct 2007 17:54 GMT
>Just do a thorough rinse before insertion.

No.  I didn't mean it that way.  Please move along ;-)
peach - 14 Oct 2007 16:37 GMT
I wear RGP's.  RGP's way more comfortable then soft lenses for me,
Boston eye drops work well during wear.
I also find sometimes excessive protien build up on them can make them
dry also. I would recommend using a protein remover once in a while.
Taking a break from wearing them helps too.
if they are still dry and uncomfortable I suggest talk to your eye
doctor. I've had to send my in for a polish once a year, clean them so
they are more comfortable.
 
Sign In
Join
My Latest Posts
My Monitored Threads
My Blog
My Photo Gallery
My Profile
My Homepage

Start New Thread
Enable EMail Alerts
Rate this Thread



©2008 Advenet LLC   Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.