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[tedtropy]

I recently made the switch from glasses to contacts about two months ago. About two or three days into getting them (after the initial itchy-eye phase), I wondered why I didn't get them from the get-go. Apart from no longer having a construct of glass and metal on my face, I actually have peripheral vision now. I'm presently using two-week disposable contacts. You can actually sleep in these, although it'll naturally reduce how long they last. For those of you using this type of contacts - do you generally wear them longer than the recommended two weeks? I wore my last pair for about a month before they started getting blurry, then switched to a new pair. Also, does it really matter what kind of contact cleaning solution you buy? When I went to Wal-mart to get a new bottle, I saw the name brands costing close to 10 bucks a bottle, then the usual Wal-mart brand for like 3 bucks. You can guess which one I bought, even though it's probably little more than Sam Walton's own personal blend of water-dilluded dish soap. Still, it seems to do the trick. There any particular brand I should be getting?

Oh, and I recently had my first experience with a torn contact - one had a little chip on the rim of the lens I didn't notice. It was like shoving a little razor in my eye. Apart from the occasional very small annyoance, I'm liking them, and am now even considering lasik correction surgery.

 

[Tritroid]

Contacts are great. I'll probably wear them for the rest of my life. Screw glasses.

I definitely don't follow any of those specific rules or guidelines about wearing them though. I don't dispose of them every two weeks, I wait until the edges get fraied or rough and then I know it's time to switch out. :lol I also just use any type of cleaner that I can find, it doesn't matter which. Hell I don't even CLEAN my contacts on a regular basis. The only time I actually sleep in my contacts is when I've gotten drunk the night before and I'm crashed at a friend's house.

 

[jiggle]

The cheaper solution works just as good. You can get two giant bottles at Costco for less than 8 bucks.


I've been wearing disposable for almost 7 years now (though not the kind that you can sleep in like what you have, although I still nap with them on - -; ), but I never keep track of when I start on each new pair, so I'm sure they always overuse/underuse them. And so far, nothing bad's happened.

 

[tedtropy]

Contacts are great. I'll probably wear them for the rest of my life. Screw glasses.

I definitely don't follow any of those specific rules or guidelines about wearing them though. I don't dispose of them every two weeks, I wait until the edges get fraied or rough and then I know it's time to switch out. :lol I also just use any type of cleaner that I can find, it doesn't matter which. Hell I don't even CLEAN my contacts on a regular basis. The only time I actually sleep in my contacts is when I've gotten drunk the night before and I'm crashed at a friend's house.

Every now and then I'll take a nap with them on just out of sheer laziness, but if I sleep with them on for more than a few hours it's like waking up with cataracts, or at least hard chunks of dry plastic stuck to my eyes.

 

[goodcow]

The best cleaning solution:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...a/102-3945027-4092955?v=glance&s=hpc&n=507846

Sadly, Amazon just recently bumped the price from $4.99 to $6.99. Keep checking back, it'll probably lower itself again.

 

[shoplifter]

The best cleaning solution:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...a/102-3945027-4092955?v=glance&s=hpc&n=507846

Sadly, Amazon just recently bumped the price from $4.99 to $6.99. Keep checking back, it'll probably lower itself again.

You never leave your home, do you?

 

[goodcow]

You never leave your home, do you?

I leave my home everyday, I just don't like having to deal with the assholes who ring shit up slowly at CVS/Duane Reade, the lines, dealing with tax, lugging it home, etc. (and I get 3% off with my Amazon VISA)

Not to mention even at $6.99 that's cheaper than retail. At $4.99 it was a steal.

 

[revivalist]

I've been wearing contacts since my Freshman year in high school which was approximately 4 years ago. I have the 2-week disposable contacts as well and I do everything in them. I go to sleep with them on, I take showers with them on, go in the pool with them on, walk the dog with them on. They're very versatile.

There are a few drawbacks to contacts though.
1.) Contact getting jammed in the side of your eye rendering you helpless until enough time passes and the contact finally frees itself.

2.) A speck of hair on the contact will have your eyes stinging mercilessly.

3.) Itchy eyes -> Contact prone to pop out.

And for the unorthodox...

4.) Waking up in the morning and your room being one big blur. Finding the contact solution with that kind of sight will result in serious self-inflicted damage.

 

[goodcow]

There are a few drawbacks to contacts though.
1.) Contact getting jammed in the side of your eye rendering you helpless until enough time passes and the contact finally frees itself.

3.) Itchy eyes -> Contact prone to pop out.

1) This has never, EVER happened to me.

3) That's a sign that your lenses are dirty, probably because you sleep and go to the pool in them.

 

[revivalist]

1.) Lucky you.

3.) True.

 

[Cauliflower of Love]

About last year I got contacts for the first time. The optometrist raped me and gave me generic brand...those bastards. Anywho, they were two weeks disposables and I was changing every two weeks till I got to the last box. I've been using this set for about three months now. Just take them out at night and clean them.

I used opti free at first, but my eyes usually dried out at 8/9 pm. Then I switched to this:

Awesome solution. I keep a bottle of visine for contacts in my pocket for occasional dry outs. ( I have small allergies)

 

[tedtropy]

I'm something of a contact n00b and I've yet to ever have them pop out of my eyes. And I rub my eyes constantly, take showers with them on, sleep with them on, etc. Only real drawback I've noticed is that when you've had them on long enough, they start getting really dry and blurry. I've been at a few marathon lan parties and it got to the point where I was squinting like an old man because they were blurring up on me so bad. I should probably invest in some wetting drops or something. Oh, and just as further testament to what a dork I am, I make an entry in my Axim PDA everytime I change contacts - I think I want to see if I can squeeze two years out of a 1-year box 'o contacts.

 

[goodcow]

Contacts aren't really that expensive... $160 ($120 after rebate) for a year of two-week disposables.

I don't understand why the majority of you people sleep with them on, and use them beyond the two-week period. Your eyes and their health are important...

 

[goodcow]

Also, in terms of rewetting drops, I always keep two of these in my wallet:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t.../102-3945027-4092955?v=glance&s=hpc&n=3760931

 

[Naked Snake]

What brand of 2-week contacts do you guys use?

I recently got 1-day disposables (Johnson's Acuvue) and most of the time I just couldn't wear them for more than a couple of hours before my eyes start itching like crazy... I used to wear non-disposables many years ago and didn't have the same problem with them, so I'm thinking it's the contacts and not my eyes this time... I gave up on them and bought myself a new pair of glasses a couple of weeks ago, but I'm really too selfconscious when I'm wearing them and it sucks, I'd love to be able to wear contacts for the entire day without irritation.

 

[Hawksley]

Because we're cheapskates.

 

[tedtropy]

Contacts aren't really that expensive... $160 ($120 after rebate) for a year of two-week disposables.

I don't understand why the majority of you people sleep with them on, and use them beyond the two-week period. Your eyes and their health are important...

My general philsophy is that I change them the moment I notice them having an adverse impact on my vision (getting blurry, whatever). If that's one week or four weeks, so be it.

 

[goodcow]

I wear Bausch & Lomb two-week disposables.

Admittedly, they get a little dry towards the end of the day, but otherwise they're great.

I tried the Acuview2 two-week disposables, and while they were better in terms of wearing them longer without dryness, I couldn't get them in as easily because the lenses are made of a lot more water than the B&L, and therefore kept slipping out of my eye.

 

[tedtropy]

What brand of 2-week contacts do you guys use?

I recently got 1-day disposables (Johnson's Acuvue) and most of the time I just couldn't wear them for more than a couple of hours before my eyes start itching like crazy... I used to wear non-disposables many years ago and didn't have the same problem with them, so I'm thinking it's the contacts and not my eyes this time... I gave up on them and bought myself a new pair of glasses a couple of weeks ago, but I'm really too selfconscious when I'm wearing them and it sucks, I'd love to be able to wear contacts for the entire day without irritation.

I believe mine are the same brand, but I'd have to double-check when I get home to be sure. I was really surprised that contacts weren’t troublesome for me. I have occasional allergy-issues and have/had a REALLY big eye phobia before getting contacts. The poor woman that helped me test drive a pair had to kind of fight me for awhile before I got them in, but I now I can pop them in and out without a problem so long as there's a mirror in front of me. I still have problems when it comes to eye drops though. It seems like if I can't SEE myself making contact with my eye, I reflexively freak out and clamp my eye shut. My optometrist probably goes through half a bottle of pupil dilation stuff when testing my eyes just from me freaking out. Oh well, I guess we all have our quirky phobias...

 

[Cauliflower of Love]

What brand of 2-week contacts do you guys use?

I recently got 1-day disposables (Johnson's Acuvue) and most of the time I just couldn't wear them for more than a couple of hours before my eyes start itching like crazy... I used to wear non-disposables many years ago and didn't have the same problem with them, so I'm thinking it's the contacts and not my eyes this time... I gave up on them and bought myself a new pair of glasses a couple of weeks ago, but I'm really too selfconscious when I'm wearing them and it sucks, I'd love to be able to wear contacts for the entire day without irritation.

You may have an allergy to soft contacts. Hard contacts would be and option.

 

[Gorey]

I have to wear hard contacts because of a specific eye condition, and it sure took forever getting used to them. My eyesight had deteriorated a great deal by the time I got them, though, so the first day was...wild. "Wow, I can actually count the threads in my jeans. Neat".

I'm pretty lazy with them. Don't clean them enough, pass out when drunk with 'em on, etc. /shrug. Beats glasses by a mile, no doubt there. I definately have soft-lense envy.

 

[Jim Bowie]

I just switched from Acuvue 2 to Acuvue Advance... it's so good. It feels like I'm not even wearing the contacts.

Just keep at it- it hurts for a little bit, but when you get used to it, it's worth it.

 

[teiresias]

I gave up on them and bought myself a new pair of glasses a couple of weeks ago, but I'm really too selfconscious when I'm wearing them and it sucks, I'd love to be able to wear contacts for the entire day without irritation.

Hmmm, you shouldn't be self-conscious about wearing glasses. I'll be the judge of whether you look bad in them or not, send me two pics, one with you wearing them, one without them, preferrably nude. :lol

Actually though, I don't wear my glasses except at night when I take my contacts out, my eyesight is so bad that my glasses are the kind that magnify your eyes in typical nerd fashion, so there's no way I'm wearing them in public.

 

[AlphaSnake]

I tried contacts for 2 months...and I hated them. Got myself a slick new pair of frames (DKNY) and never looked back. Putting contacts on was a pain in the ass. I never could get used it, and I had always felt as if I had an eyelash stuck in my eye.

 

[RevenantKioku]

I really hate my glasses, but I can't even get to the phase of trying out contacts, just the idea of wearing them nearly makes me nauseous.

 

[Takuan]

I use 30-day disposables. I remember someone telling me there's no difference between disposables in terms of how long you can wear them, just as long as you keep 'em clean which really isn't very hard to do. I only wear contacts when I go out and never sleep in them since my eyes feel disgusting afterwards.

 

[XMonkey]

I've worn contacts on and off for the last 7 years or so. Started with daily use ones, but eventually hated them because it was a pain putting them in every morning and taking them out every night. For the last year or so I've been wearing Focus Night and Days. You can wear these for up to 30 days (sleeping in them and everything). They're great because I never have to worry about taking them out for a long time and it's basically like I have normal vision again. The first few months I could wear them for the whole 30 days, but in the last few months they only last about 20-25 days before I start having bad problems (protein buildup so my vision is all blurry). I usually wear my glasses for 2 days after I take them out so my eyes can breathe better. Still, they are great as far as convenience goes.

 

[tedtropy]

I really hate my glasses, but I can't even get to the phase of trying out contacts, just the idea of wearing them nearly makes me nauseous.

Believe me, it's worth trying. Either you'll decide to stick with them or not - no real loss. I have an absolute eye phobia and I'm really happy with how they worked out. You'd be surprised how quickly you may get used to them. I can see SO much better and wish I made the switch earlier...

 

[Fatghost]

Don't ever sleep in your contacts. Even if the contacts are "sleep safe" and your optometrist says it's ok, your eyes will always feel better if you give them some contact free time.