Contact lenses?

K, I need help. I have a chain eye doctor that I don't trust all that much and don't have any real knowledge about contacts. But, I need to find some new ones, because I'm out of whatever brand it was my doctor gave me with my exam.

I want something I don't have to take out at night if possible, because these make me very rushed in the morning since it still takes me 5-15 minutes to put them in. Would prefer something that I can leave in semi-permanently. I have heard of such contacts that can stay in for up to 30 days? That would rock.

I'm looking for brand suggestions, places to get the best deal online, etc.

Keep in mind I have a dif. prescription for each eye, so I have to buy a Toric and a regular, which means buying two boxes and expensive.

Any other info you'd like to share about contacts/buying them/wearing them is totally welcome, too. I'm a newb.

I, too, have one eye that needs the astigmatism correction and one that does not.

I recently switched brands from my Ciba Air Optix Night and Day to Bausch and Lomb Ultra in my regular eye and I really like them. I still use the Air Optix in my other eye though because of the astigmatism.

I wear my contacts 24/7 for a month, taking them out a few times during the month to clean/soak overnight, but I've had no issues.

I've been using Air Optix Night and Day for ages and I love them. I leave them in for a month straight and they're generally super comfortable. I usually can't feel they're there except when it gets to the very end of the month then they sometimes start to feel a little dry in the morning.

I used to order them from 1800Contacts as it was cheaper than the Lenscrafter doctor I used to go to, but my new eye doctor actually had them for cheaper so I bought them through them for once.

I wear Air Optix Night & Days or whatever they are called now - used to be Focus Night & Day but I think they changed the company name. The long-term contacts. They do still recommend you take them out but they are approved for up to 30 days continuous wear. I try to take them out on weekends but sometimes I just forget, or I don't feel like it.

They decrease your sensitivity so if you get something in your eye, you may not notice it. I've had once ulcer caused by something (not sure what) scratching my eye and then not realizing it was a problem for a long time. My eye would just randomly start hurting and watering for five minutes or so and I didn't think a lot about it until it was happening for months at a time, and once it happened while I was right near my eye clinic, so I went in and they took care of me. I also got an injury because I had something in my eye, couldn't really see what it was, so I pulled out my contact and that scratched my eye when I did it. That was a serious injury and it was three weeks of no contacts at all plus steroid drops to heal it.

They do make your eyes a little dry, at least IME, so every morning I wake up and put rewetting drops in straight away, and then I'm good to go. I don't normally need drops at any other point except first thing in the morning right after waking up. And putting in some rewetting drops is LOADS faster than getting out all the solution and junk and actually putting the lenses in.

So not without their risks, but except for one doctor who is very biased against them (and was kind of a rude bitch), none of my eye doctors have ever warned me not to use them or made any kind of noise like I shouldn't. My current eye doctor tells me my eyes are very very healthy and he has no problem with me continuing to wear them, even given my past eye injuries.

As far as cost, the ones I get cost pretty much the same as regular soft contacts AFAIK... I was actually just having this conversation with friends at the gym a few weeks ago and everybody's contacts cost about the same regardless.

My eyes are currently the same prescription but for many many many years they were different. It's only within the last five years or so they have been the same in each eye.

I order mine from 1800GetLens. I do some price shopping every year when I need to buy contacts and they are always the same everywhere, but 1800GetLens is just who I happened to start using so I stick with them. I don't have any kind of vision insurance currently, so actually, they called and e-mailed about a month before my prescription expired and told me if I wanted to order more contacts for the next year, I needed to do it soon... so I ordered two years of contacts off one eye exam (in Illinois contact prescriptions expire in one year.) =P

I like them, I don't see a point where I'll ever wear anything different although I really want lasik, haha.

I would like to know if you wear the B&L ultra lens overnight. It appears they're not approved by the FDA yet but some doctors say its OK. After reading a few PDF files from B&L it seems like they are leaving it up to the doctors.

Looking at the specs though, everything about them is better than Purevision or Purevision 2, so it makes no sense for them not to be for overnight wear.

I haven't ask a doctor personally about them yet and they are just getting nationwide so that is why I'm wondering if the doctor told you it was OK. I wear Purevison 2 or Biofinity right now extended wear. But interested in B&L Ultra since they are new.

At $60 a box they are rather high for a regular contact. I don't care for this UPP pricing the major lens companies started doing, controlling the prices to help doctors sell more lens and make more money. They are stopping online stores from discounting like they use too on a lot of lenses, especially the best sellers and anything new. Coopervision is the only that is holding out so far, or last time I read about it anyway.

I know the pricing was looked at by the US Senate last year but of course they didn't do anything. I believe some states are looking at it now, because its basically price fixing with a monopoly.

One thing to mention is if you ever want to be a candidate for lasek or LASIK don't use continuous wear. Without oxygen from the air getting to your eye, your eye will adapt by creating blood vessels closer to the surface of your eye, making surgery harder/riskier.

At least that's what my dr told me.

I asked my doc about it last time I was in to see him and he said he felt I was a great candidate for it and the time was a good one if I wanted to do it since my prescription has stayed the same for several years now.
I've been wearing continuous wear for over a decade now.

Well, its true that blood vessels can form on a more permanent basis if wearing contacts overnight with a low oxygen pass through. That's why the silicone version was wanted so bad. But its funny that Acuvue 2 is still approved for overnight wear for 6 days, and the Dk/t is about 30.

Yet they claim over 110 is needed.. So much for the FDA approval system. I've read that contacts that are over 150 dk/t is the same as not wearing contacts, far as getting enough oxygen. That don't help infection problems though.

I'm been wearing contacts overnight for about 20 years and never had a problem, But I pay close attention to them and never over wear.

I found that original post I replied too searching for someone that might have tried B&L Ultra overnight. But I guess Stardogs never read the post or didn't try them for extended wear.