Serious Question about continuing Contacts Problem. Whats happening to me!

[the_grimace]

ok, let me first give a background to the problem.  I am 20 years old now, and started wearing contacts at age 13.  I was given a disposable contact that was supposed to be used for 3 months, then thrown out.  I wore these contacts sucessfully with no problems for  6 years.

Then when i was 19, my eye doctor moved out of the area, and i switched doctors.  At the time i was still using up the contacts i had bought from my old eye doctor.  but when it came time to buy from my new doctor, the doctor told me the contacts i was using were discontinued.  He told me he would get me something exactly like them.  I got the contacts, and i was shocked.  I couldnt beleive how big they were.  My old contacts were probably at least 1/3 the size of these.  and these were 6 week disposables, not 3 months.

nonetheless, i wore them successfully for about 6 months, but after 9 months, my eyes started to get very dry, and one day, they were so dry they were hurting, and i couldnt take them out as i was at work.  When i took them out that night, they were in agony.  It felt like a had a bunch of sand under my eyelid.  Stupid me, i wore them the next day, same dryness and pain, and same agony when i took them out.  Very bloodshot as well.I decided to go to the eye doctor.

He said i had some condtion where a large amount of white blood cells swell the area causing pain.  He said it was b/c my contact was binding to my eye.  He gave me "zylet" drops, and told me to not use contactsa for 7 days.  I listened, and on the 8th, day, put my contacts in successfully again without pain.

[the_grimace]

all was good for about 2 weeks, until they started drying up again, and now they were blurring as well.  All of a sudden they would jsut instantly blur and sometimes it was slight, other times so severe i thought i was blind.  I have been suing rewetting drops as well, but they didnt get rid of the blurriness, i would have to taken them out and sit them in a solution for about an hour till they regained their clearness...

I kept wearing them, and everyday, they kept getting dry and blurry, and eventually started to hurt as well. It was the same thing as last time, so i stopped wearing them, and after a week, started wearing them again successfully.

then after another 2 weeks, same problem, i realized my contacts were about 2 weeks overdue for replacement, so i changed the pair, and the problem was fixed.  Unfortunately, after about 2 weeks with the new contacts, they started blurring up and getting painful again, and pretty much this brings us to the current, where i have been not able to wear contacts for a few days without them getting painful, blurred, and extremely dry....

Basically, ill put my contacts in when i get up, and they feel fine for about 2 hours, after 2 hours, they start to get dried, and eventually start to blur, and cause pain when i take them out.  My eyes also get very bloodshot, even though ive been using rewetting drops constantly, which only ease the redness and dryness for about 15 mniutes.now, in the last 2 days, when i have toaken them out, my vision is actually more blurred when i had them in.  This happened tonight in fact.  I had my contacts in, and they were very dry, but not blurred, and when i took them out, my vision was NOTICEABLY more blurred then before i took them out (this is looking through an equal prescription glasses)

ths has struck me to go to the eye doctor for a third time, but im just wondering if anyone here can perhaps inform we what the hell the problem just is.  Doing some research on the internet, i found it could just be from tear decifit, and new lenses may correct it, but all this redness, dryness, and now blurriness has me worried.  

I also feel it can be in the size of the contact since the contacts i used when i was younger and a late teen were MUCH smaller.  Right now im using Acuvue Oasys, and imnot sure what the older smaller ones were.

If someone can please fill me in on what might be happening to me, or what i should ask or request while at the doctor, it is much appreciaited.

thanks in advance to all replies.

[bad eyes]

I would suggest asking your ophthalmologist for a trial of daily disposables - they can eliminate many problems

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

It sounds like you need a better contact fitting.  I'm not a big fan of Acuvue Oasys lenses personally.  Stop current contacts.  Wear your glasses for a few weeks.  See a completely new ophthalmologist and get fit with a new contact lens that will be more comfortable.  In the meantime, the doctor can address any other problems present like dry eyes or allergies.  Try to find out exactly what the old contact lenses were because you apparenty did well with them.  The doctor should be able to find a current lens that is very close to the old lens.  It could be that your current doctor is just not very good with contacts (it's not unusual) and you need to see someone more experienced and confident with this type of semi-challenging situation.

MJK MD