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Avatar universal

Contact Lens Getting Cloudy and 'Goopy'

Hi Everyone,

I have worn contact lenses for approximately 30 years. I started with hard lenses and now wear Gas Perms.  I wore the gas perms for years without any problems whatsoever.  In the last year however everytime I put my lenses on the right lens gets cloudy and like it has a film over it within 10 minutes of putting it on.  When I take the lens off and hold it up to the light you can actually see this "goop" on the lens.  I went to the doctor when it first started to happen and he said I needed new lenses which I got but same problem occurred.  He then said my eyes may just be secreting more lipids than normal and told me nothing to do about it.  I'm thinking of trying toric lenses but hate to spend more money if the same thing will happen with those too.  Am I stuck wearing glasses from here on out?  Thanks!
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Avatar universal
A related discussion, GP Contacts was started.
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Avatar universal
um, dont know.  possibly.  a little unlikely, but possible.
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Avatar universal
I should also add that I've had a vitrectomy with fluid/gas exchange about 10 years ago and cataract surgery and secondary cataract surgery within a year of the vitrectomy.  Doctor keeping a close eye on pressure because it was elevated at one visit and he is concerned about glaucoma.  Could this be affecting my contacts?
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Avatar universal
i have no idea if you are "stuck wearing lenses from here on out" or not.

lots of people who are long time contact lens wearers have all kinds of problems.  i run into this kind of stuff all the time.  there's no easy answer.  try new materials and new cleaning methods, etc.

now i am not trying to freak you out, but one of the things that happens in long time CL wearers is something called "corneal exhaustion syndrome".  its basically a response to LONG TIME low oxygen.  years and years of low oxygen kind of kills off certain types of cornea cells which are responsible for pumping water OUT of your cornea.  the result is the cornea swells up with water when a lens is on.

i consider this possibility anytime i get that complaint.  any patient who has complaints of foggy vision 10 min after lens insertion...sometimes its not the lens, sometimes its your cornea.

if you take the lens out and "clean" it, your cornea is "de-swelling" during the time the lens is out.  so it coincidentally makes it seem like "cleaning" the lens fixed the problem...for another 10 min anyway.

a good test for this is to go buy some muro-128 5% hypertonic solution from the drugstore.  when your vision gets foggy, insert  the drop (on top of the lens, if you want to).  it will sting a little b/c its salty.  if your vision clears at all, even for a few minutes, then its probably not anything with the lens thats causing the problem...its your cornea.  if it doesnt help at all then it still could be a "deposit" problem.

good luck

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