All the RAve - the RAnts of RA

You can't tell it by my pictures, because I'm neurotic about my vision, but I wear glasses. Well, technically, anyway. I have 20/800 vision. To put that scale in perspective, if you have 20/20 vision (normal), then the text you can read easily on a billboard from a quarter mile away, without my glasses or contacts, I would have to be close enough to touch it to be able to read it.

For the record: That's pretty bad.

Even with the coolest new lens styles, my glasses weigh a ton, as you can probably imagine. So I wear contacts. Some of my closest friends have never seen me with glasses on, so I doubt they ever even knew I wore contacts.

And I take my eyes seriously. Any pain is unacceptable. I have very sensitive eyes so I can sense the slightest change in anything.

A few years ago my contact lens manufacturer (Bausch and Lomb) discontinued "my" preferred contact lens style without any notice, sending me on a quest to find an alternative when I ran out. It took two weeks of trying out various brands and styles with the optometrist each day (when he had my prescription in stock), but I finally settled on SofLens 59. They were billed by Bausch and Lomb as a "direct" replacement for the Acuview lenses I had worn for a decade. They were not the same, but they were the most comfortable alternative I had found, and they gradually grew on me. To the point where now I don't feel them at all anymore. I know they're there, but there is no discomfort.

Then it happened. Again. Bausch and Lomb discontinued the SofLens 59s. I should have seen it coming. The company just can't keep anything good on the shelves.

This time I spent three months looking for a replacement contact. I tried at least 30 variations (yes, seriously). Most of them didn't make it a full minute in my eyes. Others lasted as long as a couple days. Since manufacturers have started imprinting their logos and/or the prescriptions on the lenses, many of them are just outrageously uncomfortable. There's nothing quite so bad as having a huge "BL" rubbing against your cornea. Well, except perhaps the marginal size differences of the different brands of contacts. 1/64th of an inch difference might sound like it's immeasurable - but it feels like a knife gouging out parts of my eye - and blinking with contacts that are too small is like filleting my eyeball.

So I gave up. I'll try again in a few years. Meanwhile, I found a place online to order enough SofLens 59s to last me for 4 years. I'm using them faster than usual (switching about every ten days), so it'll be closer to three years of contacts. Some of these contacts expire in late 2009, so I can't rely on them beyond that.

That was a horrible experience, but it's something I expected. After all, Bausch and Lomb has a history of doing that to me. Then, tonight, I read that my preferred contact lens solution, AMO Complete MoisturePlus, is being completely recalled. The press release is written in such a way as to suggest it will also be discontinued. This is the absolute best contact lens solution out there. It's like rinsing your contacts in the solution the contacts are shipped in. Very clean, with that teary-solution-feel to it that makes it feel like you're putting in a fresh pair of contacts every morning. I love that.

I've used MoisturePlus since the day it was put on the shelves, thanks to my optometrist who gave it rave reviews. I use the Complete Blink-N-Clean drops, too - you'll find a small bottle of it in my pocket whenever I leave the house. Now I guess I have to spend the next couple weeks trying out different lens solutions. I have no hope of finding something as nice as Complete MoisturePlus - I've tried many others before I found MoisturePlus, and they all, well, sucked. I may as well be using saltwater. Here's hoping I find something I like, anyway.

Sigh. Does anyone have any recommendations on what to try next?

Labels: contacts