You have allergies. You wear contacts. You use allergy eyedrops.

July 27, 2015 10:38 AM

What allergy eyedrops do you use?

Contact lens wearer and allergy sufferer here. I am on allergy shots, Zyrtec, and Flonase. I feel like my allergies are mostly under control, except for my eyes. They are itchy. They have enough mucus production that I never can see 100% clearly unless I have just taken out my contacts and rinsed them in saline. I am pretty miserable about this.

If you also wear contacts and have found a solution to allergy eyes, I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.

Not wearing contacts is not really an option, I was born with cataracts and my glasses are super-heavy and have no peripheral vision, as well as being hideous.

posted by rabbitrabbit to Health & Fitness (15 answers total)

I use zatador once a day after I take my lenses out (if you use them before you put your lenses in, you have to wait at least 10 minutes). I also use ocusoft wipes once or twice a day for the pores near my eyelashes. These two things mean no itchy eyes for me.
posted by zippy at 10:45 AM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Also talk to your eye doc about your antihistamines. They can dry out eyes and in some cases cause more irritation and sensitivity. Zatador-type eye drops are an exception to this, flonase and oral antihistamines are in the talk-to-the-eye-doc camp.
posted by zippy at 10:47 AM on July 27, 2015

I used to use prescription steroid eyedrops and also a variety of brands of allergy eyedrops because my eyes were so bad. Then I transferred allergists and lucked into my favorite allergist ever and he is of the opinion that steroid eyedrops are dangerous and also that no allergy eyedrops are as effective as using artificial tears and rinsing out your eyes as often as desired and particularly each and every time they are itchy. Not just putting a drop in that stays in, but putting two or three drops in, closing your eyes and moving your eyes in a circle, opening your eyes and putting in another two or three drops and letting it all run down your face.

So I tried that, and I now agree that getting the pollen out of my eyes is actually more effective than just trying to counter its effects while it remains in my eyes. It is admittedly way more of an effort, though, but it has good results for me and also seems safer.
posted by vegartanipla at 10:51 AM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Zaditor is amazing, but you have to take your lenses out to use it.
posted by Mchelly at 10:54 AM on July 27, 2015

I also use Zaditor, although I just use the generic available at my local pharmacy. The active ingredient is Ketotifen (0.035%). I put a drop in each eye just after I wake up, giving me a good window of at least fifteen minutes while I shower and pick out clothes before I put my contacts in. Before I go to bed, after I've removed my contacts, I again put a drop in each eye. I still sometimes way up with some minor irritation, but it's not nearly as bad.

I'd also second vegartanipla's suggestion. I don't take my contacts out during the day, typically, but I use a healthy amount of the contact-friendly saline drops to keep my contacts moist.
posted by mikeh at 10:54 AM on July 27, 2015

Ask an ophthalmologist, not your GP or someone who is just an optometrist. I started having an allergic reaction in my eyes and my ophthalmologist gave me eyedrops FOR allergy, that I can use with my contacts. I can't remember the name but he said specifically that oral antihistamines are not as effective for problems with your eyes like this.
posted by Medieval Maven at 11:32 AM on July 27, 2015

I was wearing contacts and having trouble with allergies, and my eye doctor prescribed Lasticaft, which eventually gave me a bad allergic reaction (it might have been a reaction to the preservatives, my new eye doctor guessed) that led to having to go to the ER in Ljubljana. The doctor I saw there prescribed something equivalent to Zatidor (to deal with the allergic reaction to the Lasticaft (that and stopping the lasticaft!), which worked great.
posted by leahwrenn at 11:53 AM on July 27, 2015

Patanol is great for me, and can be used 10-15 minutes before putting in your lenses, but it's $$$ so be sure to check your insurance coverage. Whether it would be a good option would depend on what portion of the year you have the problem.
posted by acm at 12:34 PM on July 27, 2015

Azelastine drops.

Zaditor worked really well, too. I have contacts and a very bad allergy to my cat.
posted by Stewriffic at 12:34 PM on July 27, 2015

I use these Visine allergy drops that contain an antihistamine. I don't think they are specifically recommended for contact lens wearers, but they haven't given me any trouble. I usually use it once in the morning before putting in my contacts, and if necessary during the day while wearing the contacts (not usually required).
posted by barnoley at 12:36 PM on July 27, 2015

Pataday (which I guess is a new once-daily version of Patanol) works just fine.
posted by JimN2TAW at 12:37 PM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Things that helped me were Alaway (the Bausch & Lomb equivalent to Zaditor) and switching to a hydrogen peroxide-based contact lens solution (e.g. Clear Care). FWIW: the CVS ketitofen in the blue box like Alaway includes twice as much product as the CVS ketitofen in the orange box like Zaditor, and costs only a dollar more (and is much cheaper than either name brand). Before you switch up solutions you should confirm with your eye doctor that you're not going to make things worse, but my eye doctor was super aggressive about trying new things to keep me in contacts and both those things were his ideas (but he first tried putting me in a brand of lenses I'd told him I already knew wouldn't work, so YMMV).

Neither the drops nor the change in solution helped me enough to make it possible for me to wear contacts all day, so I gave up and went back to glasses full time, including shelling out for prescription sunglasses. This way I only have to carry one glasses case and no solution, whereas with contacts I have to carry reading glasses, sunglasses, my actual glasses for when my eyes can't stand contacts anymore, and a case and a bottle of solution.
posted by fedward at 1:57 PM on July 27, 2015

When I had allergies my doctor prescribed a couple of things, most were behavorial changes. First I switched to daily contacts which made a world of difference and practically eliminated about 95% of my symptoms. The pollen was getting stuck the contacts and building up day after day even after I cleaned them.

I'm not sure if dailies are an option for you due to cataracts but if not use a hydrogen peroxide solution loke Clear Care or AO Sept if you're not already. They're super effective.

Drink more water ...like at the least the recommended amount each day. This won't solve your immediate problem but should help overtime by keeping your eyes naturally hydrated and better protected.
posted by CosmicSeeker42 at 1:57 PM on July 27, 2015

Oh also I had to switch to Blink rewetting drops. I didn't have an allergic reaction to them like I did with any standard rewetting drops, but still: not enough. I could make it to about 4-6 PM and then the contacts would have to go.
posted by fedward at 2:00 PM on July 27, 2015

Also Patanol. I use it with my contacts in. Also use a peroxide cleaner like Clear Care to get rid of the build-up on the lenses. Be SURE you let the solution neutralize before putting them back in. All the fancy antihistamines don't work for my eyes. I usually have to resort to plain old benedryl or ChlorTabs. Steroid sprays don't help my eyes at all.
posted by tamitang at 6:04 PM on July 27, 2015