Contact lens options

[balanced]

I’ve worn contacts most my life. Started out with hard ones with great success. They were inexpensive and I typically wore one pair for over a year. Then dr advised to switch to soft lenses so my eyes can “breathe” more. Eventually they switched me to dailies due to dry eye and they also said it helps in infection prevention. Well now I’ve been paying $900 a year for astigmatism dailies. I’ve become much more environmentally friendly in my old age and I’m bothered at the waste of dailies even though I recycle the boxes etc. The cost is proving to be enormous too. Would love to get thoughts or know what most other people do?

FYI lasix is an option but not immediately so really just looking for contact lens advice.

[thatgolfb]

I have nearsightedness and astigmatism. Astigmatism lenses are just more expensive, unfortunately. I use Acuvue Oasis, which are switched out every 2 weeks. They have been working great for me for years. I think I pay around $300 for the year for mine.

[nevertoomanyshoes]

I tried the Acuvue dailies but my sensitive snowflake eyes don’t like the preservatives in them. I’ve been using the Kirkland ones from Costco and giving my eyes a break every few days with glasses. I don’t have a solution for the recycling of the lenses themselves though.

[Deleted]

I also have astigmatism and near sighted and used to do acuvue and switched providers and now I'm on aquaclear toric. I have monthlies. I also pay about 300 a year. Contacts are more expensive than glasses and astigmatism is more expensive than non.

I've been considering lasik because I'm tired of paying for contacts.

[sudsy]

Apr 12, 2021 22:02:18 GMT -6 thatgolfb said:

I have nearsightedness and astigmatism. Astigmatism lenses are just more expensive, unfortunately. I use Acuvue Oasis, which are switched out every 2 weeks. They have been working great for me for years. I think I pay around $300 for the year for mine.

Same. I couldn’t do dailies. I use Acuvue Oasis for Astigmatism, and they work well for me. $300 for the year is probably a good guesstimate.

[trueblue]

I am similarly situated with expensive daily toric lenses ($45-50/box for a 30 day supply and I need 2 very different prescriptions in each eye; so $90-100/mo for the privilege of not wearing glasses) and I do not qualify for lasic so I transitioned to glasses. I keep some contacts around for activities that are just not glasses friendly. It’s not as awful as I thought it would be.

[ktg]

I have used Air Optix monthlies for years and have zero issues with them. They have an option for astigmatism and the boxes (6 lenses each) are around $30.

If you take them out at night, daily contacts can be worn for several days. Some say about a week, some say two weeks.

I also use Clear Care Plus for my lenses at night, which is a peroxide solution that becomes saline after 6 hours - it bubbles and kind of scrubs the lenses. My contacts are not grubby at all at the end of the month.

[trueblue]

I would be careful about over extending the length of the time disposables are used. I played that game (removed and cleaned\disinfected every night) and lost big time - your body can become allergic to the lenses and then you are literally in daily disposables. If I could go back and change certain things, that’s in the top 3.

[ktg]

Apr 13, 2021 5:40:52 GMT -6 trueblue said:

I would be careful about over extending the length of the time disposables are used. I played that game (removed and cleaned\disinfected every night) and lost big time - your body can become allergic to the lenses and then you are literally in daily disposables. If I could go back and change certain things, that’s in the top 3.

I did mean from the manufacturer - my husband's are for daily use (one day and night) or 7 days day-only wear.

[notexactly]

I’ve been using Biofinity soft lenses since 2011. I put new ones in monthly. A six month supply costs me around $130. Before my husband had Lasik eye surgery, he had to wear the toric lenses for astigmatism and they always cost a lot more.

[Deleted]

I was on dailies because of allergies in my eyes. I was spending over 1,000 a year in lenses because my eyes were two different scripts so it was almost a $100/month.

At that point it wasn’t worth it to me and I switched back to glasses full time. There are sometimes I wish I had contacts for certain things but not enough to justify the cost. Plus my eye doctor always warned that you should still have glasses as well because your eyes really do need a break from contacts and need to breathe.

[robotsvswrestlers]

I have had good success with my Biofinity Toric. I can get a years supply for both eyes, plus my exam/fitting for a few hundred dollars a year. I do have eye insurance, so that helps. And each year I’ve been getting ~$50 rebate.

Definitely don’t wear your contacts all day every day. I try to wear about 6-6 and wear glasses once I get home from work until bed.

Cannot recommend the Clear Care peroxide overnight cleaner enough. I use it maybe mid month and with a week left in the month to keep the contacts feeling clean. I notice a big difference.

[addymac]

I used acuvue oasis for yearsssssss and I switched to biofinity and I save a decent amount of money - plus my eye dr gives us a rebate form for it.

I have astigmatism and dry eyes developed about 2 years ago, and terrrrerrible eyesight.

[balanced]

Thank you everyone! This is helpful. I’m going to look for alternatives rather then continuing to pay so much.

[byjove]

Apr 13, 2021 5:37:00 GMT -6 ktg said:

I have used Air Optix monthlies for years and have zero issues with them. They have an option for astigmatism and the boxes (6 lenses each) are around $30.

I also wore the air optix monthlies for 10 years or so. My favorite contacts I've tried.

[miawallace]

I pay about $100 for 6 months worth of those toric contacts from Costco. They are about $49 a box.
They are the biofinity brand ones. They are amazing. I never have to use drops. So much better than other contacts I’ve used.