Change in drops for dry eye

[GlaucomaMe]

My GP has written to me to say that they have decided to change my eye drops that treat dry eye from Hylo-Forte to Evolve HA. I am guessing for price reasons. Is anyone using Evolve HA? What do you think about it?

[Hidden]

Hylo-Forte & Evolve HA both contain sodium hyaluronate, but Evolve HA does not contain preservative. Your doctor may feel that the preservative free eye drops are better. If you are concerned about the change in the eye drops, check with the doctor the reason for the change, it is likely he will be happy to let you know.

[GlaucomaMe in reply to Hidden]

Thanks over end. Hylo-Forte is both preservative and phosphate free. But good idea to ask the doctor about the reason.

[Trish_GlaucomaUK Partner]

Hello GlaucomaMe. It is difficult to say why your GP would have changed your dry eye drops but they should have explained why this decision has been made. Both of the dry eye drops you mentioned work well in treating dry eye. See how you get on with the Evolve and if there are any problems or you feel that it isn't treating your dry eye as well as the Hylo-Forte get back to the GP advising them and ask to be put back on the Hylo-Forte.

Many GP's are not prescribing dry eye drops as NHS guidelines advise that patients with dry eyes are able to buy their own drops from the pharmacy as these drops are available over the counter so you are lucky that your GP is still prescribing.

[JanD236 in reply to Trish_GlaucomaUK]

Yes my GP won’t prescribe the moisturising drops recommended by my hospital consultant for my eye that’s had a trabeculectomy. That’s despite the consultant writing to the GP specifically asking him to do so.

[Speedbuggy in reply to JanD236]

Same here. My gp won't prescribe hylo-forte anymore because they are not cost effective to the NHS

[Charliesaid]

The change could be due to price, or it could be due to the consistency of the product. Evolve could be thicker, gel-like or more oil based, then maybe you wouldn't have to use it as frequent

[Jennymary]

My hospital want me to use Hylo Forte, which I've always had prescribed by GP with no problem, but now it looks like GP are prescribing Blink, not sure if the hospital are aware of this, Blink appeared after my last hospital appt October 2020 when he copied the wrong letter which said I was using Latanoprost, which had been discontinued on May 2019, never been prescribed Blink by the hospital

[GlaucomaMe]

Hi All, I did eventually ask my GP about the change, but only after I’d used the Evolve for a bit. The change was for financial reasons, but he was happy to prescribe either. My understanding is that they both contain the same chemicals, it is the bottle shape and dispensing mechanism that is different. I find that the Evolve comes out faster, flooding my eye and initially I found that unpleasant, with more blurring. But after using it for a while I’m perfectly happy with it. But I do find the condition very variable, with my eyes being very dry one day and not the next, currently they are much happier with daily walks in cold damp air.

[Speedbuggy]

Evolve are absolute rubbish, very watery no viscosity at all. The dropper is useless so the liquid runs all down your face. A few blinks of the eye and the lubrication is gone. Your are correct in that it is all down to cost, rather than what a patient needs