Problems getting Hylo-Forte on prescription

[Caneries]

I have had two trabulectomy operations in last 3 years it’s left me with very dry eyes.

I have always had Hylo-Forte lubricant eye drops. Preservative Free. I pay for prescription.

Last month GP would not presecribe them and gave me Eyeaze drops one eye had a reaction I did a Yellow Card.

Has anyone else had problems getting Hylo on prescription?

Are there any other preservative free drops you would recommend?

Many thanks

[balacakkhu]

Yes. Some health authorities do not prescribe Hylo-Forte.

[Choirlover]

Yes I used Hylo Forte (not on prescription sadly) but I was informed by my optician that the generic equivalent was Hycosan. This is readily available in Boots or other pharmacies and it is actually cheaper than Hylo Forte. I have now switched to this with no noticeable difference to the effect.

[anonimouse5]

I was prescribed HyloForte by the hospital but the GP pharmacist changed it to Eyease which he said wasthe same thing. I mentioned it twice at the hospital and neither doctor had heard of it! On reading the info leaflet I found it contains phosphate, unlike HyloForte. The Ganfort leaflet says that phosphate may cause problems. Ganfort is one drop per day, I was told to use lubrication 4 times a day, so 5 times as much phosphate! I changed to Hycosan Extra which hopefully is the same as Hyloforte but in a smaller bottle.

[whitedog]

I get Hylo-Forte free on prescription thankfully. The only time I've been given something different was when the hospital eye clinic did me a prescription as I was running out and the pharmacy there gave me something else that I wasn't happy about.

Just wondering - if you pay for your prescriptions could you buy it cheaper online? You can sometimes get multiples of some stuff on Ebay.

[Hidden]

I use Hycosan gel preservative free - can sometimes get on amazon prime x

[Amjan]

I use Hyloforte, I get this on prescription regularly but only after my consultant wrote to my GP. I am not aware of shortage.

[muddledme]

Hello Caneries,

Sorry to hear that you are having problems obtaining your eye drops.

A similar thing happened to me. The GP surgery implied that my dry eyes were a temporary problem so I would have to buy the lubricating drops myself. Following two stent implants I had already used the lubrication for years, so I reluctantly wrote to the opthalmologist to let him know what the GP was doing. The opthalmic surgeon wrote to the GP and I have always now recieved the eye drops on prescription.

I find Thealoz Duo Gel at night wonderful , it drops in the eye rather than the other gels that are often very difficult to squeeze from tubes. If I use the gel then I do not often need the daytime Thealoz Duo Uno drops , saving the NHS funds ! All the Thealoz drops I use have no preservatives.

Best Wishes

[Caneries]

Thank you everyone for your responses.🙏

I wrote to my GP and he has put me back on Hylo-Forte but I will try some of the drops you have mentioned to see if they agree with me.

Take care everyone ☺️

[Rainyday2024 in reply to Caneries]

Hello, I also use Thealoz drops which I have on Prescription (fingers crossed this won’t change!!) I have the bottles of drops for daytime use, they are supposed to be ok once opened for about three months, but I tend to start a new bottle after about a month. I also use the Thealoz Gel drops before bed as they can make my eyes a bit blurry. On occasions I have been given a different Thealoz - I think it’s something like OUD - it still comes in individual phials but it’s not the same consistency as the gel. It might be cheaper? Hope this helps