Could any of you please tell me of any good eye drops I could buy over the counter for dry eyes. Although I havent been diagnosed with this im sure I have it. The last couple of weeks my eyes have been very stingy and sensitive, last weekend I had a red eye. It went away but a few days later my other eye was sore and I woke up the next morning with it very weepy. I keep getting a gritty feeling in them and I know underactive thyroid can cause this. I know there are alot of different types of sprays but is there one that wont cause my eye to go blurry after using it as my eyes cause me alot of anxiety and even panic attacks when I have problems with them.
Many thanks Tasia.
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Tasia
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When my eyes are dry I use ViscoTears Single Dose Units. This is, however, a thick, clear gel and for maybe five minutes, things are a bit blurry. Might need to use it three or even four times a day.
And at night I use LacriLube. Again this makes things blurry - much more so than the ViscoTears and somewhat longer lasting. But it does clear.
There are other similar products.
I am sensitive to the preservative used in most eye drop products. That is why I use the single dose unit form of ViscoTears. (And LacriLube has no preservative.)
The most common eye drops are thin and watery and, in my experience, they simply do not last. Needing to re-apply every twenty or thirty minutes or so is not workable.
Maybe you could put whatever you end up with in one eye, wait a while, then the other eye?
I have not tried the spray-at-your-eyes products at all.
Have you asked your GP? He should be able to help and can prescribe both these products - though both can be bought without prescription. The ViscoTears is over ten pounds for thirty doses.
Or go to a decent optician, have a full eye test, and see what they suggest. They might wish to refer you or tell your GP what you need.
At the moment, I am not feeling the need to use either. That is a blessed relief! I hope you get to the same stage soon.
My optician sold me some "artificial tears" for about £13 because my eyes were very dry. I can't remember the brand but I think my eyes feel best when I'm taking Lutein ( a vitamin supplement) which although recommended for eyes is associated more with preventing macula degeneration. I definitely think it does a better job of keeping my dry gritty eyes feeling pain free than the drops do.
If you really have dry eyes you only want artificial tears and nothing else. I have dry eyes diagnosed by the moorfields eye unit and think that this is probably not dry eye you are describing. As your eyesight is so precious I would get your eyes checked out sounds more like an infection than dry eyes.
If you have dry eyes these are available on prescription or a bottle rather than individual dose units are a couple of pound from a chemist not £13 as mentioned above.
I get on prescription single dose units to use as required, usually once a day now and its viscotears and helps a lot :). Optician requested gp prescribe and it doesnt sting like over counter products I tried
Hi I have Sjogrens which started with dry eyes. I see 2 different specialists One for Sjogrens and one for eyes.. I have to bathe my eyes with boiled water and drop of baby shampoo 2 daily. I have to use eyes drop( artificial tears ) as many times a day as needed. ( script or counter ) but it must be preservative free. Replacement tears ie very pure and sterile. You can buy these very cheaply but the cheap ones have preservative in so only suitable for very occasional use.
I have dry eyes anyway and the Optician in the past has sold me their drops, to allow me to wear contact lenses. Now I rarely wear them because they are too dry (much to optician's disappointment £££ ). However I have also had Conjunctivitis years ago and that's different. For a start - it's contagious.
If your eyes are red then yo must see the GP or opticians.
hi i also use celuvisc eye drops for dryness.at the moment i have very bad cold even with my drops my eyes r so running and itchy,hv u ever experence this.lpls let me knw,thanks.
I would thoroughly recommend a trip to the opticians; it sounds more like conjuntivitus than dry eyes, they'll be able to confirm and recommend the right eye drops for you.
I'm hashi and wear contact lenses; if I have dry eyes at all I just use the Boots eye drops, I think they cost around a fiver. It was recommended to me by my sister in law who is an optometrist (I also used to work in an opticians too!). The dry eyes has mostly stopped after finding the best type of lenses for me and being properly dosed too.
Hi everyone. Thankyou all for your helpful replies.
In regard to conjuctivitus I know I dont think I have got this as today my eyes are white and clear and dont feel too bad a wee bit dry I would say... The red eye I had last weekend only lasted a couple of days. The gritty feeling in my eyes come and goes, sometimes I can go days without it than it will come back this is what is making me believe its dry eye syndrome. I have actually just had an eye test, infact ive had two as I started getting pains in my right eye but thankgod everything was fine but this was before my eye went red. The viscotears sound so good but bcos it makes your eyes blurry I wont be able to use it. I really panic if my eyes go blurry and in the past have not used things for my eyes if it says this on the label. I dont know what to go for. I may make an appt with the doc and see what they say as they may be able to give me a spray for free and just give them a check over...Thankyou so much again for all your help. Tasia x
HI, HAVE HAD DRY EYES FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS NOW ,HAD RED EYE SORE AND WATERING OPTICIAN TOLD ME TO GET OPTREX CHLORAMPHENICAL DROPS AS IT WAS AN EYE INFECTION CLEARED UP IN A COUPLE OF DAYS ,YOU NEED TO USE DROPS FOR 5 DAYS,I NOW USE BOOTS INTENSIVE DRY EYE DROPS HAVE TRIED LOTS BUT THESE WORK FOR ME ,GOOD LUCK .
My GP prescribed me visco tears, i use it 4 times a day and it really helps, and best of all its free because its on prescription, have been using it for over a year now. Good luck.
I have liquifilm tears on prescription. These are also preservative free and single us (although I put the lid back on and use them as and when over a12 hour period). They don't make my eyes blurry. I also use lacrilube ointment at night and have found that if I put this in followed by a couple of drops of liquifilm tears then that gets rid of any blurriness.
I do have very dry eyes (not caused by hypoT) and also have punctual plugs which stop tears from draining away. These really help too. Xx
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