Comments on: Acuvue Oasys Lenses Cause Red Eyes

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:48:22 +0000

I just switched to Oasys after wearing other contacts for 20 years. My eyes were blood shot, light sensitive, and my vision was blurry. All over the counter re-wetting and gel drops had no effect on my symptoms. I’ve been out of the lenses for 10 days now after taking some steroid drops, and the redness has gone away, but my vision is appreciably worse than it was when I got the contacts in October. I noticed such a precipitous decline in my vision in just two months, I thought I was going blind. My left eye feels like there’s a haze over it all the time when I’m just wearing glasses. I’m worried my eye sight has been ruined forever.

By: redeyedinNC

redeyedinNC — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:28:45 +0000

I am sitting at my desk right now trying to avoid everyone because of my red eyes. When I say red, I mean really red. I am very angry.
Thank goodness I found this blog. I have had the exact same experience with Acuvue Oasys as everyone listed above. I was switched by the advice of my doctor from the Acuvue 2 several years ago. This whole time I thought it was my allergies causing Allergic Conjunctivitis. It made sense because I have seasonal allergies and my eyes were also itchy.
I will spare you they whole story because it is EXACTLY the same as the others. I did get a scarred cornea and some eye infections. NEVER once did the doctors think it was the contacts. Guess what? They still don’t. I called my eye doctor yesterday to tell her I wanted a refund for my contacts that I had just purchased. What do you think she said? “It is probably not the contacts, but an eye infection”. Wow. Duh. What is causing the eye infection genius? THE CONTACTS!
Long story short. I have suffered many years from these poison contacts. I have had several days ruined, I have beed depressed about it several times, and ofcourse wasted lots of money. I am in my twenties and I hope there is no permanent damage. Who knows?
Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and I am so glad that we have all found a solution for our eye problems. These contacts are gone! Please spead the word anyway you can that these contacts are horrible. Hopefully one day they will be removed from the market forever.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:48:11 +0000

I can’t tell you how glad I am I ran across this thread. My new eye doctor had me switch from my Acuvue 2s (which i never had problems with!) to the Advanced and then Oasys. About a month after I started using them I noticed my eyes were extremely dry and I went to the doctor thinking I scratched my cornea. Since October, I’ve been in the emergency room twice, the urgent care 3 times, 2 allergy specialists, a dermatologist and to the eye specialist twice. My eyes get super teary and crusty, and my eyelids (the right more than the left) will swell up to triple its size to the point them are swollen completely shut. It’s painful, in fact, I had an episode yesterday afternoon, so today it’s still slightly swollen and hurts terribly. I do not sleep in contacts, I throw them out every two weeks, so i never thought that contacts were the culprit. My eye specialist mentioned it could possibly be these Acuvue Oasys contacts and that hes had other patients have problems with them. I didn’t think it was that because I’ve never had contact problems before. But last time I was there, he gave me a pair of my trust old Acuvue 2′s, and I wore them 2 weeks without an incident. It was time to throw them out, so i had no choice but to put a fresh pair of the Oasys in 3 days ago and BAM, I have an episode.

BEWARE OF ACUVUE ADVANCED AND OASYS! I’ve missed a lot of work and accrued a ton of medical bills because of this! It’s been a painful and embarassing experience because my eyelids swell up within 15 minutes. There has been a couple occasions that I didn’t even know it was happening and someone had to pull me aside and have me go look in the mirror. I’ve gone through 3 regiments of steroids and steroid shots in order to stop the swelling! Very painful and very expensive to fix! Now I am stuck with an 9 months worth of these Oasys contacts that cost me a pretty penny!

By: MLN

MLN — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:12:13 +0000

I also would like to add the red-eye problem didn’t start with the Oasys lenses until after about a month (I also don’t sleep with them in; take them out each night for cleaning). I had been using Replenish with my old 3-month disposable lenses (not Oasys and not silicone hydrogel) for a while with no problems so that’s why I didn’t connect that the solution may be the problem at first.

By: MLN

MLN — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:11:16 +0000

I also would like to add the red-eye problem didn’t start with the Oasys lenses until after about a month (I also don’t sleep with them in; take them out each night for cleaning). I had been using Replenish with my old lenses (not Oasys) for a while with no problems so that’s why I didn’t connect that the solution may be the problem at first.

By: MLN

MLN — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:06:54 +0000

I, too, had red eye (sometimes it looked like I had pink eye) in both eyes for months after wearing Oasys. Finally went to the optometrist. Was on Lotemax corticosteroid drops for two weeks and was told to switch from Optifree Replenish to ClearCare. After about 4-6 weeks, my eyes were better.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 02:14:58 +0000

There are some more details about a problem with the opti-free and oasys combination here:

http://www.optiboard.com/forums/showthread.php/40518-IKC-with-Acuvue-Oasys-with-Optifree-Replenish

By: Hayley

Hayley — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:47:13 +0000

I had an eye exam yesterday and had been experiencing red eye for the past 6 months. I had not change any medication and my eye exam was perfect nothing wrong, except for my eyes were extremely dry which caused the redness. My eye doctor informed me there is currently and investigation happening against Opti-Free solution and Oasys contact lenses. The problem is not the Oasys its the solution!! The combination causes the tear layer to dry out hence the red eyes!!! I was informed to switch the solution right away, and use eye drops. The redness has totally disappeared from the drops. DO NOT USE OPTI FREE SOLUTION.

By: Megan

Megan — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:56:30 +0000

Wow. I too have had the same issues with Oasys. I used to use Acuvu Advance, never having any issues (used them for 14 years) and then my eye doctor switched my lens because it is what he had in stock. They are more expensive AND supposed to be better, but straight away I started getting the irritation and infections. I finally realized that it was my contacts, NOT allergies, and NOT pink eye. My eye doctor doesn’t seem to think it’s the issue, but I’ve taken the Patanol drops and the eye lubricant gel for months now, but each time I let my eyes get better and use the Oasys again, they flare up. I am going to try to switch back to Advance, but I’m scared about hurting my eyes. After reading all these posts, I’m nervous that I could damage my eyes by continuing contact use, but I can’t get laser surgery because my cornea is too thin (once again, according to my eye doctor). Thanks for posting this blog and making me realize I’m not a hypochondriac. (o: Now to figure out a solution!

By: Miserable in NY

Miserable in NY — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:53:46 +0000

I called the Acuvue number (800) 843-2020 and spoke to them. The customer service person was trying to see whether the irritation came from the solution. I told him I’d been using Clear Care since day 1 with these lenses. I asked if he could send me a sample of Acuvue 2 before I make an investment in buying them. He said no, that only my eye doctor could do that.

The problem with my eye doctor is that she insists I have allergies, not an infection. Also, she keeps pushing Lasik as an alternative, saying that “Maybe contact lenses just aren’t for you. You may require Lask.” First, I’ve worn contact lenses since I was 16, so that’s a moot point. Second, I feel as though these eye doctors deliberately give us Acuvue Oasys so that we’re so miserable we begin to seriously consider Lasik surgery, which is so expensive and unreliable. I’ve read about the problems that can occur years later.

Well, I will try the Acuvue 2 lenses which are hydrogels, but NOT Silicone Hydrogels. Hopefully, that will solve the problem. The bulging red veins in my right eye have not gone away, it is now 1 month. I’ve let my eyes rest for 4 days, put them in and the same full blown symptoms occur again: gummy discharge, inflammation, red veins, feeling like a foreign object is in my eye, blistery eyelids, etc. These Oasys lenses are going in the trash. Perhaps J&J should just be in the baby care industry, and not the contact lens industry, ya think?