Favorite over the counter lubricant eye drops/products?
Curious to hear what your favorite over the counter products, such as eye drops, gels, etc. are? Have you found a difference between different brands and found you prefer one over another?
Interested to hear everyone's thoughts and experiences.
after a lot of trial and error I found GenTeal gel drops in the tube work best for me at night. During the day I use Equate lubricant drops from Walmart. Sharon Moore Patient Leader thank you for sharing! I‘be looked at equate but haven’t tried them, although have thought about it. Have you tried systane and/or refresh and if so, do you feel there’s any big difference? From what I’ve seen, equate is much cheaper, and I do struggle with the financial costs in general, though in my case I am supposed to use the single use vials, and I’m not sure I’ve seen those in that brand. -Nina
A lot of eye drops sting or don't actually offer enough lubrication, but I've found the Systane Ultra drops to work almost as well as the ones my optometrist sells.
Which ones does your optometrist sell? I personally like Systane as well. They are quite pricey though, which is the only thing that sucks, but they seem to work best for me so far as well. Refresh do okay too, and I find those much cheaper at Costco, so I tend to switch between the two depending on what I have at the time! my optometrist sells ones called Thealoz Duo and they’ve worked the best for me. They’re a little pricey but they last longer than other eye drops for me
I use Biotrue preservative free drops when my eyes are really dry - I love that they come in a bottle instead of a vial. I have them on subscribe and save to save a bit more money. I use the Systane with preservatives when I've been out in the yard or for a walk and feel like I just need to flush the debris out of my eye - always 3 times a day or less due to the preservatives. My doctor gave me a sample of Refresh but I didn't really notice a difference. I'm tempted to try the equate ones for the savings, but I can buy regular Systane bottles at Sam's so they're already pretty reasonable. However, taking my contacts out and dousing them with contact lens solution (I use Biotrue) is the most effective dry eye relief, so if I'm home and able to do that I always prefer it to using drops. I haven't needed the gel at night in a long time, plus I put restasis in right before bed so I'm often asleep before I'd be able to wait and do a gel drop. Great question and discussion! -Ava, CDE team
I do the same thing with my contact lenses when I"m home and that helps more than anything (especially with my scleral lens). Thankfully I haven't had to use the gel in a while either, but this winter weather has definitely had me using eye drops more than usual. (and taking my contacts out more to replenish them haha) Thanks so much for sharing, hope you are having a great start to the new year! Thank you!
I just visited my optometrist yesterday for my annual contact lens exam and he recommended some drops called Regener-eyes. Has anyone tried these? They're a bit expensive and there seems to be some controversy about the biologic materials used to make them, but my doctor said he has heard some great patient testimonials. Going to task my ophthalmologist about them next week. -Ava, CDE team
personally have not even heard of them until now, will have to do some more research, but please keep us posted on what your opthalmologist says next week - I'm curious!thanks! I had to delay my ophthalmologist visit (story of my life right now with all the preschool colds we've had - I've canceled so many appointments) so I will have to ask him NEXT month... But I will eventually get back to y'all about it. 😀 -Ava, CDE team.
