Suddenly, I can no longer wear contacts. Has anyone else had this problem, any solutions?

Get corrective surgery. I ad it done about 2 years ago and it has changed my life for the better.

@judochop a friend of mine got it done as well. worked out great. or you can get sweet glasses like Napoleon dynamite!

corrective surgery is probably a good way to go in this situation.

My girlfriend switched solutions. She became allergic and she now uses a hydrogen peroxide based solution. It takes 8 hours in the solution before the contacts are able to be worn again. Sorry, that’s not very convenient.

I wear gas permeable and wouldn’t trade them for soft in a million years. You say you don’t want to try them. What are you afraid of?

I’m really sensitive to solutions and I have to use more expensive solution to put them in. Have you tried switching contact brands? I’ve also been allergic to the solution a certain contact comes in and had to rinse them really, really well. Also hard lenses are not like they used to be – they are a lot more comfortable than ever in the past. Also are you seeing an opotmetrist or an opthamologist?

You’ve already been to the optometrist and it sounds like (s)he already gave you your options.
Since you’re 19, I’m guessing you’re not a candidate for refractive surgery since your vision may not have stabilized yet. What are your apprehensions with the rigid gas perms?

My mom, sister, and roommate have all had gas perm lenses and said that they were awful and uncomfortable. I’m worried that I’ve been spoiled by wearing soft lenses for so long. I’ll probably end up sucking it up and trying them though. Couldn’t be worse than not being able to wear them at all, I suppose.

@dazedandconfused- Your mom, sister, and roommate obviously didn’t get good fittings. Either that or they suffer from dry eyes. If that’s the case no contact lens, rigid or soft, with be comfortable. Comfort has nothing to do with the softness of a lens but how it fits to the eye. If you go to an opthamologist I’m certain s/he can fit you with some gas permeable lens that you’ll love.

Not to say that ophthalmologist can’t fit contact lenses, but remember their training is primarily in eye surgery.
Any optometrist or ophthalmologist will be able to fit contact lenses. If it really is a concern you could try to find an optometrist who had residency training in contact lenses.
I don’t wear contacts, but I recall being told the gas perms are uncomfortable to begin with, but actually become more comfortable (compared to soft) after you wear them because it sort of desensitizes your eyes

I suffered with this exact problem and saw—literally—5 doctors to get a solution. Everyone said something different. I’ll summarize the best pieces of advice I gleaned from them:

-Try daily contacts (I switched…they are more expensive, but you get to use soft contacts and throw them away daily, so you don’t have to deal with cleaning solution, or risk putting on contacts that may still have residual dirt on them)

-Try a daily allergy drop for your eyes, like Patanol or something similar

-Talk to your doctor about using steroid drops (for a certain period of time, depending on the drop and condition of the bumps under your eyelids). This helps to “calm” the irritation under your lids and gets you back to a healthier starting point to ease back into using contacts again. (you don’t use contacts at all while using the steroid drops)

-BEST ADVICE I got: SWITCH YOUR PILLOW. You may be allergic to the dust in it or could have a down allergy (I had never considered I might, but turns out it was affecting my eyes). Try a new hypoallergenic pillow. You’d also consider using a blanket that’s not down.

My eyes are still really sensitive and I need to wear glasses a couple of days a week to give my eyes a break. But I’m still using contacts and am not in glasses full time, as I too feared when this problem arose.

steroid drops the same as visine?