Sudden issues with my lentils!

Hi there!

There are plenty of threads about contact lenses and common issues already, but I’m starting this one because I ran into something totally new.
So, I wear RGP lenses and have been doing so for four years now. It's always been smooth sailing—I adapted quickly, they never felt intrusive, and I could easily wear them for over 12 hours during long days without any discomfort. I’m pretty meticulous about maintenance, too. I thoroughly clean them with solution before putting them in, I change my storage solution frequently, and I keep the case spotless. My last eye exam was a year ago, and the doctor said my prescription hadn't changed and my lenses were in perfect shape. Of course, I rotate them regularly—I usually lose about one every six months 🙂 so they're never expired (not that it matters much with RGPs, but just ruling that out).

Here’s the deal: the other morning, I went to put my lenses in. Cleaned them up, popped the right one in, and suddenly—intense tearing. Exactly like that feeling when something gets trapped under your lens. I figured maybe I didn't clean it well enough, or maybe some dust got in there, so I took it out, cleaned it again, and put it back in. Still tearing. I thought, fine, I'll just put the left one in first and deal with the right later. Same thing happened with the left. Cleaned it, put it in, same result. Eventually, I just powered through the irritation and put both in, but I spent the whole day squinting and blinking.
Now, I honestly have no idea what's going on. Everything was perfectly fine the night before. Maybe it's dry eyes? I'll pick up some artificial tears, but it feels weird for this to happen so suddenly. I tried wearing them for a few hours today and my eyes ended up bloodshot. Could this be something serious? I'm calling my ophthalmologist tomorrow morning to schedule an appointment, but if anyone has dealt with this, I'd love some advice. One more thing: over the last few months, it feels like my vision has actually gotten worse. I notice it when I wear my glasses because I can't see distant details as clearly anymore.

Thanks!

It’s totally possible the preservative fluid just went bad (manufacturers are cheap as hell these days and cut corners everywhere they can)

Maybe you were just running on zero sleep.
I know from experience that I struggle to get my contacts in if my eyes are exhausted.
Or perhaps there's just some buildup on them despite your regular cleaning; it might be worth having them professionally polished.

Karen Peterson8 said:Maybe you were just running on zero sleep.
I know from experience that I struggle to get my contacts in if my eyes are exhausted.
Or perhaps there's just some buildup on them despite your regular cleaning; it might be worth having them professionally polished.

Wait, what kind of pills for depolarization?
And what do you mean by polishing? I've never actually done that before...

I guess polishing is really only meant for semi-hard lenses.

It’s totally possible the lens has a hairline crack, but honestly, you aren't going to spot that with the naked eye.

Same exact thing happened to me. I rocked hard contacts for five years without a single issue, then one afternoon I tried to pop them in and—man, the pain was unreal—even though I’m constantly using eye drops. Now, every single day when I try to put them in, it just hurts too much 😠 so I went to see my GP, and she's just like, "Oh, it's probably just dry eyes, it's summer, you know how it is..."

But it didn't stop, so I finally booked an appointment with a specialist. Turns out I had some kind of eye inflammation and even some retinal damage in my left eye. He told me if I'd waited any longer, it could've spread and caused a serious ulcer 😲 and apparently, this happens because when your eyes are dry, those hard lenses basically just scrape against everything—especially if you aren't super careful with hygiene. I got the infection cleared up and switched over to soft contacts, and honestly, life is so much better now 👍
Seriously, just go see an ophthalmologist 😉