Eye exam & stuff I bought!

[annathepiper]

Got my eyes checked this afternoon, since I was overdue for an exam, and that went pretty well. The doctor said I have a bit of a stigmatism going on, which doesn't surprise me; my older brother has the same issue with his eyes, so it seems to run in the family. The weird and different part of the whole experience was my telling the contact lens guy on their staff about how my eyes have been watering and itching a lot lately--which, he said, has been a common complaint for them the last few months, so apparently it's not just me--and getting a new solution to try to see if that helps alleviate the problem any. This solution is based on hydrogen peroxide.

You read that correctly. They want me to soak my lenses in hydrogren peroxide.

Apparently what makes this safe is that you use a special container that holds your lenses in little baskets, and at the bottom of the container is a doohickey made out of titanium. This is supposed to chemically react with the hydrogen peroxide for about six hours, at the end of which you'll have a basic saline solution and your lenses will be really, really clean. The idea is supposed to be giving your lenses an even better cleaning than you can get from most commercial solutions, especially the multi-purpose ones that are laden with a lot of different chemicals. I'm dubious, but I'll give it a shot, and be extra special careful to rinse the things seven ways from Sunday before I actually put them in my eyes.

In the meantime, I have been glommed by a Bookstore and CD Store Accident. I went into the University Bookstore after my exam, since it was nearby, and picked up a copy of Elizabeth Peters' latest, Guardian of the Horizon, as well as T.F. Banks' The Thief Taker. framlingem and kieri, I did in fact look at the shelves of Bernard Cornwell books, but as near as I can tell the first book of the Sharpe series in chronological order is Sharpe's Tigers, yes? The only edition they had of that was a trade paperback, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to shell out 14 bucks for that. But it's still on the queue to consider. :)

Also, of interest to the Carbon Leaf fans on my Friends list, I have now acquired a second CL album for my collection: Indian Summer. Just ripped it to the iPod as I've typed this, and I look forward to giving it a listen!

Miles today: 2.5 (usual bus stop mile + extra for eye exam)
Miles out of Hobbiton: 69.23
Miles to Rivendell: 388.77

Comments

[kieri.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't read them in chronological order so much as in the order they were printed -- and I think in that case the first book was "Sharpe's Rifles", followed by "Sharpe's Eagle". Could be wrong and I can check for you. :)

The ones in India are really prequels, and while you could start there it's almost more fun to get to know the boys in Spain before you hear how they got started. :)

[seimaisin.livejournal.com]

Yay, Indian Summer! :) Such a great CD - very different from their earlier stuff, but fantastic nonetheless.

[poetry-lady.livejournal.com]

I use that contact solution, as I am allergic to many of the chemicals. It really DOES work--and the contacts get really clean. Pollen buildup, and the weird silvery-haze I get after I cry with them it--it powers them away. It's akin to the old AOSept system, which also worked well for me until I built up an allergic reaction to it.

I don't even rinse the lenses in the morning--I can pop them into my eyes right from solution (I SHOULD rinse, but I'm usually too brain-dead to remember).

I'm betting you'll be happy with it--I'm thrilled.

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

I thought "Eagle" was first? Shame my books are halfway across the country, or I'd check.

Chronologically, though (be aware this is from memory so there may be mistakes. Also be aware I am overwhelmingly geeky about this as it's my favorite war AND my favorite historical series)

Yes, Tiger is the first one chronologically. A list, for furute reference, and not italicised because I'm lazy. Precede each with "Sharpe's":

Tiger (Mysore, India, 1799)
Triumph (Assaye, India, 1803)
Rifles (Galacia, Spain, 1809)
Eagle (Talavera, Spain, 1809)
Gold (Almeida, Spain, 1810) - WARNING - DON'T BOTHER WITH THE FILM EXCEPT FOR EYE CANDY BECAUSE THE FILM IS TEH SUCK and I wouldn't have bought it if it didn't come in my box set.
Battle (Fuentes de Onoro, Spain, 1811)
Company (Badajoz, Spain, 1812)
Sword (Salamanca, Spain, 1812) - My favorite. Book is guaranteed nun-free.
Enemy (somewhere, Portugal, 1812)
Honour (Vitoria, Iberian Peninsula someplace but I can't remember which country, 1813)
Regiment (England, technically. 1813)
Siege (can't remember, 1814)
Revenge (Toulouse, France, 1814)
Waterloo (three guesses, and duh.)
Devil (South America, 1820-1821)


Cornwell's probably published a couple more, but those are the ones I own/know of. Prolific bastard. ;)

[wingedelf.livejournal.com]

Apparently what makes this safe is that you use a special container that holds your lenses in little baskets, and at the bottom of the container is a doohickey made out of titanium. This is supposed to chemically react with the hydrogen peroxide for about six hours, at the end of which you'll have a basic saline solution and your lenses will be really, really clean.

AOSept. Basically, the little disc is platinum coated and reacts chemically with the solution to produce oxygen and saline, and because of the process, if you leave your lenses over 4-6 hours, it has completely neutralized the peroxide. No preservatives, etc. therefore in the solution.

[firni.livejournal.com]

Yep, I've used that stuff since the 80s. It's grrrreat!

[hederahelix.livejournal.com]

I use AOSept, which is the older of the hydrogen peroxide-based cleaning systems, and it works very well. I've used it for so long that the last thing I used to disinfect my lenses before that were the little heating units that you used to have to plug in, way back in the day. (Why, yes, I have been wearing soft contacts since about 1984, whyever do you ask?) I still wear non-disposable daily wear, and if my Rx doesn't change, the AOSept system works well enough that I can wear the same pair of contacts for years before I need to change them.

I have never, ever had a problem with my lenses feeling icky and stinging after using a hydrogen-peroxide based cleaner unless:

1)You don't change the case with the metal encased basket as often as they tell you. Maybe I've got the equivalent of cast iron eyes so I don't notice as soon as I should, but my clue that it's time to change the case, since I usually lose the little sticker that tells me my three months are up, is when my contacts feel less than perfect in the morning. Then i belatedly realize I've been using the same case for five months and, whoops, it's time to change.

2)You don't give them the full 6 hours to soak that AOSept requires. Badness will occur if you try to take them out in, say, 5.5 hours and put them in your eyes.

3)You rinse them off afterwards with multi-purpose solution rather than pure saline. I picked up the wrong bottle once, late at night, and I did notice the next morning that my eyes weren't entirely happy about this development.

4)Well, okay, this hasn't happened to me, but the little instructions that come with mine say that you're not supposed to leave the lenses in the case with the hydrogen perxoid solution for more than 24 hours. The saline that the hydrogen peroxide turns into doesn't have any preservatives, so I guess you're supposed to swap the hydrogen-peroxide-turned-saline for saline from a bottle if you're going to leave them in there for more than 24 hours.

I actually don't generally follow that advice, and I've never had problems, but if you're being hypervigilant, you may want to.

Other than that, hands down, the consensus seems to be that the hydrogen peroxide systems are the best at cleaning lenses. (My uncle the eye doc and my friend the optician both say so.) Most people who wear disposable lenses don't need to use these cleaners because by the time the contacts build up the nasties, they throw them away.::shrugs:: or so people tell me.

[annathepiper]

Here's the thing--I do wear disposables. I have a brand that lets me keep the same pair for about a month, and then I have to swap out to the next pair. I also take them out every night anyway, just because I was advised that that's less wear and tear on the lenses or some such, and also because I like to give my eyes a break from having the lenses right against them as I'm sleeping.

So you'd think that I wouldn't have as much in the way of buildup problems... but then again, it's been a nasty season for allergens in the air and whatever else, so who knows? This may help.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with this stuff, though! Much appreciated. :)

[annathepiper]

Would you support kieri's recommendation of starting with the 1809 ones first and then going back to the earlier-in-time ones? Just out of general curiosity. :)

And heh, sounds like this boy's as busy with his stories as Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels! (Of whose books I own several dozen, just because she's been writing That Darned Long.)

[annathepiper]

They did songs off this one when I saw them with GBS last summer, so I was hoping to get a chance to pick it up--if nothing else because the sound was wonky enough at that show that I had the idea that "hrmm, I could probably like these guys if I could HEAR THEM", and Echo Echo doesn't cover all the songs they did. :)

[annathepiper]

If you get a chance to check on that order of printing, sure, I'd love to know which one to look for first. :) I read the first Aubrey & Maturin book before I saw the film, and I'll be happy to try that same trick here too!

[annathepiper]

I don't think I was ever in a position to know that you wore contacts--but thanks for chiming in with your experiences with this stuff. It's good to hear from others who have done this, too. :) Doing the six hours certainly shouldn't be a problem, as I can cover that and then some overnight.

I don't know what it is with me yet--but I do know that both Dara's allergy medication of choice, Telfast (a.k.a. Allegra), and Sudafed Allergy can put a dent in the reactions I've been having. So who knows?

[annathepiper]

Cool, thanks for sharing your experiences with this stuff! I remember the AOSept stuff myself... I remember the tablets you had to dissolve in the little plastic thingies, which was always annoying to have to remember to do once a week. I was really pleased to not have to do that anymore once I moved to using disposables.

[annathepiper]

Cool, we'll see how this stuff works for me. :)

[annathepiper]

This is something calling itself "Clear Care", actually; I was telling poetry_lady elsewhere on the thread that I think I remember AOSept, though. Or at least I remember these weirdo little tablets that I had to dissolve once a week in storage solution, and then dunk my lenses in the resulting mixture overnight. It was annoying. I was pleased to not have to do that once I moved over to using disposables. :)

But we'll see how this stuff works for me!

[apel.livejournal.com]

I had that system too in the late eighties. It's much better from an eye allergy point of view than anything else I tried. I've had the exact same experiences as other people regarding changing the little catalyser at the bottom of the lens pot (a date for your PDA!) and taking the contacts out too early.

[janne.livejournal.com]

I used the hydrogen peroxide & baskets method in the 80ies too, worked fine if a bit cumbersome. Tried some new and convenient stuff that didn't need rinsing off after cleaning recently, but my eyes didn't like that. So sounds like it's worth a try :)

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

I would, yeah, but then reread 'em all in chronological order :) The books he wrote first are the best, I think.

[annathepiper]

Alrighty then! I will look for the 1809-flavored books. :) And duly noted, about the quality!

[annathepiper]

So far today I've noticed that indeed, my lenses do feel much cleaner--practically as if they were brand new and I'd just popped them out of their sealed cases. Which is amusing, considering that I've only worn this particular pair for a couple of weeks.

[annathepiper]

I'll have to remember to set my reminders, yeah, if I decide to shift over to doing this on a regular basis. But I've already got a reminder set for swapping out to the next disposable pair of lenses in the box. :)