Contact lens wearers? Generic solution or name brand?

[stevenpensacola]

Had to get some more solution for my contacts this AM...and noticed quite a difference in price from the store brand vs the name brand solutions.

I read the ingredients...were pretty much the same...

Do any of you lens wearers have any experience which justifies the premium price of the name brand solutions?

 

[TaraPA]

I've been wearing contacts for 30+ years & have always used the store brand, other than the little samples of name brand I get when I go to the eye doctor, or sometimes they're freebies when I order contacts online. You can get store brand solution for $1.88, same ingredients in the $6.99 Bausch & Lomb bottle!

 

[HillPete]

I've been using store brand for over 20 years, but my son can't. He was diagnosed with inflamed lesions on his corneas last month. The doc thinks the less expensive preservatives in the solution are just too harsh for his eyes. He's doing fine on the expensive stuff. YMMV.

 

[prncess674]

I use the Target Up & Up Brand solution and I have had no problems. This is the best deal in my area for store brand solution. The Walgreens store brand is quite expensive!

 

[SookieStackhouse]

I am cheap, I usually use the store brand...I may have hit a new low, last time I didn't feel like going all the way to Walmart, so I am using some Rexall from the Dollar General store.

 

[DianeV]

I use the Kirkland brand from Costco that is equal to Renu and it works no problem and is alot cheaper

 

[MichelleVW]

I use the Walmart stuff...but every now and then I splurge and buy the new Biotrue from Bausch + Lomb....it's pretty much heaven in my eyeballs, but way too expensive for me to justify every day use.

 

[bballmom56]

I use the Walmart brand (Equate) because they don't make a name brand that works for my eyes any more. I have the rigid, gas permeable lenses and it seems the only one available in my area is the Boston brand which irritates my eyes. I have had no problem at all with the Walmart brand.

 

[caytlyn]

I also have RGP's and I use the Walmart brand instead of Boston. No problems so far and it's been about 15+ years.

 

[ChrisRuns]

The generic Target version of ReNu MultiPlus has worked just as well for my lenses as the name brand. As a PP mentioned, if you don't have sensitive eyes a generic should work just well.

 

[lemondog]

I use the Target Up & Up Brand solution and I have had no problems. This is the best deal in my area for store brand solution. The Walgreens store brand is quite expensive!

This. I buy the Target Up & Up 2-pack. Cheapest I have found and works fine.

 

[RockAndRollBallerina]

Both my husband and I are contact wearers, so we buy the store brand.

 

[pixiedustaholic]

I have been wearing contacts for 30+ years. Up until a few months ago, I always bought the store brand...usually Wal-Mart. I switched eye doctors and she talked me into trying Bio-True. I LOVE it! I can tell a huge difference. My contacts seem to stay lubricated better/longer. She had a fit when I told her I'd been using the Wal-Mart brand. She had all kinds of bad things to say about it. She made a good point about my vision and eye health being worth a few extra bucks for quality solution. I don't buy my solution from her so she really has no vested interest in which brand I use other than keeping my eyes healthy. I still buy my solution at Wal-Mart, I just buy Bio-True instead. Store brands will work fine. Ask your dr. for a sample of Bio-True. It has made a big difference in the comfort of my lenses.

 

[kelleigh1]

I use Clear Care. It was recommended by my doctor last year and at first I thought "what difference does it make?" Let me say, it makes a HUGE difference for me. My contacts used to get dry during the day and I'd have to use rewetting drops regularly. And I would take the contacts out as soon as I got home.

Clear Care isn't regular saline and I don't believe there is a store brand. You can't just use it to rinse your contacts. The contacts have to sit in the solution for at least 6 hours before you can wear them again. It does contain 3% hydrogen peroxide. But it works. My eyes are almost never dry and I hardly every use my rewetting drops. I do have some regular saline also just in case I need to rinse a lens and put it back in, but for overnight cleaning, I only use Clear Care now.

It also comes with it's own case, which is completely different from any case you've seen. It is definitely more expensive than regular saline, but if you want to extend the life of your lenses and improve the feel of them when wearing them all day, Clear Care is the way to go. (of course I must say, I am not an eye doctor, so it might be a good idea for you to consult with your own doc before trying it.)

 

[SaraJayne]

DS and I only use Bio True.

 

[mrodgers]

I use Clear Care. It was recommended by my doctor last year and at first I thought "what difference does it make?" Let me say, it makes a HUGE difference for me. My contacts used to get dry during the day and I'd have to use rewetting drops regularly. And I would take the contacts out as soon as I got home.

Clear Care is awesome! My doctor switched me to a new brand of contacts. The trial pair worked fine, but after I ordered a set, I had trouble the entire time. They lasted hardly 2 weeks and then felt like I had something like a burr on the edge. They would get so dry they were sticky feeling to the touch. I use to put my contacts in at 5 am and take them out at 10 pm, but these new ones I was taking out in the afternoon at work. I ran through those 6 pair rapidly and figured there was maybe something wrong with that lot, so ordered them again.

Same thing again with the first pair of the 2nd order. I then started reading about contacts and contact solution online. Seems Renu isn't compatible with the silicon hydrogel contact material. So, I switched to Opti-Free and same thing. My wife bought Clear Care thinking it was what I wanted. I tried that and it is outstanding. I went from wanting to rip my eyeballs out to itch them with a piece of sandpaper at noon to wearing them until I go to bed, which might be 11 pm, or might be up to 3 or 4 am on the weekends. I've even forgotten to take them out with no problems the following day, though they do get pretty dried out by the 2nd evening.


Generic vs. Name brand - Back when there was people getting eye infections from one of the contact solutions which was with my old contacts, the eye doctor asked me what I was using. I was using Walmart generic and she told me that's fine. I was told that the generics are just the previous generation formula of the name brand companies, ie, Walmart Equate brand is the previous formula of Renu, thus it wasn't the current recalled formula that was giving everyone eye infections. Target's generic is the previous formula of Opti-Free. You can pretty much tell by the bottle, the bottles are the same as the name brands.

 

[cbg1027]

I've worn contacts for 17 years. I used to use re-wetting drops all day long, and could barely stand to wear my lenses more than six hours.

So I talked to my optometrist when I went in July. I tried switching to dailies ( I have monthlies) and sampled three different brands. They actually felt WORSE! Then the doctor asked me what kind of solution and drops I was using - generic stuff, whatever is cheapest! He gave me samples of some new stuff to try.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I'm now using Alcon PureMoist solution and my contacts are soooo much more comfortable! I don't use nearly as many drops throughout the day and I'm back to being able to wear my lenses for 12+ hours. I also switched to the little individual drops since they don't have preservatives.

The name brand stuff is about eight times the price, which is painful, but the difference in comfort has been so dramatic that I can't ever go back to the generics!

 

[Ciao Mickey]

Had to get some more solution for my contacts this AM...and noticed quite a difference in price from the store brand vs the name brand solutions.

I read the ingredients...were pretty much the same...

Do any of you lens wearers have any experience which justifies the premium price of the name brand solutions?

My son has used the Costco brand for the last 15 years with no problems.

 

[Uptown Girl]

I should probably try switching to a generic. I use dailies now and hardly use any solution at all but every once in a while I will get a hair or something on the contact and need to rinse them. I can't use Bausch and Lomb, the preservatives sting my eyes.

 

[Dax]

I use Clear Care. It was recommended by my doctor last year and at first I thought "what difference does it make?" Let me say, it makes a HUGE difference for me. My contacts used to get dry during the day and I'd have to use rewetting drops regularly. And I would take the contacts out as soon as I got home.

Clear Care isn't regular saline and I don't believe there is a store brand. You can't just use it to rinse your contacts. The contacts have to sit in the solution for at least 6 hours before you can wear them again. It does contain 3% hydrogen peroxide. But it works. My eyes are almost never dry and I hardly every use my rewetting drops. I do have some regular saline also just in case I need to rinse a lens and put it back in, but for overnight cleaning, I only use Clear Care now.

It also comes with it's own case, which is completely different from any case you've seen. It is definitely more expensive than regular saline, but if you want to extend the life of your lenses and improve the feel of them when wearing them all day, Clear Care is the way to go. (of course I must say, I am not an eye doctor, so it might be a good idea for you to consult with your own doc before trying it.)

THIS!!!!

I found a website forum about contacts. On it, they had a chart about the types of solution to use based on the brand/type of contacts you wore. Clear Care was the best recommendation across the board.

Like the previous poster, I used to have TONS of issues with my lens. Always dry, within an hour of putting them in. I could not wear them for more than 12hrs without issues. I have been using Clear Care now for 6mo. I have used a re-wetting drop maybe 3x in that span.

As stated, it has peroxide in it, but that acts as a cleaner and makes a huge difference. Also, it is expensive...almost $9, but worth every penny.

My DH uses Walmart brand, and goes through a bottle of drops every 2 weeks.