Comments on Strategize: The problem with AIROPTIX Night & Day Aqua contact...

Tony, I thought I was reacting to allergies or may...

2010-02-08T13:50:50.909-07:00

Tony,
I thought I was reacting to allergies or maybe just a bad batch of lenses but no matter how many I replaced they all produced the same results. Red eyes, puffy eyelids, the inside of my eyelids felt raw and scratchy after I took the "new and improved lens" out. The eye discharge has been horrible; I've never had so much "eye gunk" with any of my other contacts even when I had semi-hard lens. I mentioned the problem to my wife and she was having the same problem and thought it was something wrong with her eyes and not the contacts. Thanks Ciba, you've proven that 'new and improved' is just marketing double-talk and not quality.

Thanks! I thought I was nuts, but the new lenses ...

2010-02-02T11:15:06.587-07:00

Thanks! I thought I was nuts, but the new lenses are 'GARBAGE'!!!! I can barely keep them in for 24 hrs, much less 30 days (like I've done comfortably for 10 yrs). I am surprised CIBAvision didn't step up and let people know. You can't mess with your eyes.

I've got a few boxes of the "new and improved", bu...

2010-01-28T20:33:34.409-07:00

I've got a few boxes of the "new and improved", but I've honestly been scared to try them -- still have a few months of the Focus lenses left.

Thanks Ross for the great post. I am having exactl...

2010-01-28T13:18:37.621-07:00

Thanks Ross for the great post. I am having exactly the same problems. I purchased Aqua last July but had a supply of Focus to use up. Began use of Aqua in December. My optometrist claims to have not had a single complaint re. Aqua. I called Ciba this morning and they readily admit to having a minor problem (1% of customers) who could not wear these contacts for extended use. They believe the issue is the raised lettering on the lens causing a mechanical sensitivity as the eye lid blinks over those characters. Interesting, they asked if I had to seek medical attention so I wonder if some people ignored the warning signs and continued to wear beyond a couple days. They claim to have no more Focus contacts available but are contacting my optometrist to get me the new, improved lens. Has anyone received the new Aqua lens and has that resolved the problem for you?

Thanks.

Rich

Whooops... just noticed I made a mistake last nigh...

2010-01-13T09:06:27.250-07:00

Whooops... just noticed I made a mistake last night i posted that the old air optiks were good.... no no no no no the old NIGHT AND DAY are good not air optix.. sorry.
just delete the other post.

Here's my follow-up post: Ciba sent some replacem...

2009-12-16T13:01:28.341-07:00

Here's my follow-up post: Ciba sent some replacement lenses to my doctor's office, which I picked up today. I put the "old" lens in, and it feels soooooooooo good! No cloudiness, no goopy eye feeling, it absolutely feels completely clear. Honestly, I can't feel a thing, which is how it's supposed to be. I hope they restart production on these again, as they're simply perfect. Kudos to CIBA for their good customer service. Unless I develop similar problems again, I'm going to assume that it definitely was the Airoptix lenses that were irritating my eyes. I think that blue coating is what caused all of my problems in the past.

Add me to the list of people who are really happy ...

2009-12-08T01:01:39.114-07:00

Add me to the list of people who are really happy that you posted this, Ross. I thought there was something really going wrong with my eyes, as I too have worn the old version of these lenses for years and never had any problems, but now have all of the symptoms described: cloudiness, irritated eyelids, etc. I'll be calling my OD in the morning.

Hey Gladys, Sorry for having the wrong number on ...

2009-12-07T18:21:20.553-07:00

Hey Gladys,

Sorry for having the wrong number on there. I never had to call it since my optometrist took care of everything, but I corrected it to the 875 number in my post in case anyone else needs to call.

Thanks,
Ross

Just as a quick follow-up ... I called Ciba this m...

2009-12-07T14:42:21.708-07:00

Just as a quick follow-up ... I called Ciba this morning and explained my situation. I asked if this problem had come to their attention before, or was I just an isolated case. The Ciba rep was surprised and indicated she had never received any previous complaints. She asked me for the lot number, as well as the expiration date, which I provided. She also asked me for my eye doctor's name and phone number, which I also provided, along with my name and address. I told her I used to have the Night&Day Focus lenses which I never had any problems with, and wished I could go back to those. She told me they stopped making them at the end of March, 2009, and that I probably wouldn't be able to find them anymore. I told her I suppose that I'd have to switch to Bausch and Lomb Purevision lenses if that was the case, as I definitely was not willing to wear the Air Optix any longer. She indicated she would call me back as soon as she had spoken to my eye doctor. I look forward to hearing what they have to say, and will post more info. as soon as I hear back from them.

Just an FYI -- I dialed the number given in the fi...

2009-12-07T14:34:23.193-07:00

Just an FYI -- I dialed the number given in the first post, and it's NOT Ciba. Actually, it's some sort of subscription number, and I may now be facing a $9.99 fee through my cell phone. If you dial that number, you'll receive a text asking you to press "Y", and if you do, then you're automatically subscribed to whatever service it is that they're offering. (I'll probably have to spend a lot of time getting this straightened out!) The CORRECT number for Ciba is 1-800-875-3001.

I was wearing the original Night&Day contacts, and...

2009-12-07T06:15:15.653-07:00

I was wearing the original Night&Day contacts, and absolutely loved them! I was thrilled when my OD told me about the "new and improved" contacts by Ciba at my last eye appointment. I filled this new contact prescription, then ended up with "the worst eye infection" my OD had ever seen. After about a month of drops and doctor visits (for which I had to pay a $25 co-pay each time), my eye eventually cleared up. (I have monovision, so only wear one contact in my right eye.) My OD tried to tell me I had allergies, which was obviously the cause of the eye infection. (Is it really plausible that I would have allergies in just one eye?) After my eye cleared up, I waited about 3weeks just to be absolutely sure everything was fine, then inserted a brand new contact. Again, within a day of wearing it, that old, familiar feeling returned --a goopy red eye with crusty eyelashes -- again, only in the eye with the contact. Again, I used drops, waited, inserted a brand new contact, and yet again, the same problem. I'm down to my last contact, so my one-year supply has dwindled down to nearly zero in less than half a year because I keep having to toss them out after just a few days' use.

Today I'm going to contact Ciba, as well as my OD's office. I am not pleased, and am grateful to have these posts as reinforcement and assurance that I'm not crazy, there's something terribly wrong with these contacts. I ordered mine through 1-800-Contacts. I'm not sure if it's a bad lot, or if they're all crap, so maybe Ciba can explain that to me. I NEVER had any issues whatsoever with the old Night&Days, and I'm so glad to know they still make them. Thanks for opening up this conversation! I live in the Denver area, so I'll post again and let you know how the issue was handled. Hopefully Ciba will handle my situation as well as they have handled others.

Hi Mark, I haven't seen anything official from Ci...

2009-12-04T07:22:48.224-07:00

Hi Mark,

I haven't seen anything official from Ciba and, as you can tell from some of the comments above, people have had varying degrees of claimed responsibility when they contact Ciba; interestingly, however, everyone that has asked for replacement lenses and posted their story here has received them and most people have received the old Focus Night & Days as I did -- you do the math.

Ross

Thank you so much for writing about your experienc...

2009-12-03T12:30:46.588-07:00

Thank you so much for writing about your experience with these new Aqua lenses. I think I am suffering from exactly the same situation, and my optician today mentioned that Ciba's new coating might be causing the problem.

I've not been able to find any other references to this problem on the internet. Has Ciba admitted to this officially or written about it?

Cheers,
Mark

That's what they are giving out -- the old Focus N...

2009-11-26T10:24:54.017-07:00

That's what they are giving out -- the old Focus Night and Day lenses as replacements.

They did give me 2 boxes of the supposedly "improved" AIROPTIX, but, to be honest with you, I'm scared to try them as I consider myself lucky not to have some sort of eye damage from the defective ones.

posting 11-25-2009 Sooo My "Replacement" lenses ar...

2009-11-25T16:50:02.265-07:00

posting 11-25-2009
Sooo My "Replacement" lenses arrived today. They are the standard Night and Day, not "Air Optix"... both boxes. Havent put them in yet but I’m sure they will be fine.
Curios, no?

That's interesting because their sales reps certai...

2009-11-22T08:49:04.899-07:00

That's interesting because their sales reps certainly know about it -- they are replacing lenses with no questions asked around the Denver area. I got them to replace everything I bought without even needing to show proof of purchase, even the ones I had already used, however, they did only provide me with 2 boxes of the old ones and 2 boxes of the "improved" new ones.

What's interesting to me is that they were willing to mail 2 boxes to you; if there's not a problem, why would they agree to do that?

Hmm well I called 1.800.875.3001 and they had no i...

2009-11-19T12:21:27.869-07:00

Hmm well I called 1.800.875.3001 and they had no idea what I was talking about and "have never had any recals on the air optix night and day aqua"... however she did arange to send me 2 new boxes of lenses to my OD. I am posting this response 11-19-2009. Next time I will order something different.
Im still not confident in their quality control or the "NEW" enhancements they have made.

I have had the same problem, looking around at oth...

2009-11-18T22:33:42.975-07:00

I have had the same problem, looking around at other posts it seems like others are as well. I had a full year but most have been thrown away because of the same problems. I am posting this response on 11-19-2009. I was thinking it was me but not so sure now. going to the OD tommorow. If there is a problem why havent they traced all the people who purchased specific lot codes! my lot code is 8691085 made in Indonesia, the whole year supply was the same lot code. I could go on, Feel like dirt in eye, wakeing up with what seems like conjunctivitis (note: wife has daily contacts and no problems). Thought it was my eye however iritation problem followed contact when placed in other eye (even after cleaning lense). This is all very reminiscent of some older lenses that had a special moisture solution that caused severe eye damage... I hope it isnt.
I have been wearing contacts since I was 10 Im 40 now and cant ever recal having such difficulties with ANY other lenses.
Well, heres hoping all is well and hope this was helpfull to anyone else.

Once again thankyou for posting, after having problems with a lense I opened just 2 days back I decided to just take a look see if anyone else was having problems, just kinda sick of throwing out hardly used lenses and got my answer. Thanks!
mmmm however I also saw that the NON aqua ones are the ones they are no longer making for some reason. I guess I will have to find out.

Glad I found this. I had some problems with the o...

2009-11-02T16:47:31.098-07:00

Glad I found this. I had some problems with the older lens, but recently my optometrist put me in these lens and, man, has it been a problem. I put in 2 new ones this morning. One of the new lens is perfect. The other totally sucks. It appears to me that quality control is taboo at Ciba. Thanks.

Thank you so much for posting this information. I...

2009-10-25T09:07:40.702-06:00

Thank you so much for posting this information. I have been having major issues since they changed these lenses. Neither of the eye doctors I have seen has been able to help me figure out what is going on. I've been devastated by not being able to wear my contacts anymore. You've given me hope. I'm going to call Ciba right now. A million thanks.