so it came to my attention a few days ago when i went to buy some softwear saline for my contacts that ciba vision is discontinuing miraflow contact lens cleaner and softwear saline. wtf?
i have managed to score some miraflow and hopefully will be ordering some softwear saline. i can't believe this. well, you're probably wondering what the big deal is. i am allergic to just about every other contact lens solution available. i can't use alcon, clear care or renu. i can't use most salines because they have preservatives in them. my eyes become red, itchy, burn and have a disgusting discharge. i am not alone. i'm posting this to unite other people who have the same problem i do.
i found out about this discontinuation for a google search. ciba vision is wanting to swtich miraflow users to clear care. well, that wouldn't be such a problem if people weren't allergic to clear care's cleaning agent- pluronic 17r4. and yes, i followed the cleaning instruction to a t. that's why people still buy miraflow, even if the number seems to be small. i don't understand the discontinuation since there are people i converted over to aosept who had lens problems.
i have contacted ciba and told them about my dilemma, as on the internet they didn't post about alternatives available for people like me. they haven't even updated their website to inform consumers. well, i did find out that cvs makes a cleaner just like miraflow- it's their extra strength cleaner for soft contacts. you can check the ingredients and compare them.
here's a link to that product
i haven't tried the product myself yet, but i would love for others to post their experiences here.
as for needing preservative free saline, i've heard blairex has a can version available that's supposed to work wonderfully, since it seems other places like cvs discontinued their version long ago. why? i mean, i also use canned saline to heal piercings. the bottled version with preservatives is not good for piercings and keeping homemade solution sterile is not easy.
i hope my message gets through to ciba vision that their business decision as a poor one.
you may contact ciba vision at: 800-875-3001
or visit their site: www.cibavision.com
please tell them you are disatisfied with clear care and why. tell them that miraflow is the only thing you can use.
you may think i'm crazy posting about such a trivial matter, but i've relied on the aosept system for over 10 years. i haven't been able to use a single other cleaner without problems. and there are times where wearing glasses won't do and neither will stumbling around blind.
perhaps we could petition to ciba about this? post here if you're interested.
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Hey, I am right with ya. I used Softwear saline ever since it came out. I wrote to Ciba and totally told them off about it, and they sent me 2 complimentary bottles. They said it was due to consumer demand. I went around and bought every bottle I could find in town at all the CVS drug stores, but now I am out. I have no issues with Clear Care, works just fine with no irritation. I pay 7.99 a can for Blairex at RiteAid, and it lasts about 3-4 weeks. A high price to pay, but oh well. The reason Wal-Mart and other stores stopped making their own brand of the canned version for less money was because they claimed they could not longer obtain the cans for the product en masse.
ReplyDeleteAGAIN?? this happened about 2 or 3 years ago. and then it came back.
ReplyDeleteMy eyes have lots of allergies and goo and miraflow is the only thing that gets it off. Crap. Any luck with the CVS brand?
I can't believe this is happening. Again. I'm screwed. I'm allergic to everything too. I can get by with Unisol saline but I have to wear my glasses a lot.
ReplyDeleteHave you received any response from the company? I'm all for a petition.
i am also pissed that softwear saline has been discontinued. blairex is ok , but its 2-3 dollars more than softwear saline.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why it was getting harder and harder to find Miraflow at CVS. I've been wearing contacts for over 15 years and Miraflow is the best daily cleaner I have ever used. I have tried many other brands including CVS and no other brand has ever been able to keep my lenses comfortable and fresh feeling all day like Miraflow. Man this sucks, now I have to try and find another daily cleaner that works as well. If you do start a petition I'll sign for sure.
ReplyDeleteIf someone here doesn't start a petition, I will! I cannot use anything but SoftWear.
ReplyDeletethank you for posting this info. i havent been able to find miraflow anywhere either. and honestly, i didnt even see anything comparable at all. there were no other kinds of lens cleaner. all they had were no rub saline solutions.
ReplyDeletei too have picky eyes,my optometrist has me using complete saline. but she has me rub the lenses even though it says no rub. and she had me also use miraflow to clean them on top of that. i could definitely feel the difference when i would use the miraflow vs just the saline to clean them. now, my eyes are super irritated within about a week of wearing a pair of contacs, rubbing them daily with just the saline solution no miraflow and my eyes get itchy, uncomfortable and goopy.
im going to look into that comparable store brand cleaner and also ask my optometrist what to do.
im actually hoping to get on the dailies tip. putting in a fresh pair of lenses every day....sighhh
I'm in the same situation as all of you are. I've used softwear saline for the 14 years I have been wearing contact lenses. Aosept was the only thing I could use without irritating my eyes. Then when clear care came out, I switched to that. Then when they came out with the 02 and air optix contacts, my eyes and contacts were the best they had been. I can't use the clear care without saline, and I can't find any other brand of saline that doesn't sting my eyes or make my contacts irritated. I just bought canned blairex saline, used it once it was fine, but the second time my contacts were foggy. I'm so frustrated. I can use aquify but it still ends up making my contacts sticky. I can't believe they would discontinue the saline.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the contact lens industry is trying to shift everyone to more profitable daily disposable lenses. Gradually every brand has moved away from cleaning systems that work for more than a few days of wear. There used to be several brands of heavy cleaners. We don't have CVS where I live & Miraflow is now going for $40 on Amazon - ridiculous! I guess I'll try the CVS one by buying it online. Nothing kept my lenses as comfortable and I've been using it for nearly 20 years. Problem is, each bottle would last me so long that I didn't realize it went off the market. I would have paid more for it (although maybe not $40 a bottle) if they would have continued making it.
ReplyDeleteI am in the same situation with SoftWear saline; can not find another product that does not burn my eyes. I have to rinse after Clear Care and AO Sept disinfecting regimes. Perhaps there is another company like Bausch & Lomb ready to step into this niche.We are at their mercy.
ReplyDeletesorry for reply so late (i forgot my email to this blog! whoops!). as of lately, i still have miraflow and have not tried the cvs version (but please feel free to review it on their site or post here about that- would love to hear). as gross as this sounds, i have used expired cleaner, but with no problems. i am fortunate enough i have a collection of softwear still, which i bought in bulk awhile back. its a shame to see some of the alternatives such as blairex and unisol arent working :( that was my one hope.
ReplyDeletethe reason i dont wear daily disposables is because i wear colored lenses- which i absolutely love. if i didnt do that, i would have switched back to hard lenses a long time ago which are waaayyy less bs to care for.
was at the eye doc recently and of course he was pushing the multi-purpose solution. i cant tell you how many people i meet who are allergic to the stuff and keep using it under the guise that their reactions are normal! so of course i mention my lens cleaners. that doc looked at me like something was wrong with me for only being able to use miraflow. of course i mentioned to him that cvs made an alternative in case people inquired.
so, off to start a petition and it's good to know i'm not alone in this. will be a bit busy for the festivus/solstice celebrations, but will try to keep everyone updated. i will post a new entry on here in regards to the petition and everyone please keep me updated on your experiences with the alternative products i have mentioned.
oh and one more thing, if any of you are one boards where people are having issues like us, feel free to direct them to the solutions i posted.
ReplyDeleteI have tried the CVS cleaner & it does not work like Miraflow does. My contacts feel dry and irritated. Looks like Im going to be spending $40 a bottle online. This sucks.
ReplyDeleteI started wearing contacts and using the Ciba Vision Saline Solution, MiraFlow Daily Cleaner, and Aosept Disinfecting Solution 16 years ago and never had problems. Then some years later, after visiting my eye doctor, he pushed the Alcon Replenish and Clear Care Solution. I have always had allergies but over the years they have gotten worse and have experienced problems with red, itchy, and irritated eyes and wearing the contacts makes it worse. I am realizing that it could be the Alcon and Clear Care solutions that are aggravating my intolerance to contact lenses. Yet when I was using the Ciba Vision and Aosept Solutions, I never had a problem. I've noticed that these products are no longer sold in stores and only now found out that they are being discontinued. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what a comparable product/products would be? I would also be willing to sign any petition to bring these products back.
ReplyDeleteI have made all the same comments, searched high and low for Softwear when it first disappeared, bought 6 bottles on eBay for about $5 per, failed to stock up when it briefly resurfaced. As a contact lense wearer for over 30 years, I used the Miraflow, SoftWear and AOSept regime, tried many other multi use products with no success. After cataract surgery, no need for contacts yet depended heavily on SoftWear for eye wash when needed.... all other products designed for this purpose irritated vs. soothed. I hoped that some product would appear. Has anyone tried Bausch & Laumb's BioTrue multi-use saline solution? Says not for use directly in the eye, although same said for SoftWear. I'm all for a petition, hope it could really help. I'll stay tuned!
ReplyDeleteI was very sensitive to solutions as well and switched to DAILIES contacts which don't require any cleaning. I throw them away and it costs the same as the oasys that I was wearing.
ReplyDeleteSo I am in the same boat as everyone else and would love to sign a petition. I've already sent comments to CIBA. I've used Miraflow and AOSept for 25+ years with great results. On top of that they have discontinued my CSI contact lenses. I think the comments regarding the manufacturers discontinuing the yearly lenses (and cleaning products) in favor of disposables are right on the money. The eye doctors have been pushing the disposables saying they are lower cost because we don't have to by cleaning products but they are crap. The manufacturers want disposables because they are more predictable revenue and higher profit. The market needs to give them the feedback on what consumers really want but the eye doctors have done a good job brainwashing many patients. I found this web site http://www.miraflow.com working on a replacement.
ReplyDeleteContacted CIBA on this, they suggested Walgreens Extra Strength Daily cleaner at http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-extra-strength-daily-contact-lens-cleaner/ID=prod6039573-product. The one review on their web site isn't good. Anyone else have any experience with this one? The CVS web site says out of stock for the CVS cleaner.
ReplyDeleteCVS has been out of stock for a good while and now the Walgreens brand is also out of stock. Why do we keep getting screwed?
ReplyDeleteWho wants to contact CIBA again?
Lobob Extra Strength daily cleaner mirrors the Walgreen brand and Miraflow. It's an "add-on" item on Amazon for $9.69 per 2 oz. bottle right now.
ReplyDelete