My dry eyes syndrome due to graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) didn’t get better over time. I have to spend over RM200 a month on artificial tears in order to keep my eyes moist.
I have to apply artificial tears once every 15 to 30 minutes and this means that artificial tears has become an indispensable part of my life now. Since I can’t survive without it, I need to bring it along wherever I go.
The artificial tears that I use is called Tears Naturale Free and it is manufactured by Alcon. It is preservative-free, and I believe it is also one of the best and most expensive artificial tears available.
A box that contains 32 small units cost RM37.20 but UH Pharmacy is selling at RM32 only. Once a unit is opened, it has to be discarded after 12 hours if we can’t finish using it. But this is not a problem to me because I would finish the unit well before the 12 hours limit.
I didn’t manage to stock enough this artificial tears because UH Pharmacy ran out of stock during my last follow-up, so I went to purchase it in Prochem Pharmacy Puchong a few days ago. While other pharmacies in the town are selling at RM37.2, Prochem managed to sell it at a price of RM32 a box :-)
The pharmacist there reminded me that there is an artificial tears produced by Alcon which is exactly the same as the one that I am using, but comes with preservative. A unit of it cost RM7.5 only and once it is opened, it can last for one month. So it is more convenience and cheaper. I estimated that I would need two units per week, and this translated to RM60 per month, therefore realizing a saving of RM140 a month.
But unfortunately, my eyes didn’t accept this preservative artificial tears well. After I started to use it, I felt soreness in my eyes and not only this, sticky discharge started to form in my eyes.
After enjoying a “luxurious life” with the best artificial tears for such a long time, my eyes simply can’t adapt to “simple life” with cheaper artificial tears. And of course I have to bear with them since they are such an important part of my body.
I have no choice but to switch back to the preservative-free artificial tears to keep my eyes happy :-(
See you next post :-)
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