RESEARCH/VISION

Being Able to Read Without Readers

Newly approved eye drops give new promise for ditching those reading glasses

The condition of needing a pair of reading glasses is called presbyopia and it’s the age related inability to see up close to read, text, and to see a computer screen. This condition usually begins in our 40’s and it affects approx 128 M adults in the United States. Around 90% of people over age 45 have some degree of presbyopia.

But the future is here in a new eye drop medication named Vuity which was approved by the FDA in Dec. of 202.’ At this time, it’s available only by prescription from an eye doctor who will prescribe it to patients who don’t need glasses to see far off, but they report blurry vision when they try to see up close.

THE DOSAGE, WARNINGS, AND RESTRICTIONS:

The dosage is one drop in each eye once daily, however no immediate adverse side effects were noted from patients who occasionally used drops twice a day.

If another eye drop is being used, then doctors advise waiting five minutes between administering them. ‘Vuity’ contains a special version of pilocarpine, which is a medication categorized as anticholinergic. It’s available strength is 1.25%, and it comes in a 5 ml bottle.

1. People who drive at night should use extreme caution because the drug works by shrinking the pupil size, which is adverse to what’s needed in low light.
2. Stinging usually occurs when the drops are first put in. (Think the stinging that occurs when they dilate your pupils in an eye doctor’s office). Vuity can take 15 minutes to fully work and the effect will usually start to fade after 6 hours.
3. Vuity works best for people who need lower powered reading glasses, like +1.00 — +1.50. Although it can help somewhat for powers above this, as in reading a price tag vs. reading the tiny warnings on medications.
4. If you are a contact wearer, it’s advisable to wait 10 minutes after putting in Vuity before you put your contacts back in.
5. The most common side effects are headaches in the brow region and redness in the whites of the eyes. However, increased sweating, muscle tremors, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea are also claimed as ‘common.’
6. People who have had Lasik surgery to correct near-sightedness need to be cautious as some retinal detachment may occur, although no users in the trials experienced this.
7. People in the trials also reported after they had been outside in bright sunshine they felt like they were wearing sunglasses when they went back inside. It can take a few minutes for the pupils to adjust.

THE COST:

Available by RX only and because it is new a pharmacy may have to order it in, and you can expect to pay $75 for a 30 day supply from CVS, using the Good RX app. Although some have paid as much as $105. Vuity is not covered by insurance at this time.

My own view, as someone who worked for two reputable eye doctors for over 7 years, is to hold off for 6 months, or even a year before you try Vuity.

Let others try it first and listen to what they have to say because you have only 2 very precious eyes. I advice this too because I’ve noted the tv ads from law firms advising us to contact them if we had any irreversible damage due to the ill effects of a drug once approved by the FDA…Cautionary tales for sure.

I know readers can be somewhat of a a nuisance, but they do the job of magnifying fine print for us 24/7 without any unpleasant side effects, so error on the side of caution and stick with them until much more is learned.

Thank you for reading and thoughtful writing everyone!