I have Lupus and secondary Soj. Syn. I too miss my contacts. At first, I was only able to wear mine one time a month!

Then, my eye doctor started trying different kinds and I found one that wasn't as irritating to my eye.

I was able to wear this new brand, one time a week for 4-6 hours.

Recently (at least a month) I went on a very strict diet, greatly reducing meat, flour products and sugar. I eat a lot of vegetables, quinoa, some fruit. I still eat some animal protein and those other things I mentioned...but perhaps once a week and a very small portion. I also started drinking more water. (I just saw that we've communicated before about this!!!)

I'm pleasantly surprised, but my eyes just feel better. They are less dry. NOT NEARLY AS SCRATCHY. I AM MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE. I can now wear my contacts 3x a week for about six hours each time. I'm not sure if I'll be able to wear them daily as I did before....but this is a considerable improvement for me. I use disposables as well.

You might try changing your eye drops. I personally like the following eye drops: Refresh Celluvisc/Sensitive and Preservative-free!!!! Then I use a different one for contact lens wear when I have a contact lens in my eye. You might experiment with different drops.

Can you see fairly well without your glasses? I suppose I would consider that for something like going to the pool. I save my use of my contact lenses for going out to dinner, etc.

BTW, be careful about going to the pool or the beach. Folks with AI illnesses often have a flare after being in the sun.