| Author | |
SallyT
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 08 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2489
|
| Posted: Feb 04 2008 at 9:13pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
And please tell me it gets better! Somebody! I've had them since Saturday, and I just can't figure out how to read through the reading "windows" without giving myself a massive headache.
I was just reading the reading-glasses thread and wishing I could get away with just a pair of readers, but I'm too blind in distance-vision terms.
I don't mind how they look -- and I have the real, sure-enough lined kind, because apparently my eyes don't work together (I am very right-eye dominant), and for some reason this means the progressive kind won't work for me. Which is fine, vanity-wise, but I wish I could get used to this line in the middle of my vision whenever I glance down!
Anyone have any words of wisdom to offer? Or am I the only bifocal wearer in this august crowd?
Sally
__________________
Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Leonie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2831
|
| Posted: Feb 04 2008 at 10:34pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I don't have bifocals - but enjoyed your blog posts about eyesight! Hope you get adjusted to the new spectacles - soon!
__________________
Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
ALmom
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 18 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3299
|
| Posted: Feb 05 2008 at 12:20am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Sally:
Hugs here. I went through this only recently - the opposite way. My eyes don't work consistently well together but guess they must enough of the time as I'm in progressives. I tried and tried bifocals - they gave me migraines and I got sick to my stomach, then progressives - they still gave me headaches and scared the fire out of me when I realized I couldn't see the policeman's hand to tell whether he was saying come forward or stop. I went back and back and back to the optometrist and obviously wore old contacts for driving while using reading glasses while we tried to figure out what would work. I toyed with the glasses and would feel like maybe I could see right if I pushed them just so (basically so close to my face that the only way they could adjust them that way was to totally take off the nose pad. I thought I'd never see well again). The eye doctor just stayed with me, trying to sleuthe what the trouble was and its solution. He adjusted astigmatism correction, had glasses adjusted, then finally suggested that I get a whole new set of frames and very special material for the lenses - called it the cadillac of glasses. I really was worried as frames were not covered and these were going to be mega bucks and so far everything we tried was not working. My optometrist was a jewel, I guess he sensed my worry and understood what it was like to be smacked with bill upon bill all at once. He simply told the fitter to find the .... and he specified exactly what I needed and told her not to pay any attention to insurance coverage, just get what I needed and we'd sort the rest out later. He didn't charge me a dime for which I was stunned and relieved and grateful all at once. I've had these new glasses now for over 2 weeks and love them. They are the first pair of glasses in my life that don't start hurting behind my ears when I've worn them for a long time, I see almost seemlessly (just the minor need to adjust slightly when looking side to side)and I see clearly (or as clearly as I ever have) near and far and no headaches!!!
Evidently there are a few of us souls who are very sensitive to slight variations (maybe it is that tendency to monocular vision?) and the higher quality material makes a difference for us when for most people it is just a waste of money. Also the fit and adjustment of the glasses are critical. A good optometrist will want to hear from you until they are just right. It is hard to tell in the doc's office because you are looking straight ahead and not trying to drive or function as you normally would - or trying to focus on moving objects. There was nothing more frustrating than to walk out with a pair of glasses and feel like they weren't working from the moment you got in the car and started to move. The worst was feeling sick and even getting sick for a week trying to get used to the darn things.
It turns out my glasses were not sized well for my face and the combination with bifocals was disasterous(I was trying to save money by using an old pair of glasses I'd gotten from somewhere else). It also mattered that the glasses would sit close enough to my face and had nosepads that could be easily adjusted to hold my glasses still and in just the right position. Tweaking the prescription and using the higher quality lens material and no glare coating really helped. My sis told me that it takes several tries a lot of times to get bifocals or progressives adjusted just right.
Anyways, thought I'd pass along encouragement. Don't give up! I had tons of trouble and it took a while but am finallly seeing and comfortable with my glasses. They are progressives - and funny thing was, I was told that progressives are harder to get used to than bifocals which is why I went with bifocals first.
Janet
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
hylabrook1
Forum Moderator
Joined: July 09 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5980
|
| Posted: Feb 05 2008 at 7:08am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Sally -
My experience has been that my eyes drift to the area of the lens where they can see the best for the need. When I look up, they focus through the part of the prescription that is for distance vision, that sort of thing. I'm probably not too good at keeping my focus in the near vision part, because I remove my glasses for most close work. I'm guessing the dizzy sensation comes when you look through the border of two parts of the prescription. After a couple of days, though, I'm sure your eyes will train themselves as to where to focus and things will be much better.
Peace,
Nancy
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
chicken lady
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 27 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2315
|
| Posted: Feb 05 2008 at 8:01am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I recently had to get bifocals, mine are seamless, it took a couple of days and I was good to go. I would say maybe a couple more days then call the dr office. A friend had similar issues as you, and it ended up they messed up the prescription. Good luck!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SallyT
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 08 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2489
|
| Posted: Feb 05 2008 at 10:07am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks, all! It is getting better. The line does bother me, but I'm not having actual problems seeing (as in not being able to see a policeman's hand -- I can drive fine and all that, and don't fall going up stairs). It's more a question of having my eyes adjust to looking through the reading lens to see the book -- comfortably. I can see well, but somehow it's awkward and feels strained. I figured I would give it a few days, because I've been through glasses and contacts enough to know that these things don't happen overnight, but my optometrist is wonderful -- I've been going to them since I got glasses at age 6 -- and I have no qualms about going back, though the glasses I now have cost me some serious bucks.
Janet, what you describe does describe the sensations I've had off and on-- I do start to feel sick to my stomach from time to time. I feel just as if I were pregnant, which I know I'm not -- that same queasiness. I'm glad to know I'm not alone. I suspect I am one of those hyper-sensitive individuals, and I've got the monocular-vision thing . . . I still think I'll give my eyes a little more time to get "trained" before we start troubleshooting.
Anyway, thanks again -- I need the support!
Sally
__________________
Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
LisaD
Forum All-Star
Joined: Dec 27 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 526
|
| Posted: Feb 05 2008 at 5:55pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I just got bifocals after Christmas. My optomotrist recommended that I still wear single vision lenses (he said drugstore reading glasses are fine) when I am reading or on the computer for long periods of time.
__________________
~Lisa
Mama to dd(99), ds(01), ds(03) and ds(06)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SallyT
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 08 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2489
|
| Posted: Feb 08 2008 at 5:11pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Well, I'm going to have to go back, I think. I can see through the distance glasses fine -- it's the reading lenses that give me problems. I get eye strain trying to read, and feel I'm going crosseyed after more than a minute or two of reading. Usually I end up just pushing them down my nose and reading through the distance lenses, because that's more comfortable. And the line does continue to bother me a lot . . .
*sigh* I really, really like my new frames and don't want to change them . . . I hope that's not the problem!
Anyway, thanks again to all for sharing your experiences.
Sally
__________________
Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : St. Anne's Tearoom: Growing in Wisdom over 40
Topic: I just got bifocals
