Contact lenses with expired prescription

[blindasabat123]

Name changed for privacy.

Without getting into the boring details, I've run out of contact lenses and am unable to get my prescription renewed. I'd been using an old pair of glasses (with an extremely out-of-date prescription, but still the only reason I've managed not to have a serious accident so far ) but now those have fallen apart, too.

Opticians are unsympathetic and seem to think it's better for me to walk around completely blind than for them to continue my contact lens prescription when it might have changed slightly.

Is there anywhere at all I can order some contact lenses online that won't ask for proof of prescription?! Desperate here!

No, and nor should you be able to tbh. They are a prescriptive device you stick in your eye. It would be alarming for someone to sell you something they hadn’t checked was safe and that could a) damage your eyes or b) cause you an accident & hurt either yourself or others.
I worked for an optician that refused to supply contact lenses unless you have an up to date pair of glasses, I wish it was a legal requirement.
YAVU to not have purchased up to date glasses at your last test.

Opticians should be able to give you an emergency set of trials until your test date. But you have to book the test date. I did.

How out of date is your prescription? I use vision direct for lenses and only had to upload my prescription once the first time I used them.

Daysoft lenses

Thanks, @Notanothernamechanged101.

To elaborate on my situation a bit: I can't get my prescription renewed because I haven't been able to leave the house and get into town, and therefore the opticians, in a few years due to various mental health issues. Before these issues became an issue(!) I was only using contact lenses and owned no glasses at all, which is why I didn't purchase up-to-date glasses at my last test. The glasses I referred to in the OP actually came from someone else with the same prescription as me at the time.

Re the other points in your post -

1. I agree, I wouldn't want anyone to sell me anything unsafe - don't see why my old prescription would be any less safe than no prescription at all, though.
2. So it isn't actually a legal requirement..?

@Denzelstowel Unfortunately won't be able to get a new test any time soon - see my pp.

@MrsPnut Very out-of-date, I'm afraid. At least a year or so?

@MoirasRosesGarden I'll look into them, thank you!

It's not that your prescription may have changed, it's that you haven't had your annual contact lens health check.

If you're happy with your old glasses prescription you'll be able to use it to get glasses from a site like glasses direct.

Have you a specsavers near you they do home visits do you can get an up to date prescription.
Other optitions may also do them if you explain circumstances

Specsavers are doing at home eye tests - would that help you?

@BecomeStronger See above - unfortunately it's not actually my glasses prescription

@Keep1984fiction, @gnushoes Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not trying to be awkward, but a home test would be no good, either. Contamination OCD is the issue, and covid the cherry on top.

Pretty sure visiondirect don't ask for proof of prescription, I use them when I run out of my optician-supplies lenses.
Good luck

@JoeGargery

Pretty sure visiondirect don't ask for proof of prescription, I use them when I run out of my optician-supplies lenses. Good luck

Yes they do, they contact your optician for it.

You must have had a glasses prescription at some point? It would be unusual not to if you have had a contact lens check. Can you get that prescription from your optician and order glasses online? I don't think there's an expiry on glasses prescriptions like there is on contact lens ones as the primary reason for the contact lens check is the eye health.

And yes, online places do check with your optician, I've had the optician ring me to check that I'm happy for them to share my data with the online one.

Daysoft and Lenstore - order online. You write in your prescription and tick a box to declare it’s up to date. They don’t check. Do that then just get a check when you can.

@JoeGargery, @BecomeStronger As a pp mentioned Daysoft and Lenstore do, it looks like Vision Direct have a checkbox where you confirm your own prescription instead of having the optician check it. I'll bear it in mind, thanks JG!

@ExpensivelyDecorated I think I might've had a glasses prescription as a teen, probably no good these days!

You can order them off of the specsavers website!! They don’t ask for a prescription, ordered mine last week and arrived a couple of days ago.

Daysoft don't ask for proof and they are cheap

@SimpleLife003 Tell me your secrets! Specsavers are my optician, but they've always asked for an up-to-date prescription whenever I've tried to order with them.

I’m another Daysoft user. They don’t check!

@blindasabat123 oh no!! I have no idea then!

I’ve only ordered from them the once as I tried through boots and they rejected it! I just ordered them online, it didn’t ask for proof of prescription or any details on my opticians!

I’m not technically registered with any opticians at the moment I went for a one off appointment, so there’s no way they could of contacted any either!

Maybe there was a glitch when I ordered 😂😂

If you could accept a home visit from specsavers it would enable you to get glasses so at least you can see.
They work in a covid safe manner obviously and I'm sure they would understand your concerns

Can you have the optician visit you ?
I know they do for elderly people .

Feel Good Contacts don't require a prescription OP.