AIBU to just not get varifocals?

[Silvercatowner]

I have just collected my second pair. I had a pair a while ago but got my money back on them because I just couldn't get used to them. My eyesight has considerably worsened (in part due to failed surgery) and my optician has suggested that I need to try them again, and I need to get used to them. I've been wearing them all day and it is awful. Nothing is quite in focus - it is as it it is almost right, but not quite. Is this usual? Will I get used to them?

It definitely takes longer than a day, but you will get used to them.
Can you wear contact lenses? I've just switched to monovision (one strong, one weak) and it was weird at first but now it's great.

Got rid of mine within 3 days. Driving in them was a nightmare - by the time I'd waggled my head to get the road in focus it would have been too late to miss anything coming the other way!

Couldn't see to get down the stairs either. Went back to bi-focals.

Got rid of mine too. I had no peripheral vision when I looked at close things. I couldn't see to the edge of a line of text in a book without turning my head and looking at the computer screen was like peering down a fuzzy tunnel.

So I have two pairs of glasses. I'm constantly losing them, or forgetting them, and they break all the time because they're on and off and on and off.

Oh for the flexible vision of my youth!

I've been wearing them for about 10 years now & love them.

The fitting of the frame is very important so that the lens sit in the correct place in front of your eye.

When my prescription changes & I have to have different ones, I always wait & wear them for the first time when I get up in the morning. Much easier than just changing specs in the middle of the day.

I'd really try and persevere a little longer if you can. When I first had varifocals I struggled to get used to them and by the end of the first 4 days I was ready to take them back to the opticians. On the 5th day, I'd got the knack of them. This is not unusual and I've never known anyone take to varifocals after just a day either.

It'll take 3-4 days to get used to them. If if still feels odd after that you need to go back to the opticians to get the fit checked. Any decent dispensing optician should be able to do this for you.

It's always worth investing in a decent pair of varifocal lenses rather than go for a budget option. If you've gone for a good make you really shouldn't have any problems.

I've been wearing them for about 4 years, wear them all day every day and love them!

OH took to them instantly (envious), but it took me a good few days before I felt comfortable with mine and not slightly (queasy). That was six years ago, and I wouldn't go back to single vision, although I keep a pair in case of breakage.

I'd say give it a week, if they still feel wrong, have your optician check that the prescription is right (I had a pair that were wrong, and it took me a while to realise), but if you just can't get on with them, give up.

It does takes some getting used to looking through the right bit, but it's not that hard. Are the frames deep enough? If they're very shallow, then you'll not have a very big area for distance vision.

Also, the more expensive lenses handle the graduation a lot better. I'd rather have bifocals than the cheapest varifocals, to be honest. I do have reading glasses for when I'm just reading, but I can't walk, say, around a supermarket in them.

And totally agree with MsJP, go for the best quality you can.

The key is the design, measuring and fitting really. I have a type Essilor (who made the original varifocals) Physio that I got used to within a couple of hours. I really don't have any issues. Zeiss lenses are good too.

If you have failed before then I would go for the best design available from a known manufacturer - unfortunately they also cost alot more too than standard designs. I would also make sure a qualified dispensing optician(not assistant) did the measurements and adjustment/fitting.

I would take them off today, but put them on 1st thing tomorrow and try them all day. If still issues ring your opticians to book to see the dispensing optician to see what the issue is.

I took to mine the minute I put them on, but I think that might have been partly down to not needing a very strong prescription on the lower part of the lens.
They're from Asda and cost £100!!

I think I might be the exception though. When I got them , the optician did say to give it a good 10 days if I struggled with them though.
My dad can't get on with varifocals and has the more old fashioned bi-focals, would this be an option if you really can't get along with them?

Thanks - I will give them more time and hope it will get better. I cannot have contacts due to the surgeries I have had on both eyes.

I tried varifocals and couldn't get on with them at all. Persevered for 2 weeks then went back to optician. She said that some people never get on with them and usually you know after a few days to a week. You are right to give them a bit longer but they aren't for everyone ( and I went for the best quality ones available).
Have 2 glasses now, is a right pain and I am considering bifocals!

I have bifocals. I have to admit that I looked at the diagrams showing how varifocals work and trying to demonstrate what you would see, and just couldn't convince myself that I would take to them.

I like my bifocals, and have them also as transitions lenses, so they darken in sunlight. I like that because a plain pair of sunglasses are completely useless to me.

I also have a pair of glasses which are simply my reading and close-up prescription because I find them best when using the office computer for 2 or 3 hours at a stretch. With bifocals I was cricking my neck by having to tilt my head back to read the screen through the bottom half. I suspect I would have had to do the same with varifocals too. So for me it is bifocals plus reading glasses. I'd have thought that was illogical years ago, but I have learned my lesson.

You are braver than me. I couldn't even quite persuade myself to even try varifocals. I'm happy as I am though.

In my experience, you get what you pay for with varifocals. There's a huge difference in terms of how much of the lens is in focus between bottom of the range lenses and made-for-you (includng price, unfortunately).

Different opticians use different lens suppliers and fit them in different ways. I've had three pairs of 'made for you' over the years - first from Tesco opticians, fitted 'by eye' and a dot drawn on the glass - brill. Second from Specsavers, fitted by machine - crap. Only wore these for 7 months before going back to Tesco (Culverhouse Cross Cardiff - fitters are excllent) and got the pair I'm wearing now.

I have recently switched to multi focal contact lenses- like them better than the glasses as there is no having to move your head to see what you want to see. Still have to put reading glasses on as well sometimes though

OH got used to his in a week. I took nearer a month of queasiness and the odd migraine before I settled into feeling 'normal' with them. My optician recommended pointing your chin at whatever you want to look at so that you are lined up to look through the correct part of the lens. You can't just glance to the side, you need to move your head instead. Keep persevering. It's worth it in the end when you can see things close up and far away.

I absolutely hated varifocals when I first got them! I persevered for 3 weeks, then went stomping back into the opticians and demanded a refund. He suggested I try a slightly different lens layout (more in the mid-range, less in the close-up or something). So, I agreed to try as I really wanted to break free from having to have 3 pairs of glasses with me all the time.

The second pair were better than the first, but I still hated them! However, having read that they take a while to get used to, I persevered again - and finally did get used to them. It took about 6 months before I stopped noticing that I was wearing them. Now, most of the time I don't know I'm wearing them, apart from being able to do things that I thought I would never do again, such as:
Being able to both read a menu and see who is sitting across the table - at the same time, without switching glasses!
Being able to see clearly to drive and also glance down at the speedometer and see it clearly.
Knitting and watching TV at the same time.
Threading a needle.
Reading a book on a train or bus, and still being able to look out the window to see where I am.

I sound as though I love my varifocals. I sort of do. They've given me back the kind of vision that I thought I had forever lost.

I would add that you need to prepare to take out a mortgage to pay for them! Mine were £650. Worth every penny, but I don't have a spare pare!

I have been wearing varifocals for nearly twenty years now - I had cataracts removed in my early 20s. Initially they did take a good few days to get used to - probably close to a week and I did consider giving up on them, but bifocals never would have worked for me, nor would two pairs of glasses because I can no longer accommodate (focus myself) at all and so al ranges of vision were blurred except the distance so I persevered.

I'm so glad I did. They are brilliant and it's just like having normal eyes back again. I think the brain also learns to make you turn your head, and look through the appropriate part of the lens. I'd give it longer if I were you, Good luck