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AIBU?

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Original poster

To hate my varifocals and it's really distressing

84 replies

LEMtheoriginal · 01/03/2018 16:24

I suffer with anxiety.

I left it ages before I got my eyes retested since last time I got glasses so there is a big difference in my prescription.

I have been studying the past few days quite intensely and my eyes are screwed.

It takes me ages to adjust between reading and distance. I mean up to an hour but this was with my last pair.

I'm terrified that there is something with my eyes.

Someone please talk to me - not about my anxiety. I kniw know I have this . It's my eyes that are bothering me

OP posts:
Original poster
LEMtheoriginal · 01/03/2018 16:26

I paid £159 for the lenses as they were the premium lenses in spec savers but feel they aren't very good. So I can see the bottom of my book but not the type

OP posts:
Original poster
LEMtheoriginal · 01/03/2018 16:26

Top

OP posts:
endofthelinefinally · 01/03/2018 16:26

It may be that there is something wrong with the glasses. Go back and ask the optician to check.
I had a terrible time getting my varifocals right. I was tripping off kerbs and everything. I know it is terrifying not being able to see.
Please insist they check them for you.

RatherBeRiding · 01/03/2018 16:27

You need to go back to the optician and discuss options. Not everyone gets on with varifocals and I know people who have tried them but given up quite quickly because they just couldn't cope (I have them and love them, but we're all different!)

I assume that you've just had an eye test? If there was anything at all "wrong" with your eyes it would have been picked up, so a return trip to the opticians is probably all that is required.

endofthelinefinally · 01/03/2018 16:28

Spec savers can be problematical.
My sister got some glasses from there and they were awful.

Rawhh · 01/03/2018 16:28

It sounds like eye strain if anything.

If you are concerned go to an independent optitican for a 2nd opinion as Specsavers opticians are in the majority shit.

endofthelinefinally · 01/03/2018 16:30

I had to go back 5 times to get glasses I could see with. Eventually had to pay a fortune for extra thin lenses.
I have to have varifocals because my vision is so bad I need glasses I can wear all the time. The price is shocking.

liltingleaf · 01/03/2018 16:32

There are eye exercises that concentrate on adjusting between different distances. You could try some (easily googleable and on YouTube) to see if you see an improvement. The fact that exercises exist would suggest that this is something that can be exercised. Behavioural Optometrists also use exercises for convergence issues.

Other than that, if you want reassurance, find a good optometrist who can thoroughly check your eyes.

SmokedPaprika · 01/03/2018 16:32

I changed to varifocals last year and had a terrible month trying to adjust. Optician had warned me about it and told me not to drive etc. He also said that for the first couple of weeks I'd probably need to move my head a bit to ensure I was looking through the right part of the lens (for reading, the bottom half).
I was very close to stamping on the damn things before I eventually adapted. But it certainly wasn't taking an hour to adjust between reading/distance, more like a few seconds of a weird feeling. So just for that I would get re-checked.

SmokedPaprika · 01/03/2018 16:33

I should say, not to NOT drive, just use my old single visions to drive in.

toomuchlikemyusername · 01/03/2018 16:33

Another one saying to go back to get your glasses checked. I struggled badly with varifocals from Specsavers, again from their top of range. Got a much cheaper pair from Asda and have had no issues at all. Definitely go back.

Original poster
LEMtheoriginal · 01/03/2018 16:34

I'm so scared I've got a serious problem but I'm too scared to say what it is because everyone will tell me I'm in serious trouble

OP posts:
Original poster
LEMtheoriginal · 01/03/2018 16:36

Please help me I'm so scared

OP posts:
mnxnt42 · 01/03/2018 16:37

Can you tell us? Might help get it out of your head

Original poster
LEMtheoriginal · 01/03/2018 16:37

I did go back but didn't have a dispensing optician there

OP posts:
hp2 · 01/03/2018 16:37

I have just got varifocals,similar situation to you. I was determined to hate them however two days in and I loved them. I have had to go back a few times to get them adjusted for comfort. The best tip I had was point your nose to what you want to look at.
Oh and mine were from spec savers.

Original poster
LEMtheoriginal · 01/03/2018 16:38

I can't it's too baf

OP posts:
mnxnt42 · 01/03/2018 16:39

My eyes take ages to adapt too fwiw. I wear my reading glasses all the time but on the end of my nose so I can look over them. It’s not a very attractive look!

JustVent · 01/03/2018 16:39

Why would we think you were in serious trouble?

What is it you think you have?

I had some glasses which I hated, they made me feel dizzy and sick. It turned out that the style of glasses I had bent the lense so it was akin to looking at the far corner of a car windscreen where it bends and distorts the image.
I went back to my old pair until I was due another upgrade and the next pair were fine thankfully.

Could you try contact lenses?

Mari50 · 01/03/2018 16:39

LEM how old are you?

Mari50 · 01/03/2018 16:40

Liltingleaf- you can exercise presbyopia away the same way that you can exercise wrinkles and grey hair away.

liltingleaf · 01/03/2018 16:40

Just ring your optician and ask for advice as a first port of call. You could be worrying over nothing. If there is something best treating it sooner rather than later.

Nanny0gg · 01/03/2018 16:40

Don't panic

When I got my last varifocals (and I have a strong prescription) I could see distance, but middle and near vision were dreadful.

I had my eyes retested thoroughly and new lenses (and frames, they were that thorough) ordered. They had to be very very precise. They were also very careful with the fitting. Each part of the lens has to do a different job and they are obviously out of wack for you.

Go back and tell them they're not doing the job and get them sorted.

What prescription are you? Are you astigmatic too?

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 01/03/2018 16:41

How long have you had them? DH picked up his first pair of varifocals on Sunday and was warned that it might take a few weeks to adjust to them (and some people never take to them).

Fairylea · 01/03/2018 16:42

If your eyes are adjusting to things albeit slowly and you can read a book it’s highly unlikely there’s anything wrong with your eyes- i am not an optician but I’m assuming you recently had your eyes tested so they would have picked up anything. I do understand the anxiety though- I have horrendous anxiety related to my eyesight, I am very short sighted (-9.50 both eyes with astigmatism) and I worry myself silly (I was referred to the eye clinic at the hospital for something and that triggered my anxiety off)!

Not everyone gets on with varifocals. Lots of people actually prefer two different pairs of glasses (my mum does, she has a similar long distance prescription to me). Go back and speak to specsavers.