Varifocals Contact lenses

[ButterfliesandMoths]

Thinking of getting these. Anyone have them? Any experiences or tips, advice welcome. Thank you.

I tried them a few months ago and my eyes couldn't get used to them. They would either focus on the far and middle distance but not close up, or just distance. I've gone back to single vision (and cheaper) lenses for distance and wear glasses for anything within about 4ft.
I've had several friends who swear by varifocal lenses, though, so would say the best thing is to see your optician and get a trial pair.

I’ve just furnished a trial and I’m quite impressed. The close vision isn’t quite as good as with my varifocal glasses but much better than standard contacts.

see if you can get a trial (mine was with Asda opticians) before you commit to anything

Brilliant! Free trial for a month. No more reading glasses and excellent vision far away. Couple of blinks and then away I go

I'm just trying them out at the moment. I have astigmatism, which means the options open to me are more limited & I'm trying monthly ones (as opposed to the 2 weekly acuvue I have been wearing).

They're not as comfortable as my regular lenses, so I've been taking them out early evening (usually I wear lenses all the time). I've also not been wearing them when I'll be in the office on a computer all day.

But they're great for my day to day work which is a mix of outdoors on site and indoors - it's so much easier not to have to keep putting reading glasses on & off.

Yes! I have them. I used to have monovision contacts (different strengths in each eye), mainly due to galloping presbyopia (couldn't read). Have never had varifocal glasses, only readers, so can't compare, but overall they're great. Usual trade off between distance and near vision of course (you lose some distance clarity) and I don't like to drive at night in them, but otherwise sound. What's your prescription?

Left eye -7 right -6 although right eye should be -7 but they kept it at -6 to help with my reading vision but I’m just finding it difficult & annoying with reading glasses. I’m currently using +1.5 reading glasses when wearing lenses but don’t think it’ll be long before I’m using +2
Not sure whether to just stop wearing lenses completely and go for varifocal glasses or try the lenses. I’m due a check up so thinking of asking for a trial of the lenses.

It took a few tries to get used to them but I got there. I have the ones with a different centre/edge prescription. Right eye the centre is distance and left eye is centred for close vision. It sounds cross eyed but I did adjust.

Once they got the prescription right I was fine, I can drive, read etc. I use reading glasses or my varifocal specs for really tiny writing or needlework or a day peering at spreadsheets.
They are the monthly disposables from Specsavers.

You should be able to get a trial set for a few days.

I have varifocal lenses and I have to blink when I adjust distance but they work fine and are much easier than reading glasses.

I have -6 in one eye and -6.5 in the other with low add which I think is +1.5

Go for a trial first and don't be afraid to ask for adjustment, took me 3 goes to get mine right

I've just done a trial and I've been really impressed as well - I tried monovision last year and didn't get on with that at all, so I was really dubious that my brain would cope with the varifocal lenses, so I put off trying them for ages until I really had no choice (I was doing ok with my single vision ones, but my prescription had been discontinued for my right lens and my optician and I were struggling to sort a replacement that worked).

Distance and reading is fine - neither is perfect, but much better than I expected. I do find that it takes my eyes a little bit to adjust to reading a certain print size, but once they have then I don't really notice them.

I have astigmatism as well though so I think the major drawback for me is that they are going to be £££.

Yep, love them. I got them a few months ago when I found out that I was unsuitable for vision corrective surgery.

I am very impressed with them!

Love mine. I wear them most days. Took a while to get used to but I wouldn’t be without them now. Especially love them for driving!

Thanks everyone, just looking at the prices. If any of your don't mind sharing, what are you paying for them.

About £20 a month with daily wear IIRC. Feelgood contacts online. Varifocal glasses seem an initial outlay of a few hundred quid, by way of comparison
Good luck OP! Hope they work for you

£32 for a month but I’m not going to wear them every day so they’ll last for much longer

I tried them and couldn't get on with them at all. It was like having the worst of both worlds.

I have one eye adjustment for close and one for far sight. I thought it would be weird but got used to it very quickly. You could try that first? (Cheaper I think, if that’s a concern)

I'm going to be trialling daily varifocals soon. It seems to be hit and miss as to who gets on with them doesn't it.
I currently have a contact lens in one eye for distance and nothing in the other so I can read my phone 😁.

I'm surprised at the prices quoted. I was talking to my optician about these at my last check up and he said they are very expensive
I'm short sighted and am -5 in both eyes and have recently been struggling with reading close up especially as the day goes on.
Have worn daily disposables for well over 20 years now and am paying £25 a month for them

They work for me, although it took a lot of trial and error to get the right combination (-6.5: -5.5, both with high add). I’m on acuvue moist multifocal and have just ordered 90 pairs from lenstore for £118 inc postage.

I've been quoted about £45 a month, that is for monthly toric multifocals and includes solutions - about £10 a month more than my toric single vision lenses.

That is from a local independent optician though but I am happy to stick with them as I get unlimited appointments with them (and I have had loads as we've really struggled to settle on lenses after my original ones were discontinued) and I suspect while my eyes are still changing prescription until they settle down again it won't be that different to having varifocal glasses and having to get the lenses changed.

I have them from specsavers. They're better than I expected tbh, although I struggle to drive in the dark with them, can't quite focus, but I can read with them and in the daytime they're fine, just need a few mins for my eyes to adjust after putting them in.

I'd definitely take a trial, you've nothing to lose, and they'll tweak them and give you another trial if you're not happy at first.

Should have added, I'm -5 in one eye and -2.5 in the other with high add on both.

I only have ten pairs a month as I mainly wear them at weekends and I pay £20 a month for daily disposables because I hate cleaning them 😣

I have them too. I have stuck with them having tried all the alternatives. It's right that they aren't perfect for longer distance but I like not having to put reading glasses on just to look at my phone.

I also tried varifocal glasses but couldn't get on with them at all

I pay around £53 a month I think.