Contact lenses - varifocal & astigmatism

[guessagain]

If you wear contact lenses & they are varifocal & you have astigmatism, can I ask where you get them from?

I ask because I’ve been to SS for a trial & they only do one kind for my prescription, that will suit/correct both astigmatism & varifocal, however they will be pricey if they suit me, £50 a month.

The other option is to have one lens for distance & one for close up, which I did trial some time ago & didn’t get on with, but are cheaper, however, they may of changed since then.

I wear glasses all the time at the moment & want to change to lenses. I use to wear ordinary contacts several years ago, before my eye prescription changed to varifocal & I got on with them fine. I’m just fed up of wearing glasses.

I wear Clariti 1 Day Multifocal lenses. Works out approx £50/month. Good quality disposable multifocal lenses are expensive unfortunately.😓

I just wear lenses for social occasions. They correct astigmatism and I can drive in them but I need reading glasses for screens or small print.I saw this as a trial and if I decide that I want to wear them daily will look at alternatives.

I wear gas permeable lenses for varifocal with astigmatism and iIget them via an independent local optician. I've worn gas permeable for 50 years though!

Actually Specsavers sorted me out well for monthly disposables for the varifocal prescription. They are £30 per month and comfortable to wear. They both have the +2 add but one is near-centred and in distance centred. I can't do close work or extended computer use but they are great for sport, days out etc. Took about 3 trials to get the prescription right.

I need varifocal lenses and have astigmatism. I've tried varifocal contact lenses but my optician didn't think I'd get on with them due to my high prescription and I don't. So instead I have one lens in my dominant eye for distance and the other for close up vision. It works well for me.

I wear gas permeable lenses, one for distance one for reading, and I have astigmatism. I've worn gas permeable lenses for decades though. I find they correct my vision better than glasses.

What’s gas permeable lenses?

Oh I never thought of gas permeable - this thread has been so useful!

I have varifocal lenses and astigmatism in one eye but couldn’t get on with toric lenses so I don’t have that bit corrected. The optician reduced my prescription a little and I can see well to drive and read. I’m only an occasional wearer and the astigmatism isn’t too bad.

@guessagain https://www.specsavers.co.uk/help-and-faqs/what-are-gas-permeable-contact-lenses

I didn't think there were any daily disposables that were both multifocal and toric - I wish there were, although even then it might be hard to get my prescription. I am also trying monovision (different prescription in each eye), though I can't try them out yet as I got conjunctivitis or allergies or something shortly after the optician ordered them. But the first day I tried them at the opticians, they seemed OK. She wasn't that pleased at how much they moved around in my eyes, though, and thought that they probably wouldn't be good enough for driving. But I've not had a chance to really find out yet. I need the daily disposables because of the allergies, but it's so hard to find one that comes in my prescription - there is only one brand that has recently started to, so if they move around in my eyes too much, that's pretty much the end of the options.
Multifocal, astigmatism, big choice of parameters, in a daily lens would be the holy grail! But I guess it would cost them loads to make them with so many options so they don't bother (though I do wonder really how much of a cost saving there is in bulk production of the common prescriptions - I'd have though so much is automated these days that making any specific prescription wouldn't be that hard. But I know nothing about their manufacture so I'm sure I am wrong!).

I also have varifocal gas permeable lenses from an independent local optician. Very short-sighted (-11ish) and astigmatism in both eyes. In recent years I've needed reading glasses over the top for small print or in dim light but otherwise, like a PP, have been wearing them for decades since I was a teenager. They last about 2 or 3 years before the prescription needs tweaking and/or they get a bit worn. Not quite as comfortable as they used to be as my eyes have become dryer post menopause but SO much better than glasses.

I've got astigamatism and varifocal lenses - mine are Cooper Vision Biofinity Multifocal Toric and are £47 a month for monthly disposables through my local indie optician.

It took ages to get the prescription right though, and my reading prescription still isn't perfect and I sometimes struggle to read things in dim light. I'm sure I could get the lenses a bit cheaper direct, but whilst I'm at the stage where my eyes are still changing (I'm 45) I think it probably works out cheaper overall to do trials via the optician.

I do have a pair of cheapie reading glasses from the chemist for when I need them!

I never got on with gas permeable
lenses, unfortunately. I never found them
comfortable. I have the “mono vision” option with my lenses (one for distance and one for reading) and one of my lenses is toric. I change them monthly. i get them from Specsavers. I pay £15.50 a month. I wear them all day and my vision is way better with them than with glasses. Maybe it’s worth giving it another go? 🤷‍♀️

I’ve got toric lenses in my distance prescription and have a pair of cheap reading specs

Multifocal lenses for astigmatism are generally made to order so will always be more expensive. Which brand is it, do you know? They don't do any daily disposable multifocals for astigmatism. Some of the ones previous posters have suggested aren't for astigmatism.

Gas permeable ones are cheaper long term, they're a small hard lens. Not as comfortable as soft lenses and can take a bit to get used to. You may not necessarily get along with them.

Gas P lenses are harder to get used to and you are also more likely to lose one or the other as they can often just pop out as they’re much smaller than soft lenses - but yes they do give you better vision if you have astigmatism etc.

I know this isn’t really answering your question but just wanted to say I’ve never really found any contacts I’ve got on with since my varifocal days started. I just feel I can’t see as well with them - and I’ve tried loads. I’m -9.50 both eyes with severe astigmatism and need a +1.50 reading. I miss the days of just wearing contacts for distance.

I’m about -5 in each eye with +1 reading add. I also have astigmatism in both eyes. Mine are Clarity one day or something like that and I pay £47 a month (independent local optician and that includes a six monthly lens check plus discounted glasses).

Interesting @Judystilldreamsofhorses - are they really one-day lenses that are for both mutlifocal and astigmatism? I've never seen any dailies that do both.

I'm quite short sighted and and it's the astigmatism that is the biggest problem as most daily toric lenses don't do the combination I need as my astigmatism is at oblique angles, and that seems to be relatively rare; even when brands advertise that they have lots of choice of axes, they still often only mean 20 or 30 degrees either side of horizontal or vertical. Or they only do round the clock axes for lower prescriptions or lower astigmatism.

The only multifocal lenses available for astigmatism are either monthly or more long term and/or gas permeable lenses.
Independent opticians generally have more choice but would most probably be more expensive than SS.

Okay. Maybe my astigmatism is very mild then? I can very clearly remember it being explained to me as a child about eyes being shaped like footballs or rugby balls! These are the lenses I have anyway.

https://www.lenstore.co.uk/sauflon/multifocal-lenses/clariti-1-day-multifocal_p217?d=OXEWUKSHIO&cq_src=GOOGLE&cq_cmp=71700000078997342&cq_con=Clariti%201%20Day%20Multifocal&cq_term=clariti%20one%20day%20multifocal&cq_net=g&cq_med=UK%20-%20EN%20-%20Search%20-%20IM%20-%20Product%20-%20Sauflon%20-%20ATB%20-%20TPD&cq_plt=gp&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5remBhBiEiwAxL2M95TB3QxrHdcZduAsurFcArQWUVdafziLm8J2DPmCw8rTSzZG8YLPCxoCjA8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

those don't correct for the astigmatism. Maybe yours isn't that bad? Mine is 2.00 or 2.25, which pretty much has to be corrected for. I was just about to trial that same brand, but the one-day torics, as they now have a big range of parameters. But they are the ones that spin in my eyes a lot, which is a bit disastrous for toric lenses, and I don't think there are any other brands, so that's probably it for me and contact lenses!

Hi I'm in a very similar situation and have spent hours looking on the internet and checking for the 8.4 14.6 (not got to hand exact ones measurements) and can confirm that the only ones I found available were the multifocal ones - Coopervision - or SS version at £45/50. There is nothing else if you've got the same size as me.
There were a couple of potentials but no others truly matched.
I'm on a trial with Boots now as SS didn't get mine quite right so after a second opinion.

Due to the cost I want them as near perfect as possible. Although I've been told not to expect anything as good as my glasses.
It's annoying as I can see lots of others from £15 for 30 pairs upwards but none that will
suit me.

Based on my experience I'd recommend that you don't write off glasses until you've fully investigated what's available.

I started out at -20 in both eyes and wore various kinds of contact lenses for 35 years. Once I got old enough to need reading glasses I couldn't find any workable solutions so I decided to go for LASIK. Now I'd try lens replacement surgery, but at the time that wasn't so widely available.

LASIK was brilliant at first, but settled down to a -4 in both eyes. It has left me with weirdly shaped corneas and astigmatism in both eyes.

The best solution I've found for my current situation is some amazing Canadian varifocal lenses fitted to lightweight Silhouette rimless frames. These are streets ahead of anything else and even better than made to measure contact lenses. They're light to wear, don't slip down, and give accurate vision at a wide range of angles without turning your head. They're the lens of choice for the shortsighted staff at my opticians. I took their recommendation with a pinch of salt but having tried them, I think if anything they undersold them.

Before I tried them I was adamant that as a very experienced contact lens wearer I wanted a contact lens solution. The made to measure contact lenses were the most comfortable lenses I've ever worn and gave me the best vision I've ever had, including correction for astigmatism, but at my age I still needed reading glasses so they weren't perfect, and at £70 or so a month they weren't cheap. The glasses I have aren't perfect either but they're way closer than the lenses were. I now wear cheap daily disposables for swimming, when astigmatism doesn't matter, and glasses the rest of the time.

Don't be too put off by the description of gas permeables as 'hard' - compared with soft lenses they are rigid but they do flex slightly. You do have to build up your tolerance but if you get on with them , they're great. They are small, less than 10mm. Mine have a very faint blue 'handling tint' so I can find them if I drop them in the basin while putting them in or taking them out. Harder to spot elsewhere but still in over 40 years I've only permanently lost one about 4 or 5 times.