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.

So hopefully, they will be something that suits! I did Google laser eye surgery, but I’m not sure I’d be brave enough, even if I did have the money for it! And at my age, I don’t see the point (no pun intended).

It did take me a little while to get use to varifocal glasses. And the optician explained that it will be the same with the contacts so you need to give them time for your eyes to adjust to them, although they will never provide you with as sharp focus as your glasses do.

I think I’ve just got lazy wearing glasses, it’s just easier, right? Slip them on & forget about it. But with me, I think I kind of ‘hide’ behind them too. I’m naturally a shy person, I know it might sound daft, but I think in a way, my glasses provide that ‘shield’. Ok, I’m really overthinking this now! But I hate them at the same time, I’m so rubbish at picking out styles, that I usually just end up grabbing the cheapest frame at the end!

I have exactly that feeling about glasses and hiding behind them, so you're not alone! At the same time, I don't really like them either, and yet when I see myself without them, it looks so different that it doesn't look like me!!

What is the name of the Canadian company, @MontyDonsBlueScarf ?

It is a shame that companies only seem to do one size/shape, as I guess the fact that they spin in my eyes probably means that the fit isn't quite right, but as there aren't any other daily toric ones I can get, I don't have any choice.

I hate choosing frames too! I have a pair of prescription glasses to wear first thing in the morning and last thing at night so I don't do myself an injury falling over the cat or down the stairs on the way to bed. Or heaven help me, if I had to flee a fire in the night. I stick with the same frames for years and years partly because of the expense but more because I find it so difficult to decide what, if anything, suits me.

I know what you mean about the shield though. I used to feel very exposed without glasses when I was young. But now I feel glasses are generally a nuisance getting in the way of me and the real world.
Not always though. As I've worn cheapy reading glasses over the top more often, I've found myself sometimes using them as a prop. In work situations a hard look over the top or a pointed removal can say something without saying anything!

I've been rgp for 25 years and lost two. Dropped many times and found them. I was told that I will just need to wear reading glasses over the lenses but I do have very bad eyesight.

@BrunchBunch I don't have the name to hand but will ask my optician next week. Remind me if I forget.

I started wearing lenses aged 14 for short sight and astigmatism so that is over 40 years ago. I wore hard lenses, then switched to gas permeable, then soft extended wear. For the last 6 years I've worn -5 and -6 even though both eyes are -6, and that mostly worked but I reached the point where it didn't give me enough capability to read small print (like packaging or a paperback instead of Kindle!) Just last month I switched to multifocal extended wear and it's so much better. I get mine from Vision Direct, they are much better value and very quick delivery.

@BrunchBunch apparently it's my made to measure contact lenses that are Canadian. My specs lenses are by Essilor the Design is X Series Short - These are being rebranded in September to XR. My optician says that they're not the most expensive lenses they sell, but they are the best. He wears hem himself. Hope that helps.

thanks, that's v useful. I think I have Hoya lenses rather than Essilor, but I get a bit confused about who owns what! They cost so much that I hope I don't have to keep replacing them, but as my eyes still keep changing, I might have to, in which case I might ask how/why they choose the different brands and levels within them.

You'll notice everyone on this thread who wears gas permeable lenses is saying they've been wearing them "for years" - that's because they are rarely prescribed these days for newbies! My optician says she only has a handful of GP users now, and they are all 40+.

I wore GPs for years too, but my eyes gradually became less and less tolerant, until I could no longer wear them. I have astigmatism, and need varifocals, but moved to daily disposables - one for distance, one for close vision - and they cost around £45 for 30 pairs, from Specsavers. They last me 5-6 months because I only wear them for going out/at weekends. Not as good as GPs for vision correction, but a lot kinder to the eyes.

@CointreauVersial yes that's very true. It's difficult and usually quite expensive to even find an optician who can fit rgp lenses well.
Hoya versus essilor I have a strong prescription minus 12 and the Hoya lenses are better. Although I still go for Carl zeiss.

I wear gas permeable lenses too. One for reading and one for distance. In terms of cost they are very cheap.

About £70 per lens and they last around two years. Unless you lose them. The special cleaning liquid and protein remover tabs are a few pounds a week, less than £3 I would say.
Cheaper than glasses I think.

This is my experience too, at -12.5 with an astigmatism.

My optician keeps trying various options, and tweaking the prescription, but I think I'm just going to have to get used to mostly wearing glasses (loving my new varifocals actually - everyone kept telling me they'd be hard to get used to, but I haven't found that at all) and keeping the lenses for special occasions.

For difficult prescriptions you really need a specialist. If anyone is in the Southampton/Bournemouth area I can highly recommend mine. Local opticians use them as a referral service for hard to fit contact lenses but they are also exceptional for specs and all aspects of eye health. I am difficult to please and don't say that lightly!

Another place to get a great service for contact lenses is the Institute of Optometry in London SE1.

A charity that takes private clients to support their work. They have a very high level of expertise.

I went to them after five fairly unsuccessful attempts by my local optician to make me new gas permeable contact lenses.

My eye sight was so much better with the correctly prescribed ones from the Institute of Optometry

Don't be put off by their ancient looking website.