Wearing Reading Glasses with Contacts

GlowGirl

So, after having perfect vision for most of my life, a few years ago I started wearing reading glasses. I am ok with that. However, now my further away vision seems to be going a bit as well (getting older sucks). I can see things that are really far away perfectly. I can read street signs from blocks away. However, my medium vision (such as looking across my living room) is starting to get slightly blurry. A few years ago I tried both progressive glasses, and multi-focal contact lenses. Both made me feel dizzy. So, I was thinking of trying to get single focus contact lenses for my more distant vision issues, and wear reading glasses over them for my reading issues. The optometrist said that people do that. I was wondering if any of you have any experience with this. I wasn't a huge fan of putting in contacts when I tried them before, but if I get the single focal ones, I can get disposable, which I couldn't before. I heard those are more comfortable. Thoughts?

F Me In The Brain

Ha.  Know exactly what you mean.  I am legally blind in one eye and my other eye used to be perfect...but has deteriorated over the years of compensating.  Hit 40 and like most that meant further changes in my eyes.

Max power for the brand of extended wear (multi-focus) that I wear and the doc told me if I needed to I could pick up a set of readers from CVS or somewhere and use with my contacts.  This is actually exactly what I used to do with single focus lenses and it worked fine.  Went to multi since it seemed helpful.

Now, I can read fine late at night when I am tired so long as I have a strong light source.  If I do not, I cannot. 

Bout time to bust out the readers again!

GlowGirl

F Me In The Brain said:

Ha.  Know exactly what you mean.  I am legally blind in one eye and my other eye used to be perfect...but has deteriorated over the years of compensating.  Hit 40 and like most that meant further changes in my eyes.

Max power for the brand of extended wear (multi-focus) that I wear and the doc told me if I needed to I could pick up a set of readers from CVS or somewhere and use with my contacts.  This is actually exactly what I used to do with single focus lenses and it worked fine.  Went to multi since it seemed helpful.

Now, I can read fine late at night when I am tired so long as I have a strong light source.  If I do not, I cannot. 

Bout time to bust out the readers again!

Thanks for the info, B. Yeah, it is crazy how much our eyesight changes as we get older. To make my reader's more palatable, I got a really nice pair of frames and splurged on the transition lenses so they turn into sunglasses when I am reading outside. I will likely do the same thing for the readers I will need to wear over the contacts. I am glad it worked for you. You are lucky you can wear the multi-focus contacts  - they really made me nauseous. A strong light source definitely makes a difference. I think I will try the single focus contacts with reading glasses as I need them. I wish I was a candidate for Lasik, but I don't think they do it for age related eyesight issues.

hedonist

The eyes are amazing. My dad wore glasses for years (for distance), then he just didn’t need them anymore.

I don’t know how you people put contacts in! The idea of doing it myself gives me the heebee jeebees. 

F Me In The Brain

Been wearing contacts since I was a pup.  
Having one eye that pretty much doesnt work will encourage that.  Played sports all though high school. ..could not imagine having done that with glasses on.
Plus ....well, the ladies 
(The ladies, the ladies!)

F Me In The Brain

GlowGirl said:

F Me In The Brain said:

Ha.  Know exactly what you mean.  I am legally blind in one eye and my other eye used to be perfect...but has deteriorated over the years of compensating.  Hit 40 and like most that meant further changes in my eyes.

Max power for the brand of extended wear (multi-focus) that I wear and the doc told me if I needed to I could pick up a set of readers from CVS or somewhere and use with my contacts.  This is actually exactly what I used to do with single focus lenses and it worked fine.  Went to multi since it seemed helpful.

Now, I can read fine late at night when I am tired so long as I have a strong light source.  If I do not, I cannot. 

Bout time to bust out the readers again!

Thanks for the info, B. Yeah, it is crazy how much our eyesight changes as we get older. To make my reader's more palatable, I got a really nice pair of frames and splurged on the transition lenses so they turn into sunglasses when I am reading outside. I will likely do the same thing for the readers I will need to wear over the contacts. I am glad it worked for you. You are lucky you can wear the multi-focus contacts  - they really made me nauseous. A strong light source definitely makes a difference. I think I will try the single focus contacts with reading glasses as I need them. I wish I was a candidate for Lasik, but I don't think they do it for age related eyesight issues.

Yeah, when Lasik came I was so excited to get it.....not a candidate.

I'm sure you will find a solution that works for you 

FiveBelow

GlowGirl said:

So, after having perfect vision for most of my life, a few years ago I started wearing reading glasses. I am ok with that. However, now my further away vision seems to be going a bit as well (getting older sucks). I can see things that are really far away perfectly. I can read street signs from blocks away. However, my medium vision (such as looking across my living room) is starting to get slightly blurry. A few years ago I tried both progressive glasses, and multi-focal contact lenses. Both made me feel dizzy. So, I was thinking of trying to get single focus contact lenses for my more distant vision issues, and wear reading glasses over them for my reading issues. The optometrist said that people do that. I was wondering if any of you have any experience with this. I wasn't a huge fan of putting in contacts when I tried them before, but if I get the single focal ones, I can get disposable, which I couldn't before. I heard those are more comfortable. Thoughts?

Bad eyes club member xxx214 here. I have tried the reader approach but I found that lighting was a huge factor and too often not controllable. Bifocal contacts drove me crazy so my optometrist suggested I try a prescription where my left eye is used for distance and my right eye for up close. Over time my eyes have been "trained" to focus depending on the distance, it is strange because I can recognize which eye is dominant now depending on the situation. Without my contacts in I have zero issues seeing anything from about 12"-18" away, beyond that I can't even recognize myself in the mirror. He did mention women usually adjust to this approach better for whatever reason. Good luck finding the right balance.

markymark550

Club member xxx215 here lol. I've been wearing glasses for 36 of my 38 years, so I have no advice for the op. My eyes really suck though. I have to wear bifocals and have esotropia, so that was rough growing up. Other kids could be very cruel about it. I desperately wished I could wear contacts when I was in middle and high school, but the ophthalmologist said I wasn't a good candidate for them because of the esotropia. Doctors might have a different opinion now as I believe there is a surgery that could fix it. At this point, I am who I am and glasses are part of my look so I wouldn't look at other options unless it becomes necessary.

GlowGirl

FiveBelow said:

GlowGirl said:

So, after having perfect vision for most of my life, a few years ago I started wearing reading glasses. I am ok with that. However, now my further away vision seems to be going a bit as well (getting older sucks). I can see things that are really far away perfectly. I can read street signs from blocks away. However, my medium vision (such as looking across my living room) is starting to get slightly blurry. A few years ago I tried both progressive glasses, and multi-focal contact lenses. Both made me feel dizzy. So, I was thinking of trying to get single focus contact lenses for my more distant vision issues, and wear reading glasses over them for my reading issues. The optometrist said that people do that. I was wondering if any of you have any experience with this. I wasn't a huge fan of putting in contacts when I tried them before, but if I get the single focal ones, I can get disposable, which I couldn't before. I heard those are more comfortable. Thoughts?

Bad eyes club member xxx214 here. I have tried the reader approach but I found that lighting was a huge factor and too often not controllable. Bifocal contacts drove me crazy so my optometrist suggested I try a prescription where my left eye is used for distance and my right eye for up close. Over time my eyes have been "trained" to focus depending on the distance, it is strange because I can recognize which eye is dominant now depending on the situation. Without my contacts in I have zero issues seeing anything from about 12"-18" away, beyond that I can't even recognize myself in the mirror. He did mention women usually adjust to this approach better for whatever reason. Good luck finding the right balance.

Thanks. My appointment is tomorrow so I will see what they say. I have heard about that approach that you have. I was really fine with the readers when I am on my computer, phone, and reading a book. But this new distance issue is throwing it all off. I just know that I can't use the progressives. I tried them twice and returned them twice. So, I really hope the contacts for distance and the readers over them for up close will work. Also, I can see perfectly for really far distances so I hope that doesn't complicate things. I do know that one eye is much better than the other. When I cover the bad eye, I can see pretty well for any distance (except for reading). But the other eye is a blurry mess. 

Purple Fairy Tree

How did your appointment go @GlowGirl?

GlowGirl

West Coast Dreamgirl said:

How did your appointment go @GlowGirl?

I got the contacts. I can definitely see clearer with them in terms of my distance vision. But now I need to get new lenses on my reading glasses. The contacts mean I need a weaker prescription for the reading glasses. Right now I am using a very old pair of reading glasses with a weaker prescription than my current ones to work on my computer, and they work ok. But I am getting new lenses in my current ones since they are a much nicer pair. It will just take a few days to get them back. Thanks for asking. I hope you are doing well.

The only downside is for a while I was seeing myself in the mirror with sort of a soft focus. Now that I can see clearer, I think I prefer the soft focus

Purple Fairy Tree

I always prefer the softer focus when looking in the mirror!

F Me In The Brain

Best just not to look at all. 

Glad you had a good visit and have it figured out.

dankind

I feel like the mods should merge this thread with the other old ladies thread.

@OffSheGoes35 @njnancy @Renfield @JPPJ84 @PureandEasy @Who Princess

Renfield

dankind said:

I feel like the mods should merge this thread with the other old ladies thread.

@OffSheGoes35 @njnancy @Renfield @JPPJ84 @PureandEasy @Who Princess

Are you insinuating that the Hey Ladies thread is for old ladies? 

dankind

Renfield said:

dankind said:

I feel like the mods should merge this thread with the other old ladies thread.

@OffSheGoes35 @njnancy @Renfield @JPPJ84 @PureandEasy @Who Princess

Are you insinuating that the Hey Ladies thread is for old ladies? 

In spirit. I believe there was talk of rockers. 

Get_Right

I wore bifocal contacts for years and they were great.  Unfortunately as I got older the reading prescription is too weak on the bifocals.  I did the contact/readers thing for a year or so and then just got glasses with progressive lenses.  Yes, they feel weird the first day or two, and they are very expensive, but you get used to them. Finally broke down last year and got a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses with prescription lenses. Best. Money. Ever. Spent.

hedonist

dankind said:

I feel like the mods should merge this thread with the other old ladies thread.

@OffSheGoes35 @njnancy @Renfield @JPPJ84 @PureandEasy @Who Princess

At least it wouldn’t merge with that godawful “Ed is hot” (or whatever the title is) thread. I confess, that one frightens me. 

dankind

hedonist said:

dankind said:

I feel like the mods should merge this thread with the other old ladies thread.

@OffSheGoes35 @njnancy @Renfield @JPPJ84 @PureandEasy @Who Princess

At least it wouldn’t merge with that godawful “Ed is hot” (or whatever the title is) thread. I confess, that one frightens me. 

The thirsty thread.

rgambs

People give up on progressive addition lenses far too quickly.  If you can get used to jabbing a contact onto your eye and leaving it there all day, you can get used to pointing your head where you want to see lol