Desperately holding onto the world until it stops rocking quite so much

[jducoeur]

Good: I finally got a new eyeglass prescription a couple of weeks ago, for the first time in probably 4-5 years.

Bad: time for the bifocals. I knew that was coming, though: one of the main incentives to get off my ass and deal was when I caught myself lifting off my glasses to read fine print a week or so before.

Good: the new glasses are progressives. So while they are bifocals, nobody except me can really tell. And they really are a fair amount sharper, at both the near and far distances.

Bad: these progressives -- well, they take some getting used to. It's not simply up-vs-down: the near-focus actually covers a semi-circular area around the bottom. This means that my core focal area is rather smaller than I expected. Worse, it means that if I turn my head side-to-side and keep looking at something, it actually shifts position and size on me. Only slightly, but enough to be *startlingly* dizzying. So I have to be more careful to actually look in the direction I'm looking with my head, not just my eyes.

I'm sure this is pretty common, and that I'll get used to it fast enough. But I have to say, learning how to *look* at things differently is going to make for a strange few days...

Comments

[jjaynes.livejournal.com]

I had similar problems when I got bifocals, with the additional interesting problems stepping off curbs. I agree, you will get used to it, but it's hard for a week or two.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I discovered the fun at the H-Mart seafood counter - a long horizontal level surface that undulated smoothly with the progressives I got 4 weeks ago.

It took about 2 weeks to adjust. I still "see" it, but it no longer startles, and my mind and reach adjust automatically.

[jtdiii.livejournal.com]

welcome to progressives. We all go through the adjustment phase.

Going down stairs is what caused me the most adjustment.

Feelin' Yer Pain...

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

Yes, that side-to-side shift is really nauseous. I managed to adjust to that, but still find myself looking over/under my glasses (or taking them off altogether) for handsewing and other extreme close-up tasks. (I'm a Bad Progressive Wearer :-/)

[galaneia.livejournal.com]

You have my sympathy. When I first got bifocals my mom wouldn't let me ride my bike for a week because I was seeing two levels of ground; I don't remember having problems actually walking, but she worried.

Reading all these stories in the comments about progressives makes me feel better about my steadfast refusal to change to them from regular bifocals. Every time I get new glasses they try to talk me into it, and I keep feeling like a stick-in-the-mud refusing, but I've had around 20 years being used to these.

[complexated.livejournal.com]

I had progressive glasses when I was younger. I got over the sea sickness part in a week or so, but I never got over the problems with climbing stairs. Since you can't actually see the stairs as you are climbing them, if the height of the steps ever changed I would fall on my face. I had to be extra careful climbing bleachers.

[fosveny.livejournal.com]

Bad: time for the bifocals.

I've worn them since I was thirteen. What's your point?

[serakit.livejournal.com]

Ow. I'm flashing back to getting *regular* glasses and how seasickness/dizziness-inducing that was. I can't imagine what it must be like with an extra dimension tossed in to make it even more dizzying.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I started with progressives, but very much disliked the areas of no-focus on the sides, where the different lens grinding fall off zones merge and fight, so I went to regular bifocals. I like these a lot better, because I can focus on things off to the side instead of pointing my head at them. They also took me a week or two of mental adjustment. I'm glad you're accommodating fairly well to them.

Here is an illustration of the focus areas on progressives, which you probably know about, but might be interesting to others -- it's those circles on the sides which are the dead zones.

[jducoeur]

Mine are a bit fancier, and have a slightly larger intermediate-distance zone than normal. (They cost more, and got something of a hardsell, which I allowed myself to buy into since I spend *most* of my time dealing with intermediate.)

That said -- yeah, I'm on the fence about the progressives, for the just the reason you say. In particular, when I shift my eyes at all significantly to the side, at least one eye goes fuzzy (typically the further one) because of those dead zones. I keep feeling like the glasses are dirty, because of that fuzziness. I traditionally use my peripheral vision a *lot* (it's why I prefer larger lenses), so it's being pretty annoying. I gather that these are better than most progressives, but they're still problematic.

I might yet go for conventional bifocals, and am tempted to buy a cheapish pair to compare. But I'm going to give these a week or two first...

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

While searching for the graphic, I also found one for an alleged new/improved version, but frankly, it doesn't look like more than a 10% improvement. Maybe your new version is even better, though.

[mindways]

I traditionally use my peripheral vision a *lot* (it's why I prefer larger lenses), so it's being pretty annoying.

Have you considered any of the various sorts of bifocal contacts?

(I was a diehard "could never use contact lenses" sort until a year or two ago - I finally gave them a shot because my peripheral vision just wasn't good enough for me to enjoy bicycling / feel comfortable bicycling in traffic. They're better in that regard than any pair of glasses I've ever owned. They do have drawbacks - it's why I swap between contacts and glasses - but I've also discovered benefits that weren't even on my radar when I looked into them.)

[jducoeur]

Vaguely contemplated it, and continue to do so. I have a very strong blink reflex, though (giving me dilation drops is an amazing pain in the ass), so I'm a bit skeptical...

[mindways]

In the short term, so long as your finger-muscles are stronger than your blink-muscles, you should be OK... you don't actually need to suppress the blink reflex itself; you're instead preventing the movement engendered by that reflex. Anyplace which does an initial contact lens exam / fitting should teach how to do this. (The fellow at the place I went was very patient. :)

If you *can* suppress the reflex, it does make it a touch easier - but it's not required. (Getting to that point took me months of acclimation, and the blink reflex still comes back when I don't wear the contacts for a week.)

Personally, I thought I wouldn't be able to wear them because my eyes water like Niagra when I even *think* about eye drops, eye exams, etc. I feared I'd just wash the things straight out of my eyes. But while it was inconvenient (wet skin is much harder to hold firmly, necessitating frequent use of a paper towel during the learning period), it didn't end up being an obstacle.

I wear 'em now whenever I know I'm going to want good peripheral vision, or be really bundled up against the cold (between not fogging up and occupying minimal real estate, contacts work very well with facemasks and the like). Or, rarely, if I feel like not wearing glasses; I've had glasses for so long that they're part of my self-image, so the cosmetic angle is usually a wash for me.

[camilla-anna.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the club. Progressives and the side to side thing took me a week or so to get used to. It's been a month and the only problem I still have is checking other people's data at work. I often don't remember to turn my head enough not to get a blur between the calculator and the notebook.

[russkay.livejournal.com]

I tried progressive lenses a few years (like 10) back; I stuck it out for six weeks, but in the end could not adjust and have been with standard bifocals ever since. I have until recently used a separate pair of bifocals with the main section focused for the computer screen. That's fine until you inadvertently get in the car wearing computer glasses.... But as my eyes start shrinking again and my prescription numbers go down instead of up, the second pair is less useful; most of the time I can get by with my standard prescription (which at $200 a pop just for lenses every year adds up fast enough).

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Russ, I've been very happy with the glasses I've bought from Zenni Optical. Under $50 each. You might want to check them out. Several of my friends recommended them to me.

[russkay.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Cynthia. I've had enough problems with stores and a variety of suppliers over many years, where I've needed remakes and/or major readjustments, that I'm frankly leery of trying a remote online service. I'm sure they do a good job, but I'm much less sure that I can give them the information they need to do that good job. And I'm very sensitive to small changes in vision, so I don't feel I can afford to take chances with this aspect of how I relate to the world. Maybe I'll give them a try and see. But right now one of my eyes has changed significantly in the past year, and I'm getting a bunch of tests and seeing an opthalmologist to try and find out what's going on, so I'll hold off on new glasses for a while.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

*nods*

Understandable. My eyesight is quite myopic, but other than that is textbook, so I've not had the problems you have. Good luck!