Astigmatism daily contact lenses

lazytoad2001

Hi guys

I'm off to the opticians on Monday for a contact lens assesment. I have worn lenses before but never been 100% comfortable in them or thought that day to day my vision was good enough for vdu etc. Ths time I'm thinking of going dailies, I know there expensive for astigmatism but I'm kind of thinking of wearing at weekends and when running. My prescription is relatively strong with astigmatism. I know dailies are available for my prescription but I also know that you can't get as close to my specs prescription. I guess my question is are others successfully wearing dailies with astigmatism, how do you find them etc. thanks

nikki2804

I was offered dailies but the prescription was WAY out. I was actually quite surprised that the optician would even suggest the wrong prescription. Any way, to get my actual prescription I could only get monthly, hard lenses.

From prior experience, the wrong prescription made me feel sick and had achey. Not nice.

nuttyrockeress

I use them occasionally and find my vision is ok other than my astigmatism is at an odd angle so it doesn't always sit properly.

I wear Acuvue moist as I also have dry eyes.

I get mine through Boots as I get Advantage card points and 10% off other Boots products.

I have 30 pairs for 3 months.

jenniewb

I tried lenses about 6 months ago, I was told the same about dailies- that it wouldn't be as good as monthlies or other lenses so I opted for monthlies. I have worn lenses in the past but about 10 years ago and the sets I had were made to last 2 years. I got on far better with these than I did with the set 6 months ago (the monthlies).


I struggled to see properly and then found one eye was blurry and the other was near perfect, (the astigmatism is slightly different in each eye and I am also short sighted differently in each eye on top of this).
I was told that the monthlies are pretty much off-the-shelf made and go up in increments of 5 or something so if your request is 123 for arguments sake, your going to get lenses reading 125 (this is size rather than prescription) and as a result I would never find a pair where I could see the same in each eye and would always have eye-strain headaches as a result.


What shocked me is that if these were monthlies, what on earth must dailies be like!


I gave up and am sticking to glasses which is a shame as I had been looking forward to wearing things like sun glasses or going out in the rain without having to make a song and dance of cleaning my glasses so I could see. Its depressing to think I'll probably always have to wear glasses but I can say at least I know its not an option as I went for a trial and at least that cost me nothing.

heartbreak_star

Can you ask about toric lenses? One of my cheerleaders has astigmatism and wears these for practise.

HBS x

Lobby12

I've worn daily toric lenses for astigmatism in my left eye for a few years. Yes, they only do certain angles so it is unlikely that they will match your exact angle of the astigmatism but different manufacturers make different angles so ask to try a few different brands before you commit. They're thicker than normal lenses so you can feel them when you first put them in but after a few seconds you should not be able to feel them - if you can go back to the opticians and try a different brand. I personally have a damaged eye so will never get great vision in that eye but the toric lens does make a big difference.

I've tried many different brands over the last 17 years and found that what works for others will not always work for you. For example I have had allergic reactions to the preservative in cleaning fluids when using yearly and monthly lenses so as it was so much hassle to find a solution without the preservative I went to dailys - more expensive but you can't pay to replace your eyes once they are damaged. I also had a reaction to the silica hydragel lenses and can't wear those but my husband gets on fine with them.

My advise is to keep talking to the optician until you find the best solution for you.

InsideInsurance

I have the extended/ continuous wear torics so not quite the same as the dailies and never had a problem with them at all. Dont have glasses to cross compare (I know, my optician tells me off too) but dont have any issues with mine at all and was able to read the bottom line of the normal tests.

They should be able to give you test ones first to ensure the prescription works for you before you invest in a batch of them

Fuzzy_Duck

I find mine very difficult to put in compared to my monthly contacts. Not sure whether it's because they're so thin (although one advantage of this is they are more comfortable) or because they don't match my prescription exactly.

Having said that, I wear my glasses most of the time so it's easier for me to wear dailies on the odd occasion I need them and chuck them afterwards. It's just as well I rarely need them as I usually go through at least two pairs trying to get them in my eyes!

Fuzzy_Duck

InsideInsurance wrote: »

I have the extended/ continuous wear torics so not quite the same as the dailies and never had a problem with them at all. Dont have glasses to cross compare (I know, my optician tells me off too) but dont have any issues with mine at all and was able to read the bottom line of the normal tests.

They should be able to give you test ones first to ensure the prescription works for you before you invest in a batch of them

I used to wear these and got on with them best. I took them out every night though- I have really dry eyes and whilst I found them the most comfortable, I still couldn't stand to have them in all the time.

InsideInsurance

Fuzzy_Duck wrote: »

I used to wear these and got on with them best. I took them out every night though- I have really dry eyes and whilst I found them the most comfortable, I still couldn't stand to have them in all the time.

The continuous/ extended wear ones are much tougher and are less permeable as a consequence. If you have problems with dry eyes I am surprised you wear lenses that will be worse for you given you arent using their benefit of being able to be left in close to 24/7?

I am bad and do wear mine 24/7 and normally for a fair bit longer than the 28 days they are supposed to last. Eyes are a bit gunky when I first wake up but after a few seconds to clear them I can see perfectly so a worth while sacrifice to avoid having to mess about with putting lenses in and having to remember to take them out etc every day.

I never liked glasses, not from a vanity perspective, but because they made the backs of my ears sore, they always steam up (even the ones treated not to), I found the reflection on the inside irritating even after days of wearing them etc. I rarely wear sunglasses for the same reasons

farfromhome

I have been wearing monthly disposable toric lenses from Bausch & Lomb in my left eye only for several years (an ordinary "balancing" lens in my right eye). I am extremely short-sighted and find it impossible to drive wearing glasses. Both contact lenses get uncomfortable after about 8 hours, sometimes less, as my eyes are also very dry and suffer from hayfever (not a good combination!). I always have a spare set of contact lenses and some eye drops in my handbag.

I have been asking my optician about daily disposable toric lenses for years and have contacted Bausch & Lomb and a couple of other contact lens suppliers myself, but apparently my prescription is fairly unusual so that it would be uneconomical to produce a daily disposable toric lens.

The Bausch & Lomb lenses are comfortable until my prescription changes again and it sometimes takes me a few minutes to put the lens in as it doesn't fit right any more until I get the right prescription but overall I am very happy with them.