Astigmatic/Toric Daily Lenses - Unusual Prescription

Aubs

Hello,

I've been wearing glasses for most of my life and have tried contacts in the past. Apparently, I have an unusual prescription, astigmatic and long sightedness.

My current glasses prescription is:
Right
Sphere (SPH) = +2.75
Cylinder (CYL) = -3.50
Axis = 18
Left
Sphere (SPH) = +2.00
Cylinder (CYL) = -2.75
Axis = 149

The monthly lenses Specsavers gave me a few years back were:
R - SPH+2.50/CYL-2.25/Ax10/BC8.7/DIA14.5
L - SPH+2.00/CYL-2.25/Ax160BC8.7/DIA14.5

They gave pretty good vision, but I couldn't wear them for extended periods.


The recent daily ones Specsavers gave me are:
R - SPH+2.50/CYL-1.75/Ax10BC8.8/DIA14.4
L - SPH+2.00/CYL-1.75/Ax160BC8.8/DIA14.4

They were ok and legal for driving, but vision wasn't particularly great.

The recent monthly ones Specsavers gave me are:
R - SPH+2.75/CYL-2.25/Ax20BC8.5/DIA14.5
L - SPH+2.00/CYL-2.25/Ax150BC8.5/DIA14.5

Like the older monthly ones, these are good, but not for extended periods.


The Point of this Thread
I spoke with the optician and she said if I could find some dailies that were closer to my prescription, she would order some in for me. But, I'm having trouble finding any that are closer than the ones I've already tried.

I want some lenses that I can put in for periods of time and if I go swimming or they get annoying, just throw them away and put my glasses on. I'm trying to get away from faffing with solution and not agreeing with the lenses after a week or two of daily use.

Has anyone been able to get hold of unusual daily prescription Toric lenses at all that closely resemble my own prescription? I'm not too concerned about cost, I just want something that suits properly.

jenniewb

Aubs wrote: »

Hello,

I've been wearing glasses for most of my life and have tried contacts in the past. Apparently, I have an unusual prescription, astigmatic and long sightedness.

My current glasses prescription is:
Right
Sphere (SPH) = +2.75
Cylinder (CYL) = -3.50
Axis = 18
Left
Sphere (SPH) = +2.00
Cylinder (CYL) = -2.75
Axis = 149

The monthly lenses Specsavers gave me a few years back were:
R - SPH+2.50/CYL-2.25/Ax10/BC8.7/DIA14.5
L - SPH+2.00/CYL-2.25/Ax160BC8.7/DIA14.5

They gave pretty good vision, but I couldn't wear them for extended periods.


The recent daily ones Specsavers gave me are:
R - SPH+2.50/CYL-1.75/Ax10BC8.8/DIA14.4
L - SPH+2.00/CYL-1.75/Ax160BC8.8/DIA14.4

They were ok and legal for driving, but vision wasn't particularly great.

The recent monthly ones Specsavers gave me are:
R - SPH+2.75/CYL-2.25/Ax20BC8.5/DIA14.5
L - SPH+2.00/CYL-2.25/Ax150BC8.5/DIA14.5

Like the older monthly ones, these are good, but not for extended periods.


The Point of this Thread
I spoke with the optician and she said if I could find some dailies that were closer to my prescription, she would order some in for me. But, I'm having trouble finding any that are closer than the ones I've already tried.

I want some lenses that I can put in for periods of time and if I go swimming or they get annoying, just throw them away and put my glasses on. I'm trying to get away from faffing with solution and not agreeing with the lenses after a week or two of daily use.

Has anyone been able to get hold of unusual daily prescription Toric lenses at all that closely resemble my own prescription? I'm not too concerned about cost, I just want something that suits properly.

About 18 months ago I tried an offer at Vision Express for daily lenses for my astigmatism (something similar to yours but I think a 0.3 difference here and there; different for each eye though). I additionally am short sighted again and so cannot see without some form of lenses.


They tried dailies but were unable to find anything which was suitable and then tried monthlies. My prescription is inbetween two lenses (I thought they made them specificly for me but actually they don't unless your willing to pay for hard lenses).


I tried about 5 different dailies to see if any would work but as I sit inbetween two prescription lenses and have a different astigmatism and short sightedness in each eye, I just ended up with blurred vision and a very big headache every day.


I really tried to get them to work for me; I'd love to be able to go to the beach and wear sunglasses or go swimming or just to not have to see a big cage around my eyes. I really, really wanted the lenses to work. Sadly I couldn't manage more than 6 hours a day and the blurred vision never went away (it actually got worse). I had to give up and go back to glasses. I was really sad by that.


I ususally pit Vision Express at the forefront of things like this which is why I mentioned the brand. I asked if things would ever be improved and was told that they work to improve prescriptions and lenses all the time but that (on a real level- I had asked for an honest answer) that it would be quite unlikely that I'd be able to get lenses which resolved the issues I was having as the problem only would affect me or a small number of people in the population. It wouldn't be financially worth their while to deal with this problem any time soon. It was always possible it could get resolved because anything is possible. But in real life terms it would be unwise for him to have told me that it would be resolved any time soon.


I guess I should be grateful; even if they did offer me lenses they would still be a luxury I'd only be able to wear every few days due to the cost. But it would have been nice to have had the option.

tidus

I'm not aware of any daily lenses closer to your prescription.
The Cyls don't go above -1.75 when combined with your plus Sph.

Just an uncommon prescription in afraid, not common enough for anyone to mass produce lenses - they wouldn't sell enough.

nedmundo

What issues were you having with the monthly lenses that prevented all day wear?

Aubs

jenniewb, I sympathise with you. At least for me I can get on with lenses generally.

tidus, thanks for your knowledge. Shame, but I guess I'll have to live with being a minority and getting the worse deal!! LoL I wouldn't mind paying more though if I could get them.

nedmundo, I think the issue is mainly me not blinking enough. I use computers all the time, so it's probably my own fault, though it's difficult to do things differently when it just comes naturally without thinking. Also, I remember that after a few days/week or two of wearing them regularly, they used to sting when I put them in. I used the Specsavers 'allpurpose' preservative free solution and it wasn't the Peroxide one. They've given me the 'multipurpose' one this time, so it may be different. There often used to be white stuff when cleaning them again before putting them in, I used to rinse them in solution to get it all off. Maybe insufficient cleaning before putting them away?

Aubs

For anyone who finds this thread in future, below is a good comparison of different manufacturers' contact lenses where you enter your prescription and requirement:

http://www.acuvueprofessional.com/param-filter

This is my prescription entered HERE

AbbieCadabra

i can't offer any help on your prescription but i use toric monthly lenses but only use them on a daily basis. i've used replenish solution & not had any issues (lenses & solution both from costco). one of my eyes gets a little dry but a few drops of tesco comfort drops sorts it out.

Aubs

Great, thanks for the advice Abbie. I'll get some of the drops when I'm next in store.

Toomuchdebt

Hycosan drops are very good for dry/sore/tired eyes-I tried a free sample when I was suffering with hayfever a few days ago and really liked it.

Baby_Angel

I use monthly toric lenses from specsavers. I pay with £15 monthly direct debit so works out cheaper. My vision has never been better. No blurry vision and it feels so comfortable. However for work with computers all day I just wear my glasses because of the air conditioning. But on holiday or weekends I remove the lens only for bedtime.

Aubs

I'll have a look for Hycosan, thanks Toomuchdebt.

Baby Angel - I was doing the same and it worked out that I hardly ever wore my contacts, so I cancelled. No point paying £15/month every month and not getting much from it.
Started again now though as we haven't got air conditioning where I work now.
I've gone for dailies which you get 30 in a box for each eye, works out at £35/month. A lot more than monthlies, but as it's not on a contract, I'll see how they go for the first few days/weeks and stop them ordering any more until I've got rid of my backlog. The benefit too is that if I need to ditch them (decide to stay out, fall asleep in them, need to take them out but haven't got a holder, etc.!), I've not ruined the rest of the month supply, especially if it happens on the first weekend. Plus, I can have a spare pare in the car for emergencies!!

I've just had a look online and the price from SpecSavers in-store (£35) for the same lenses is cheaper than visiondirect.co.uk/ (£41.96), moodoptic.co.uk (£39.56) and the recommendation from MSE moneysavingexpert.com price comparison (£47.49) - There's only one supplier of my lenses (feelgoodcontacts.com) which is odd as I've just found two others!

I am concious though that I will want to be able to go to the optician any time for advise/assistance/concerns, so it looks worth staying with them.