Boots can't figure out what's wrong with my glasses

GlasweJen

I'm going to predict that you'll hate your left eye prescription. Myopes tend to hate having minus removed from their lenses and going from -0.25 to +0.25 will take a bit of getting used to.

Unless you have your glasses glazed for reading already the add won't change anything a single bit (though I agree that +0.75 is more likely to help that +1.25).

I'm sceptical that varifocals would help, your intermediate add is going to be between 0.25 and 0.50, almost negligible. We used to struggle to get varifocals lenses for -ve prescriptions with an add of less than 1.25 as most myopes are happy looking under their glasses or taking their glasses off to read at that point.

I would definitely know your cancellation/returns policy before buying anything in your circumstances.

[Deleted User]

Thanks GlasweJen. I don't really understand much of this, but yes it does seem odd that I went from -0.25 to +0.25. Maybe I should query that. Seems unlikely that I would go from near to long sighted...

I dug around and found what I am wearing right now:

Eye     Sph     Cyl     Axis    Prism   VA
Right   -0.25   -1.00   89      -       6/5+
Left    -0.25   -1.00   103     -       6/5+

Why do you think that the +0.75 won't help? I can't read my computer screen and books are quite bad without my glasses. It's a pain to read in bed these days because I have to wear my glasses to do it.

GlasweJen

You've not went from near to far sighted. There are 2 ways to write a prescription, your optician uses minus cyl so your prescription is:

Eye Sph Cyl Axis Prism VA
Right -0.25 -0.75 90 - 6/6-
Left +0.25 -1.25 105 - 6/6-

Written the other way (in plus cyl) it would be
Eye Sph Cyl Axis Prism VA
Right -1.00 +0.75 180 - 6/6-
Left -1.00 +1.25 15 - 6/6-

I'm sceptical about your near add as you're just a bit young to need reading glasses. Healthy people in their 30s should be able to adjust from distance to near without even thinking about it. The fact you say you wear your current minus prescription in bed to read is counter intuitive to needing reading glasses. Reading glasses have more plus in them to magnify things, your glasses that you wear in bed have minus prescription in them which minifies things. If you find it easier to read with your current glasses on then sticking a +0.75 lens in front of your eye will basically just cut out your minus and leave you with this prescription.

Eye Sph Cyl Axis Prism VA
Right +0.50 -0.75 90 - 6/6-
Left +1.00 -1.25 105 - 6/6-


If your current glasses are helping you with reading and VDU then you don't need readers. You've had a change of prescription that's going to take some bedding in as your left eye is currently over minused (which really won't be helping). Once bedded in, at your age in a healthy individual, your 1 pair of glasses plus your normal accommodative reflexes in your eye will do the job of varifocals for you. You will just need to wear the glasses all the time, even when reading in bed (and make sure there's enough light). Even if you bought varifocals you'd need them on to have any benefit from them reading in bed (and you'd probably hate it as you wouldn't be able to lie down and see through the reading segment, most people who read a lot in bed have a cheap pair of near only glasses for exactly this reason).

LadyDee

I've worn varifocals for years and have never had a problem reading in bed. I do though have a cheap-framed pair which I wear then as I also fall asleep a lot and don't want to damage my 'best' specs. If the optician knows exactly for what purposes you need the glasses then slight adjustments can be made for angles etc. I think my bed-use specs are tilted very slightly because of this. They are varifocals though as I also watch TV in bed.

[Deleted User]

GlasweJen wrote: »

You've not went from near to far sighted. There are 2 ways to write a prescription, your optician uses minus cyl so your prescription is:

-- snip --

Ah, thanks, that explains it. I understand now.

I'm sceptical about your near add as you're just a bit young to need reading glasses. Healthy people in their 30s should be able to adjust from distance to near without even thinking about it.

I guess it is the Chronic Fatigue. My body is exceptionally stupid, nothing works properly. Auto-immune conditions and CFS do all kinds of odd things. I wake up feeling knackered like I need a good night's sleep, for example.

The fact you say you wear your current minus prescription in bed to read is counter intuitive to needing reading glasses.

Actually I just gave up reading in bed. I can read without my glasses and the book up close, but it's a strain so I just stopped doing it.

If your current glasses are helping you with reading and VDU then you don't need readers. You've had a change of prescription that's going to take some bedding in as your left eye is currently over minused (which really won't be helping). Once bedded in, at your age in a healthy individual, your 1 pair of glasses plus your normal accommodative reflexes in your eye will do the job of varifocals for you.

So perseverance is the key perhaps. If I can hold out for another six weeks I could get two new pairs for less than a single pair of varifocals here. Get one pair with a normal lens and one with varifocals, and just try them both.

I don't really care about reading any more, just distance + VDU would be enough.

Years ago the optician taught me a simple exercise to help the eye muscles. Take an object like a pen or something, focus on it at arms length and slowly move it towards your face. Do that 5 times a day. It really helped and I do it every day now.

Thanks again for all your help. It's really good to understand the problem, rather than just have to accept advice from people who want to sell me lenses.

[Deleted User]

Okay, I went to Cameron Davis and get some varifocals as per the prescription. Been wearing them for a week.

Distance is pretty good, a slight improvement over my original prescription and obviously way better than the Boots one. Reading prescription is okay too. No problem getting used to varifocals.

The problem is medium distance stuff like VDU. Still getting eye strain, not any better than the original prescription really. Went back to CD, they suggested trying occupational lenses, despite my young age. They lent me some test occupational lenses (-0.50, or maybe it was +0.50). I used them for a few hours, held on with a rubber band... They seemed to help but I still got eye strain.

Not sure what to do. I can't go back for a couple of weeks so I'll just keep trying this new prescription until then.

nedmundo

Try pushing your screen back and lowering it.

freya18th

I had the same problem with specsavers so went to a different branch of specsavers and paid for an eye test£20 . There was a difference in the prescription I then told them my problem that I had had at the previous specsavers. They put the new lens in at no cost .

[Deleted User]

My monitors are already as far back as they can go without falling off the desk.

It's been getting worse this week. Last week was mostly diagrams, graphic stuff. This week I'm going a lot of writing and I find it is really hard to scan over the page, and reading is slow and error prone.

Starting to despair now.

Vimtola

Have you had a hospital referal? I had lots of prob with my specs amd it took a hospital visit to fi d the problem. I simply needed prisms added to my script.