OK ok..so I know I'm getting older..but besides losing my inability to use my hula hoop and my skateboard, I never thought I would be getting bifocals at my age! Well, eye tests don't lie so I grudingly chose a new funky pair of glasses and asked my optician to at least make the bifocals invisible...which he cheerfully did.

But getting used to them?!? Eek! The majority of my day is spent driving ( I am near-sighted so here's where the upper part of the lenses help) walking in snow and ice ( need to look down to see where the heck I am stepping so I don't break my neck) staring and working at a computer all day and half of the night ( medium level), reading and carving stamps ( close-up work). Well, I have found a very disconcerting side-effect to these glasses. If I move to quickly from one task to another everything gets wavy and "trippy" looking..and I get a little dizzy, to be honest. Heck, if I wanted to look at the world through THESE kind of glasses, I would be finding my old hook up to that Hawaiian Redbud. Sheesh.

How do you other aging letterboxers deal?

LW PhD
"Nice Counts"

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OK ok..so I know I'm getting older..but besides losing my inability to use my hula hoop and my skateboard, I never thought I would be getting bifocals at my age!

I always pictured you in your 20s. Was I off? When I got my new prescription the year I turned 40, the dr. said she had to check for reading glasses. I was flabergasted. Then she prescribed a strength that has to be ordered. She said, you don't really need them, but if you wanted them, just order this prescription.

Okay, if I don't need them, why are you prescribing them? I have yet to get them, that was over 3 years ago. I think it's time though. If I'm still at that crazy strength, I may have to break down and order them. I do want the 'funky' style though.

I'M TOO YOUNG FOR THIS!!!

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If I move to quickly from one task to another everything gets wavy and "trippy" looking..and I get a little dizzy, to be honest. Heck, if I wanted to look at the world through THESE kind of glasses, I would be finding my old hook up to that Hawaiian Redbud. Sheesh.

ROFLMAO. And, I know what you mean.

Janet, Blooming Flowers

I should have bifocals but I've been putting it off. I either read over the top of my glasses or I pull them down to the very end of my nose.... And I carve with my face down reeeeeally close to the medium.

Sheba

Oh you weren't off. I am definately in my 20's on the INSIDE. You know you are fighting it when a 23 year old co-worker takes a look at your Ipod library and is flabbergasted. He wanted to download off of MINE! lol

You're only as young as you feel...but it sure is annoying when the world starts getting fuzzy. I have been doing the same thing with my glasses...peering over them, taking them off and putting them back on..squinting..it's such a pain. I finally got sick of it. I picked out some blue half rims (the frame only goes half way around) and they have a slight cat glasses angle to them. I like them very much. My second choice though. I originally picked out these burgundy framed glasses that had the lenses seemingly "floating" within the frame...they were attached at four TINY points. The bows of the frame has a large cut out, so the whole effect was like you weren't wearing glasses at all. The young and very helpful salesgirl said, "They look great! If you were 20." Enough said. I went with the second pair..lol.

LW PhD
"Nice Counts"

I started wearing glasses when I was 5 and had bifocals at the age of 7. I started out wearing the big bulky plastic frames with the lined bifocals. As I got older (teen years) I tried the no-line ones.....boy was that rough! I had a hard time walking down stairs because it was all wobbly. The person who fit me for them never showed me how to use them and how to find the right part of the Rx in the lense.Now I no longer need the bifocal part and haven't for years....although I'm sure within the next 10 years or so I will need them back!
It does get easier once you find where the reading and distance and inbetween parts of the lense are and become comfortable with how far to tip your head to get to those places. Good luck, and if you have problems with them go back to where you got them and have them show you how to use them. I also worked as an optician a few years ago and we had alot of people return the no-line bifocals because they couldn't get used to them......tricky stuff.

Got my first pair of glasses at 40 and went straight to bifocals. I got the no line. Yes, they do take a couple of weeks to get used to! The first week I took dramamine for the side effects you were describing. But after a few weeks I thought they were the best things. On the computer all day at work and all night at home for fun. I found I could actually READ again. Hang in there!
OG

I did not wear glasses until I started needing them to read. Then I started needing them for work (looking at a computer all day) For years I dealt with the cheater readers. Putting them on, taking them off, putting them on, etc. It got to be so annoying that a few years ago I decided to go with the no-line bifocals (progressives). Because I still only need them for reading and computer work, they are practically clear on top. It was very weird at first and I experienced all the symptoms you describe. After a few days (maybe it was a week to 10 days, I can't remember exactly) those symptoms went away and I just love 'em. (Well, as much as one who has to wear glasses can. I'd really prefer not to have to deal with them at all.)

Hang in there, it will get better:)

:)FreezyCat

I have had bifocals for about 5 years. The first pair were Veralux (sp?) lense and they were nice. It did take a week or so before I finally became used to them, and tipping my head to see down, etc.

My newest pair I didn't get through my optician, and got through a less expensive store, because I had to pay out of pocket (no longer on an insurance plan). These lenses are not Varalux (I didn't know there was a difference) and I am still getting used to them, and it has been about a month. I went back and talked wtih a tech, and they checked out my old glasses and then compared the lenses, and told me that once you get used to Veralux, anything else is second rate! I could upgrade, for another $150. UGH!! Needless to say, I wish I had gotten these on my old insurance!!! The problem is with the progression of no lines. The Veralux "does a better job" of making that progression! Better technique!

I am determined to get used to them!!!! LOL

LtW

I got over the nausea after a few days. I have yet to get over the fact that I need them.

It is tough, tough not being able to see. I do miss my clear old world. I've always worn glasses/contacts for distance (and I liked looking at Christmas lights without them), but needing the reading glasses was awful. I usually wear my contact lenses (that have no bifocals) and grab the reading glasses for close-up work. When I carve, I go bare-eyed. I got my bifocals for night wear -- distance to see the news, bottom to read.

There's nothing easy about it at all. You'll get used to it, though.

Take care,
Mama Cache

Hey LW

It is hell to get old, but consider the alternative!

After wearing glasses without bifocals, then going to those with bifocals, then having lasics twice, I still need some correction and that includes bifocals. The worst part is having my eye dominance switch back and forth when I get tired. Dominance flip flopping totally screws me up for my other favorite past time.

Here is another thing I have found, and that is I can not do any carving about one week before any competitions as my eyes don't work for distance as well, and I have to use more eye drops as they really dry out will carving. After about a week they seem to be back to seeing distance properly.


You might want to consider getting cheap readers from the drug store and a corrected lense without the reader part for hiking and other times when you are more concerned about distance. Keep your corrected lense with bifocals for those times when you have to switch back and forth. That way you will not have to bend your head way down while hiking, but will have some cheap readers available.


Don

How long have you had them? I got used to mine within a couple days. I suppose it varies.

When I say "got used to", by the way, I don't mean "stopped noticing the distortion changes when I move my head". I mean "CAN NO LONGER SEE THE DISTORTION CHANGES". Seriously. As hard as I try to see the weird effects that were so disconcerting when I first got the lenses, I CAN'T. Apparently the human visual system rewires itself to take a distorted image and map it into an undistorted perception. Well, it'd have to; the retina's not a perfect plane (or sphere) so even without bifocals the image your eye's lens projects on it is distorted, but your brain un-distorts it. So that's not surprising, but I'm surprised at how quickly an ADULT brain can make the adjustment... and that, if I take my glasses off, I still don't see any distortion, so apparently my visual system has at least two un-distorting maps, one for glasses on and one for glasses off.

Brains are amazing.

Hey LW,
Hang in there! Hopefully you bought the better lenses. They should settle down for you after a short time. Be persistant and try to wear them as much as possible without making yourself feel comfortable.
I have had mine for a few months now. The first few days were as you described. Now I use them every day and can't live without them! They're great.

That being said, progressives aren't for every purpose. I wear mine full-time so that I can see better in the distance and read as well (like in a dark restaurant for example). But, when I carve, I use a full frame "reading" Rx. With these, you will get a much larger field of view at close range and no "Wave " problem. Of course a nice bright lighted magnifier on top of them is my personal preference!!!

I'd recommend getting your reading glasses from a professional optical shop as opposed to "cheaters". Most people don't have a perfectly balanced Rx, and many have astigmatism too. Get it filled properly and you will see your best, your carvings will look the best possible, and you will be happiest! :o)

Pete - The Merry Prankster #1 - Registered Optician #4889

i feel the pain. i couldn't get used to those stooopid things and they made me nauseous to boot.
i went back to my optometrist and asked for another pair. one without bifocals and one just for close work. He told me it would be a nuisance taking them on and off. i told him it was a nuisance always wanting to puke. However i also went to another optometrist and it seems that the first Doc had actually put a magnifying of 2X plus my prescription in the bifocals. No wonder i was feeling green.
Wait until you hear this one from the Doctor:

"For a MIDDLE AGED woman, your (fill in the blank) is very good."

You never do hear what was good because you are so focused on those dreaded MIDDLE AGED
words that whatever was good was totally irrelevant. ☺

I got progressives last summer and I had to relearn a couple of things (point of focus when walking up or down stairs was the biggest one) and I absolutely love them now. It took a little while to get used to them (maybe a week), but they go on my face and stay there now. :) The only thing I haven't been able to get to work right for me is playing the piano. Changing focal range for reading music and glancing down at the keyboard and back to the music again is really rough. I will probably have to get a single focus pair of glasses for that activity.

Webfoot

Yes - I have the same problem!!! I have to use my seperate reading glasses to play the piano! Otherwise I sit at the piano with my head strecthed up trying to see the music!!! LOL It puts an awful strain on the neck!!!

LtW

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"For a MIDDLE AGED woman, your (fill in the blank) is very good."

With my doctors, its' . . . . "as 'we' get older . . . "

How did they get into this???

Thanks for all the encouraging responses! It's been almost a week and I am getting used to them now. I think it's funny that almost no one has noticed that I have new glasses, but several people have said..."I never knew you had blue eyes!" I have VERY blue eyes..but I don't think you could see them behind my thick black rimmed Madame Librarian glasses...lol.

LW PhD
"Nice Counts"

I thought I noticed new glasses but couldn't say anything at the moment. Then, of course I forgot about it when I actually had a chance. Yes, I too am aging and need to get bifocals. I've been putting off this year's optometrist appt because of that. I can still make do very nicely by taking my glasses off to read but it's almost constant! I share in your agony, so you're not alone!!