Overwhelmed newbie!

[Cherry]

I am definitely looking forward to having better vision, it will be nice not to feel like I'm squinting all the time to focus.

Can I ask, what do you do on days when you either can't get your lenses in or you lose one, or they make your eyes sore so you have to take them out during the day? How do you manage without them for work etc?

[Lia Williams]

Hi Cherry,

In answer to some your questions:

How long will an appointment take?
Do allow plenty of time for your appointment as it is quite likely that when the optometrist has found a suitable trial lens for you they will send you back to the waiting room for about half an hour (while they see someone else) to see how the lens settles on the eye.

What do you do when you lose a lens?
With care, and once you get used to handling them, you shouldn't lose many lenses. However I always carry an old pair with me - just in case.

Sore eyes
If the lenses fit correctly, are cleaned properly and you don't overwear your lenses then the hopefully a sore eye is a rarity. However if it does happen I manage by using one eye during the day and replace it for the journey home.

Back-up glasses
It is well worth having a pair of back-up glasses if your unaided vision is very poor. I find them useful first thing in the morning and I also use them to give my eyes a break if I know I'm going to have a late night. One problem with back-up glasses is optimising the prescription as the corneas will be affected by wearing contact lenses. This problem mainly occurs with RGPs which have been worn for many years, if you were to be given soft lenses I believe that it is much easier to switch between glasses and lenses.

If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

Lia

[munster]

@Cherry:
I have days when my eyes are sore when I wake up in the morning. This happens frequently too, especially, if i haven't had a good sleep. I'm a professional driver for my job, and could not drive more than 30mins in glasses. So in my case, I have no choice, but to phone in sick

@Lia:
Soft lenses do also make glasses prescriptions a nightmare. A soft lens can make the cornea thicken slightly due to reduced oxygen transmission. So your glasses can be blurry for a few hours after removal of soft lenses. I know because it happens to me. It also varies from day to day, the effect and duration.

[Cherry]

Thanks Lia, will the trial lens be found in my first appointment do you know?

I am still waiting for my first contact lens clinic appointment, it has been two wks'ish now since seeing the consultant and I haven't had a letter so I'm going to phone the hospital tomorrow. I went for my optician appointment when I knew something had changed and I thought I would need knew glasses back in early March, so I'm struggling with my glasses as best I can but its difficult.

Do you know if you can you buy spare lenses from the hospital?

Also, I have been told I have significant allergies in both eyes, I am using Opticrom eye allergy drops to try to clear it up, will the optometrist still let me wear lenses if the allergy is there?

Sorry for all the questions

Thanks

[Cherry]

Hi Munster, what you said is what concerns me the most about all of this. My consultant has said that without contacts I am not legal to drive as my vision is that poor with my glasses on, which was a little bit of a shock if I'm honest. I am a photographer by profession and rely heavily on my sight and ability to fine-focus, without lenses/or currently my glasses I am useless, there is no way I can just muddle through. I have allergies in both eyes and so adding contacts to the mix is worrying me.

[munster]

@Cherry:

You won't get a trial lens in your 1st appointment.

They will have to get the fitting right 1st using a fitting kit. This is basically, a bunch of blank (no prescription) lenses of all the different base curves. They will try a few and see which sit on your eye correctly, comfy and with minimal movement and rotation.

Once they pick a base lens that works, they will then proceed with a general eye test, to get a prescription. They will then order the lenses and get you a new appointment to come in and try them. They will then recheck that the lens is doing what it should and that you can still see out of it.

I have gone thru episodes of where the order lens behaves differently from the fitting. So the lens is checked, and an over refraction is done. New lenses are then reordered.

[munster]

Hi Munster, what you said is what concerns me the most about all of this. My consultant has said that without contacts I am not legal to drive as my vision is that poor with my glasses on, which was a little bit of a shock if I'm honest. I am a photographer by profession and rely heavily on my sight and ability to fine-focus, without lenses/or currently my glasses I am useless, there is no way I can just muddle through. I have allergies in both eyes and so adding contacts to the mix is worrying me.

Thats the problem we have to face. I can't drive in glasses due to the visual problems. Even tho, they say im legal on the eye chart.

Contact lenses become our life. I still have problems with slight ghosting with contacts. I can't do anything that requires precision because my ghosting gets in the way.

We have to learn and adapt best we can. I dread the day im out and about in my van, and I lose a contact lens. Im pretty much screwed.

[Cherry]

Ah right, that makes sense I just hope they can get the buggers in, as I am squeamish!

I just keep hoping for the best, positive mental attitude and all that! I don't know how I'll cope if I lose one or have to take them out during working hours, I live 20miles away from my work so ill be slightly stranded if that happens.

[munster]

I was very sensitive with my eyes. I took me weeks to finally overcome the blink reflex for getting the lenses in, hehe.

He had to use numbing drops for me so my eyes would stay open

I've not used RGPs yet. I do use Kerasoft 2 at the moment, and now I can't feel them. Unless my eyes are tired and my eyes start to ach and give my eye strain and headaches

[Lia Williams]

Cherry,

As Munster said the trial lens used at your appointment will be one from the fitting set. I believe that most fitting sets have some powered lenses but it won't be to your exact prescription, this will be determined by the over refraction, but it will give you an idea of how the lenses feel. The lenses will be then be ordered to your prescription and you will have another appointment probably a month or so later when the fit and the vision will be checked. You will then be taught how to insert and remove the lenses before being allowed home with them.

Do check when your appointment is, the 'next available appointment' at the hospital I attend is usually eight or so weeks ahead so it could be a few weeks before your appointment.

You will be able to get spare lenses from the hospital, but you may find that the first pair of lenses you get aren't quite right and you may be able to keep these as a spare.

Lia