Totally OT: Cute reading glasses!

[Crankin]

Emily, your situation sounds like mine (again??). My bifocals are progressives, they are the only kind I have ever had. I never intended to wear them "outside," except for the initial break in. It hurts my eyes and I get nervous driving with them, as I keep looking down, through the reader part. I basically put them on when I get into bed to watch TV or read and then put them on when I get up, walk into the bathroom, and put my contacts in. I am not going to try the multi-focal contacts, too much to go wrong for me. I have an uncorrected astigmatism in my left eye because I could never adjust to the toric lenses.
I could never ride with glasses on. I love my sunglasses, but I am too used to wearing contacts, after over 30 years.
I started wearing readers quite awhile ago; I was around 40.

[emily_in_nc]

I have an uncorrected astigmatism in my left eye because I could never adjust to the toric lenses.

That's too bad. I changed from regular Focus Dailies contacts to Focus Dailies Torics and never noticed a bit of a difference (except better vision and an increased price!) They were no thicker (that I noticed, at least). My astigmatism is mild and the same Rx in each eye (.75).

Yes, we are similar again in that I also mostly just wear my progressives first thing in the am and last at night, though I do tend to wear them more on the weekend, like today, when I'm inside a lot just hanging out.

[keepclimbing]

My philosophy is that one can never have too many pairs of reading glasses...one on the bedside table, one in the sewing kit, one in the kitchen, one in the bike bag, one in the purse, at least 3 at the office! But even then, you'd be surprised how often I'm searching and can't find a pair anywhere! I'm always misplacing them and breaking them. I buy cheapies, but there are a lot of cute styles out there. I'm over 50, see my ophthalmologist every two years and still test out 20/20 so I haven't needed any other correction. He fully supports his patients buying readers from the drug store. Yay for FSAs!

[Crankin]

As soon as I put the torics in my eyes, they started watering and I could always feel it. Within a half hour, my nose was running and I was in a full blown allergy attack. Since this scenario has actually lead to bronchitis a couple of times, I decided after this happened twice, it wasn't worth it.

[emily_in_nc]

As soon as I put the torics in my eyes, they started watering and I could always feel it. Within a half hour, my nose was running and I was in a full blown allergy attack. Since this scenario has actually lead to bronchitis a couple of times, I decided after this happened twice, it wasn't worth it.

Oh, that doesn't sound fun! Sounds like there was something about that brand that didn't work for you, or maybe you just have unusually sensitive eyes. Given your reaction, I can understand why you're gun-shy. Since you only have astigmatism in one eye, and it's probably mild, you are probably not missing much without torics. I didn't wear them myself from age 18, when I first got contacts, to age 45, but I do get crisper vision with them than with non-toric contacts.

[wackyjacky1]

As soon as I put the torics in my eyes, they started watering and I could always feel it. Within a half hour, my nose was running and I was in a full blown allergy attack. Since this scenario has actually lead to bronchitis a couple of times, I decided after this happened twice, it wasn't worth it.

Could it be the lens solution you were using? I had to try a zillion different ones before I found one that was compatible with my eyes. Turns out I have some weird allergies to many of the ingredients.

[OakLeaf]

Along those same lines, new lenses of certain brands can irritate my eyes. I don't know whether there's a preservative in the saline they're packaged in, or whether it was a leachate from the plastic. I'm not super-sensitive to solutions, but it definitely was a problem. Once the lenses had been rinsed and stored in fresh solution overnight, no problem.