So, I got my new eyeglasses yesterday, after having to wait for over a week. I didn't mind the wait, as long as they worked. I've had so many problems with my eyesight during the last couple of years that it was easy to wait that long, hoping they would take care of at least SOME of the problems. It wasn't just that I couldn't see all too well, or that I would get headaches after reading for just a little while. Nor was it the difficulty in reading from the computer screen, as it seemed a little bit blurry and I couldn't focus on a very large section. The right eye seemed to be lazy. I had hopes that those things would very possibly be taken care of with a new prescription (if I could just get a GOOD one, see below). But there are also issues with the muscles around the eyes that I am not sure have anything to do with what optometrists are qualified to diagnose and treat.
I'm very pleased, though I've had them for less than 24 hours. It's supposed to take a few days for me to get used to the prism in the lenses, and I can tell that a little bit of patience will make the situation even better. Still, the difference is remarkable. I'm not overwhelmed by all the clutter on Internet web pages. The right eye seems more "active", for lack of a better term. Before I had serious trouble reading a book or magazine in artificial light, needing quite a bit of overhead light. Now it's not quite as bad. I can focus on the words on the page a lot easier. Just as important, I don't feel like I'm straining that right eye. In fact, I can feel it relaxing, not having to strain. That may take some time getting used to, but hopefully it's a sign that the muscle issues were, in fact, related to the straining of the eye. If so, it would not surprise me, because it's been building up for TWO YEARS!!!
Yes, 2 years I've suffered with this situation. It all stated in April of '08. I ran into the side of a door and wrecked my glasses. I tried to bend them back into shape but the right side earpiece was ruined. I went to the optometrist I'd always used, Dr. R, went through the whole eye exam and we got the glasses. It was only a few days before I began to notice a problem. If was in the video store and will all the DVD covers on display I actually became dizzy. Too much visual information. It was even worse at Best Buy, but any store that had a lot of stuff on display would get to me. I'd hoped that it was just a matter of getting used to the new lenses/prescription. I went back to Dr. R and informed him of the problems. He seemed to think that slight adjustments would do the trick. But it didn't. He sent it back to the manufacturer, but they did nothing at all about the lenses, only the frame. It was at that point that I gave up on Dr. R.
A few months later I went to Dr. M. He is my current optometrist and apparently he did a good job on this pair I have now, but the first pair he made me at that time were not a whole lot better than the ones from Dr. R. I'd heard a lot of people say that he was a competent, good optometrist, so I was disappointed that the glasses didn't turn out better than they did.
So I decided that the issues were outside the boundaries of what optometrists can do, so I decided to go to an ophthalmologist. I don't even remember the name of the doctor, because the glasses I got from her were worse than BOTH the other pairs I'd gotten since my good ones broke. So I went back to the pair that Dr. M. prescribed, as it was the best of the lot.
Then my yearly eye exam came due a couple of weeks ago. I chose to go back to Dr. M., for various reasons, not the least of which was the fact that he accepted Medicare and was located only 20 miles from my home. I wasn't sure what had happened the first time I visited him, but I decided to give him another chance. I told him EVERYTHING that was going on with my eyes... I even wrote it all down during the days before so I wouldn't leave too much out.
And that's about it. I've got the glasses, I can see better and I am very hopeful and optimistic that most, if not all, of my vision issues will be remedied. Still, I cannot believe that I went for 2 whole years with screwed up glasses. The whole situation had put me in a serious depression, so now maybe, just maybe that will lift somewhat as well.
UPDATE (7.26.10) - I'm happy to say that the outlook is good that these new glasses will remedy not only the vision aspects of the overall problem, but the muscle tension on the left side of my face, as well. I guess that was all the result of straining my eyes. I try to look through my old glasses and I am amazed at how poorly I can see through them. I'll be surprised if there are no lingering issues because of the sheer amount of time I used the bad glasses, but for now I am very happy that I can see again!
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