Contact Lens Fitting - 3 months so far (astigmatism)

Hello,
My wife has astigmatism in one eye and it has already been about 3
months of weekly visits trying different contacts, and she is still
unable to obtain a good fit.

I was wondering if after 3 months, many of you would consider giving
up? The doctor we are going to is a bit far away (recommended by a
friend), and weekly trips are starting to wear on us (we thought we'd
go there a total of 3 times at most, and we have gone about a dozen
times now).

Based on the lack of progress (this week, her lenses were the worst she
has tried...), we are thinking that this could go on for many more
months. Due to the long distance, we are considering going to a closer
doctor. We also wonder whether we'll get better luck with a different
doctor.

On the other hand, we wonder whether she should give up on wearing
contacts?

I'd be interested in hearing any thoughts on the difficulty of
obtaining contacts for astigmatism, and what we might expect going
forward. Thank you very much for any thoughts.

If your doctor has seen you almost weekly for 3 months, I'd be very
impressed at his patience. My experience so far has been that I
apparently become a "problem patient" after returning more than once or
twice.

In any case, I feel your pain, since I too am trying to get contacts to
work for astigmatism. I started with RGP's (rigid gas permeable)
contacts, and I can tell you that the vision is great with them. They
are not as comfortable as soft contacts, and they take a few weeks to
get used to. My problems have been subtle things like glare from
bright lights, and a some strange night vision effects, but I think
everyone is different. It's definitely worth considering.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Hello,
> My wife has astigmatism in one eye and it has already been about 3
> months of weekly visits trying different contacts, and she is still
> unable to obtain a good fit.
>
> I was wondering if after 3 months, many of you would consider giving
> up? The doctor we are going to is a bit far away (recommended by a
> friend), and weekly trips are starting to wear on us (we thought we'd
> go there a total of 3 times at most, and we have gone about a dozen
> times now).
>
> Based on the lack of progress (this week, her lenses were the worst
> she has tried...), we are thinking that this could go on for many more
> months. Due to the long distance, we are considering going to a closer
> doctor. We also wonder whether we'll get better luck with a different
> doctor.
>
> On the other hand, we wonder whether she should give up on wearing
> contacts?
>
> I'd be interested in hearing any thoughts on the difficulty of
> obtaining contacts for astigmatism, and what we might expect going
> forward. Thank you very much for any thoughts.



--

Why dont you try glasses? Charles is much happier with glasses but his
vanity makes him put up with contacts which are both uncomfortable and
dont give as good vision.

Why dont you try glasses? Charles is much happier with glasses but his
vanity makes him put up with contacts which are both uncomfortable and
dont give as good vision.

Why dont you try glasses? Charles is much happier with glasses but his
vanity makes him put up with contacts which are both uncomfortable and
dont give as good vision.

Ace wrote:

> Why dont you try glasses? Charles is much happier with glasses but his
> vanity makes him put up with contacts which are both uncomfortable and
> dont give as good vision.

Ignore Ace. Vision with contacts is superior to glasses - in my case.
I never really got used to the distortion effects of cylinder
correction, but these are not apparent with contacts.

--

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Hello,
> My wife has astigmatism in one eye and it has already been about 3
> months of weekly visits trying different contacts, and she is still
> unable to obtain a good fit.
>
> I was wondering if after 3 months, many of you would consider giving
> up? The doctor we are going to is a bit far away (recommended by a
> friend), and weekly trips are starting to wear on us (we thought we'd
> go there a total of 3 times at most, and we have gone about a dozen
> times now).
>
> Based on the lack of progress (this week, her lenses were the worst she
> has tried...), we are thinking that this could go on for many more
> months. Due to the long distance, we are considering going to a closer
> doctor. We also wonder whether we'll get better luck with a different
> doctor.
>
> On the other hand, we wonder whether she should give up on wearing
> contacts?
>
> I'd be interested in hearing any thoughts on the difficulty of
> obtaining contacts for astigmatism, and what we might expect going
> forward. Thank you very much for any thoughts.


Torics (astigmatic) soft cl's can really be a hot or miss
situation. Sometimes the initial trial lenses will provide
great fit and vision and other times, after trying 2 or 3
different designs, the patient still has problems. At times,
because of the actual prescription or how the corneal
topography is, it may not be possible to achieve a
"perfect fit" vision-wise.

Without knowing the the prescription of your spouse or what
has been tried, it's impossible to give specific advice. It's
tough to start over but you may want to think about it.
Getting a fresh perspective from another provider may do
the job. And trying a rigid gas perms (although there are
trade-offs) can be another option.

frank

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
>
> Torics (astigmatic) soft cl's can really be a hot or miss
> situation. Sometimes the initial trial lenses will provide
> great fit and vision and other times, after trying 2 or 3
> different designs, the patient still has problems. At times,
> because of the actual prescription or how the corneal
> topography is, it may not be possible to achieve a
> "perfect fit" vision-wise.
>
> Without knowing the the prescription of your spouse or what
> has been tried, it's impossible to give specific advice. It's
> tough to start over but you may want to think about it.
> Getting a fresh perspective from another provider may do
> the job. And trying a rigid gas perms (although there are
> trade-offs) can be another option.
>
> frank

Thank you to everyone for the responses. I will ask the eye doctor
about rigid gas perms... i've heard good things about them. Yea, i
guess it is difficult to really know what to do, but after 3 months
(especially with the distance involved), we are really getting anxious
to get this done.

She does have glasses and they work great. But she does enjoy wearing
contact lenses. She bought some overseas, that were not intended for
astigmatism, but we are unable to use that expired prescription (plus
we hope that we can get better contacts for her).

Thanks again for the responses.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Thank you to everyone for the responses. I will ask the eye doctor
> about rigid gas perms... i've heard good things about them. Yea, i
> guess it is difficult to really know what to do, but after 3 months
> (especially with the distance involved), we are really getting anxious
> to get this done.

I had at least 15 approintments spanning a year, and I still have only
one pair of 3-month lenses (out of 5 pair) that I actually find
wearable. 3 months is NOTHING!

--
Cheers,
Bev
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Tell him that the
government will give him lots of fish and he will vote for you forever.
When he doesn't get any fish, blame the other guys." --A Taxpayer

sometimes it can be difficult to fit a particular patient with soft
torics. but in general i think they are more likely to be acceptable
to patients comfort-wise than RGPs. regardless RGPs are worth a try if
soft lenses don't work out readily. sometimes its just important to
communicate straightforwardly with the doctor about what your desires
and disappointments are. if I were you i would honestly talk to the
first doctor about your disappointments in the repeated visits, and
failing that then visit a second doctor and tell him your
story/interests to give it one more chance in the hand of a different
guy.

tell him/her you are on the verge of quitting on contacts but you want
to give it one final best chance and not draw it out for a long time
and spend a lot of money. if i were your doctor I would get you a
couple of pairs of good quality trial soft torics to compare at home
(no charge for the lenses) and then have you follow-up with me for a
quicky check appointment after 2-3 weeks wearing your best-choice pair
of trial lenses. after that I might tweak it a time or two more
(again, the lenses are free) and/or try a pair of gas perm lenses
depending upon your results with the soft disposables and whether we
both think the situation seems promising. after one more follow-up
appointment I think we could be on pretty sure footing with regards to
getting a successful fit or knowing whether we had a chance of being
successful at all.

i find you can quickly cut to a final decision and avoid a bunch of
trips if you and the doctor get together on the same page about your
wishes and just communicate well. some patients are harder to fit than
others, and some patients expect something better than you can give
them.

==================

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> >
> >
> > Torics (astigmatic) soft cl's can really be a hot or miss
> > situation. Sometimes the initial trial lenses will provide
> > great fit and vision and other times, after trying 2 or 3
> > different designs, the patient still has problems. At times,
> > because of the actual prescription or how the corneal
> > topography is, it may not be possible to achieve a
> > "perfect fit" vision-wise.
> >
> > Without knowing the the prescription of your spouse or what
> > has been tried, it's impossible to give specific advice. It's
> > tough to start over but you may want to think about it.
> > Getting a fresh perspective from another provider may do
> > the job. And trying a rigid gas perms (although there are
> > trade-offs) can be another option.
> >
> > frank
>
> Thank you to everyone for the responses. I will ask the eye doctor
> about rigid gas perms... i've heard good things about them. Yea, i
> guess it is difficult to really know what to do, but after 3 months
> (especially with the distance involved), we are really getting anxious
> to get this done.
>
> She does have glasses and they work great. But she does enjoy wearing
> contact lenses. She bought some overseas, that were not intended for
> astigmatism, but we are unable to use that expired prescription (plus
> we hope that we can get better contacts for her).
>
> Thanks again for the responses.