Suffering strain - desperate for help with eyeglasses problem

Complicated Eyeglasses Problem:
I've been wearing eyeglasses my whole life, and this is the first time
anything like this has ever happened.

I have been suffering with my eyeglasses for the past 2 to 3 years.
About 2 years ago, my original pair got scratched badly so I went in to
get them replaced. When I got my new pair (new frames, new lenses), my
vision through them was very stressful - I could only see clearly if I
looked through them dead center - if my eyes shifted slightly, it would
become blurry. After wearing that for weeks, I started getting a
strain all over my neck and shoulders. I went back and the lab tried
again, and then we tried different frames, different tilts, and all the
adjustments known to man (or so it seemed). The different lens would
clear up the blurriness a bit, but having to turn my head EVERYWHERE to
see things clearly (unlike my old pair) was just putting so much
strain on my upper body. This went on for about a year or more.

I finally gave up, and went to another doctor (from the previous
optometrist's recommendations!), an opthamologist instead. However,
even after knowing about my horrible past year's experience, the new
doctors remeasured everything, and then had the new optometrist
carefully adjust my 7th pair of eyeglasses. Guess what? Everything is
much clearer, but I still have a strain all around my shoulders
especially if I look down to walk, read, or work on the computer. If I
take off the eyeglasses, my upper body immediately relaxes, literally
as if the strain had been lifted! It's the strangest thing. I had
gone back to have the new doctors readjust again, add a bit of a tilt,
and anything else I could think of. But nothing has help. I'm now
wearing my eyeglases, and just taking them off when the strain is too
much. But after a few weeks, I will notice my whole upper body has
tensed up so much that I have to just switch to contacts to give them
some relief.

My questions:
1. Do the high-index lenses change the vision around the non-centered
area? Would a lens with a higher index number be less clear in the
areas surrounding the center than lens with a lower index number?
We've tried to investigate this, and the only thing I can remember is
how the index numbers have changed.

2. Has anyone ever had an extreme pantoscopic tilt? I ask this
because with my current pair, the only way to relieve my strain
(besides taking them off) is to tilt them to almost a 45 degree angle
(from the temples). This is so extreme that the doctor won't do it for
me, for fear of breaking the frame also. But time and time again, I
tilt it so that the temples sits about 1 inch above my ears, and the
lenses are tilted to about that angle, and my entire body relaxes
immediately. I can look downward and not feel strain, and I can look
straight ahead, especially during driving, and not have to make any
adjustments.

Please help! I'm so desperate to find some relief and get back to a
normal life again. I can not wear my contact lens to read (so I don't
wear them often); I can't have lasik surgery because my cornea is too
thin. I've tried everything, and they all point back to wearing
eyeglasses. But if my eyeglasses are not working for me, I don't know
what else to do. I want to just throw my eyeglasses on the floor and
crush them (which I'll do if I ever figure this out and get a real
pair).

Thanks for any help!

My nearsightedness is something like:
R: -9.25 +150 095
L: -10.00 +175 080

Vudoo wrote:

>
> My questions:
> 1. Do the high-index lenses change the vision around the non-centered
> area? Would a lens with a higher index number be less clear in the
> areas surrounding the center than lens with a lower index number?
> We've tried to investigate this, and the only thing I can remember is
> how the index numbers have changed.

yes and yes

>
> 2. Has anyone ever had an extreme pantoscopic tilt? I ask this
> because with my current pair, the only way to relieve my strain
> (besides taking them off) is to tilt them to almost a 45 degree angle
> (from the temples). This is so extreme that the doctor won't do it for
> me, for fear of breaking the frame also. But time and time again, I
> tilt it so that the temples sits about 1 inch above my ears, and the
> lenses are tilted to about that angle, and my entire body relaxes
> immediately. I can look downward and not feel strain, and I can look
> straight ahead, especially during driving, and not have to make any
> adjustments.

Not that extreme.

It would be helpful to know your age; also the lens material(s), lens
type/brand, and the exact Rxs from both the old comfy pair and the newer
attempts; I know this might be a challenge, but if you want help here,
do it.

w.stacy, o.d.

Thanks for help so far!

I'm 30 yrs old now. I had recently spoken to the optician, and she
said she would discuss this further with the doctor since she thinks it
could be that I need progressive lens at this age. At this point, if
that is the case, I'll gladly get progressive lens.

With the old comfy pair, it was 1.67 high index, but it was back in
1999 or 2000, so the lab didn't keep the brand, make of those lens.
The prescriptions for the old comfy pair, as measured from the machine
they used:

R: -10.25 +2.00 x73
L: -9.50 +1.75 x106
PD @ OC: 74.5 (R 34.5, L 40.0)


The set of lenses (set #2, let's call it that) we've tried that didn't
work were 1.70 high index, during 2001-2002:

R: -10.25 +1.75 x76
L: -9.50 +1.50 x109
PD @ OC: 82.5 (R 36.5, L 46.0)

And again (as listed previously) the final pair that's giving me great
vision, but still some strain, is 1.67 high index, prescribed end of
2004, early 2005:
R: 9.25 +150 x095
L: 10.00 +175 x080


If the make/brand of the last two set is really important, I'll contact
the labs to get them. I just can not get the very first pair because
they no longer kept my records (I had moved to a different state).

I really don't know what all the numbers mean, and I don't know how to
convert them to see if they've changed and how dramatically. But I'm
thinking of having the doctor/optician go back to a lower high-index
such as 1.6. And I'd like to request for another special examination
to remeasure base curves and anything and everything about my eyes that
could affect the way eyeglasses are made. What do you think? The
request is based on the information I've read so far from this forum.

Also, when I wear contact lenses, I'm able to see just fine. I don't
have weird vision and blurriness when looking down etc (although things
are not as sharp and clean as with glasses).

My contact lens prescription, as prescribed in 2003:
R: -7.00 -1.25 x010
L: -7.50 - 1.25 x170


Thank you to everyone who can shed some light on this. Please, God, I
hope I can get an answer to help me resolve this once and for all.

Vudoo