Recently, my eyesight got bad enough that it bothered me enough to have correction. I know myself well enough to say I will not wear glasses. I will take them on and off, lose them, break them, or ignore them. This is why I opted for contact lenses.

I am having a big problem, as a new one to this eye correction thing. I have never even had an eye exam before, in my life. I am 41 years old. It's hard teaching an old dog new tricks!

It appears that I have everything wrong with my eyes, except the serious stuff. I am far-sighted, near-sighted, and have stigmatism (hope I spelled that one right!). From my understanding, a stigmatism means your eye isn't shaped right and lenses have to be weighted for this problem. There is no manufacture of extended wear lenses, for this problem. This is a bit of a problem for me.

I have to use contacts that have to be taken out at night. This is my first problem. I am having a lot of difficulty putting the lenses in and taking them out. Any tips, for a new user greatly appreciated!!

The next problem I seem to be having, is the fact that these lenses are making me physically ill, like being very motion sick. You have to cosider the fact that my vision, by the eye doc's opinion, isn't really age related, but age made it worse, so the strength of correction is an unknown factor to me and may be a big difference to what I am accustom to. Has anyone had this problem with new glasses or contacts? How do you deal with this type of problem?

I have to add another question. Have patience with me, please! I do have a lazy eye and always have. As unusual as this sounds, I am used to having double vision, at times. My daughter has the exact same thing. She can make it stop, just like I can. I was advised by my daughter's doctor, to have this immediately corrected because the eye that isn't lazy, is dominant, which causes neural atrophy to blindness, in the lazy eye (the one you never bank on, if you have a lazy eye that wanders off, on occasion). The eye doc said I was too old for lazy eye correction. My daughter's medical doctor insisted on it to prevent loss of vision, from neural atrophy. Who is right?

I'm close to giving up and buying a guide dog! That wont help me at work. I have to be able to see well enough to read small print, but I can't. I am having other people read things to me, like mixing injectable drugs. I cannot afford a screw up with this type of thing.

My poor eyesight is affecting my work. I got a ton of doctors orders. I couldn't get the contact lenses out of my eyes, so I slept in them. My eyes were a mess of goo, the next morning. I went to work. I was so motion sick, as I call it, I couldn't even be around the smell of food. I screwed up a lab order because my vision, by that time, was so different and getting hazy, from leaving contacts in too long. The fact that I discussed this contacts vs. glasses, with another RN, before my contacts arrived, was the only reason I got out of screwing up a lab order and getting away with it. I can't make these type of mistakes because I can't see or am unfit for my job.

This is a problem. I have to be able to read, but this is a problem for me, without eye correction. I believe that this sudden change in vision is making me physically ill, like motion sickness. I am having serious problems putting contacts in and out.

Someone, please help me!! I'm getting desparate!

WF, the best advice that I can give you is that you need glasses instead of contacts. What good is contacts if you are having problems putting them in and taking them out? Until you can do it correctly, your problem will continue and get worse.

It is so easy to put glasses on or take them off, with no chance of affecting the eye. I believe glasses would solve your problem. The motion sickness sounds like it could be from ill-fitting contacts while you are focusing or walking.

Do you mean that one of your eyes is near-sighted and the other one is far-sighted? I've never heard of anyone being both.

I wear glasses and have had several laser surgeries. My eyesight is fine.

Asitgmatism is what causes that. When you put on corrective lenses the world twists and turns, heights are suddenly lower and you will get that "dizzy" feeling. This is due to the fact that the eyeball is out of shape - if you get used to looking at the world out of shape, when it is suddenly put back into shape you are thrown off.

Everything you have done to this point has been automatically compensated for by the brain. Your brain has gotten used to correcting for errors in vision when you walk, when you reach out for something, etc.

The only thing that fixes that is to wear corrective lenses all the time. But you need to work up to it - glasses or contact lenses - when it comes to astigmatism you are going to have to "break" into them slowly.

Lazy eye? hm - thats where you get to wear the eye patch over the stronger eye to make the weaker eye stay on track. I think that due to your age the doctors do not think that conventional methods of strengthing the eye will work at this stage. Unlike your daughter who was younger when she got "treated". Both are correct.

Neural Atrophy sounds so horrible - however I will assume that you are already a victim of that. Atrophy brings up images of locked muscle - but atrophy means diminished, weaker, less muscle.

Contact Lenses are, in my opinion, bad for you not just you but everyone. I wear protective lenses to keep things out of my eyes - I can not understand people purposefully putting something in their eye.

Further, due to the astigmatism and the small fact that no two set of lenses are exact copies, each time you change contact lenses you run the risk of having a slightly different perscription that could lead to the tilt-a-wirl feeling again.

I have reached the age were I need to wear corrective lenses for driving, TV viewing, Reading, and computer work.

I wear them driving

Yes glasses break, they can be lost, they can be ignored - however you need to decide if your job is worth more to you than NOT wearing glasses.

You tried contacts, obviously it is clear to you that that is not a good choice. Logic dictates that eye glasss are the road to go.

If neccessary get the around the neck chain - bet you won't lose your glasses - And yes you can start calling the guys "sonny" and the gals 'dearie' -

In all honesty I think that you will find wearing glasses to be far less of a pain than contacts - and you will not have to put something in your eye, and you will be able to gradually break yourself into the effects of correcting for astigmatism - it is far, far easier to slip off a pair of glasses when you had enough of the tilt-a-wirl world than it is to pop-out contacts.

Further you can opt to leave the glasses at work - that way they will be there, less likely to get lost. They are where you need them most.

You need to get glasses. You may be able to ease into wearing contacts but you must have glasses in the meantime.

I have an astigmatism and I'm near sighted. I know what you mean about motion sick but it is a sign that you are just not ready for contacts. Get some glasses and let your eyes get used to being corrected and then if you want, give the contacts another go.

I love my contacts. It gets easy to take them off and put them on after awhile and I can't stand to wear glasses now, but I went years wearing glasses before I tried the contacts.

Clearly the answer for you is to wear glasses and just deal with losing them if that is what will happen. I believe that if you lose them once and have to pay again that you will likely get used to taking care of them better than you expect you will. Go to Walmart and get a cheap pair.

As to your lazy eye problem. I think you need to get to the bottom of it with a third or fourth opinion. I have a convergence problem as well and there is no correction for it other than tedious therapy which may not even work.

More than anything you need to make regular eye appointments so that a doctor can keep track of your vision so that if there is a degradation to your eyesight it will be noted and can be treated.

Have you tried reading glasses? They just magnify and are completely safe. I like the half glasses so that I can look over them and see clearly. At 41, you should wear about 1.25 power. You can try them on and test them out. They are cheap, $1 at Dollar Tree, $18 for 3 pairs at Sam's. I have ordered one of these to try to keep up with mine. I keep about 6 pairs: work, car, home, etc. I have lost many.

As a fellow sufferer from near-sightedness (-7.5) AND astigmatism I can say that contacts are possible and can make the world of difference. There are a wide varieties of contacts. There are the gas permeable which are the modern day replacement for hard contacts. There are soft contacts. And there are toric soft contacts. Only toric soft contacts will correct astigmatism.

There is a relatively new toric soft contact put out by Bausch & Lomb called Soflens66 Toric which offer the crispest astigmatism correction available. They also offer more oxygen to the eye. They can be replaced every 2 weeks or at your eye doctor's discretionn.

Being new to vision correction via contact lens can be a trial and error process in the beginning. Just because your prescription power may read a certain level on the machine does not mean that every contact in that strength will correct the problem. Think of it like this. Just because you might wear a size 8 in one style of clothing does not mean you will wear the same size in other styles.

I recently went through a period where I lost my depth perception in addition to turning 1 dimensional objects into 3-D objects (like looking at black and white stripes). I've been wearing contacts for over 20 years but for some reason the brand of contacts I had been in just stopped working for me. I went to my eye doctor and over the course of the past month he has been fitting me in different brands and different strengths. We finally have settled on the Soflens66 Toric and that is why I am suggesting you inquire about those.

Another thing to consider with astigmatism correction is the axis of the contacts. If the axis measurment of a contact is off for your eye that can cause the motion sickness feeling (as well as the prescription power being too weak or too strong). The axis measurement is the way the lens rotates on your eye and where the astigmatism power is. Ask your doctor to work with you on getting a proper fitting. I promise you that once you have the right pair of contacts it will make all the difference in the world.

Word of caution tho...NEVER, sleep with your contacts in. I don't care if you wearing nightly contacts or not. A good eye doctor will warn you of the dangers. Not only are you depriving your eyes of oxygen but you are taking a chance on infection and/or corneal abrasions.

Finally, tips for putting in a lens. I find it easier to place the lens on the side of finger instead of on the tip. Look straight ahead into a mirror - don't look down at the lens. Then just bring the side of your finger toward your eye. You won't have to worry about poking yourself in the eye because you are not using your finger tip. Instead you are simply resting the side of your finger against your eye. The contact should simply adhere. It might take a few tries and there will be times when you feel like you have a grain of sand behind the lens and will have to take it out. To do that you can reach in using the side of your thumb and forefinger and pinch it out....or you can pull the side of your eye out tightly and blink. This is a trick used to remove hard contacts but it will work for soft ones as well. If you still cannot remove a contact then it is probably sticking to your eye so just use some liquid tears to loosen the suction and try again.

Don't give up yet. Just find someone who is willing to work with you until you have the best vision possible.

Thank you all, for much needed advice. Here is a grand screw up. My daughter helped me, the first time I took them out. My right and left lenses were apparently mistaken. I couldn't see, so I asked my daughter to look. I told her, after the fact, that the right and left lenses were of a different strength. She was pretty sure of herself, that she guessed the right and left lenses correctly. She didn't!

I understand the advice for glasses, but as originally posted, I realistically will not find something behind my ears and pressing against my nose as anything I can realistically tolerate. You can chain them around my neck. I know myself too well. I will not tolerate glasses, ever.

I did not ignore suggestions, by members. The only type of eye correction, for me, is something I am stuck with, no option. Give me an option, I will lose, break, or ignore glasses, which is why I opted for contacts.

My eyesight isn't nearly as bad as what members posted theirs to be. I am far-sighted, near-sighted, and have stigmatism. My memory of contacts is a grand 1.5, in one eye, anyway. I think that I need a guide dog! lol!

This may sound petty to people more blind than myself, but I can't read print anymore and I have nowhere close to a 5. Geez, I feel for you that do. I know that I can't see good enough to do my job. I am going around, completely motion sick.

The fact that my daughter screwed up right and left lenses, sure doesn't help matters. I have been to work so sick, no one is going to take a call off over nausea because I finally, at 41, opted for eye correction.

I have been so motion sick, I decided to switch lenses. My daughter screwed up, with two different types of lenses, when asked, if she could see, whether or not I actually did remove these lenses. I can't see it, but she can.

I did remove them, as my daughter said, but she screwed up the right and left, after asking her to look. No wonder I have been going around do motion sick that I could barf my guts up, any second.

I did ask people that I work with, if nausea and a feeling of motion sickness, has ever been a problem. I got the answer, yes. I am talking about people who got their glasses changed, not contact lenses.

I guess that it is true that eye correction really does make you feel like you are going to die of sea sickness. Nothing looks right and it does hit the brain, with reaction. What makes it worse, is the fact that my daughter screwed up my right and left lenses. No wonder I was sick and nothing looked right!

The problem is, I have been nauseated over a week. I feel like death. My daughter didn't help matters, when I asked her to make sure I got the contacts in the container, the first time I was able to even remove them.

I have to get used to contacts or buy a guide dog. I don't see how anyone can make it to the bathroom, in the middle of the night, with a correction of anywhere around five.

I am firm on wearing contacts, without option to take them off and on, as with glasses. I have to be able to read, but can't. I need something constant, for eye correction, not anything optional, to me, like glasses. I will not wear them, lose them, or destroy them. My vision is off by less than two, but it bothers me, which is why I got eye correction, in the first place.

I understand member advice about getting glasses, first. This isn't a good choice, for me. How many members get motion sickness or find difficulty with contact lenses? If you are successful with them, give me some tips!!

Thank you all for advice and input.

Well I did give you some tips Now you know how to put them in and take them out.

And yes, you will get motion sick with contacts but only if they are the wrong power. When wearing them for the first time there is a slight feeling of disorientation but that goes away once you get accustomed to the lenses. Anything that goes on as long as yours has is due to something else.

I still say go back to the eye doc and have him work with you.

Wildflower...I had read your post earlier and didn't have any suggestions or comments different than what other people mentioned until I read that you have different prescriptions for each eye. I just recently got contacts and have different prescriptions for each eye as well. When I got them, they did tell me that many people feel nausious until their brain/eyes adjust. Your brain compensates for your vision and needs to "reprogram" how they work until you get used to the new sight. They suggested to me that I wear them for short periods if I start to feel that way. They also suggested that if the feeling of seasickness happened, to go back and they would need to do something else.

Maybe I'm reading wrong and you don't have different prescriptions for each eye...if that is the case, they likely did what they are doing for me - working to adjust the vision by having one eye for distance and one eye for close up. If that's the case with you, it sounds like you might want to discuss bi-focal contact lenses. The fitting for these is a bit more complicated and they are more expensive, but since you NEED to see and this isn't working for you, it might be something you should discuss with your doctor.

I have nearly identical eyesight to you. I have astigmatism and have 1.5 and 1.75 in each eye. I had no problems adjusting to contacts because I had glasses for years. I remember that when I first got glasses that it was a strange feeling to see the world clearly. I think this feeling just goes away as you adjust.

I can't imagine why you feel so blind if this is your correction amount. Doctors suggest that when you first start wearing contacts that you not wear them for extended periods of time. Perhaps you are just pushing the envelope on how long you wear them and expecting too much too soon. It takes some time to adjust to the new eyesight.

Wildflower, look at your prescription and let us know what it says. This is what I have had to do: I wear contacts (+1.50) so that I can see to get around, watch tv and drive. I tried wearing one contact for close-up and one for distance, but I still didn't see well enough close-up. I wear cheap reading glasses for reading and computer. That is the only way that I have been able to see close-up. I am just like you though. I cannot keep up with them so I don't buy expensive prescription glasses. I have been wearing Focus Night and Day contacts for quite some time. You can leave them in for 30 days/nights without taking them out. They let your eyes "breathe". I am not cut out for all that putting in and out, sterilizing, etc. I order them online from Coastal Contacts.

Concerning the Lazy Eye...

I too have had this my entire life. I would consider going to a newer/younger ophthalmologist. There have been a lot of innovations concerning lazy eye corrections in just the past few years, but many ophthalmologists will still tell you it's untreatable.

However, I can tell you that I made up a series of exercises for my left eye. This helps prevent double vision, eye drift, and can even improve sight in the eye. After a few weeks of exercises I do notice a difference. You may want to discuss this with your doctor as well.

Don't give up on your weak eye. You just may need it one day.