Old Contacts

18 Comments

1. Ahhh! Thank you so much for this post. I have been trying to remember to pick up contact solution for two weeks. I’m adding it to my to-do list right now.

   I have been wearing glasses for about 13 years and got my first pair of contact about two months ago. The first day it took for 45 minutes to get them in. It gradually got better, but it took a while. I didn’t expect to have problems because I wear eye makeup all the time. I don’t ever actually touch my eyeball though, I guess.

   I expected to see so much better with contacts, but it’s exactly the same as my glasses. I actually got headaches for the first month, I think because my face muscles wanted to strain to see, but my eyes didn’t need to. It confused my face, if that makes sense.

2. Why shouldn’t Will be able to ‘just go to 1-800-Contacts and say “Screw what the prescription says, this is what I want.”’ For the life of me, I can’t think of a good reason. (I can think of plenty of bad ones.)

   • Oh, he totally should be able to. I can think of reasons pharmacists shouldn’t fill outdated prescriptions for medications, but there is no good reason, like you said, that you shouldn’t be able to fill the prescription that works best for your vision. They’re your eyes. Besides, what if you can’t afford to get a new exam. The old RX is better than nothing.

   • I can think of reasons relating to sending people out there with inappropriate prescriptions, them getting behind the wheel of a car, and mowing down a group of baby nuns.

     However, I’m not sure any of the current laws or policies prevent that from happening either.

     • You have to pass a vision test to drive, so I’m assuming that people are using common sense and aren’t using spectacles that negatively impact the way they see. Wouldn’t most people want to improve their vision?

       • I believe you only have to pass the vision test once… or perhaps again once you are much older. But I’ve had licenses in several states now and never took more than one vision test back when I was 17. If I never got my prescription updated and kept wearing old glasses or contacts, I could be a danger on the road.

         Again, I’m not saying it is the best rationale… but it is A rationale.

         • I’ve had to pass the vision test when renewing my licence. But since it’s more common to get automatic renewals than not, that’s only been every twelve years or so.

   • I am not entirely unsympathetic to the notion that, if you wear contacts, you should have to see an eye doctor every couple or few years. Which one optometrist expressly told me was one of the big reasons they support it (doesn’t explain glasses). It took several visits before the guy got through to me on why it was important for me to be more conscientious about contact usage. And on any given visit, they might have noticed a problem.

     This is, of course, nanny-statism to an extreme. So I have my objections to it.

     However, having visited my doctor, I think it’d be preferable if I could more easily say “Thanks, but I’d prefer the old prescription.”

3. I’ve got a different question relating to old contacts…

   I never change my contacts as often as I’m supposed to. And when I eventually do need a new prescription, I often have extra contacts from the old one. I hold on to these because, in a pinch, they’ll do. But at this point, I have some that are several prescriptions/years old and which I don’t imagine being of much use. Can these be donated? I’m sure I can’t sell or return them, but I’m also sure there are folks in need who could benefit from them.

   • The Lions Club takes donations for eyeglasses. They might take contacts, too, I’m not sure.
     http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/our-work/sight-programs/eyeglass-recycling/how-you-can-help.php

4. Will: This is not astrophysics. Save the container. Take it to your optometrist, and say, “hey Dude. This is what works for me. Re-write the Rx to these numbers or I’ll find somebody else who will.” O.K, that last bit probably won’t be necessary, but I’m sure you get the idea.

   • If he has issues of professional ethics, say “Dude, test my vision with these in. It’s awesome.”

   • I actually thought of this yesterday when I looked at the pod cover and saw that it included the prescription information. I might give it a go. Or at least say “I’ll buy whatever prescription you recommend, but if I decide the old prescription is better I’d really like you to write a new prescription for that.”

     It’ll save them time on all the re-visits, which are usually free.

5. People who put stuff on their eyeballs are weird. Even when it’s medically supportable.

   I’ll stick with the glasses.

   • My eyes are really sensitive to light. The main time I use contacts these days is when I’m going to be on the road so I can wear sunglasses.

     I tried purchasing prescription sunglasses, but lost them too promptly.

     My regular glasses are transitional lenses, but they don’t go dark enough.

     So… contact.

6. I’ve… actually used old prescriptions before? I don’t remember how or why though, just that I have.

   • In the US or Canada? Here they’re supposed to expire after a year.

     • In the US. I’ve been trying to think back and … it wasn’t EXACTLY that I used an old prescription. From what I remember I had a conversation that went “look, THIS prescription works so much better than the old ones, can’t you start there and maybe err on the side of believing it?”

       The opthamologist or whomever (the prescriber) did the usual eye tests. Then they said, OK, let’s look at this.

       Laid out my current prescription.
       Laid out my old prescription.
       Laid out their own idea of what my prescription should be (not THAT different than the old one, but different).
       Asked me whether I wanted to try theirs or go with the old one.
       I wanted the old one.
       I promised to come back if it didn’t work out.
       I got the old one, rewritten by the new doc.

       This was for glasses, not contacts, though.

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