Mid 40’s and contact lens wearing

[Anonymous]

I’ve been grateful to have an easy time with contracts - for decades. I’m very near sighted (-5 ish) and I love the peripheral vision. I’ve been having a couple times a week when driving temporarily becomes difficult because my eyes suddenly get dry and it’s real work to keep them open while my eyes work to generate some moisture. Not good. I’ve never used drops. Do they work well? Using them while driving seems quite awkward. I’ve been pointing the vents away from me and turning down the car temp. I’m starting to wonder if this is my path back to glasses.

[Anonymous]

Use eye drops.

[Anonymous]

I had to give them up. Dry air in office buildings was making my eyes miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been grateful to have an easy time with contracts - for decades. I’m very near sighted (-5 ish) and I love the peripheral vision. I’ve been having a couple times a week when driving temporarily becomes difficult because my eyes suddenly get dry and it’s real work to keep them open while my eyes work to generate some moisture. Not good. I’ve never used drops. Do they work well? Using them while driving seems quite awkward. I’ve been pointing the vents away from me and turning down the car temp. I’m starting to wonder if this is my path back to glasses.

Uh…yeah, you wouldn’t put eye drops in as you’re driving the car. Put the drops in before you start driving, or pull over.

[Anonymous]

I've always had dry eyes and could never tolerate contacts. I would try putting eye drops in systematically before you start driving - it might work for short drives. Maybe you could pull over in a safe spot for longer drives to put in extra eye drops?

Since I've worn glasses since I was 4, I don't find them problematic at all. On the contrary, I love picking out glasses and wearing them. They protect my eyes a little from the cold winter wind, and little bits of dust (not a panacea, obviously, but still). My glasses have built-in sun protection: they darken in the sunlight. Nowadays you can get several shades of dark lenses. I've got purple ones. All this to say, if you have to have glasses, you can get really cool ones.

[Anonymous]

I've not tried eye drops but I'm mid-40s with the same issue and I've resolved it by only wearing my contacts for the things where I value them most. Which for me is (1) playing tennis, and (2) events where I'm dressed up. Occasionally I'll wear them for something else but only if it's just a few hours. Otherwise I wear glasses.

I never wear contacts to drive or work on a computer. Those are two situations where I am most likely to get dry eyes and for my contacts to bug me. Also wouldn't wear them to watch a movie or go to a play. Yes you lose some peripheral vision with glasses but in every other way glasses are easier and more reliable and less likely to result in eye fatigue.

[Anonymous]

I had to stop using them bc they became so difficult to remove. It’s like they were glued to my eye.

[Anonymous]

If you are disposing every two weeks, they should not be uncomfortable to wear.

[Anonymous]

You need to remind yourself to blink while driving.

[Anonymous]

I had to stop using contacts in my mid-40s due to dry eyes.

[Anonymous]

I have major dry eye issues but can wear my Accuvue Oasis lenses. Around the 2 week mark, they are not very moisturizing. I also do drops morning and night and currently use Miebo in the am and pm. Not sure if the Miebo is doing anything for me.

[Anonymous]

I had to switch to dailies. Are you already wearing dailies?

[Anonymous]

I switched to dailies, which helped with dryness. However, once I was old enough to be farsighted as well as nearsighted, contacts became harder to manage from a vision correction standpoint.

[Anonymous]

I’m in the same boat, but the dryness isn’t that bad. I recently went to the eye dr and she said my eyes were dry, but also I had some indication of retinal issue— I forgot what she called it, it wasn’t detachment per se. She told me to wear my glasses more and use drops.. I started to wear glasses more, but I hate them. I hate how they feel on my ears and how they make me look, and how I don’t have peripheral vision. I also regularly play tennis, and would not wear them got that. I need to get drops, which I just keep forgetting to do. Also turn the heat down and use a humidifier. I do not want to give up contacts! I’ll just wear glasses at home or weekends or something.

[Anonymous]

I wore contacts from about 16. As my reading vision got worse with age, I went back to glasses. Also each appointment my prescription got stronger and contacts just no longer give me the clearest vision. And I didn’t want to be the person with “20-20” contact lens vision but still needing to put on glasses just to read. So I wear progressives.

I do have daily multi-focal contacts that I wear on vacation or skiing or swimming. But I much prefer glasses. There are such cute frames now!