Budget buster - bifocals!

[Mrs. Bradbury]

My husband and I are "of a certain age" and are experiencing problems with our vision correction. Right now we wear single vision glasses, but we have worn contacts in the past. The last time we had vision exams the dr. suggested bifocals and we drew back in horror.

Our kids are laughing their guts out at us because we can't see with our glasses or without them. They see us peeking over or under our glasses or losing patience altogether and flinging them off to read something up close. Then of course we can't see to find our glasses when we need to resume regular vision. It's maddening!

So what have any of you Budget Boarders done in this situation? People I've spoken with have had a really hard time getting used to bifocals. Surgery is out of the question. Is having contacts and using cheap drugstore glasses over them for up close an option, or vice versa? I hate to pay the $$$$$ for both of us because our vision has not settled down yet but we're really getting frustrated. I would love to hear suggestions.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

my brother got glasses in the main script, and just buys reading glasses for the close up reading. This was ok'd by his eye doc.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Ask about whether you're a good candidate for mono-vision lenses. That's where you use a distance lens in one eye and a close-up lens in the other. My dad did it for years, as did my grandma. It's quite common. It sounds weird, but your eyes adjust pretty quickly.

 

[ashleyasiegel]

I use to work for an eye doc before being a stay at home mom...

Many people wear contacts and just put Cheater Readers when the need to read something up close

There are Multifocal Contact Lenses which gives you your distance and reading in one lens eg. Purevision Mulitfocal Lenses or Proclear Multifocal

Or you can try the Monovision route with CL's with one eye for distance and one eye for near.

Hope that helps

Ashley

 

[CarolAnnB]

I wear contacts all the time and use the cheapo reading glasses from Target dollar bin when I need them.

Last time my husband got the contacts where one is for close and one is for far and it did not work well for him at all. This time he got the multifocal which are supposed to take care of both problems, but now he is borrowing my cheapo reading glasses and works great.

 

[HunnyPots]

I go the contacts and readers solution. Tried the monovision but all it did was give me headaches and make it harder to drive at night. Optometrist did not recommend the multifocal lenses for me because he said I would lose too much of my distance vision - I am extremely nearsighted. The contacts and readers works, it just takes some getting used to always having to put glasses on and take them off and not lose them! BUT make sure you get the good readers, not the cheapest ones, or you will get distortion and headaches. Go with Magnavision or something comparable. They run $15-$20 a pair.

 

[Disney Ella]

I am in the same position. I'm not looking forward to the cost of bifocals or the adjustment process. I am allergic to all of the contact solutions so contacts are out for me. I would really like to skip this part of aging. I'm afraid I'm going to have to be one of those people who has two pairs of glasses and has to keep switching back and forth.

 

[Maddie2]

I'm of that certain age now too and just last year needed to go the bifocal route. I have no-line bifocals - the lower section is not very strong, but I decided I might as well just get it over with and go this route. My eyes are too dry for contacts now (wore them for 20+ years), so I have succumbed.

It did take some getting used to - and the store had to do a pair over (I have 2 pair of the same prescription - work/fun) to get the line of vision correct. One thing I found out is that with no-line bifocals, you can't wear the tiny glasses that are now in style. Mine are a smidge bigger, so that limited the styles I could choose from -- but still not as big as what I wore years ago.

Price-wise, I was able to get 2 pair for around $400 at Eyemart Express, whereas 1 pair at my optometrist would have been $750! The EE commercials advertise even cheaper glasses, but just be aware that bifocals are more - even when the ads say "Get 2 pair for $xxx) ... that just means from a select handful of frames. Still a better deal overall and they did work with me until I had glasses I could actually see with.

Good luck!

 

[semo233]

Check out zennioptical.com. I'm not sure if they do bifocals, but this is the first place I would go.

 

[southcarolinagirl]

I don't know if you have one near you but America's Best sells 2 pair of bifocals with eye exam for $99.00. We use them all the time.

www.twopair.com

 

[dex08]

I just got bifocals about 4 months ago. My eye doctor wanted to give them to me last year but I asked to wait for them. I noticed by the time of my annual exam this year that I really needed them.

I LOVE my bifocals!!! It took me no time to get used to them! I also wear contacts and just bought a cheapo pair of 'cheaters' to use when I need to.

I'm probably the minority though. My DH has had his bifocals for about 3 years and still cannot get used to them. He thought he didn't need them so when he got extra pair of glasses he asked them not to put the bifocal in them. That's when he realized that he really DOES need them.

I actually prefer wearing my coke-bottle-thick glasses over my contacts now!

 

[bumbershoot]

I had bifocals at 15, so I do not understand the issue with them. Well, I do, but the sympathy is low.

Why are they such a budget buster? Not covered by insurance? Seems odd.

My bifocals were just fine, I got used to them fast. But it was the 80s and glasses were a bit bigger, so there was lots of space for both of the prescriptions.

Tell your kids to stop teasing you; if their own vision had gone floopy like mine did, THEY could be wearing them too!

 

[flamingglobessigmund]

I had to get bifocals in Nov 08. With insurance, it still cost around $350. We had limited options for opticians last year.

I'm hoping with our new insurance and a wider range of providers, my new bifocals will cost less this year.

It took me a couple of days to get used to them.

 

[tekoa]

I have been wearing bifocals for about 2 years now. I wear the no line type. No big deal for me. They took no time to get used to. The Dr. said be careful going down the stairs, but I never had an issue with that. Someone posted about Zenni optical, the pair I bought from them were not that great they gave me a headache. Are you a member of Costco or another warehouse club. They might be cheaper there. Good luck.

 

[sharonmickey]

The first time I got bifocals I developed a headache every time I wore them. I returned them and got single vision. The doctor said I could keep wearing them until I got use to them, the headaches would eventually disappear. I am impatient and chose to go back to single vision.

Two years later, I tried bifocals again (actually progressive lens) and had absolutely no trouble adjusting to them. No headaches, no problems at all.

 

[scrapquitler]

Right after Thanksgiving I got the bifocals without the lines (I think they are called transitions), and I had no problem whatsoever getting used to them.

The price on the other hand... I got them at Walmart, the frames were about $119 and with the lenses, the warrantee and the anti-reflective coating they cost me about $430.

I just wish that I did it two years ago when the doctor suggested to me...I spent two miserable years taking my glasses on and off continually because I couldn't see close up with them on.

 

[Kriii]

I wear multi-focals. When the doctor first recommended them, I was horrified (oh no, middle age!) but now I love them. It's all fine and dandy to be frugal but not with the important things, like your vision. Spend the money, get the glasses and enjoy being able to actually see! Yes, your vision will still probably change (I've had two different prescriptions 14 months apart) but that's just part of life! You have my sympathy BTW...it stinks to lose eyesight!

 

[disneyeyes]

I am a Doctor of Optometry. Your contact lens options will depend somewhat on your prescription. Find an optometrist you trust and that will spend the time to explain the options. Many of the "chain stores" see high volumes of patients and having worked in both chain stores and private practice, I feel patients get more time with me in a private practice environment. Make sure the doctor will include a follow up check if you get contacts and that they will try other options if the first contacts don't work. Don't buy bifocals, particularly no-line bifocals online. The measurements needed to make sure the bifocals work properly need to be done by trained professionals. Also, don't assume the chains will be less expensive. The chain stores generally advertise low prices and then sell you many options which add onto the price. I know several people who were given inaccurate information to convince them to buy extra options they did not need. At my office the least expensive bifocals and frame start at less than $150 and nolines at less than $200. Call doctors in you area and ask what their starting prices are. Also talk to friends who have glasses and find out who they see and why. Another option is to get your exam and look at the glasses and get prices, then take your prescription and shop before you decide. All doctors will give you a prescription but you may have to ask, as many will assume you want to order glassses with them. Good luck.

 

[puffkin]

Check out zennioptical.com. I'm not sure if they do bifocals, but this is the first place I would go.

I agree. They are the best. My mom came home from the eye doctor with a new prescription for transition lense bifocals (no line) and it was $500 (and not even designer frames). I talked her into going through Zenni (who we have used in the past for DH's glasses) and the lenses for $40 plus the frame she picked for $20. She loves them and ordered a second pair to keep at work. So, for $120 she got two pairs of bifocal glasses!

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

Thanks for all the replies! They're really helpful.

I used to know how to mulit-quote but along with my vision changing, my short term memory flickers on & off, too so I'm going to reply to everyone here.

Vision insurance is not available through our employers. One of us needing new glasses is not so bad, but both of us needing them equally badly is a budget buster. We are a cash-only family and while I budget for medical expenses, I did not count on us needing glasses again so soon.

My sister used monovision for years and didn't have a problem with it, but a good friend couldn't get used to it. I'm willing to try but I do so much computer work I'm afraid I would strain my up-close eye.

I forgot to mention, I have astigmatism, so that complicates the whole contact thing, too. Contacts to correct that cost more.

The thing about contacts, too, is that ideally you still need glasses unless you can wear contacts from the time you wake up until you go to sleep. I used to be able to do that, but then contacts became uncomfortable after most of the day. Those were RGP contacts so that might have had something to do with the discomfort.

I read that bifocal glasses need to be bigger, and that's another worry. My husband wears John Lennon type frames, and mine aren't exactly big either. I have an irrational fear of looking like Jane Fonda in 9 to 5 . . . just the glasses, mind you . . . OK, the clothes too . . .

I was thinking just the other day how lucky my kids are - none of them need glasses. My husband & I have both worn them since we were 8.

We are limited as to where we can go because of living in a rural area. I don't have any of the places suggested nearby. About the best I can do is Lenscrafters or the very limited selection at our local optician. I used Zenni last summer for prescription sunglasses and was not impressed. I have a reallllllly strong correction so that could make a difference.

Decisions, decisions. You've all been very helpful - thanks!