# My deteriorating vision **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 15, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242 "2005-02-15T19:51:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/21 "2005-02-15T23:20:20Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > I get a six pack of lenses for something like $100. Supposedly, I’m supposed to use a new pair every month but my optometrist admitted these are the exact same lenses that were supposed to be worn for two years repackaged. So I just get a new set when my eyes bother me which is maybe three of four months. And I probably spend $7 on solution every month or so. While I could probably afford this, it would be a big hit for my finances in their current state, and might even require that I cut back on other luxuries. Maybe later when I’ve got less going on and more money. Although the optometrist said he’d highly recommend that I remove my glasses when I’m reading, which would be a huge hassle with contacts, so I’m not sure it’ll be worth the bother. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/22 "2005-02-15T23:30:11Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I got my first glasses in 1st grade. And to this day I fume about that fucking teacher who didn’t believe me when I said I couldn’t read the board. Stupid ass-whore. It’s been thirty years and I still get pissed thinking about that cunt. Same here (second or third grade). I caught lots of hell because I “wasn’t paying attention” to what was being “blurred” on the Big Fuzzy Blob that is known as the blackboard. I couldn’t read the thing, but everyone had made up their minds that I was just lazy. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/23 "2005-02-15T23:44:27Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > :dubious: I don’t think I’m the one who’s bitter or angry here. You fuck off, please. > > :wally I gotta agree with **Anaa** here - in my post I clearly stated that I was grateful for 20/20 with glasses. I think you may have a bit of a chip there, **wring**. As for eyes deteriorating, my mom can barely see to drive now, and my maternal grandmother was virtually blind before she died. I inherited my mom’s vision problems. I am _indeed_ grateful for how good my vision is now, and hoping like hell to keep it. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/24 "2005-02-16T00:02:23Z")
> [@pasunejen](#): > > I am terribly sorry about your condition. Believe me. And I’m pretty sure I stated in my OP that I know I’m getting off fairly easy and am lucky to be able to correct my vision with glasses alone: > . I think I noted in my first post that I saw that, specifically gave you a pass after some one else called me patronizing. still maintain that anyone whos condition can be treated w/corrective lenses alone should be grateful period -that goes to featherlou as well. I am grateful for the sight I still have. dont have time for folks who piss and moan about needing glasses. if thats a chip, so be it. ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/25 "2005-02-16T00:03:00Z")
I completely sympathize, **pasunejen**. After more than 40 years of perfect vision, I’ve just started wearing glasses. I’ve always thought that things were balanced – I had good knees and great vision, but those were offset by miserable back problems and not a small amount of mental illness. (And, boy, that balance thing worked for many years. _“Well, she left me, but at least I don’t have to wear glasses.”_) Now I’m thinking that this whole balance theory was a crock of shit, because no one’s really at the controls making sure that everyone’s karma is distributed equally. Anyway, **Freyr** makes the same point one of my friends did – it’s such an exact science these days that the same day I got the bad news about my vision, I already had glasses on order that completely compensate for it. So, I had 40 years of perfect vision, which I appreciate. Of course there are people who’ve been wearing glasses most of their lives. It still doesn’t negate the fact that you had good vision and now you’ve lost it, and your loss is real. This isn’t a game where the person who suffers most has the greatest moral authority (but it sure seems that way sometimes). ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/26 "2005-02-16T04:09:55Z")
> [@wring](#): > > I am grateful for the sight I still have. dont have time for folks who piss and moan about needing glasses. if thats a chip, so be it. The fact that your problem is bigger than mine does not mean that I don’t have one, nor that I shouldn’t be upset about it. Take a few martyr points and stop reading the damn thread if it upsets you so much. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/27 "2005-02-16T05:08:20Z")
My vision’s also deteriorating. I’ve worn glasses since about Grade Two or Three–about as long as I can remember, anyway. My vision has steadily deteriorated throughout my life, leading to stronger and stronger prescriptions along with the dubious pleasure of handing my glasses to other people and saying ‘you think you’ve got bad eyes? Look through THESE.’ Then when I hit 38, I experienced the first joy of retinal tears (rip, not weep). So now mixed in with the general utter blurriness of the world without corrective lenses, I’ve got terrible floaters that don’t ever go away, and the possibility of another retinal tear anytime. I’ve learned to deal with seeing the world, even with my glasses on, through a floating field of miscellaneous crap, but having one’s vision get progressively worse sucks, no matter what your starting point is. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/28 "2005-02-16T06:56:05Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I got my first glasses in 1st grade. And to this day I fume about that fucking teacher who didn’t believe me when I said I couldn’t read the board. Stupid ass-whore. It’s been thirty years and I still get pissed thinking about that cunt. > > Now, I’ve been dealing with trying to correct my astigmatism with contact lenses. We’ve tried two different toric (sp?) lenses, and neither worked. I have a third waiting for me. God know when or if I’ll ever see clearly in my right eye again. Screw torics, go with gas permeables…rigid contacts change the shape of the eye itself, making the vision behave. I have found that the damned torics slide around, shift focus ‘sweet spots’ and are a pain in the arse to put in and take out. Semi hards sit politely on teh finger tip, you pop them in and they behave for 8 hours until you tip your head, hold one hand under your eye and tease the corner of your eye to pop the lens into your hand, none of this squidging around trying to keep the lense unfolded and slither it in past the eye lashes, then using pliers to pull it out when you want them out. Takes maybe a week to get to where you can wear them 8-12 hours, and they are way more durable than soft lenses. Heck, I loved my ancient type of hard lenses…I had 2 pairs, a regular pair and a way dark green pair for skiing=) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/29 "2005-02-16T06:58:12Z")
> [@wring](#): > > wasn’t intending patronizing the OP, but in all sincerity, fuck off. If you’ve got a condition that’s **fucking correctable** merely by wearing corrective lenses, please be fucking grateful for that, instead of bemoaning needing the glasses, especially in a public venue where you will more than likely be pissing about needing glasses to folks who would be elated to ‘simply’ need glasses. > > My eye conditions won’t ever get better, may indeed get much much worse. And I’m grateful as hell that **at least right now** I can still see (sorta) a computer screen, still see (sorta) to drive, that at least my conditions at this time are treatable. (with lots of money, quarterly visits to specialist, rigorous testing etc.) Macular degeneration? My dad has wet md as does my uncle, so i suppose i might end up with it - though i am more concerned with diabetic retinopathy… ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/30 "2005-02-16T13:21:39Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Heh, I just went to the eye doctor today. > Now, I’ve worn glasses since about Third or Fourth Grade, and got contacts when I was about 18 or 19, so I’m used to the whole bit. I switch back and forth between the two. > > But what did I find out today? > I need freaking bifocals. > > I am officially OLD. ☹ I feel your pain. I’ve been wearing glasses since I was in high school, and a few years back I had to get bifocals. According to my optometrist, I got bifocals a bit earlier than is usually the case, but nothing to worry about. **Pasunejen** , don’t worry about it. Glasses aren’t a big deal. Go to your optometrist, get a pair of glasses and a pair of sunglasses, and in about a week or two you’ll be completely at ease with them. Or you can go the contact lens route. I don’t – I tried them once, many years ago, and found them to be a pain in the neck. The advantages didn’t outweigh the disadvantages. But that’s just me. I know lots of people who swear by contacts and say they work infinitely better than plain old glasses. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/31 "2005-02-16T13:37:10Z")
> [@LMM](#): > > **Pasunejen** , don’t worry about it. Glasses aren’t a big deal. Go to your optometrist, get a pair of glasses and a pair of sunglasses, and in about a week or two you’ll be completely at ease with them. Or you can go the contact lens route. I don’t – I tried them once, many years ago, and found them to be a pain in the neck. The advantages didn’t outweigh the disadvantages. But that’s just me. I know lots of people who swear by contacts and say they work infinitely better than plain old glasses. Yeah, people have touted the good points of both…frankly, I think the reduced field of vision with glasses might end up getting to me and cause me to go with contacts in the future, especially with the hard sell from my mom, my brother, and one of my close friends going on. But right now (having gone to optometrist to price things out and see what I’d need), it’s not worth it. And I’m totally okay with the glasses thing. Don’t even need to buy sunglasses, because I’ve never been able to wear them without looking like an ass. Woohoo! ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/32 "2005-02-16T14:14:57Z")
Contacts worked great for me, BUT after a few years my eyes started getting dryer, and I had to switch to glasses. After a few days of adjustment, I was fine, and find the glasses infinitely more convienient in most ways. The limited field of view is a bit annoying but I don’t even notice that most of the time. But I don’t have to buy tons of contact stuff all the time, and I don’t HAVE to go back for an exam every single year just to get more of the same contacts, seeing as my prescription hasn’t changed noticeably in about ten or twelve years, so I can stay with these glasses as long as they don’t change, unless they break or something. At least your vision (and mine) is correctable, so I’d just suck it up if I were you. ---
**Author:** ![DogMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DogMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogMom)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/33 "2005-02-16T14:47:55Z")
**pasunejen** , even though I’ve been wearing glasses since forever \ hm. 28 years. Huh. Well. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes - even though I’ve worn glasses for 28 years, and without them I can’t see _anything_ (I think my focal length is something like an inch) - I can sympathize with you. It really sucks to discover that something you’ve counted on to be “perfect” all your life suddenly let you down and it’s not “perfect” anymore. > [@BiblioCat](#): > > But what did I find out today? > I need freaking bifocals. > > I am officially OLD. ☹ Nah. Here’s some comfort - I’ve been wearing bifocals since I was _twenty-one_. So you’re not officially OLD yet! (Unless you want to offer the theory that I was officially OLD at 21…your prerogative. 🆒 ) And, even though my vision completely sucks the big egg, I have a hard time with contacts thanks to allergies and a mild case of dry-eye, I refuse to get laser surgery because the best they can do is “get me into thinner glasses” (and exactly why would I shell out close to ten grand to still have to wear glasses all the time???) and besides that I’ve been told that with the higher prescriptions laser surgery has a good chance of screwing up my night vision and I’m the only one in my family who can drive at night already, I’m looking at a high probability of either torn or detached retinas in my future thanks to the high-prescrip on my glasses, and very likely glaucoma and / or cataract treatments in the near future thanks to genetics (inherited on BOTH sides of the family, oh bliss oh joy) - I am still grateful that my vision is correctable at all. Even when I whine about having to wear glasses. I remember the agonzing _months_ of squinting at the board, at my books, at everything - because my eyes were changing so fast that I really needed a new prescription close to once a month but obviously we couldn’t afford THAT. I donate every single pair of my old glasses to the Lions, hoping that someone can be helped by my old prescriptions (and hey, if they need THOSE glasses, I’m VERY glad to help!). But **wring** , _even though I am **very** grateful_ that I can see clearly most of the time…every once in a while, I just _need to whine about it._ Because even though I am GLAD to have my glasses so I can see, I’m still frustrated at times that I will _never_ be able to wake up and just _see_. I’m frustrated that at times I feel like I’m looking at the world through a sort of “eye-prison” - that my eyes are “trapped” behind these panes of glass (well, OK, Coke-bottle plastic) and they’ll never see the world as it “really is”. There’s always distortion there. Always. Lights that fragment into the spectrum. Neon signs I can’t even read, because my glasses break up the light into the spectral parts and it’s like trying to read seven or eight copies of the same script, each in a different color, all blurring together and overlaid-slightly-offset of each other. It’s frustrating to either have to risk losing my glasses underwater (because I wear them while swimming) or not see for squat, including not seeing a pier, or a breakwater that I’m getting close to and need to avoid. It’s also a bit frightening to know that, likely soon, given my family history, I’ll have to start using medication to treat glaucoma, and that I’ll also likely eventually need cataract surgery. That I am in the high-risk group for detatched retinas, thanks to my glasses prescription. Because of all that, _even though I’m grateful_, sometimes I’m inclined to whine a bit, on rare occasions. And I can see where someone who has _never_ had to wear glasses, _never_ had to endure the thought of eye-prison, who has suddenly had his perfect vision, which he’s counted on all his life _let him down_ would want to whine and vent a litle. Whining =/= ungrateful. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/34 "2005-02-16T15:07:20Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Macular degeneration? > > My dad has wet md as does my uncle, so i suppose i might end up with it - though i am more concerned with diabetic retinopathy… nope, a buncha stuff. thankfully most of it’s responding to treatment, but I’ve still lost a portion of eyesight, and am not correctable to 20/20 anymore. We’re just hoping that I don’t loose more. Need to whine? go for it. And I’ll need to point out that if your vision is still correctable by glasses alone, you’re lucky. I don’t get all warm fuzzy thoughts when Paris Hilton whines about breaking a nail, either. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/35 "2005-02-16T15:20:23Z")
> [@pasunejen](#): > > \ Don’t even need to buy sunglasses, because I’ve never been able to wear them without looking like an ass. Woohoo! Actually, you _do_ need sunglasses, just like you need sunscreen when you’re out on a sunny day. Eyes need protection from UV light just as badly as skin does. There’s some debate about whether plain glass glasses protect the eyes enough, but I always wear my sunglasses just in case. That macular degeneration thing runs in my family, too, as well as the “floaters.” I tell my eye doctor when I get a check-up, so he can hopefully keep me on track with what I need to do to hopefully avoid it. (I’m very hopeful about keeping my eyesight). ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/36 "2005-02-16T15:40:02Z")
> [@wring](#): > > And I’ll need to point out that if your vision is still correctable by glasses alone, you’re lucky. I don’t get all warm fuzzy thoughts when Paris Hilton whines about breaking a nail, either. Except that it was quite unnecessary for you to point that out, as it was already explicitly stated in several places, by me and by others (I saw no signs of the “pass” you supposedly gave me–maybe my vision’s worse than I thought). Even your first post was condescending, and after that you continued to beat the same dead horse and tell people how they shouldn’t be unhappy about their less-than-stellar eyesight because OH MY GOD LOOK HOW MUCH WORSE IT COULD BE. _After_ people responded to you to reiterate that they did indeed feel grateful. Something like this: **Poster** : I do understand that I’m lucky. **wring** : I still maintain that you should feel lucky. Guh? And the comparison to Paris Hilton breaking a nail is, frankly, complete bullshit. Pretty fingernails are vanity items, and they repair themselves in short order–show me how either of these is true of eyesight. Sorry, but this kind of attitude is one of my pet peeves. Contrary to what you and some others seem to think, extreme bad fortune in any arena of life does not license you to tell those suffering lesser misfortunes that their problems aren’t real. Saying “That sucks, but remember it could be worse” is one thing; saying “It could be worse, so STFU” is just bitterness looking for an outlet. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/37 "2005-02-16T15:51:21Z")
> [@pasunejen](#): > > Although the optometrist said he’d highly recommend that I remove my glasses when I’m reading, which would be a huge hassle with contacts, so I’m not sure it’ll be worth the bother. I’ve been in bifocals since I was ten because my optometrist didn’t want me screwing up my close vision by correcting it for distance vision. Consider bifocals. More expensive, but much nicer. Of course, I’ve been wearing them for 23 years, so I’m used to them. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/38 "2005-02-16T18:38:34Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Macular degeneration? > > My dad has wet md as does my uncle, so i suppose i might end up with it - though i am more concerned with diabetic retinopathy… My brother just had laser surgery for diabetic retinopathy. He’s 35. He went in for something else and they freaked and sent him to a specialist the next day. Told him if he didn’t have surgery within weeks, he’d go blind. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/39 "2005-02-16T20:06:17Z")
Limited sympathy. On the one hand, glasses suck. Not being able to see without them sucks. Needing to go to an optometrist/opthmalogist/whatever-the-fuck docter sucks. On the other hand, I’ve been completely dependent on glasses or contacts since I was in second grade. And have needed eye surgery twice to correct a muscular problem. And as of very recently, it’s becoming clear I’ll probably need the same surgery a third time to correct the same fucking problem. :mad: Glasses suck. It’s easily corrected, though, and I hope you don’t go through shit like I went through as a kid (major perscription changes every fucking year). Besides, sometimes? Glasses can be sexy. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242/40 "2005-02-16T20:15:28Z")
Yeah, I remember third grade, I had this monster of a teacher, worst teacher I’ve ever had. She gave out worksheets that I would always finish within 5 minutes, and then she’d get mad at me for reading a _literature textbook_ in class because it wasn’t the assignment, eventhough she knew I was already done. Then she would bitch and say I just guessed the answers (because yeah, I guessed correctly 10 fill in the blank questions, that’s an amazing feat indeed.) So when I started having trouble seeing the blackboard she would send me to the principal’s office for complaining and making a disruption in class. The principal was an affable guy but basically always deferred to the teachers. When my mother finally found out what was going on she ripped that bitch a new one. Elementary school teachers always become pansies in the face of an enraged parent. Trying to “explain away” little Johnny’s claims as just the incorrect interpretations of a little boy. Of course ever since then I’ve worn glasses, and I actually like them. I think they are a positive effect on my overall appearance. In late HS _everyone_ it seemed was getting glasses. Now years later contact lenses are so en vogue glasses are becoming a bit more rare, so you get the unique feeling of wearing them. The big disadvantages with my vision are more related to my blue eyes and high myopia making me _very_ painfully sensitive to bright sunlight, a problem that’s gotten much worse with age. But the glasses themselves have always been my friends. Though there is a joke in the Army about military issued eyeglasses making it “impossible for one to get laid.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-deteriorating-vision/290242.md?page=3)