Susan, I can't answer every question, especially about the lens composition as I've never paid much attention to that. When I wore glasses, even weak ones, I already knew I was getting some distortion so just put up with it and got them off me as soon as I could. Blur was better than frame obscuring my peripheral vision, and bright lights glinting off my lenses. I feel the same way about looking out a window rather than the bare screen when the window is open, far preferring the unobstructed view. Cue my oft-repeated refrain of having the goal to see well without glasses, not focusing too much energy on making the glasses better. My guess is as your vision improves your eyes and brain will naturally compensate for any slight distortion, but I'd still do as much as you can without glasses at all, making sure you're safe, of course.

You probably CAN see the distance just as well with glasses that are 1/2 diopter weaker. Your eyes are better than you think! People who've worn glasses for a long time are often surprised that their eyes can see without them -- don't be. Celebrate!

Yes, you (looking in the mirror) or a friend can measure the PD, the distance between the center of your pupils in millimeters, or you can get it from the eye doctor. I had my partner do it for me for the Zenni glasses I ordered.

Yes, OD is Latin for "right eye" and OS is "left eye". http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/how-read-eye-glass-prescription Note the "S" is for sinister (Latin for left) which always makes me think of a left-handed compliment, as if "left" = bad.

If it were me and I felt adventurous, I'd order a dirt-cheap pair of glasses from Zenni about half your current prescription, just to play with, no pressure or expectation. You could try to read with them or go for a walk after dark or something slightly visually challenging, but where you're in no danger. I would NOT try to drive with them, except maybe in your driveway! I did this, then felt like I was taking it too easy on myself so ordered a few other even weaker pairs, but remember my prescription was originally higher than yours so I had farther to come down from. It's a fine line and everyone is different -- you can't push yourself so hard you get anxious, and if you don't push yourself at all you'll stay where you are. Some days you'll just feel like taking it easy and using your strong glasses for most things, then maybe the strain will be more noticeable and you'll get re-motivated to use you natural vision more the next day. This isn't usually an overnight journey, so honor your own process, and always know you're doing a good job, given the current circumstances -- beating yourself up is a total waste of energy and will just slow you down and make you feel bad, so be proud of what you have accomplished so far, which is a lot more than most people with glasses!

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Nancy
2012: 20/45 on average, no glasses except for night driving
2001: 2/200, -10 hard contacts with -1.75 cylinder
Vision & dreams blog: http://dreamersight.wordpress.com/
Vision & dreams website: http://dreamersight.com/

Susan,

With your current prescription, I don't think it would be legal (or necessarily safe) to drive with 2.5 to 3.5 diopter lenses. The DMVs of all 50 states give allowance for 20/40 for unrestricted personal driving. Anything under -4 will probably average less than that (20/50 or worse) for you right now. Even my half prescription ones fluctuate between 20/40 and 20/50 during testing, depending on how much I've practiced. Of course, some states allow an eye doctor's waiver (for if you can't get any better than this) for 20/70 for daylight driving only. As Nancy said, there's a lot of potential in you, just stay safe.

The pupil distance *can* be measured with a friend's help, but I think the eye doc would give a more accurate number.

I'm not familiar with the term base curve, so I can't say anything about that.

Check out the Wikipedia article on glasses and see what material you think from that would be the best for you. I know that minus my crazy scratches, the polycarbonate lenses don't give me aberration troubles on anything other than fine print. For that matter, most of my protective eyewear and swimwear is polycarbonate and works great. So you might be fine with it as your prescription reduces. In fact, even when I was wearing my -4 lenses, I didn't notice any aberration issues.

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FIAT LUX! Translation = "Let there be light!"

Thanks for the input Nancy.

Agreed the goal is to see without glasses. But, I do appreciate the feedback since I'm in the intermediate phase of that goal.

Pity that the "S" in "OS" is for "sinister" regarding the left eye.... I'm left-handed. *snicker* But, I'm right-eyed.

I agree about ordering a "dirt-cheap" pair of glasses from Zenni, at about half the necessary Rx. Would you keep the astigmatism correction the same for now, or try reducing it too (or dumping it completely)....? Heck, even with an Rx of half what I have now, I could still find my way around the house, mow the yard (both of which I can do without glasses), and work on a computer (which I can't do without glasses).

The only thing I've "beaten myself up" about is... the money I spent on the second pair of glasses, which I could easily use to drive with. Wish I could've talked my eye doc into knocking off a full diopter or two.

ps ~ sending you a quick email.

Hi Fiat,

I would never consider driving with such reduced Rx glasses. I'd use them only for what I mentioned: wandering around the house, mowing the yard, and reading online or analog material. It's the mid-distance glasses that I just picked up this afternoon that I was referring to being able to drive with.... I was just outside with them and could clearly read the stop sign on the other end of the block.

When I was having this current set of glasses made, the very first material they put me in were polycarbonate lenses. No way those will work for me, aberrations made the ground wavy. They had to remake them using higher quality material. Maybe, if I get down to the -1D to -2D range, I'll be able to try polycarbs... but, not right now.

Susan, since your astigmatism correction is 1.25, I'd take it out in the experimental further reduced glasses you order. My behavioral optometrist only reduced it if it was more than -2, otherwise eliminated it completely. Mine was 1.75 and I was a little disoriented at first when I didn't have it any longer, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I'd be interested to hear what changes you notice, like walls looking straight rather than curved, or tilting your head less, or something similar. Your world should appear less warped!

I answered your email. Take care.

_________________
Nancy
2012: 20/45 on average, no glasses except for night driving
2001: 2/200, -10 hard contacts with -1.75 cylinder
Vision & dreams blog: http://dreamersight.wordpress.com/
Vision & dreams website: http://dreamersight.com/

Quote: "Your world should appear less warped!"

Are you sure about that....? I've always been told that I was "warped".

Thanks for the feedback. I'll dump the astigmatism correction in the dirt-cheap glasses. Haven't ordered them yet but, spent some time last night looking at frames at Zenni.

Susan, the human body has a great ability to compensate for its surroundings. I'm remembering the study of putting glasses on people which made everything look upside down, and after a week or so their brain compensated and the view through the glasses was right-side up. Taking the glasses off, everything was upside-down again, until the visual system re-adjusted the view back to normal.

Your astigmatism "correction" in your glasses has been compensating for an apparently warped view you temporarily developed from who knows what life circumstance, and it kept it in place. You want to let your natural vision re-assert itself and the cylinder correction will get in the way of that.

Disclaimer: this is my strongly held belief which my own experience supports, NOT a doctor's recommendation (I am not a doctor). You are making your own decisions about your health and your eyes in this case.

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Nancy
2012: 20/45 on average, no glasses except for night driving
2001: 2/200, -10 hard contacts with -1.75 cylinder
Vision & dreams blog: http://dreamersight.wordpress.com/
Vision & dreams website: http://dreamersight.com/

I read that same study ! I had no idea the brain could compensate for such a dramatic change, and then switch back. Pretty neat.

Disclaimer noted and understood. I take full accountability for my vision improvement journey. Yet, I greatly appreciate the feedback of those who've walked this path before me.