If you use "cheaters" (reading glasses)...

[Janie Grace]

How old were you when you first needed them? What was it like when you realized you did? 

 

I *suddenly* (as of about a week ago) can't see. Reading the computer screen is a huge strain. I have to make it 175% to see things and even then, it's hard. I thought my contacts were old/dirty, so I changed them and I still am straining. I mean, I can SEE, it's just... hard. It's difficult to even describe.

I was just trying to read the side of a package of tea and struggling and then I held it out farther (the way I see "old" people to) and it helped! I'm 41. Is that what it feels like when you need reading glasses? 

 

I have an eye appointment on Monday. 

[AngieC]

I think I started wearing them at 43. I rarely take them off now (at 45). I don't know how long I needed them before I started wearing them.

[Janie Grace]

I think I started wearing them at 43. I rarely take them off now (at 45). I don't know how long I needed them before I started wearing them.

 

Does my description sound like how it was before you started? Did you go to the doctor or just buy a pair at the drugstore?

[FaithManor]

For me it was this year, 48. But I have always been very near sighted and worn contacts. When it became apparent rhat I would need bi focals the eye doc could not come up with one not even a progressive that would work well for me sitting at the piano reading classical music with all the fine print PlUS being able to focus well on those I am accompanying. Nothing worked well. So I have multifocal contacts with a .5 readinf glass over them when I am readinf or at the piano and it is perfect. For everything else, I simply take the reading glasses off.

 

Dh, who has normal vision, gets eye strain from hours and hours at the computer. At 50 he started using a .5 in the afternoons when he started to feel the strain.

 

We get ours on amazon.

[Janie Grace]

Come to think of it, it started after I had spent hours on the computer on a project (think 10 hours a day for three days). I wonder if it's related. Can you wreck your eyes from intense overuse???

[ktgrok]

How old were you when you first needed them? What was it like when you realized you did? 

 

I *suddenly* (as of about a week ago) can't see. Reading the computer screen is a huge strain. I have to make it 175% to see things and even then, it's hard. I thought my contacts were old/dirty, so I changed them and I still am straining. I mean, I can SEE, it's just... hard. It's difficult to even describe.

I was just trying to read the side of a package of tea and struggling and then I held it out farther (the way I see "old" people to) and it helped! I'm 41. Is that what it feels like when you need reading glasses? 

 

I have an eye appointment on Monday. 

 

I'm 40 and need them. I've been pretending I don't, mostly by enlarging the font on my kindle and such. But I'm over it. I'm getting a pair. I have a friend that is my age and got them at 39. I think anytime around 40 is common. 

[gardenmom5]

I was 42 when I got bifocals.  I was also wearing contacts at the time, so I wore reading glasses with them.

 

dh . . . . . we won't talk about how old he was when he got reading glasses . . . . . :glare: :glare: :glare: :glare: :glare:   and I have more gray than he does . . . . :glare:

[FaithManor]

Op, you can really stress your eyes from staring at computer screens for too long. Take frequent breaks and use of a low number reading glass can really help.

[6packofun]

41 when I started wearing them. I just turned 45 and now probably need to get bifocals, but I keep putting it off. lol  I DID pass the vision test for renewing my driver's license just fine, so maybe I'll wait the 4 years.  :P  (I tend to put my reading glasses on for more than just reading now, so I'm mostly kidding.  Just need to fit an exam/glasses into the budget!)

[zyxwvut]

The suddenness would have me wondering a bit about your blood sugar.  Any other indicators that might warrant a check-in with your doctor?

[AngieC]

No, mine happened much more gradually and even now I wouldn't need to enlarge to 175% to read a full size monitor. I did not go to a doctor, I just tried on a few different pairs and got the +1.5 ones.

 

Given your symptoms, I might see a doc.

[rdj2027]

I bought a pair of generic ones at around 45/46.  In my case they didn't work well though because I am far sighted in one eye and near sighted in the other.  I now have prescription reading glasses which work quite well.

[Georgiana Daniels]

I agree with the PP's who suggested checking in with your doc. 

 

My need for readers happened so slowly that I didn't notice until I had a regular eye appt (I'm seriously nearsighted.) That said, I was 43 when it happened, and that's about average, I think.

[Ali in OR]

My eye doctor started asking me if I had trouble at age 40. I felt smug that I didn't but he explained that everyone will lose their close vision. I first noticed it at 46 (not sudden). I just use +1 readers from Target--a pair in my purse and a pair around the house.

[ktgrok]

I will say that eye strain makes it worse, for sure. When I'm on the computer a lot it gets worse. 

[Matryoshka]

How old were you when you first needed them? What was it like when you realized you did?

 

I *suddenly* (as of about a week ago) can't see. Reading the computer screen is a huge strain. I have to make it 175% to see things and even then, it's hard. I thought my contacts were old/dirty, so I changed them and I still am straining. I mean, I can SEE, it's just... hard. It's difficult to even describe.

I was just trying to read the side of a package of tea and struggling and then I held it out farther (the way I see "old" people to) and it helped! I'm 41. Is that what it feels like when you need reading glasses?

 

I have an eye appointment on Monday.

Lol... my eyes went almost instantaneously right around my 40th birthday, almost like someone flipped a switch. I suddenly couldn't read with my glasses on. Still could with them off, so I managed to avoid needing progressive lenses till my mid-range went (too close with glasses on, too far with glasses off), which was maybe mid-forties? I may have actually delayed *getting* the progressive lenses a few years after I needed them, having to put reading material really close or backing away.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Mine came on suddenly as well, at age 40.  I went to read a pill bottle, and had to move my arm forward and back to find my focus.  I stopped dead in my extended arm position, and thought, "Why did I just do that?"  

 

It was all downhill from there.  I got my first readers probably shortly after that.  I believe they were 1.0 diopter, and I only needed them for tiny print (like pill bottles).

 

Since then, I've gone up to 1.5, and stayed there for years (I'm 53 now), but I still use 1.0's for the computer and piano.

[Tap]

I need a .5 for very fine print, fine hand sewing/needlework, or darker rooms/restaurants with dim lighting. 

 

I can read normal books with no correction. Mid 40s. 

Edited November 30, 2016 by Tap

[redsquirrel]

It happened to me and it was FAST.  Like one day I was fine and the next I couldn't see to write a cheque, lol.

 

I just went to the supermarket and bough some reading glasses. I only needed the +1 and have been wearing them for about a year.  I have a pair in my purse and a pair I keep at home. I am considering buying a pair to keep by the bed. I shoul prob get a pair to keep in my knitting bag, just to reduce having to get up and get them, lol.

 

I was 48 when I started wearing them. I don't need any other glasses.  Well, I could get glasses for distance, but they would be so weak that I've never bothered. I can read street signs etc when I am driving so my distance vision can't be too bad.

 

The pair of glasses that I keep at home have a very faint yellow tinge (I don't notice it when I wear them) to reduce computer eye strain. They were expensive, about 30$, but I really, really like them. The do make a difference when I use the computer.

[Scarlett]

I was probably 48 when I got my first cheaters....but didnt use them all of the time.....when I turned 50 I noticed I was having trouble driving at night....so brook down and got a pair of Bi focals. Only wear them for driving or watching tv or reading.

[Guest]

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Edited September 11, 2020 by Æthelthryth the Texan

[Pawz4me]

Come to think of it, it started after I had spent hours on the computer on a project (think 10 hours a day for three days). I wonder if it's related. Can you wreck your eyes from intense overuse???

 

Are you sure you don't have a bit of dry eye problem?

 

I got my first glasses (progressive bifocals) around 43 or 44. The need came on gradually. When it got to the point I had to call one of the boys to read fine print to me I knew it was time to get glasses.

 

But . . . dry eye can interfere with even normal vision. And working on a computer for very long is a huge issue for people with dry eye. Even with my glasses I can't spend too much uninterrupted time on the computer w/o paying a price (like not being able to see much at all for awhile). So just in case it might not be a bad idea to pick up some artificial tears and see if they help. FWIW dry eye can have a variety of symptoms--everything from gritty burning to watery, overly teary eyes. And sometimes for me it's just that aggravating inability to focus well.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Pawz4me

[MEmama]

I got them at 44, about a month ago? It was exactly like you described. I could see, but not really see. At some point I realized I wasn't reading books because it was too difficult. Texting was pretty much just a guessing game.

 

It's so much better with them, but the taking off and on is a pain. I find I can keep them on for more and more tasks, though, and peering over them is pretty natural, if silly.

 

I bought a more expensive but more comfortable pair at LensCrafters for daily tasks and taking out with me, and a cheap dollar store pair for next to my bed. They are the lowest magnification but really make a huge difference.

[Zinnia]

I started wearing them last year at 40 when I realized I couldn't cross stitch any more. They make a big difference. I especially need them after about 7pm.

[GailV]

Around age 45, and it was gradual.  At first it was just for certain activities, especially in the winter -- perhaps because it's darker in the winter.  

 

The eye doctor suggested cheaters. 

 

Things I've noticed that make a difference, bad or good, for me:  going outside to take a walk (probably because I'm focusing at different distances and also getting different light frequencies), focussing intensely on close work (causes the eye to reshape itself), eating junky food vs. healthy (easier for the muscles and tissues to recover if they have the proper fuel)

[rjand6more]

At 42.  It was very fast, like you described.  I wear progressive no-line bifocals all the time now.  I went from no glasses to bifocals overnight. Dr. told me it was normal for my age. :glare:

[vonfirmath]

How old were you when you first needed them? What was it like when you realized you did? 

 

I *suddenly* (as of about a week ago) can't see. Reading the computer screen is a huge strain. I have to make it 175% to see things and even then, it's hard. I thought my contacts were old/dirty, so I changed them and I still am straining. I mean, I can SEE, it's just... hard. It's difficult to even describe.

I was just trying to read the side of a package of tea and struggling and then I held it out farther (the way I see "old" people to) and it helped! I'm 41. Is that what it feels like when you need reading glasses? 

 

I have an eye appointment on Monday. 

 

I'm 43 and just starting to realize I'm about to need bifocals for the same problem -- make Kindle text larger, can't see small text.

My sister and husband (who do not wear glasses normally) started needing reading glasses about age 35

[Loowit]

I started to have problems around 41 but if I took off my glasses, which are for far vision, I could do fine.  Now a couple years later even without my glasses I can't see up close well and I need to break down and get bifocals.  I am having some other eye problems at the moment, swollen optic nerve, so I don't want to invest in glasses until I have that figured out.

[SKL]

I caved in and bought a pair a year or two ago, but I hardly ever use them.  Though sometimes it is pathetic when I don't.  :P

 

I'm 50, so about 48 was when I admitted I had some presbyopia.

[shawthorne44]

It had seemed fast to me, but I think it was really gradual and I was in denial, until I wasn't.  I still feel cheated.  

[Pen]

Very probably so.

 

But the sense that you thought your contacts were old or dirty--is what you are seeing lacking clarity up close like your distance vision is for far things? Or are you seeing things as if through dirt or a little watery?  If the latter, then there could be something else like cataract development going on.

[EKS]

At around age 40 I started using the readers from the drugstore.  It was more for eyestrain that actually needing them.  Then, at age 45 or so, I actually started needing them to see.  That was when I got my first pair of progressives and for the most part I love them.  What I didn't realize until I got the progressives is that I also need correction for distance--apparently you can be so farsighted that even things very far away will appear blurry.

[flyingiguana]

I was 30.

 

However, I'm really nearsighted, so it was really just a matter of taking my glasses off to read.  It was when the midrange started to go that I finally had to get progressive lenses.  But even now I usually have to take them off to read for any length of time.  

[TravelingChris]

I was about 42 or 43.  I got lined bifocals.  In the last few years, I have gotten lined trifocals.  My dh went from having normal vision to having nearsightedness in his early 40's.  They did do some additional testing on him but just decided it was late onset myopia.  Then maybe 4 years or so later, he got transition lenses.  I get lined glasses instead of transition lenses because of the arthritis in my neck.  YOu have to move your neck more with transition lenses than you do with lined bifocals or trifocals.

[Kat Pajak]

I struggled with distance vision since i was 17. I needed glasses to drive at night and in the rain. Eventually in my 40s it became a necessity to wear them for driving or seeing distance all the time.

After i turned 51.. LOL.. All the sudden I couldn't see close or tiny print.  I bought a pair of cheaters and really only needed them to read tiny print.  Then 3 weeks ago I couldn't seee my phone messages or any text on my computer, so I started wearing the cheaters daily so I could see clearly the computer or my phone.

The weirdest thing happened now that I can drive fine without my glasses and see street signs clearly. If I wear my distance glasses it's blurry now and only need to wear glasses to see the computer or my phone.

Has this happened to anyone? It's freaking me out! How did my vision switch? 

[Danae]

On 11/29/2016 at 7:10 PM, Janie Grace said:

How old were you when you first needed them? What was it like when you realized you did? 

 

I *suddenly* (as of about a week ago) can't see. Reading the computer screen is a huge strain. I have to make it 175% to see things and even then, it's hard. I thought my contacts were old/dirty, so I changed them and I still am straining. I mean, I can SEE, it's just... hard. It's difficult to even describe.

I was just trying to read the side of a package of tea and struggling and then I held it out farther (the way I see "old" people to) and it helped! I'm 41. Is that what it feels like when you need reading glasses? 

 

I have an eye appointment on Monday. 

I was 48, and it was pretty much like this. It’s been almost two years and I still find it very weird.

[DoraBora]

This thread was started four years ago...