Tell me I’ll adapt to progressive lenses! Updated

[Carrie12345]

I just got them yesterday and I currently hate them.  
It’s a light prescription, but OMG. I feel like a bobble head trying to find the right angle for anything.

When walking, god forbid I look down; it suddenly feels like I got 2’ shorter. I drove this morning and now I have no idea how to catch deer out of the corner of my eye which is now blurry if I’m looking at the road.

Just typing this on my phone, looking back and forth from the keyboard to the text box has me swerving like Stevie Wonder to try to find the correct part of my lenses!

I hate this. 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Carrie12345

[Pawz4me]

I was lucky and had no trouble at all adjusting to my first pair, or any of the updated ones I've had since. But my optometrist warned me that it could take up to two weeks. So yes, you've still got lots and lots of time to adjust. If it doesn't happen it's possible your prescription isn't right or that progressives just aren't for you. Apparently it's not uncommon to not be able to adjust to them. Good luck!

[MEmama]

It took me the full 2 weeks of wearing them constantly before they became normal for me, most of which was spent feeling like I was Alice in Wonderland lol. It was a weird time but now I love them.

DH recently switched from multiple pairs of glasses to progressives, and he doesn’t really like them. He doesn’t wear them consistently though (takes them off for reading, etc) and I think that does make a difference.

The standard advice is to give them two full weeks, and if your eyes haven’t adjusted by that point make sure they were done correctly. I had a pair of sunglasses I just couldn’t adjust to because they weren’t exactly right.

 

[cintinative]

I was a progressive lens fail. I have a very light prescription for distance and a heavier one for close, and honestly what I really needed was prescription readers.  I felt dizzy with the progressives, and stairs were scary. I had a lot of trouble with reading on the computer and reading in general. I should have gone back and had them checked but life got crazy and I didn't. The next year I got prescription glasses for reading/close and prescription sunglasses for the car for distance.  I'm guessing if my distance vision gets worse I will need bifocals. 

[elegantlion]

I did adjust to them, but if you continue to have trouble, you might consider if the transitions are put in the correct spot. My original pair of progressives were set in large frames, then I ordered another pair from Zenni (smaller frames) and the lens felt better. The larger frames just felt a bit off. I've since ordered another set of larger frames from Zenni and they do work fine, so i think the first pair was just off slightly.

I still take my glasses off to read (very near-sighted) but they are so helpful at times I need to use the computer and look at papers on my desk too. 

I really balked at moving to progressives, but I've been happy with them, especially since most of my day involving being on the computer and using notes on my desk. 

[regentrude]

It took me about 1-2 weeks and now I love them. It's great to be able to read and drive and see my food on the plate, all with the same glasses.

I needed to be careful turning my head quickly, or going down steps, for the first few days.

[cjzimmer1]

The first day was rough.  For the first week things seemed wavy unless I looked directly out the front but then that resolved too.  But like others said, it can take longer for some to adjust.  DH definitely took longer but I can't say the exact time frame.  

[happi duck]

I love mine!

**But** my first couple pairs were wrong and I kept returning glasses and trying new optical places until I found a place that made them perfectly.  I went from "give them two weeks" to popping the perfect pair on and seeing great!  

I vote to get a second opinion that they're made perfectly.  My first pair was literally the wrong prescription and they kept saying "you'll get used to them".  My second pair from a different place was the correct prescription but placed incorrectly for my eyes.

I lucked out to find a privately run place that treats glasses like the important medical equipment they are!

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by happi duck

[knitgrl]

I got used to them, but it took weeks. They said up to two, but I think it was more like 3 or 4.

[athena1277]

I tried them recently.  Every movement of my head made things move weirdly.  It was too reminiscent of the vertigo I had a couple years ago.  I couldn’t get used it.  I kept going back to my old glasses that are threatening to break.  I finally realized there was no point in getting progressives if I wasn’t going to wear them. I took them back and got single vision.  It means I still look under my glasses to read, but at least I am wearing them.

[mom31257]

I'm interested to hear how it goes for you. I was afraid to get progressives because my younger sister never could adjust to them.

I decided to get bifocals. Because I do a lot of computer work, they aren't great for the screen distance. At Costco, the optician talked me into ordering a multi-function lens pair of glasses just for computer work. They are sort of like a progressive, and I love them. It has made me wonder if I would like progressives, eventually. 

With the bifocals, I had no adjustment at all except I am careful going down stairs.  I don't feel I've had any adjustment with the computer glasses, either, even when I get up to go do something with them on. 

[Jaybee]

It took me 2-3 days to get use to them. I wear my glasses all the time. I did have a pair one time that was a little off, and I would find myself "helping" by holding them up a little higher. That was annoying. But except for that situation, I love them!

[Faith-manor]

I never did. One cannot read a music score while sitting at the piano with those things. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. It is also insane for me to try to conduct with them on because I can't just be trying to peer through one part of the lens for following the score and also needing to constantly change focus as I am leading the band and giving cues. It doesn't work. I suspect no music directors use them. I was dizzy and head achy. So in the end what worked was a set of multi focal contacts. Way way better! When I want to read a book or do needle work, I put a pair of 1.5 reading glasses on while wearing the contacts. But for sitting or standing the proper distance from a music rack/music stand, they are perfect and just fine for driving and everything else. I have six pair of cute reading glasses I can use and keep on pair in my purse, five pair scattered about the house.

[Lawana]

It took me about a month. I was taking an exercise class at the time and having to glance at the floor made me feel like vomiting. Stuck it out and eventually adjusted. 

[Starr]

It took me a couple of days. I think it helps to keep wearing them and not shifting back to the old pair.

[Laura Corin]

It took me several days the first time  - well worth it for me.

[Tree Frog]

I tried for about 6 weeks and finally returned them. I think the prisms in my eyes with my astigmatism made it impossible to see clearly.

[EKS]

You need to keep them on all the time for like two weeks to allow your brain to adjust.  I'm sure your doctor told you that though!

Also, it is possible that your glasses need to be adjusted so that you are looking through the correct place.  If it is easy to go back to the place you purchased them at, you can tell them you're having trouble and have them see if the fit is an issue.

If you can get through this adjustment period, I think you'll find that they feel really natural.  I love mine!

[klmama]

My first pair was made of cheaper materials and I felt nauseous. They replaced them with high index material and I was fine. 

[Corraleno]

Progressives didn't work for me, I just couldn't get used to them and I felt that the area for reading was so tiny it wasn't worth it anyway. I just use a separate pair of reading glasses. 

[Ottakee]

I hated them and went to bifocals.  Even with bifocals I had to have them adjust the close up portion to be set lower than normal.  

[kbutton]

Yes on the two weeks to be sure.

Quality can vary immensely, and for some people, it’s more noticeable than for others. We always use the optical department at our optometrist’s office because they have traditionally been extremely detailed, and it matters a LOT for my son’s eyes.

Quality can be in the materials (there can be flaws), making sure the Rx is actually correct when they arrive (an old office did not do this one time, and my son is lucky to not be blind in that eye—he was too little to really know), the focus areas are correct, etc. Quality can also be using the more up-to-date technologies. Apparently tech for progressives has changed a ton in recent years, and it makes a difference in adjustment time for some people. My current progressives are so much nicer now—even seeing toward the side is a huge leap forward over my first pair.

Also make sure that if you added other features such as Crizal or transitions that you haven’t had before that you’re not having trouble with those. I am a flunky both with Crizal and with transitions.

[KrissiK]

It as a bit of an adjustment. My first pair I was dizzy all the time. Then I got another pair of glasses with a bigger lens and it was easier.   The glasses also have to be adjusted right for you. I like mine.

[desertflower]

It took me a week to get adjusted.  I hope it goes well for you.

[vonfirmath]

I could not so I wear bifocals now.

 

[vonfirmath]

3 hours ago, mom31257 said:

I'm interested to hear how it goes for you. I was afraid to get progressives because my younger sister never could adjust to them.

I decided to get bifocals. Because I do a lot of computer work, they aren't great for the screen distance. At Costco, the optician talked me into ordering a multi-function lens pair of glasses just for computer work. They are sort of like a progressive, and I love them. It has made me wonder if I would like progressives, eventually. 

With the bifocals, I had no adjustment at all except I am careful going down stairs.  I don't feel I've had any adjustment with the computer glasses, either, even when I get up to go do something with them on. 

I have a second pair of glasses that is single vision optimized for computer distance. I switch glasses to wear those at work.

 

[Carrie12345]

Update: I haven’t been wearing them on a daily basis. I think I’ve adapted to general/distance use, but I just can’t seem to find the correct angle/position for comfortable reading.

I guess they’re mostly okay for phone reading with such a small device, but it’s incredibly frustrating with the iPad and print books. I’ve been using my drugstore readers for those.

I’ve been looking into zenni for single lenses, but the website keeps giving me different pupillary distances each time I visit, and that doesn’t appear to be on my prescription, so I’m not entirely sure what to do there.

[Tanaqui]

Go back to your optometrist, ask them to measure your pupil distance for reading and put it on your prescription for you.

Alternatively, you can have a friend measure your pupil distance with a ruler, but if you're not used to doing this it can be a bit of a hassle. I wouldn't ask a website to do it!

[Pawz4me]

I'd go back to the optometrist and make sure the measurements on your glasses are right. Sometimes they're not. You may be one of those people who can't adapt to progressive lenses, but before I decided that and hassled forever with multiple pairs of glasses I'd want to be sure.

[KatieJ]

Agreed, go back to optometrist. My husband couldn’t adapt to progressives and went with the traditional lined lenses.

I really never did either, but I only wear glasses for a while in the am before I put in my contacts.

Edited January 3, 2023 by KatieJ

[catz]

I would probably go back too.

I really like my progressives for most uses and it did take a while for me to adjust.  But they don't work for me when I'm sitting at my laptop, I got regular reading glasses for that.  

[happi duck]

Besides checking that they have the powers in precisely the right places the doctor might be able to adjust the prescription.

[Alice]

I had a hard time with my first set of progressives. My husband kept telling me it was because I didn’t wear them consistently and he may have been right. Part of the issue was that my eyes weren’t that bad so it was easy enough to take them off and get by without them. Two years later, I got a new prescription and I then went to single lens distance glasses with my new prescription and that was awful because my eyes had worsened so I was constantly putting glasses on and off for different kinds of uses. I got a new pair of progressives and am much happier. I’d say it took me about a week or so to adjust fully. 

And we’ve had really good experiences with Zenni. We’ve just measured pupillary distance with a regular ruler and it’s worked fine. 

[Farrar]

I cast another vote to go back to the optometrist. I remember mine told me that I should come back if I had trouble for more than a week or two when I got them. And it did take me a little while with them. I find them to be... not perfect. But I've adjusted and mostly like them. 

[KungFuPanda]

It took me a month. I was on the verge of just ordering two pair and switching all the time. It’s good now, but I went with lenses that I think are a little to large for my fave because I was afraid to do transitions on smaller lenses. I’ll probably try a wee bit smaller next time. 
 

I do have to remember to lift my chin when I read sometimes but I feel that’s better for general posture and spine health than getting too comfortable with my head hanging forward.