Adjusting to new eyeglasses.

August 10, 2005 9:13 PM

I just got a new glasses perscription on Monday, after 4 years of wearing the same pair of glasses. They are fine 90% of the time, but the other 5-10% of the time, I can tell my eyes are having issues with the new lenses.

I get slight nausea, dizziness, and eyestrain as my eyes seem to be adjusting to the new perscription. This mainly happens when in a moving vehicle or when tired. How long does it take for the eyes to adjust to a new perscription, and when should I call the Opthamologist for a tweaking of it? FWIW, I am farsighted, have an astigmitism, and prisms in both lenses, so contacts aren't an option. I tried googling for this, and found nothing.

posted by spinifex23 to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

Granted, my eyesight isn't that bad, and hasn't changed that much lately, but I've found that I adjust to the additional distortion of a new prescription very quickly (less than 24 hours). Your mileage may vary, but it seems odd to my uninformed mind that you're still having problems at this point, especially physiological ones like nausea and dizziness. Is there any reason not to go ahead and call your opthamalogist and see what he thinks about it?
posted by musicinmybrain at 9:27 PM on August 10, 2005

Well, I wear glasses as well and also have an "adjustment period" to new glasses...I just got some Monday as well! For a couple of hours my vision was a bit blurry and I got a couple of headaches this week, which I rarely get. But enough about me--if it's been 4 years then maybe your adjustment period is simply longer.

And, bottom line, OF COURSE, is call your optometrist and see what s/he has to say.
posted by zardoz at 9:29 PM on August 10, 2005

I, too, also have a hard time transitioning between glasses and contacts/no-contacts; and have been mixing both for many years.

It's possible that your eyeglass prescription wasn't filled correctly. Is it possible to ask your opthamologist to take a look at them to make sure that they're right? Where did you get your prescription filled?

I also have issues with peripheral vision because my glasses are pretty small - when I get used to contacts/no-eysight restoratives, my balance gets a little wierd when I wear glasses for an extended period of time.

nearsighted, astigmatism in right eye
posted by PurplePorpoise at 9:54 PM on August 10, 2005

Response by poster: I got my perscription filled at my Opthamologist's Optical center, if that helps.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:17 PM on August 10, 2005

I recently got a new pair of glasses and I experienced
basically the same symptoms as you are experiencing.
I took them back to the place I bought them from and
told them what was going on. They rechecked the lenses
and it turned out the prescription was wrong. They remade
the lenses and when I wore them I had no problem adjusting to them at all.
They actually seemed concerned that I was having such a
strong reaction. I would definitely call your opthamologist.
posted by bat at 12:11 AM on August 11, 2005

Call your opthamologist. However, don't worry. I got new glasses recently that sit in a different position on my face from my old ones. This meant everything was magnified. I was in Borders, and I was looking at a DVD of Heat. I thought, 'Hmmmm, wonder why this box is bigger than normal.' Then I looked around and thought, 'Crickey! All these DVDs are huge!' Of course, I realised what had happened shortly afterwards...

It took at least twenty-four hours for the blurring of my vision to go away, and it took a further week for me to get used to the larger appearance of the world.
posted by pollystark at 7:16 AM on August 11, 2005

I take about 3 days to a week to fully adjust to new glasses. However, I've met you and I know that your vision issues are more complex than mine, so I think it would be a good idea to visit your eye doctor just for a reality check. They will probably do the follow-up for free.
posted by matildaben at 7:54 AM on August 11, 2005

You can take your glasses back to the Optical center, and they can check to make sure the lenses match your prescription (for free). It only takes a few minutes.

If they do, they I would talk to your opthamologist. I had the same problem when I got my new prescription a few years ago... turns out my out doctor didn't correct for my astigmatism in my prescription, and instead just jacked up the strength of the lenses. The resulting glasses were overcorrected, yet I was still seeing blurry. I ended up going to a new doctor and getting an entirely new prescription.
posted by geeky at 8:06 AM on August 11, 2005

I make spectacles for a living and deal with this kind of problem a lot. It can take up to a couple of weeks to adjust to a new prescription, especially if you have changed into a different sort of lens like a bifocal or varifocal.

If you are concerned I would suggest taking them back the optical center and ask them to check the power of the lens, this shouldn’t take very long. If you’re still experiencing problems after that I’d suggest that you get your eyes retested to ensure that the prescription is accurate.

Hope that helps.
posted by john_son at 10:09 AM on August 11, 2005

That is a problem I've had each time I get a new prescription for progressive bifocal glasses. Takes a few weeks or longer for eyes to adjust. also see if tilting glasses up or down slightly has any effect. just give it time, if Rx is correct.
posted by madstop1 at 5:33 PM on August 11, 2005