Fifty Plus (50+) - Multi focal contact lenses

Does anyone out there have the contact lenses for those of us that have reached the point where bifocals are needed? I want to try them and see how they work for me and I just wanted to know if anyone had them and what if any problems or drawbacks there are. I'm not a candidate for lasik cause I'm a chicken and even though they have come a long way with the surgery I'm not thrilled with the possibility of having something go wrong with my only pair of peepers :)

I wear contacts and I gave them a try. They just didn't do as good as job for me as mono vision does. I just couldn't see as sharply compared to having one eye set up for close up and the other for far away vision.

I wear contacts and I gave them a try. They just didn't do as good as job for me as mono vision does. I just couldn't see as sharply compared to having one eye set up for close up and the other for far away vision.


Same here. Bi-focal CL's are manufactured with alternating rings of near and far sighted correction. My little brain couldn't accomodate. Mono correction works fantastic for me.

Here is the kicker. My prescription is not very powerful and the big problem I have is with my glasses since I'm near sighted enough that I HAVE to wear glasses to see distance. I can read fine with out my glasses but with them I need the bifocals which really sucks cause I do up close factory work and need to see up close and wear safety glassed. Now I can leave one contact out and that gives me distance and upclose but there is a bit of blurriness each way not quite perfect up close or at distance. Thats why I thought these contacts would work. I have a coupon for a free pair so I think I'll give them a shot and see what happens.

Does anyone out there have the contact lenses for those of us that have reached the point where bifocals are needed? I want to try them and see how they work for me and I just wanted to know if anyone had them and what if any problems or drawbacks there are. I'm not a candidate for lasik cause I'm a chicken and even though they have come a long way with the surgery I'm not thrilled with the possibility of having something go wrong with my only pair of peepers :)

Extremely nearsighted here, with a slight astigmatism, now with presbyopia (what an oxymoron that seems to be) -- I've been wearing one contact for close vision, one for distance, and it works just fine. I've been wearing gas perms since, um, '81, and my only complaint about them is that they feel like potato chips after a century. No trouble adapting -- I was very motivated. I love my stylin' glasses (the kittenish librarian ones, worn by the librarian who gives a sly wink as you check out your books) but they won't cut it on the road.

Glad I can see at all, really.

Same boat again.
I also need minor distance correction, which screws up the close vision. It was either the cheap drug store "readers" or mono contacts.
I'm +1.00 left and -1.50 right which many people wouldn't even bother with, but I find incredibly annoying without correction. Mt opt. told me bi-focal contacts don't work very well with minor correction.
But since you have the opportunity to give them a try, go for it! Maybe they will work for you.

I'd try them to see how they do for you. Like the others I'm gas perm with mono vision. I've been gas perm since the 70's and mono 10-12 years. I'm guessing I only have 1/2 a brain so I quickly adjusted to mono and it has worked great for me..........OT but although my depth perception is supposedly not quite as good with mono vision my putting (golf) vastly improved. There shouldn't be a correlation but something happened post mono that none of us can explain!!!!!!

I also tried the one eye for close, other for far route and it drove me crazy. I went back to mono and just use reading glasses for close up. I am glad I tried this as at one point I was considering Lasik and the Dr could have done a permanent adjustment for this. I still want the eye surgery but need to wait for more funds.

Tried them. Awful. My doctor won't even order them anymore for her patients. They still make them, so someone must be using them. But I've yet to come across someone who has had a successful experience with them.

I just went through a trial with them. Didn't work for me, I guess my tiny brain couldn't figure them out. One minute I could see fine at distance but not close up and the next the opposite was true. Drove me crazy. I went back to progressives with transition lenses and am a happy guy again.

I have multifocal contacts. They work for me. At first, even though I told the doc I didn't want one eye for near and one eye for distance, he gave me a set that were that way anyway. I was out of focus at any distance with them, and almost gave up on contacts. Then while talking to the doc he casually mentioned that one was near,and one far. Once we got that corrected and now with both contacts set for distance they work fine. I have been told that multifocals only work for a small percentage of those who try them though...

I have had the multi-focal contacts for about 5 years now and they are great. My doctor gave me several different brands to try and the Accuvues were as close to my own eyes as I could imagine. Distance, reading and computer work are all great. I don't even think about my contacts or notice my eyes adjusting. For me they worked from the first pair with no adjustment period, but I had been wearing contact for years previous to trying these.

My husband did the same and couldn't find any that he could adjust to, so he stayed with contacts for distance and reading glasses.

I too have been wearing bi-focal contact lenses for about 5 years and they work quite well.

I've been wearing 'Soft' lenses since the 70s for near-sightedness (now 450+/20 w/o) and started needing reading glasses about 5 years ago at 52. I got Accuvue's bifocals and gradually increased the reading power. Last summer the opt. changed me to B&L Softlens stating they worked better for higher reading power.

I still have to grab a pair of readers in low light situations (bus, restaurants) and some days are better than others, but I also wear them for 6+ months at a time. I've found leaving them alone creates less problems than removing / cleaning, etc. And I'm still skeptical about surgery.

Riding is fine with just polarized sunglasses but I've found a sweatband necessary on hot or rainy rides. Worse day ever was last 30 or so miles on a Tandem rally in the rain and no sweatband -- red-eyes for a week!

Buy your readers at the dollar stores -- leave pairs in every room. I've heard of flexible plastic partial lenses that stick on the inside of sunglasses but don't know of a source.