"Especially the men . . . "

[TxKimberly]

In the last four years or so, my eyesight has just plummeted downhill, and I do mean fast! Welcome to the wonderful world of hitting your mid forties! (Getting old SUCKS!)

So today I went to the optometrist for an eye exam and to be fitted for contacts for the very first time in my life. After a whole shit-load of exams and tests, they came up with a prescription and and a young woman trotted me over to a room to teach me how to install and remove contacts properly. Talk about weird - but I guess that's another story. Anyway, I got them in with very little fuss and she seemed deeply impressed.
"Wow - most newbies to contacts have a lot more trouble when it comes to touching their eyes - you didn't seem to have much trouble at all!" She said.
"OK, now it's time to take them out!~" She said with a evil grin. THAT turned out to be quite a bit more difficult, but still I didn't have too much trouble with it, and again she commented on it.
"Most people have a lot more trouble at first, especially the men."
"The guys really have that much trouble with it huh?" I asked.
"They do! Sometimes I have to remind some of them that it's not nice to say the F word even if it is directed at the contacts and not at me!" she said.
"I wonder why that is? OH - I KNOW!" I blurted out. "The women are used to touching their eyes, or at least they're used to things getting close to them because of putting on eye liner and mascara!"
"Yep, I think that's exactly why." She agreed.
I thought about it, but I didn't tell her why I was also reasonably comfortable with it.

[TGMarla]

Ah, the aquired skills related to crossdressing! She should see how well you apply lip-liner!

[NicoleScott]

Welcome to the wonderful world of hitting your mid forties! (Getting old SUCKS!)

Sorry, no sympathy here. .............ah, to be in the mid forties again....sigh....

[Lori B]

So today I went to the optometrist for an eye exam

I did my exam at Wahlgreens at the cheap reading glasses displayI break and bump into alot of things...

[StevieTV]

My question is...did you opt for colour contacts?

[StaceyJane]

Don't say you're getting old!!

I know you're only one week older than me.

[KarenSusan]

When you get really old and grow cateracts (like I did), they give you artificial lenses and you get to start over with perfect eyesight and no contacts or glasses. One of the perks of being really old.

[Eryn]

I last had contacts in my 20s. I decided that Eryn needed contacts and went in to get fitted. The optometrist asked if I had worn contacts before and I said yes. Big mistake. He had me put them in and I did so easily. He said "great, you remember how" and sent me on my way.

Later, at home, I decided to take them out. In the old days with first generation "soft lenses" you just distorted the shape of your eyeball a bit and they popped off the eye easily. Not modern lenses! They are tenacious! I finally had to watch a YouTube video before I finally got those things out.

[Sally24]

Yeah....I work sometimes on very small electronic circuitry and in my mid 40s I had to move into the bifocal zone! I do enjoy colored contacts when out as Sally though. I tried the electric blue ones first but just didn't like the look. I tried brown but they really didn't look brown to me in most lighting. Then I tried the green ones. Love at first sight!! lol Now that I've managed to get red hair, the green eyes look even better. I used to go out without the contacts sometimes but some unnamed person got me hooked on Karaoke and I need contacts to see the words on the screen. So now I always wear contacts as Sally.

Give the colored ones a spin Kim. You can really try for some striking looks if you get the right combination with to match your makeup.

[Kim_Bitzflick]

That is interesting. I never thought about that.

I'm right there with you on the mid forties and eyesight plummeting. Mine started two years ago. I have reading glasses.

[kristinacd55]

Wait until you're in your mid fifties......you'll be blind like me!!

[Brenda456]

Unfortunately, it does not get better. Now I have contacts and need reading glasses. It is soooooooo wrong.

[Carol Elizabeth]

At age 38, the eye doctor said, "I can't fit you for glasses this year, but I will next year!"

I have a stubborn streak a mile wide and didn't go back to the eye doctor till I turned 50! I went from no glasses to trifocals! Oh well! He didn't fit me at 39!

[Rachel Morley]

That's a cute story! So I'm wondering if she just thought it was a fluke that you were good at it, or if knowing the "theory as to why" is because of regularly applying eye makeup ... she put two and two together and came up with the right answer!

[sanderlay]

Similar to Sally I did assembly line repairs to behind the ear hearing aid for seven years. I started with 20/20 vision. I ended being near sighted and needing glasses to drive. As I got older my vision improved as my resting focus went further out. But then I needed glasses to read and drive but not daily interactions. Today my resting focus is out even further and I almost don't need the glasses to drive.

But... now I have reading glasses on a loop around my neck, in my purse... a pair next to the computer to write... etc...

[sandra-leigh]

Bleh. My eyes are supposed to be settling down, but they are getting worse. I'm already on my second Progressive prescription and it was only a matter of a couple of months at most before that second set wasn't good enough to read fine print. But I've been putting off going and now I'm at the point where if I am reading a book for any length of time I pretty much have to take them off

But I am not going for contacts. I don't think I could handle putting them in. And besides my eyes are now bad enough that I'm beyond the astigmatism limit that contacts can correct.

[AllieSF]

Listen you young whipper snapper, it gets better as you age. I am near sighted with failing farsight! Anyway, My nearsightedness has been improving and my Dr. said that was common as "you" age. See you have better things to look forward to now. Good luck with your contacts. You may find out that you need reading glasses now! That is what happened to me when I got contacts.

[Alissa]

I picked it up pretty quick too. However, their whole method of "Look up, drag the contact, and grab" didn't work for me. I just go in and grab it right off the eye. I did have an interesting experience after the dr put them on. I got light headed and almost fainted. I suppose the thought of something on my eye freaked my brain out a little. No problems since the first time.

I rarely rear eye makeup though just because I am always paranoid I didn't get it all off.

[Eryn]

At age 38, the eye doctor said, "I can't fit you for glasses this year, but I will next year!"

I have a stubborn streak a mile wide and didn't go back to the eye doctor till I turned 50! I went from no glasses to trifocals! Oh well! He didn't fit me at 39!

I didn't get out of it, as I was so nearsighted I had glasses from childhood.

I was amazed after I was fitted for contacts when the optometrist checked my vision and said that I had normal 20-20 vision with the contacts. While I could see functionally with the contacts, my vision was much better with my glasses. The optometrist said "yep, you're seeing how most people see, your glasses just optimize your vision so you can see better than average."

I'm no fashion plate, so after using the contacts for a time I bought a pair of femme glasses from Zinni optical and now wear them instead of the contacts. They fit my femme image well and allow me to read a menu or my phone without having to fish out my reading glasses!

[Nicole Erin]

The cure for losing eyesight - let go of that thing now and then

[Persephone]

Hi Kimberly!

Mid-forties ain't old! Hell, woman, you are hardly even hitting your stride! And you look damn good!

My optometrists office said the same thing, that guys are much worse at contacts than girls, that teen girls are probably the best, and that teen boys are some of the worst.

Funny, but we're doing some of this at the same time. I had an exam for new contacts a couple of days ago. But I'm convinced the Doc missed the mark. I've been doing monovision (you wear a contact lens on one eye to correct your distance vision and a contact lens on your other eye to correct your near vision) but with the new pair I couldn't really fuse the two images properly and couldn't see things in the middle distance. Oh well, I'm sure we'll get it figured out.

Hugs,
Persephone.

[noeleena]

Hi,

Thats quite interesting those of you who have detail around age 40 with eye sight, in 1956 i was told to wear glass's ,only because at school i walked out the door for play time & could not see more than 20 ft in front of my self it was because sea mist / fog had come in & i'd never seen it before, & i said i cant see.

So glass's , no one even told me what it was . & i could see less with them on then. what a rip off.all because of a little fog & no not the pink kind.....

Im long sighted & at 64 can see more than most at long distance,

...noeleena...

[AndreaCD1963]

The aging eyesight dilemma is definitely not fun. I was wearing bifocals in my late 20's and trifocals by my mid 30's so at 44 ended up having the retina lens replacement surgery done. Woooo Hooooo I could see to put on eye liner again!

[Katie Moore]

Kimberly,

I'm turning sixty in one more month. Thanks for making me feel REALLY OLD! Now where the hell did I put my glasses?

[LeaP]

In the last four years or so, my eyesight has just plummeted downhill, and I do mean fast! Welcome to the wonderful world of hitting your mid forties! (Getting old SUCKS!)

Yup, you're getting old! Now it's just a matter of time before you have glasses hanging from a beaded cord around your neck!

Lea