Parelli Optical/ General eye question

[mermaidcafe.livejournal.com]

I browsed the eye care recommendations here when I had an eye emergency last night and ended up at Parelli today thanks to the recs. (I'm going to buy my glasses elsewhere because theirs were pretty spendy, imo, but everybody there was nice.)

I've been wearing glasses since 3rd grade and contacts for 11 years. I've never heard that I have an astigmatism, but they told me today that I do and gave me a trial pair of special astigmatism contacts. (Unfortunately, those are the only vision aid I have until I go glasses shopping tomorrow.) I've never had any trouble seeing with the regular contacts, and these new ones are annoying the hell out of me, though it could just be that they're new.

Anyway, I don't know if it's possible or likely to misdiagnose an astigmatism, but I wanted to see if anyone's had something similar happen there (or anywhere). I told both the dr. and the contact lens tech that I'd never been told that before and saw fine, but they both laughed and said they hoped I hadn't been driving all these years, which, in hindsight, seems like kind of a bad response.

Also also, I'm planning to get glasses at For Eyes, but if anybody knows of a place that's having a free exam w/ glasses special, I'll go there instead and also get a second opinion (I have a car so transport's no problem). I'll probably call Parelli back on Monday, but I don't want to wear these bastards until I can get back there.

Comments

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

I have minor astigmatism. My glasses correct for it, but I just have regular cheaper contacts. My brain does a fine job of compensating, even when I switch between glasses and contacts throughout the day.

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

I started off being near-sighted and developed an astigmatism later in life. One significant aspect of astigmatic contacts is they have an orientation and if they're off-kilter your vision will be worse than it is uncorrected. This only happens to me if I have my eyes closed for an extended period, such as when I take a nap - it takes about 10 minutes for them to go back to the right place.

How long had it been since you were last checked? If you've gotten used to your astigmatism it can take a while to adjust to it being corrected. But a second opinion is not a bad plan.

[mermaidcafe.livejournal.com]

It's been a couple years since my last exam. I'll give the contacts some more time and see if my eyes adjust.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I would give yourself more than 24 hours to decide. It always takes me a while to adjust to a new prescription.

Moreover, I'm a longtime customer of theirs--was actually in Saturday too with broken glasses--and they've always been spot on with my diagnoses. You certainly can develop new vision abnormalities with time.

[mermaidcafe.livejournal.com]

You're right; it probably does take a while to adjust. I'll hang in there and see how it goes.

[madrigal.livejournal.com]

I have astigmatism, but I wear regular contacts. My glasses are adjusted for it however.

It does take a few days for your eyes to adjust to a new prescription though.

Proudly astigmatic

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I've had glasses since I was 6. Mostly astigmatism. It's hard to misdiagnose it. It's not rocket science. Things change with age as well. I change my glasses every 2-3 years, because my vision changes a bit.

[ceo]

If you've had undiagnosed astigmatism for that long, your new contacts are going to annoy the hell out of you for a while. Give them at least a week.

[mermaidcafe.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. Thanks!

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

I had problems will Parelli. I asked if I should avoid squinting to read the test better and they (incorrectly) told me I couldn't squint with the eye drops in. I had other instances where they seemed to have poor communication skills. It's like they know how their machines work but not what things people might do inadvertantly to mess up the tests.

[mermaidcafe.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. I didn't figure out until the end of my contact lens fitting that my pupils dilate wider than most and subsequently blur lights more in darkness. I had tried to explain that the box with the letters in it had a fuzzy halo around it and that was impeding my ability to read the letters, but I don't think the doctor understood what I was trying to say.

Parelli Contacts = Sketchy

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

If you're thinking about buying your glasses/contacts elsewhere, be very careful with how you get your Parrelli prescription. I had a weird experience there last year. I had been wearing Acuvue 2's for years and the guy who fit my contacts told me they were being discontinued in 2008. He suggested I try Proclears as a replacement. I'm heavily reliant on my contacts so I said I wanted to try them before I ordered any. He sent me home with a prescription and a trial pair of Proclears. After deciding I liked the contacts, I comparison shopped their contact prices. Parrelli's price was double what you can get them at Costco for, so I took the prescription over to Costco. Costco told me it wasn't vaild. The contact techs' prescriptions are only good at Parrelli-- they have to be filled under the supervision of an actual eye doctor. You can't use them elsewhere. The Costco folks said they had this problem with Parrelli ALL the time. If you go to Parrelli, make sure the actual eye doctor writes out your prescription, not the contact technician. Getting the real prescription from them took a couple of calls and me going back over there to pick it up in person. It was an uncomfortable experience.

Oh, bonus weirdness-- The costco folks told me Acuvue 2's were absolutely not being discontinued. A few months later, I saw on Yelp that someone else had had the exact same "Your lenses are being discontinued" experience with another brand.

That said, the actual exam was lovely and quite thorough. My husband loves the glasses prescription he got from them, but he bought everything there. I'll be that's quite a different experience.

[aki.livejournal.com]

For Eyes is the chain in Harvard Square/Newbury St/other places, yes? If so, I don't recommend them - at least not the Harvard office. I bought frames there and got awful service. Nobody helped me pick out the frames (I have to get so close to the mirror to see clearly without lenses that I can't really get a sense of my whole face and would have accepted offers of help. What kind of salesmanship is that?). The frames I ended up with were probably a size too large and needed the arms bent severely to fit. I had to go back to get the arms reseated twice, finally going to the Newbury branch where they fixed them correctly - even though they made no money from me on that. So yeah, For Eyes in Harvard sucks.

I had a very good exerience at Custom Eyes in Central, both for checkup and glasses. They may be pricier than what you're looking for, but the owners seemed really nice and could at least help you make a decision.

[madrigal.livejournal.com]

The For Eyes on Newbury St is wonderful though. I got great help in picking out frames.