Right Glasses might give Headaches

I knew better. It has been drilled into me for the last couple of years, but I chose not to listen. I have been seeing the same optometrist group for the past 15 years. I've had my doubts since I know I should be seeing an ophthalmologist instead of a doctor of optometry, but they seemed to do some of the necessary eye tests including taking a picture of the inside of the eyes.

During my initial checkup this time, I told the doctor that I have 'chronic' Migraines. I wanted to put it in terms that normal people understand, even doctors. I mentioned this a few times because he just blew me off and I swear, I could see his eyes roll without him even moving them.

He eventually asked when during the day I typically get my Migraines and if I took any medications. After I answered, he said that my eyes couldn't possibly be 'causing' my Migraines. This sealed the deal. I was NOT going to come back and was going to use an ophthalmologist from now on, but I still needed to get through this visit and get my new prescription. I didn't need this character to tell me what 'caused' or didn't cause my Migraines. He never even looked at the pictures of my eye vessels and when I asked about tinted lenses, he said tinting would have no effect on anything. That tinting doesn't do anything.

From my experiences, I could tell this dude would not 'get it' so I didn't even go into it with him. He made some small talk about one of our local baseball teams. At this point, I just wanted to finish up the exam and order my new glasses so I could bid my farewells. I was actually very concise when telling him whether 1 or 2 was better. No wavering at all.

Of course, this is not the end of my story...

After I picked up my glasses, they just seemed a little off. I've never had any issues with glasses I've gotten from them before, but this was my first pair of progressive glasses so I thought that maybe I just needed a little time to get used to them as everyone says. I gave it a good two weeks and finally decided if I couldn't read the license plate on the cars in front of me or the cable TV guide, then this prescription was just not right.

The glasses were checked and they matched the given prescription so I had my eyes rechecked. During the exam, he told me that since I wear contact lenses sometimes, they have to cut back on the glasses prescription a little. What??? I used to wear contacts everyday and I never saw this type of a discrepancy. Granted, contacts will give you a better vision, but I've been at this a long time too.

Here's what really ticked me off. He told me he could up the prescription to where it should be and they would have them re-cut, but the manufacturer would not remake them if the new prescription gave me headaches or other side effects. At this point, I bit my tongue until my teeth touched. OK, not quite, but he actually repeated this a few times and stressed on the word headache each time. If they upped the prescription to where it should be, it might cause headaches. Erg!

I did not speak up for a few reasons. I had already paid for my glasses in full and just wanted my right pair. I knew he would NEVER understand Migraines and I would sound like a raging lunatic if I said what was really on my mind. Due to an incident at work, that prompted me to look into Migraines in the first place, I realized I have to be in full control of my mind before I say or react to anything. I have to be very careful not to do anything off character like that again at work; plus I don't want to. I still feel bad about the original incident. In my feeble defense, I didn't know what was going on or happening to me. I didn't even realize I had a headache or how bad it was until after. Migraine has been the answer to many of these troubles.

Anyway, he took my glasses and will redo the lenses. I can't see keeping the lenses I originally received. I was squinting way too much. I have never squinted so much with new glasses and I still couldn't make out what I was trying to see. I don't trust what this doctor told me about anything during these visits and look forward to picking up my new new pair of glasses.

I am curious to see how my Migraines react with the new progressive lenses. I did not have the best experience with my first big Migraine after I got the first pair and I'm curious if it will be different after I get the new ones which will hopefully have a better prescription.

I will use an ophthalmologist the next time. I don't expect them to be Migraine experts, but I won't expect them to ignore a significant medical concern of mine either.