Something feels off with my new glasses...

So, after decades, I finally went out and got new glasses. It’s not even like I have some massive prescription—just a tiny bit of nearsightedness (+0.25, +0.75) combined with that same old astigmatism I've always dealt with (it says D: cyl 1.25 axis 170, L: cyl -1.00 axis 10 on the script)..

Everything seems fine enough when I cover one eye, but the second I try looking through both at once, my brain just can't fuse the image properly... I've lost all sense of depth perception, and everything feels way too close to me. It's not like things were blurry before, but I actually tripped over a curb outside a Starbucks the other night because I didn't realize there was a step down right in front of me (and yeah, I was wearing the new glasses)

What the hell could be going on? 😕
I stopped wearing my old pair about three weeks before these arrived, and I've had these new ones for less than a week now...

Give it a few days to let your eyes adjust!
I went through something remarkably similar—my prescription jump was significantly higher with my new pair than it was with the old ones.
I felt a bit unsteady on my feet for a while there 😉

But look, if the sensation doesn't subside within a couple of days, you really ought to head back to the optometrist to ensure they actually got the measurements right—it’s entirely possible someone missed a step in the process.
My boyfriend, for instance, just couldn't get used to them no matter how much time passed, only to find out—get this—that the lenses hadn't even been manufactured correctly in the first place!

I was having such a hard time walking down stairs lately. It felt like they were suddenly way closer than they actually were, and I honestly thought I was going to wipe out.😬
But look, it’s just part of the adjustment process.😁
You'll get through this.😉

Quick heads-up—you might wanna double-check if your cylinder prescription is actually right
a) measured correctly
b) manufactured right

I mean, seriously, I once swapped out my glasses for a new pair right in the middle of a workday after five years and just kept on grinding... and honestly? That’s probably the only way to handle it...

Cylinder prescriptions are super finicky, you know? There's a real chance they're off, which would totally mess with your depth perception or whatever

PS, I've been rocking cylinder lenses since I was a total kid, so I pretty much know what I'm talking about here🙂

Kyle Nelson2 said:So, after quite a few years, I finally went out and got some new glasses. It wasn’t even for a major prescription change—just a slight correction like +0.25 or +0.75—but they did address my astigmatism, which I’ve actually had for a while (it's listed as D: cyl 1.25 axis 170, L: cyl -1.00 axis 10)..

Everything seems totally fine if I cover one eye, but the second I look through both at once, my brain just can't seem to fuse the images correctly. I feel like I've lost all sense of depth perception; everything just feels way too close to me. It’s not that things were blurry before, but I actually ended up tripping over a curb outside a Starbucks the other night because I completely misjudged the drop... and that was while wearing the new glasses.

I guess I'm wondering what might be going on here.😕
I actually stopped wearing my old pair for about three weeks right before I picked these up, and I've only been wearing the new ones for less than a week now...

I actually had the exact same experience when I first got my glasses. It took me about two weeks to really adjust, though with anyone else, it seemed to click almost immediately. It’s probably just a matter of your brain getting used to the new input, but if it doesn't start feeling better soon, you should definitely go back and get them checked out...

Honestly, whenever someone brings up the word "astigmatism," I just lose my mind...
Look, about four years ago, I decided to head over to one of those high-end eye clinics everyone raves about—you know the type, super expensive, fancy waiting rooms. I saw this highly recommended specialist who went through the whole routine: swapping out lenses in those ridiculous testing frames, running me through those computerized tests where you follow the little car and the balloon, and then dropping those stinging drops in my eyes that left me practically blind for two days. I thought to myself, "Okay, this doctor is really being thorough." In the end, she tells me my prescription isn't actually that high—just a 0.75—but that I have astigmatism. So, fine. I bite. I buy the glasses right there at the clinic and call it a day.
I started wearing them, obviously. It took months—literally months—of me "adjusting" to them. I was constantly back at the clinic because everything felt so distorted. When you wear those specific lenses, you get this weird sensation like you're suddenly shorter than you actually are. Even the doctor warned me, "Watch your step when you're walking near the curb or stepping off a sidewalk; you'll get used to it eventually."
Finally, after what felt like six agonizing months, I finally got used to them. Then, by pure coincidence, my company held our annual wellness checkups, which included an eye exam. This older ophthalmologist—just some regular guy—looks at me and says, "You don't have astigmatism." (Excuse me???) I asked him if it was something that could be cured, and he just looked at me and said astigmatism is permanent and can't be "fixed"—which leads me to one very obvious conclusion: the first diagnosis was completely wrong. And those glasses? They cost me nearly $0.83! But hey, I figured maybe the second guy was just mistaken, so I kept wearing the ones I had since I’d already gone through the hell of adjusting to them.
Fast forward to this year's wellness checkup—same doctor, same result. He tells me again that I don't have astigmatism, but adds that my brain has now adapted to the correction so much that if we tried to fix it now, it would take even more time to adjust all over again...
So, my advice? If you ever get a diagnosis like that, go find a second opinion from a completely different specialist immediately. Don't just take their word for it.

brisknomad6 said:My advice? Double-check if your cylinder axis is actually correct
a) set properly
b) manufactured right

I once swapped out my glasses right in the middle of a workday after five years and just kept going without missing a beat... honestly, that's how it should be!

Cylinder prescriptions are super sensitive, so there’s a real chance they were off, which would totally mess with your perspective.

P.S. I've been wearing cylinder correction since I was a kid, so I definitely know what I'm talking about!🙂

Absolutely spot on.
In my 35-year career as a total night owl, I've definitely paid for a few bad pairs of glasses over the years.

When you have astigmatism, your lenses need to be crafted so perfectly that—as brisknomad6 mentioned—you don't even realize you've switched them.
I used to think (and people convinced me!) that you just needed time to adjust to the blur.
But after a friend suggested it, I went to see her eye doctor in 😍
I'd honestly drive from downtown Chicago all the way to a specialist in Indianapolis just to get the right pair, because I finally found a place that gets it right!
With their lenses, driving feels completely natural, whereas with my old ones, I wouldn't have dared.
I also dealt with this weird issue where my pupillary distance was measured at 65, but when they actually took their time to measure it properly, it turned out to be 62.
The difference in how things look through the lenses was like night and day!
Maybe you're dealing with something similar.

I find myself agreeing with the points made by jadesailor14 and brisknomad6—I recently purchased glasses at a high-end boutique in a local mall $1067 and ended up returning them just twenty-four hours later because the cylinder measurements were completely off. After some rather tedious negotiating, they agreed to refund me for the lenses—though I kept the frames since they were actually quite nice—but I certainly won't be ordering new lenses from them anytime soon.😉

jadesailor14 said:I’ve got this weird thing going on with my pupil dilation. One measurement shows 65, but then if you actually take a second to look closely and measure properly, it’s more like 62.
the difference when looking through the lenses is night and day.
maybe you're dealing with something similar.

Yeah, I kind of feel like that's what's happening with these glasses I have...
was that just an issue with the place where I had them made?

I used to deal with some pretty intense headaches, where the letters would just seem to dance all over the page, making it almost impossible to read anything. I don't actually have standard nearsightedness or farsightedness; it’s really just a mild case of astigmatism. In my first experience, they did a manual eye exam rather than using one of those high-tech digital machines, so my prescription was basically based on what I told them during the test. Once I got my glasses, things improved almost immediately when it came to reading or watching TV, though I guess I did need a little bit of time to just get used to the whole concept of wearing glasses. When I went to a different clinic for a second opinion, they ended up giving me the exact same prescription. So, I think it's important to remember that it doesn't necessarily mean the lenses are bad—you might just need to give yourself a little time to adjust. Though, obviously, you shouldn't wait forever if they don't feel right.

Kyle Nelson2 said:Yeah, I kind of feel like that might be happening with my current glasses...
do you think it was a mistake made by the people who actually made them?

It’s possible the eye doctor got the measurements wrong, or maybe the lab just messed up the lenses. Honestly, it could even be both.

Kyle Nelson2 said:Yeah, I honestly feel like it might be an issue with my glasses...
could the shop that made them have messed up the prescription?

I've definitely run into two big issues when dealing with bad eyewear before:
1. The pupillary distance has to be spot on. If the optician misses the mark by even a millimeter, the whole pair is basically trash.
2. The PD measurement—if that’s off, you're stuck with useless glasses. Honestly, both the eye doctor and the technician can make that mistake.

Maybe try taking them to a different local optometrist just to double-check the work?
If the glasses themselves are fine, then it’s probably time to see a new eye doctor for a fresh exam!

When I got my first pair of glasses, there was this weird "shallow-to-deep" sensation for the first day or two. Like everything was out of focus before finally snapping into place. Once that passed, it was perfect. Later, when I switched to a different frame using the same prescription, there wasn't even an issue..

I deal with astigmatism too. My first pair of glasses was perfect, but after I lost them somewhere, I had to go out and get a new set. I went to this high-end specialist who acted like she was some kind of expert, and it turned out to be an absolute disaster—every time I took a step, I felt like I was "sinking" or losing my balance. I put up with it for a few months because they kept giving me the same old excuse: "you just need to get used to them." Eventually, I just gave up and walked around without any glasses at all. It really discouraged me from seeing anyone else, but I finally bit the bullet and visited a different clinic. This time, they nailed it. I’ve been wearing them for three years now and everything is great; my prescription hasn't even changed. I'm mentioning that because those bad glasses from before actually ended up straining my eyes.

If I could jump in here with a quick question...
I just had an eye exam and they gave me a prescription of L -0.75, R -0.50, and some cylinder value around -1—not that I can remember it off the top of my head. Can someone give me a brief rundown on what cylinders actually are?

quiethound49 said:Can someone give me a quick rundown on what cylinders actually are?

Hey, check this out! http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases/astigmatism/symptoms-causes/ds-20050867 It should help clear things up!

I realize this might sound like a rather trivial question, but I was wondering: will these cylinder values actually be visible through the lenses? This is my first time getting prescription glasses, and since the cylinder correction is quite specific, I’m a bit concerned about whether the lenses will have that slight, unnatural curvature—you know, that "bug-eye" effect some people get. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Kimberly Nguyen said:whenever someone mentions astigmatism, I just lose it...
about four years ago, I decided to visit this highly recommended eye clinic to see a renowned specialist. She ran through all the motions—swapping lenses in those ridiculous testing frames, having me play that little computer game with the road and the balloon, and using those eye drops that left me practically blind for two days... she certainly seemed thorough. In the end, she told me my prescription wasn't high (just 0.75), but that I had astigmatism... so, naturally, I bought the glasses from them and called it a day.
I started wearing them, though it took months of "adjusting." I kept going back to her because everything felt so off. Wearing them made me feel shorter, too. She even warned me to watch out when walking near traffic or curbs, saying I just needed to get used to it...
Finally, after what felt like six months, I got used to them. By pure coincidence, my company held its annual physicals, which included an eye exam. This different ophthalmologist tells me I don't have astigmatism at all (???)... I asked if it could be cured, and he said astigmatism is permanent, so the conclusion was a wrong diagnosis (those glasses cost me about $0.83)... Well, I figured maybe the doctor was mistaken. I just kept wearing them since I’d already adjusted and they felt fine.
During this year's physical (with the same doctor), he told me again that I don't have astigmatism, but that my brain has adapted so much now that it would take time to correct it...
So, my advice is to go get a second opinion from another specialist...

🙏 🤣
I can't help but laugh. You spent a few years wandering the streets like a madwoman...
maybe seek out a few more opinions...😕

Don't ruin your eyes, please. That happened to me once—I got a fresh prescription and everything looked distorted. I went straight back to the doctor, and it turned out they had ground the lenses incorrectly! Honestly. Thank God I'm on contacts now. 👍

Chris Morgan67 said:🙏 🤣
I can't even help myself from laughing out loud here. Honestly, you spent years wandering around like a total lunatic, just aimlessly drifting down the road.

Just go back and actually read what I wrote one more time before you try to comment on it...