"Eugene Phar" wrote in message

Eugene,

Couple things:
   - Getting out of contacts can only help improve your dry eye situation.
   - I would absolutely believe that your vision with contacts + glasses
is better than with glasses alone, but if the issue is the dry eye, it's
not worth the risk of corneal ulcers and other nasty things.
   - Have you been checked (Schirmer's, T-BUT test) to determine just
_how_ dry your eyes are?  These are tests that are typically used to
diagnose, quantify, and characterize dry eye
   - How old are you?  Here's why I ask:
       1) Dry Eye Syndrome can get worse with age
       2) If you're nearing 40 (or older), it's possible that you need a
pair of reading glasses.  If that's the issue (eyestrain, rather than the
drye eyes), then you could get bifocals to wear over your contacts.  If the
dryness is the major issue, then you could get bifocal glasses (to be worn
without the contacts)
   - Does the discomfort tend to get worse on a day when you do a good
deal of near work (reading/computer) than on a day "off?"  If so, then
you're probably straining to see at near (back to #2 above)
   - If the tests really do point to dry eyes, they can always plug the
upper puncta, too.  That may offer some additional relief.
   - My optometrist is making me four pair of glasses right now, including
one pair of +11d glasses with 2d astigmatism and a total of 9d of prism, so
. . . I understand your concerns about how the eyeglasses will look, _but_
the technology of high-index, aspheric lenses is great.  They might not
look as bad as you think they will, and--especially if your eyes are really
quite dry--you'd be far better off not wearing contacts habitually.

That's all I've got for now.  I'm not a doctor, but a patient with dry,
messed up eyes myself.  Good luck, Eugene....

Neil

I have almost the same story as you did. Got the problem last April and
had been wearing contacts for almost 5 years without problem. My
prescription is even stronger than yours! contacts were my blessing
before but now becoz of the dry eye, I have to drop it. I think you
should STOP using them right away if you do not watn your eyes to get
worse! I have stopped using it but unfortunately even with glasses, I
still have dry eye problem. I have been "tortured" physically and
psychologically by this problem for almost a year. For ppl with high
prescription, contacts do save their lives! The glare you had at night
was totally caused by your dry eye problem I believe. I never had the
glare before in the past 4 years until I developed dry eye problem.
When I occasionally wear contacts, at night sometimes I saw glare.
Anyway, I totally understand how important the contacts are to you coz
we are in the same situation my friend. you should definitely take them
off if you do not want your eyes to get worse!
Write to me if you want to share more info with me.
Darrian