So I fly into Kansas on Friday. Yesterday I broke my progressive glasses arm off clean to the frame. Super Glue would not hold it. Super Glue is not any good for things like this like it used to be. They changed it. Off to Costco I go to see if they could sell me another frame to pop my lenses into. NOPE. This frame has been discontinued. Did they have any other frames my lenses would fit into? NOPE. Back home I go in despair because I was on my lunch break and running out of time. While I swallowed a sandwich nearly whole I dug up a pair of my old prescription sunglasses. Popped the lenses out and forced my current prescription progressive lenses into the frame. They do not fit perfectly but at least they are not popping out. One can see tiny cracks of daylight around them where they are not the same shape as the frame if you look close enough. Today I was off work and went back to Costco and ordered an entirely new pair of glasses. Of course, they won’t be in for 2 weeks. So here I go off to Kansas with my big sunglasses frames that I have to wear lower on my nose to be able to see through my progressives accurately for each field of vision. Not to mention I had to plunk down money today for the new glasses! Ho Hum!
This is me in the car with no makeup on and my big sunglasses with my prescription lenses inserted in them. The better to see you with Kansas!
I am glad you had the idea to do that!!! I would never have known they weren’t made that way. You did a great job getting them in there……I would have been afraid to even try!!!
My goodness, such bad luck! I once broke my glasses and luckily we had a shop nearby that could produce glasses within an hour or so. I’m so glad I didn’t have to wait two weeks!
I called all the places that do the quick glasses and they said that was only for readers. Progressives have to be sent to a lab because they are more extensive and I also have astigmatism which makes it more complicated.
There is an adjustment period for them but after about a week you are used to them. I have to have correction for reading and distance as well as astigmatism. Not to mention each eye has a drastically different prescription from the other one. So really this is indeed my best option.
This is my exact situation. Drastically different on each side, then astigmatism. Sounds like this could be something worth exploring because I’m not getting any younger here.
Of course, that would have to happen to you just before you have to leave on a big trip, right? I feel for you. I am near-sighted and far-sighted and with astigmatism, and getting progressives to work smoothly is not easy for the eye doctor to always get right in my prescription. One year, I had a pair of new glasses that were so cheap the lenses kept falling out and the store would not replace them (I’ve gone to Costco ever since). My husband and I had just arrived on Mackinac Island in Michigan for a three-day stay, and one of the lenses fell out. I’m blind as a bat without them. Wasn’t sure what to do so went to the hotel’s front desk and asked if they had an eyeglasses kit with a little screw driver. They didn’t, but as I was telling them I needed one, there was another lady standing nearby in the lobby who overheard me. She said, “I have those, do you need help?” She was an answer to prayers. She helped me put the lens back in and she even gave me an extra screw driver kit she had, in case it happened again. She was a miracle. I hope your lenses stay put for you on your entire trip and that you have a great time!
I used to buy my eyeglasses from the eye doctor I was seeing at that time. When readers were no longer enough and I had to go to progressives a pair of glasses cost me over $600! Then I found that Progressives simply will not work well if you are on a computer a lot like I am for work. You are constantly tilting your head up and neck back to be able to read the writing on the screen. So when I complained to the eye doctor I was told that was because I needed separate computer glasses for that. Over $300 for those. A couple years later Costco came to town. I was told they have decent glasses and that while they make their Progressives a little differently (something about the mid range vision part of it not being quite as wide as the ones from my eye doctor, thus requiring you to turn your head more for peripheral vision- this is all what my eye doctor said off course in criticism of Costo.) We do not have vision insurance so all of this comes out of our pockets. I found that I could go to Costco and get an eye exam for $90 and I could pay $30 extra to have some kind of special camera view made of the inside/backs of my eyes that would not require me to have them dilated. Sign me up! I can honestly say I got the most thorough eye exam I had ever had! He was very informative and spent a lot of time with me. When I went out to get my glasses, They had a deal where if you buy 1 pair of glasses you get $50 off the 2nd+ pairs. I was able to get my Progressives, a pair of computer glasses AND a pair of Progressive Sunglasses all for a little over $600! I was thrilled! I did have a little bit of an adjustment to the new ones but honestly I don’t know if it was because they make them different so much as the presciption had gotten stronger. My current prescription expires next July and so after that I will get an eye exam. This experience has taught me that with my vision being so bad now, I would do well to purchase 2 pairs of Progressives if I can afford it so I always have a back up. Thankfully I do have my sunglasses ones but of course that is not so good for indoors. I plan to retire next August if not before then (I have an application in for disability). I may not need to purchase computer glasses once I am not working in which case then I could probably afford to get a 2nd pair of everyday progressives. We will see. Overall I have been very happy with Costco glasses. It is true their frames are probably cheaper brands but they have always served me well and this is the first pair I have had break in 4 years of using them. I always had to choose from the budget base frames at the eye doctor anyways so not sure there is really much difference. For the money I save, I think it is worth it. I still get nice frames and have been happy. I have a very small bridge to my nose and so I am always limited wherever I buy glasses to not many frames in my size anyways.
Yes, the progressives don’t work when using a computer. I spend a bit of time on the computer and my eyes go fuzzy with the progressives. No one has ever offered me computer glasses. Thank you for mentioning them. I will ask about those at my appointment next month.
I also have a small bridge to my nose. It is flat like a ski slope. The wire frames with the adjustable nose pads seem to work the best for me, in that way. Have you tried those?
Costco sure does make a difference in price. I have always found their glasses to be good quality. The place that I’d gotten those glasses where the lenses fell out all the time, that place had charged me $480 for the frames and $500 for the progressive lenses, and $70 for clip-on sun shades – ridiculous. I always recommend Costco to people now.
Wow those were some pricey glasses to have them fall apart!
I find I cannot stand the glasses with the little feet on the nose. Those things dig in my sinuses and give me a headache. I much prefer the plastic frames but I try to get the ones that have lightweight frames and sometimes the metal arms. I wanted the Titanium ones this time but they did not have any in a color I liked in my size.
Have you tried the really soft silicone pads on those? Those are what I have to use. If I use the harder plastic ones that come with the glasses, I have them change them out for me, otherwise I get pressure sores on my nose. The silicone ones make a huge difference.
I got skin cancer on my nose in the exact spot those plastic pads sat. I use glasses that don’t have them now. I also have astigmatism and different vision in each eye. I get my glasses online from Zenni Optical. You can put a picture of you face in and try on all the different frames. When you find the one you want, you put in all your prescription information, including pupillary distance (your eye doctor can put that on the prescription). Then you put them in your cart, pay for them and they send them to you. My progressives were $85. I’ve had no problem with them. The other thing I like about this company is that they donate a pair of glasses for every pair they sell.
I feel for you. I am near-sighted and far-sighted and with astigmatism, and getting progressives to work smoothly is not easy for the eye doctor to always get right in my prescription. One year, I had a pair of new glasses that were so cheap the lenses kept falling out and the store would not replace them (I’ve gone to Costco ever since). My husband and I had just arrived on Mackinac Island in Michigan for a three-day stay, and one of the lenses fell out. I’m blind as a bat without them. Wasn’t sure what to do so went to the hotel’s front desk and asked if they had an eyeglasses kit with a little screw driver. They didn’t, but as I was telling them I needed one, there was another lady standing nearby in the lobby who overheard me. She said, “I have those, do you need help?” She was an answer to prayers. She helped me put the lens back in and she even gave me an extra screw driver kit she had, in case it happened again. She was a miracle. I hope your lenses stay put for you on your entire trip and that you have a great time!