Migraine

I had an appointment with the other ophthalmologist at my vision place today, to talk to him about getting some tinted contacts as a way to counteract my photophobia, particularly to deal with fluorescent lights. (I had mentioned this in another thread last week.) The appointment went very well, and I actually like this eye doc more than the guy I usually see at this place.

I explained to him that I have chronic migraines and photophobia, and was interested in the Nike sport contacts as a way to deal with the photophobia. Unfortunately the Nike contacts are being discontinued, but I was hoping he would have some ideas. And he does. Not only does he have some ideas, but he told me he would keep working with me until we found something that works. Such a great thing to hear from a doctor!

So, first we're going to try just regular cosmetic contacts, like what you would get to change your eye color, since those are available with a tint. If those aren't enough, we'll go to the Nike Maxsight lenses. If those don't work, we can do custom prosthetic lenses, that basically will redraw a new iris and pupil on the lens to customize exactly how much light is allowed through the lens (anything from all light to zero light). We're working through these options in that order from least to most expensive, and also it will give us an idea of how much of a tint I will need.

This doc is a contact lens specialist, and during his residency he studied with one of the guys who developed the Nike lenses. So I feel confident we can find a solution that works. He also said he would help me as much as he can to try to get this covered by my medical insurance, though he thinks it's unlikely they'll help out. (I'm going to try to get my neuro on board - either my previous one or my new specialist - to see about writing a letter of medical necessity.) My vision insurance is basically only enough to cover my annual exam so it won't cover all this extra stuff.

So, I'm feeling good about this. He may be able to get some trial lenses for me as early as Friday.

What a great appointment and a great find for an eye doctor. I'll be very interested to hear what you find that works for you. Something that cuts the glare in the office would be pretty incredible.

Cindy

He sounds like an EXCELLENT doctor- it's amazing what a difference a caring doctor who is good and knowledgeable in his field can make in your treatment plan! I'm so glad you found him- this sound very promising. Keep us posted!

Valerie

MJ -

Sounds like an awesome visit!!!

Do you wear contacts now? I found I wear them less and less due to migraine. I can still wear them, yes, but I tend to only wear them on special occasions. I have the Fresh Look contacts that are blue (I'm naturally Hazel) I loved them! Then my eye doctor said at my last visit I should switch one eye to a toarc (sp) lens - and that was the end of that.

I did not find the Fresh Look toarc lenses comfortable at all. I always felt like I had something in my eye (duh!) but not my contact.

As far as glasses go, I think I've mentioned this to you before....
I have yellow tinted glasses. They are a 30% yellow tint for night blindness and glare. This help tremendously on the office lighting as well. Plus they look cool too as an added bonus.

Good luck with the contacts! I may just have to ask about them my next visit!!! Do you happen to know the name of the colored ones you are trying???

Nice to have an awesome visit, isn't it?

Eileen, I'm not sure of the name of the lenses, but once I have them in my hands I'll post here and let you know. I don't currently wear contacts but I'm willing to give them a try. I am a little worried about how my eyes will deal with them, especially since the beastie has lodged himself behind my right eye since about November. But part of my issue with photophobia and wearing sunglasses (and I'm sure I'm not alone) is that light still gets in around the edges, even with my large celebrity glasses. I won't have that issue with contacts. So I'm going to give it a shot.

I should also mention that my vision is decent. I'm only very slightly near-sighted (I think I still test as 20/20, but the letters are blurry), so the glasses I do wear don't have much of a prescription.

I am very fortunate in that our office fluorescents are tinted yellow - not sure if it's the bulbs or fixtures, but that at least does help. I can't tolerate those awful bluish ones that are in a lot of stores, that I know a lot of you suffer with. Those ones not only aggravate my migraines but trigger diarrhea too. DBF does most of our shopping now because of it. I didn't realize that this color tint was part of the issue until I was talking it over with my eye doc, when he asked the color of the lights at work.

The magnesium supplements I'm taking have cut down my photophobia a bit, but I still have a lot of trouble even on cloudy days. Now that it's getting to be sunny season here I'm motivated to try this new idea, so I don't have to suffer through the summer. I may hear back from the doc's office as soon as tomorrow.

You ladies are right, it's so refreshing to have found a good doctor - he's definitely a keeper.

I just got a call from my eye doc's office - they can fit me in today at 1:30 to do a fitting with the trial lenses. I should have more news this afternoon!

MJ -- keep us informed!

I wore contacts for several years and really enjoyed them. I couldn't sleep in them, however, even though they were the kind that you could wear for a whole month. Am I dating myself? I had to nap after I took Imitrex, when it first came out, so I was putting the contacts in and taking them out several times a day.

My eyes got used to the contacts very quickly.

Since I'm not napping much these days, I guess I could go back to contacts. But I've got bifocals now, so I'd also need reading glasses.

Gretchen in Mississippi

What a great visit MJ, sounds like this doctor is a keeper for sure! I tried contacts but found them uncomfortable. I should try them again because it has been about 10 years and I never wear my glasses when I should. Kinda like now.

I hope your trial contacts work for you

K, going to put my glasses on, be right back

Wow, the screen isn't all blurry, thanks MJ!!

Well, my eye doc managed to find some of the Nike Maxsight lenses in my prescription (well, one of them - my eyes are close but not exactly the same) so he gave me those to try first. I wore them for a few hours today, and they don't seem to bother my eyes. I think I'll be able to adjust to wearing them.

However they make me look sort of demonic - they're dark, so they almost completely black out my eyes. The lenses are larger than my irises, so that makes the effect even weirder. I'll have to take a picture tomorrow when I put them in again.

They're the green-grey tint as Nike calls it, but the actual color wash is more a yellow-green. It doesn't seem to hurt my eyes, though the tint makes me blind to certain colors. I can't tell the difference between blue and black pens, for example. (My coworkers think this is hilarious.)

So, I have a 2-week follow-up appointment scheduled. That will give me some time to see if I like these and if they help with the fluorescents at all, or just the general photophobia.

I'll be sure to post about my progress here! And a photo of my slightly freakish eyes.

MJ,
I love your description of how you look. Please take before and after pictures to post. I would like to see the affect. You might consider not wearing them around clients.....just a thought it might not give the right message.

Cindy

Yeah, I don't think I'll be wearing these around clients. I will post before and after photos - the effect is really strange since my eyes are naturally blue to blue-grey.

Photos to come, I promise!

I can't wait to see the pictures

I'm a bit overdue for an update here.

The Nike lenses unfortunately did not work out. They turn everything a weird sort of yellowy green that is very pronounced under fluorescent lighting, and after about 6 hours my eyes/brain can't handle the color tinting. These lenses did work very well for reducing my photophobia in bright sunlight; when worn with my regular sunglasses on a sunny day, I didn't end up with the severe pain I normally do. So that's a plus!

The other off-the-shelf tinted lenses my eye doc had were just regular FreshLook lenses, and we both knew before I tried them they wouldn't be enough tinting.

So, I'm now in the process of getting the custom (expensive) prosthetic lenses. These lenses basically black out all but a small hole in the center, so that controls how much light comes through the lens. They look much more natural, as there is an "iris" drawn on each lens (and they're available in a number of different colors).

The big drawback, of course, is the cost. I don't have the exact price, but they will come in somewhere under $1000.

I haven't ordered these yet. I'll be seeing my new specialist in just over 2 weeks and I want to discuss this with him, not only to get his opinion but also to see if he'll write a letter of medical necessity. I'm hoping to get my medical insurance to at least partially cover these lenses, and having my new specialist's buy-in will be crucial for that. I also want to see if he has any other ideas, though, before I make this investment. Because if they don't work, I'm stuck with them.

I've also written about this pretty extensively in my blog. If you're interested, you can find the entry HERE.

The good news though is that I still really like my eye doc. He's been nothing but helpful. He called me on Friday out of the blue - I guess he's been thinking about this because he offered to have me come in today to try some of the fitting lenses he has in the office so I could get a little bit of an idea before I order them.

I walked around outside with them in, and they definitely make a difference in the amount of light coming in my eyes. With the lenses and my sunglasses, it did not feel too bright outside. They cut a bit of my peripheral vision though, which might take some getting used to. I also won't really know until I order them and wear them for a while if they'll work for fluorescent lighting.

For now, I'm holding off on ordering them until I talk to my new doc. I'll keep you guys updated on this, after my next appointment. And I will post that photo of the Nike lenses - I just have to do it from DBF's computer.