my experience with...

  I have bad eyes. Really bad eyes. I have always had bad luck when it comes to vision. A combination of genetics and being a child overenthusiastic about reading in all lighting has left me on track to have worse eyes than my mother at a quarter of her age.
 For anyone reading who understands prescriptions, my glasses are -9 and -9.5. I've definitely heard worse, but for my age, this is not a pretty number. Along with this, I have an astigmatism, and suspect a case of visual snow syndrome as well, making my perception of light generally very painful and headache-inducing on a day-to-day basis.
 So, in an effort to curb this rapid deterioration of my eyes, my doctor recommended that I start transitioning to contact lenses. Something about the focusing and shape putting less strain on my eyes.
 I took his advice, and how I wish I didn't! I despise wearing contacts with my entire heart. They're gas-permeable, and that means they are made of a hard material, similar in feel to plastic, instead of a comfortable soft texture. They are difficult to put in, difficult to wear, and make me feel old.
  I understand that I could just...give up. But the cost of contact lenses is not something I can shrug off, and I feel I owe it to myself to at least TRY to slow my decline in vision. It's been two months and I can only wear the lenses for about four hours. Any tips would be appreciated.