Hi Sheila.
Like youself I was high myopic(-20 both eyes incl -2 cyl)...till recently...I am now -0.5 and +0.75...I had lens excnge surgery and please to say worked out well....prior to operation I wore ciba toric lenses and were available in high powers....find a experienced Optom...who knows the availabilty of toric lenses....you may also have to research yourself....
Yes your prescription can increase but this not a huge issue as it is very slow to increase and can fluctuate from time to time...
That is absolutely NOT true. I have far worse astigmatism in my left eye (>3) and have had contacts fitted all my life, custom made but not too expensive ($85) yes, but they work great. It's not perfect but can usually get 20/25, although it can vary as the lens tends to move around on occassion. You need a good OD who will have patience to fit and re-fit to get the perfect one. It usually takes 3 or 4 tries to get it as perfect as it can be. I am also a high myope with -10 in both. As with all medical care, it's about finding the right people to help you out.
As a side, I am assuming you have had a retina exam to rule out any un-correctable myopic changes in your eye.
One more idea: For the time being, why can't your eye care provider give you the best possible correction with contacts, and then wear glasses (with thin lenses) over the contacts to correct the remaining refractive error.
Dr. Feldman has given you an excellent suggestion. I have a couple of other ideas, too.
If it turns out that there really isn't a contact in the power you need, I'm wondering if some refractive surgery would be helpful. I'm not talking about making major changes that might eliminate your need for glasses. I'm thinking more in terms of something like limbal relaxing incisions (a safe, relatively inexpensive in-office procedure), which might reduce your astigmatism by 50% or more. This might make the difference between wearing contacts or not.
You might also post your question on the google group sci.med.vision. (It's free!) Lately this group has been bombarded by advertisements. However, there are still several very knowledgeable eye care professionals (optometrists, ophthalmologists, and opticians) who sometimes respond to questions similar to yours.
Dear Sheila428,
I would recommend that you make an appointment with an eye specialist that specializes in fitting contact lenses in patients with diseases of the eye. Since your prescription is high, you will need a doctor who is really a specialist in contact lenses.
Dr. Feldman
Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California