What is wrong with my eyesight?

I am making an appointment with my optometrist in the next four weeks. If your only comment is to see my eye doctor, please, skip this question.

I have poor vision. I’ve worn glasses since I was eleven years old. I started wearing contacts in high school about the age of fifteen or sixteen.

I also have bad astigmatism. I wore rigid gas permeable contacts for decades, because the soft contacts made for astigmatism did not provide clear sight.

Two years ago, I switched to a new type of soft contacts that are made for persons with astigmatism, and I really like the way they feel. Actually, I like the way they don’t feel. It’s like having nothing in my eyes at all. I can’t feel them.

The problem is reading. I see ghost letters on the computer screen and in books. The letters are blurry. I wear reading glasses, and those correct the problem.

However, I can’t read on the computer screen, which sits three feet from my face. If I wear the reading glasses and lean close to the screen, the problem is corrected.

Also, when I take out my contacts and put on my regular bifocal glasses, I see perfectly well. I can see the computer screen through the top section of the glasses, and I can read my Kindle or books fine through the bottom.

If you wear glasses or contacts, have you ever experienced this problem with seeing ghost letters?

What helped?