Blue light filtering IOL in one eye, clear IOL in other
Posted , 6 users are following.
I recently had cataract surgery on my second eye and after about 3 weeks noticed that light was brighter. Checked the IOL cards and first eye has an Acrisof lense with UV and blue light filter, second has a Tecnis lense with UV protection but no filter.Sight is fine apart from some occassional flickering. Should I be concerned? The difference in brightness is OK, merges, when looking through both eyes. Glare is an issue when the sun is low and bright. I've ordered reactolite lenses for new glasses.
Has anyone else got a filtering IOL in one eye and a clear one in the other? If so how have you found it?
0 likes, 14 replies
mdmm55 xBettyGablex
Posted
I have multifocal Toris tecnis in left eye and mono on right eye.Right is fine but ,like you ,i have glare,blurry and shaddows in left(tecnis multifocal).I asked eye doctor but he said this happen with multifocal,especially toris tecnis(Abbott).I asked him to do another surgery and replace multifocal with regular mono-focal to avoid glare,blurry,shaddows.He sait it will solve the problem but could be serious complications.Now i want to go to some senior experienced eye surgeon to do it but my eye surgeon and optometrist are not reffering me to second eye surgeon.
eugene68271 xBettyGablex
Posted
Yes, same thing pretty much, except Staar polymer lens vs. natural lens. No blue light filter in cataract eye results in bright light and reduduced night vision. Also, greens are bluish and brown is gray, etc. For me it's a trade-off resulting from a lens exchange. Previously I had an acrylic that produced myriad unacceptable effects including a reduced visual field/loss of peripheral vision. I don't like the light/color difference, but it will be easier to adjust to than the other problems. It would be great to have everything exactly as I'd like it, but that's just not in the cards for some of us, I guess.
joe12790 xBettyGablex
Posted
Betty, I had the exact same thing happen!
The Dr. said he would replace the new clear lense with a "blue blocking" Alcon lense if I wanted but I'm not sure I want to go through another surgery! I feel "imbalanced" with two different lenses! The Dr. said I would get used to it!
What did you end up doing?
Jalopiejoe
eugene68271 xBettyGablex
Posted
For what it's worth ... I had a lens exchange because the Alcon blocked out my peripheral vision. The Staar collamer fixed that problem. Yes, there is a difference in colors because there is no blue light filter in the Staar. It is becoming less noticeable one month out. Also, the acuity is about a click of the diopter off. Well, OK, that can be addressed, whereas no correction was going to restore the periphery. More importantly, however, after the lens exchange the capsular bag clouded almost immediately and now I have to wait two more months until the lens is seated to laser away the cloudy bag. I had to get a work accommodation because I'm a commuter and for at least the interim I can't drive at night.
Bottom line, some of us aren't going to get anything near perfection from cataract surgery. There about a hundred things that can go wrong even with the perfect surgery, some of them very serious and not adequately adressable at all. Now I'm going to get philosophical: Really evaluate your situation unemotionally and, depending on the seriousness of your visual disturbance, try to want what you have. If you can adjust to and live reasonably well with what you have after the first IOL surgery, think seriously about it. Do your due dilligence. If you have the stomach for it, look up ALL the possible complications you avoided the first time and ask questions about them. Be the patient from hell. And, if you are only considering cataract surgery because your natural lens is starting to cloud up, you might think about putting it off longer, especially if you are not yet retired and can't spend all your time chasing trouble. Even though I am now stuck in a monovision state after doing one eye and correcting for distance there is no way I'm doing the second eye until it becomes absolutely necessary, hopefully after I retire in three years. Best of luck to you.
joe12790 eugene68271
Posted
Thanks for your wise reply Eugene! I think I'm going to take your recommendation and try to get used to what I have.
At first I did not like how bright the clear IOL was over the blue blocker IOL in my other eye but I do like the "correct" colors it provides. At this point I do not want to give that up!
My eyes are already compromised from 30+ years of type I diabetes and even worse, in i993 I had Radial Keratodomy performed on both eyes that ruined my corneas! My only correction for that is Synergeyes hybrid lenses.
I think I will work with what I have and get refitted with some new Synergeyes lenses!
Synergeyes lenses are a gas permeable hard lense supported by a soft skirt on the sclera of the eye. The hard lens fills with tears and becomes a smooth cornea again.
eugene68271 joe12790
Posted
One other thing I prefer with the Staar collamer is that aniseikonia (big image/small image) is much less pronounced. Field of vision is more naturally panoramic. And maybe I would have eventually had the bag cloud up, but the second surgery ceratinly accelerated the process. It's a consideration people considering an exchange should be made aware of. I wish you the very best.
garbies eugene68271
Posted
I am new to group and have been viewing your dicussion about getting lense replacement. I am at the 3 month mark of having IOL with blue light filter which is very uncomfortable. I see edge of lense, filicker throughout eye, yellow tint during sunrise and sunset and the doc messed up my rx as it is off by .50 causing blurry vision. I must make a decision about getting an exchange soon. Just wondering, as I read your warning about explanting. I am concerned that if I get an exchange that I will end up worse off. Are you still happy that you got the exchange.
eugene68271 garbies
Posted
Had I known the outcome, which of course we can't, I would have stayed with the first one. More accurately, I would not have had the first surgery. But both of those horses have left the barn. Having said this, don't go by my experience--make your own decision. In my case, we fixed one problem with the exchange and created three different ones. In my humble opinion, the real issue is that if people are considering cataract surgery to address an oncoming issue that is not yet that troublesome, they should stay with their God-given natural lens until such time as it becomes absolutely necessary. Certainly for most people lens implant seems to go well, but percentage risk doesn't mean much if you're one of us who has life-changing problems as a result. Just keep under consideration that every time you open up the eye you're losing corneal cells and speeding up the possibility of capsular bag opacity, among other things. Chasing perfection is a fool's errand. Doctors are human and no matter what they tell you, IOL implant surgery is not an exact science. That's why they have you sign the release papers.
joe12790 eugene68271
Posted
So well stated eugene! I have a blue blocker IOL in my left eye from a surgery 9 years ago and had cataract surgery a month ago in my right eye and the surgeon decided on his own to insert a clear IOL. He said he would exchange it but my eye is so comprimized now from RK and 30 years of type I diabetes, I decided there is too much risk! I'm getting used to the different lenses and going to leave it as is!
garbies eugene68271
Posted
Hi Eugene,
Thanks so very much for your feedback. I have been through 7 years with the first surgery seeking answers to central glare, starbursts, ghosting, flickering lights and did as you are doing, waiting it out to do the next eye. I waited 7 years and was at 300 in left eye and .50 in the right. I could no longer stand the difference between the two eyes so I caved in and had the second eye done with the blue light filter. First eye is clear IOL. I had been to 7 different eye docs and they all said "wait, wait, wait" until the IOL's improve. I could not. From from I read during my search IOL and there are many are basically the same now as 20 years ago. Anyway, I commend you on your decision to wait. However, be mindful that as your vision changes in the eye not done as yet, you may start to experience some eyestrain. That is what forced me to get 2nd eye done. The muscles in my eyes were so tired by evening I went to bed early just to give my eyes a rest. Also, the eye docs really stick up for one another and are very hush, hush about things. This should not be. I always thought that the patient's interest came first. I was going to demand a new implant, but I think I will find a good optician first to see if I can get help with glasses. I might need a prism put in this left eye glass prescription. I would caution anyone who is considering an IOL exchange to not get it lasered. Once they laser an IOL it is doubly hard to remove it. In fact, I was told they cannot.
Eugene, I really enjoy your well thought out comments. Please keep me posted on your journey and I truly wish you the best of luck with your recovery.
garbies xBettyGablex
Posted
I am new to group but can identify with the glare even though I have a blue light filter and my other IOL is clear. I have glare in both eyes. I do not care for the difference as I can see lots of yellow tint during the day from the blue light filter lense. So, I am thinking of discussing the possibility of an exchange to make them both clear. How did the reactolite lenses work for you. I also have other issues with 2nd eye so I am not thinking of exchanging just because of tint.
garbies
Posted
I forgot to mention that Pilocarpine can be used to reduce size of pupil and help rid of glare. Eye doctor recommended it and I actually got an rx for a .25% solution apposed to the full 1% which dilated my pupil down to low.
cuz4concern xBettyGablex
Posted
garbies xBettyGablex
Posted
I have a clear lense in one eye and a blue light filter in the other. I also get the flickering and glare. I think the lenses would work for me had the doctor gotten my Rx right on, but as it is I am .50 off Rx in the left eye so the blurry vision is not helping.