Posted , 7 users are following.
What cataract symptoms did you have?
And how soon did your second eye get affected.
Mine are distorted vision that cannot be corrected. Both near and far. It is as if I am not wearing glasses.
Also I see 3 lights for far away lights. I see rainbow halos around the street lights at night that disappear.
0 likes, 17 replies
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Night-Hawk soks
Posted
Only my right eye had a cataract that was far enough along that it started to affect my vision in that eye about 3 years ago. My left eye has only an early stage cataract that the eye doctor can see, but hasn't affect that eye's vision since it still corrects to 20/15 in that eye.
When the cataract in my right eye started to affect the vision, first thing it did was start to get progressively more nearsighted requiring new eyeglasses Rx every 6months or so to correct it. There may have been slight night vision effects with a little halos around lights but minor. After a year or so, the vision had gotten about 2D more nearsighted and then stayed there and then the vision got worse and more blurry at all distances and wouldn't correct with eyeglasses anymore better than 20/50 or so.
At that point cataract surgery was considered and I had it done for my right eye only about 6 weeks ago. I have significant astigmatism so I got a monofocal toric IOL for that eye targeted for good distance vision. Now the blurriness and nearsightedness is gone and only night vision effect is if my pupil is large I can see a half circle above some bright lights, however I believe this has reduced since usually there is enough lights from other cars while driving to keep my pupil slightly smaller so I don't see the half circles. It may be temporary until the cornea incision heals more in a few months.
Polyphemos Night-Hawk
Posted
Have you popped the RE lens? Do you have acceptable binocular vision? I do not want to wear contact lenses (tried them many many years ago and hated them).
Sue.An Polyphemos
Posted
As well given your 2nd eye may not even need cataract surgery for years possibly you may not even want anything done. Nothing is as good as your natural lens.
Just a thought but some of the reading I was doing regarding cataract surgery compared the lasik or PRK surgeries explaining the reason why both eyes are done same day for those is so patient can’t compare eyesight with operated vs non operated eye. Cataract surgery is usually covered by national health and they won’t cover unless you have a cataract that impedes your vision by about 20/40. In some cases it may be covered when they cannot balance your vision with glasses or contact lens it may be covered.
Just my 2 cents. Don’t mean to alarm you but please think twice before having cataract surgeries too close together.
soks Night-Hawk
Posted
The affected left eye does not have astigmatism.
What is the half circle that you see? Is that the lens edge?
Sue.An soks
Posted
Polyphemos Sue.An
Posted
Thank you Sue.An - always helpful and insighful with your comments. I too am in Canada and still pondering my "plan of attack" given my circumstances. By the way, how does one send a private message to another in this group?
Sue.An Polyphemos
Posted
Good luck plotting your course. I remember how stressed I was. These forums are such a good outlet and having the support of others going through similar experience is very helpful.
Night-Hawk soks
Posted
+0.75D cylinder is small astigmatism, they only use a Toric IOL for greater than about +1.25D cylinder or so. For smaller amounts of astigmatism they could do incisions on the cornea to reduce it, thats called LRI.
No I don't believe the half circle I see in a dark environment above some lights is due to the lens edge since that wouldn't be in the center of your vision, but the lens edge is the sides of your vision. I suspect its probably caused by light scattering by the incision in the cornea and its only visible when my pupil is at its largest size and the half circles disappear if the pupil shrinks just slightly. Hopefully it will reduce and/or go away as the cornea heals more over the coming months.
Night-Hawk Polyphemos
Posted
Fortunately my unoperated (left) eye has very little myopia only -0.5D but does have +2D cylinder astigmatism. I have been using my old pairs of eyeglasses with the right lens popped out for the past 6 weeks since the surgery on my right eye with a Tecnis toric monofocal IOL. I am getting good binocular vision with the eyeglasses correcting only the left eye since its not a huge correction difference.
That however would be a different story with a difference of over 2D myopia between the eyes - you would most likely need to use a contact lens in the unoperated eye in that case. Thats probably why the surgeon is suggesting doing the other eye soon after, when there will be too big a difference between the eyes after the first eye's surgery. I was told such an imbalance is acceptable to have the second eye's surgery covered for medical reasons by insurance. But since I don't have enough imbalance, I'll wait until my left eye vision is actually affected by the cataract which is isn't yet, since it corrects excellent to 20/15 still - I don't want to risk getting worse than that which is possible since good results are not guaranteed, better to wait until the vision is worse than 20/40.
I had an optometrist eye exam 4 weeks after my right eye cataract surgery with the toric IOL, and at that time it was measured as 0D power and -1D cylinder astigmatism. However my vision has improved in the past week and a half, so I suspect that astigmatism has reduced a bit since then perhaps down to -0.5D or so, though it varies at times. My cornea is still probably healing and the vision isn't completely finished stabilizing yet, so most likely I will need to change the eyeglasses Rx again in a few months, though its getting so good in recent days at 20/20 or even a little better no correction at all may ultimately be needed for that eye for distance vision, just correction for intermediate and near (reading) via a progressive eyeglasses pair since my left eye still needs full correction.
soks Night-Hawk
Posted
Thanks. I don't understand astigmatism and it was added around 2 YTD back when I turned 40.
However my right eye looks smaller in pictures. Is that because of the astigmatism? Or the astigmatism glass?
Sue.An soks
Posted
Aside from what you mentioned I also experienced double vision almost a ghosting of the image. Most unpleasant.
cora06849 soks
Posted
My optician told me I have cataracts in both eyes, but she evidently considers them early stage as I have not been referred yet. She tells me they may not need surgery for ten years.
I am very short-sighted. The clarity of my vision isn't greatly affected, although I feel it has deteriorated in the six months since my last test. I also find my perception of distance is poor - e.g. placing objects and missing the edge of a table. What disturbs me most of all is glare from sunlight, headlights at night and even normal lighting indoors. I will only drive short distances on overcast days. I can't even work in the garden on bright days despite wearing dark glasses over my normal spectacles.
My next eye check isn't for another six months, and I hope my situation will be treated more sympathetically then.
Sue.An cora06849
Posted
johnvnpt soks
Posted
Hi
In 2010 I hurt my Achilles tendon and a nerve in my leg. I was prescribed amytryptalline as a pain blocker. This was a terrible mistake. I reacted very badly. Blood presdurecand blood sugar levels went wild unnoticed by me for months. By the time a routine hba1c test to see if I was following my mum's condition as I approached my mid 50s found the problem it was too late
In 2012 looking out of an office window at the village church a mike away I noticed the view was blurred as if the window was misty and the church had TWO spires one a ghost of the other
Later that month the moon was like a cluster of ferrero rochers on a plate. NINE of them with connecting walkways.
I knew I was in trouble
My optician diagnosed cataracts in both eyes
Progressing.
Over the next 12 months things got slowly worse as I waited for surgery and then one day it got much, much worse far faster
I went to the point I was blind at night, unable to use a computer (bit of an issue if you're an it consultant)
I lost my job and all my savings waiting for the Welsh bus to get round to treating me.
Then it happened again in the left eye which was about 12 months behind the right
Today I am ok having had both cataracts removed (and both needed emergency vitrectomies as the retina detached in each shortly after surgery, which went undetected the first time for over two months because the absolute idiot in charge of the desk on the emergency clinic assured me my problems I was calling with were perfectly normal and would pass
She said that in three calls.
Despite my surgeon being outraged when I finally pushed to see him and he found I needed immediate emergency surgery, this woman is still in the same job, as the same woman told me the same lies when I reported the symptoms of detachment in the other eye when it was operated on two years later....
Sue.An johnvnpt
Posted
Thank you for sharing. If I take something away is don’t wait too long when vision affects your everyday life and sometimes you have to be persistent when you sense something isn’t right.
soks johnvnpt
Posted