Has Any One Else Noticed this Unusual Vision Issue with Symfony Lens

Hi betwixt - do you have good daytime vision with Symfony?   It’s unfortunate that your doc (seems like many) do not make patients aware of cons - just the pros of lenses.

I think patients would be able to weigh their choices better if they did.   

I do have Symfony lenses and enjoy good vision at all distances.  I was fortunate in that my doc did not push these lenses and did explain the night halos etc.  I fin the concentric circles odd and it is too bad docs can show photos of those to their patients beforehand - it would help prepare patients that choose them.

Daytime vision is fine and certainly agree with you about properly informing the patient. 

I don't think that any cataract surgeon (or any other surgeon) gives out a patient information bulletin before the surgery.

In my specific case, I can't really blame my surgeon for not informing me of the multiple concentric circles issue with the Symfony lens. The Symfony lens had been just approved in the USA. I was probably more enthusiastic (than he may have been) after reading all the misleading glowing reports about the Symfony lens by the surgeons participating in the studies for Abbott, which said that the night vision issues are comparable to the monofocal lenses without ever mentioning this unique night vision issue with Symfony.

I try to weigh how annoyed and frustrated I would be if I could function at work.  If I were older would likely have gone with monofocals.  I am happy not to think about vision during day.  See my optometrist Friday to see where my eyes are.  So far haven’t thought about getting glasses.

The nighttime although not perfect had gotten better since the surgeries and I drive without much concern.  This time of year it’s pitch black leaving work.

Nothing is ideal or replaces what I had  prior to cataracts.  But life is what it is and people deal with far worse health issues.  

Probably an odd question but do we need anything official in writing from optometrist to have drivers licence remove the need for glasses?  Mine indicates I wear glasses but at renewal how does one go about getting that removed or does it matter?

I just waited until 10 months after the cataract surgery until the driver license renewal time, let the renewing person know that the note on glasses / contact lenses needed to be removed from the new driver license because of having gone through the cataract surgery, and read the vision charts to her satisfaction. There was never any comment by her on why I had not done sooner.

When one thinks about it, it is probably more important to have the driver license note added, if required, if the eye deteriorates significantly due to the cataract development than getting it removed when the vision improves.

Once you pass your eye test without glasses...  just look at them and say... “it’s a miracle I tell ya!”  😉

Oh yes,  when I passed the vision test this time without my glasses,  and photo was taken,  there was no longer a notice on my license saying that I wore glasses.

Thanks Sharon.  It sure is nice to not have to wear glasses anymore.  It is something you just grew accustomed to and I had no complaints but to be able to do some things that just weren’t possible to do with glasses is a whole new wonderful experience.  Wish the night vision tho g was a bit better but I still drive at night and it has gotten better with time.  Those white LED Lights on cars are bothersome to people who don’t have cataracts or been through cataract surgery.  Hopefully those will be banned some day.  Seen several articles in the newspaper on them - lots of complaints.  

betwixt,

Somehow even though I was going to read the Report on Symfony referenced by you, I never got around to it and then just forgot about it.

This seems to give a more balanced view of the pros and cons of Symfony lens. It also gives a little more information on what one can expect from Symfony as well as a monofocal lens.

For example, the data indicate that for the test samples, the distance-corrected binocular vision at 26 inches was 20/25 or better for 92.5% of Symfony lens users and 35.1% for monofocal lens users. Similarly the distance-corrected binocular vision at 16 inches was 20/25 or better for  23.8% of Symfony lens users and 4.7% for monofocal lens users. Thus, if you are lucky, your close vision may end to be better with a pair of monofocal lenses than someone else may get with a pair of Symfony lens, but the odds of getting better close vision are better with the Symfony lens.

On the other hand, the chances of seeing multiple circles (or halos) around lights does go up with the use of Symfony lenses. The data showed that the multiple circles or halos were found to be bothersome to 31.3% of Symfony users a little bit,  12.2% somewhat, 8.8% quite a bit, and 6.8% very much. These are definitely higher numbers than were originally claimed. Please note as a comparison, the halos numbers for monofocal lens users were were 16.1% (a little bit), 12.2% (somewhat), 8.8% (quite a bit), and 6.8% (very bothersome).

Sorry, Have an error in the last sentence above.

Instead of "Please note as a comparison, the halos numbers for monofocal lens users were were 16.1% (a little bit), 12.2% (somewhat), 8.8% (quite a bit), and 6.8% (very bothersome).",

it should have said that;

It should have said that "Please note as a comparison, the halos numbers for monofocal lens users were were 16.1% (a little bit), 8.8% (somewhat), 1.4% (quite a bit), and 2.7% (very bothersome).

As I mentioned on another post,  the symptoms you describe (blurred vision, not being able to see beyond 30 inches etc) seem to have nothing to do with the type of lens you have in that eye (Symfony in your case).

Either the lens power is way off or there is some other vision issue caused by the cataract surgery.

What is your prescription for that eye and what is your best corrected vision in that eye (with glasses)? Is the best corrected vision is bad, sas the doctor examined your eye to make sure that there is no PCO or retina damage etc?

The bottom line is while Symfony lens does have many associated night time vision issues, the issue you describe does not seem to be related to the type of lens. You (with the help of more than one ophthalmologist, if needed) needs to know the exact reason for your bad vision before thinking seriously of lens replacement.

you may have an issue not related to symfony lens such as wrong power or inflamed retina issues.What does your dr think?

I did not want limited range  of focus with a monofocal lens and read everything i could prior to surgery .My request for symfony was knowing i could have starburst etc..but generally easy going and do not drive at night for a living which would mean rain , snow whatever

I did have early opacification on the back of the capsule ..it can happen sooner or later so my second eye was not quite as great as first eye until yag was done after 3 plus months.The surgeon went over and over testing both before and after surgery.....

Surgeon is a perfectionist asthe early pco initially surprised him in second eye.He wants really happy patients. 

I found light matters so much with this lens.I can thread a  needle outdoors.No print is too small but with indoor light really close vision is tricky..

I think this is a great lens with seamless bright sharp  ision.Far better than it ever was.For me to think i could only focus for a set distance upset me so rejected monofocl and took my night chamces with symfony.

I never found drs recommend a lens to "make money" prior to symfony many rarely offered multifocal due to night vision complaints.Not worth the trouble of an angry patient.