Information vacuum…

first eye: triple vision with all 3 images firming a circle with fainter images in between. positive dysphotopsia, lens edge glare at night - circle of light the size of building from pinpoint light sources. reflective surfaces had huge halos around them. lens exchange after 5 years and issues resolved.

second eye: getting more and more near sighted and distance vision uncorrectable. light made everything foggy. could not see stoplights. surgery. partial arc visible late at night. not too big though.

both eyes need glasses at night due to -0.75 astigmatism and loss of contrast due to trifocal iol.

I was recommended by my optometrist for "early" cataract surgery. I now know that the symptoms I was having back then, and wrongly attributed to my "cataracts", were in fact caused by dry eye.

I selected Vivity EDOF lenses which were, for me, a disaster. Severe night dysphotopsias and poor vision in anything less than bright sunlight.

After nearly a year I elected to have the Vivity lenses removed and replaced with Rayner EMV (monofocal) lenses. My vision improved immensely in all light conditions. No dysphotpsias at all. Very happy with the Rayner EMV lenses.

However, the final eye surgery (four of four) kicked off severe dry eye which is debilitating. My optom, ophthalmologist and I are hopeful this will resolve within six months post surgery, but no guarantees.

In short, I wished I had never had cataract surgery. If I knew then what I know now I'd have treated the dry eye more aggressively at the time and waited until my cataracts were advanced and surgery was necessary. Bottom line, IMO stay with your natural vision as long as you can - until your cataracts are advanced.

im putting it off for awhile. in reading all the comments on various forums of people describing what pushed them to get the surgery as well as unintended consequences, i realize i can still live with my vision.

Before surgery: I was myopic all my life, so I was used to wearing glasses. But my prescriptions started varying inconsistently during my exams and I wasn't happy with my glasses. This started in my late 50s. I blamed a new optometrist, but a subsequent doctor told me I had cataracts, which had probably been developing for a few years. My two eyes were very similar. Driving at night got worse but was easily avoided. But when I barely passed the DMV vision exam (during the daytime, with glasses!), I knew it was time to do something.

Surgery: Two years ago now, two Vivity lenses in a mini-monovision configuration and I am very happy with it.

Side effects: Within a few months I noticed clear blobs in my right eye vision, which were noticeable when I looked side to side. When the eye stopped moving, the vision was clear. I went back to the surgeon's office, where I learned that it is due to vitreous degeneration. Probably age-related and possibly made worse by the surgery. The left eye has never had this. As for the right eye, this effect was only slightly annoying, and mostly noticeable when I was driving. The effect is still there, but I think it has lessened, and I have probably gotten more used to it. Because until I read this question, I had not thought about it for a long time and I had to do some experiments to check for it.

Yes, there are some halos around headlights at night. I classify them as the expected result of the EDOF optics. They are consistent, predictable, symmetric, with no streaks or other weird stuff. They do not prevent me from doing anything. For night driving I wear distance glasses to bring my close eye into focus, especially in bad weather, and the halos are smaller when the focus is better. But my binocular vision is good enough that I can drive without glasses, That was never true for my entire life before surgery.

Maybe the halos don't bother me for several reasons. (1) I never had perfect vision my whole life to compare to. (2) My cataracts were bad, and the implants made such an improvement. (3) I studied some optics in college so I understand the concept of no free lunch.

I experienced fluttering in each eye for several days after cataract surgery. I also developed a painful reaction to the medicated eye drops, and needed to take a daily allergy pill for relief. My left eye had a watery feeling in the morning, when I walked down stairs. I've suffered from allergies my whole life hence I was afraid of the IOL acrylic material, steroid drops, and the eye surgery itself, and postponed it for a decade. I didn't get an eye exam for five years which included the Covid Lockdown Period. Anyway, my daughter pushed me to get new glasses or surgery. She was very attentive to the details during my medical appointments. I may have served as her test subject. My driver's license must be renewed in 2025 with an eye test, so I wanted to be prepared.

I had no vision issues that caused me to decide to go for cataract surgery. I was happy with my vision, and got surgery only because of medical advice.

.

I have had no side effects so far.