JUST HAD VIVITY LENS IMPLANTED 3 WEEKS
Posted , 123 users are following.
Hi,
I had Vivity implanted in my non-dominant eye 3 weeks ago. I have good distance vision as expected, I have good mid-range vision (to type on my Mac Air) but my near vision (to see my smartphone and read a book or textbooks) is blurry. I am disappointed. I have read that my near vision could still improve with time. I would love to know if anyone has heard this as well. As far as any halos at night, I don't notice them, but my cataract was so bad with such bad halos that anything would seem like an improvement. I also have a cataract in my dominant eye, so any slight halos I see could be due to that as well. I am noticing a slight waviness in my peripheral vision, but this could just be the natural healing process. At the one month mark, I have the appt with dialation where I will see how I'm healing. I hope I haven't wasted nearly $3k.
I really don't understand how my brother had multifocals implanted 10 years ago and he can see well without glasses at both near and far distances, but I get the latest technology and am stuck in readers.
I would love to have any feedback on anyone else's experiences. I contacted the FDA to see if I could get more long-term stats but they have not responded.
3 likes, 234 replies
Pifutoast gayle14130
Posted
New here but from the info I received from my surgeon, Vivity is not great for near vision within arms length, designed for intermediate and distance with less chance for glare and halos then a tri-focal like panoptix
Guest Pifutoast
Posted
Your mileage may vary but that's about right. I suspect a lot of people have some functional vision with a relaxed reading distance (relaxed elbow holding phone) but "functional" means "not great but good enough to make out". So maybe 20/32 at best but some people might have 20/40 at 50cm. Again it varies. But yes it is NOT a near vision IOL.
kathleen51218 gayle14130
Edited
Hi,
I am 57 and had cataract surgery in January of 2021. I chose the Vivity lens and I am beyond thrilled. I can see my phone at a normal position but it will get blurry if I hold to close. I had the right eye (dominate) done and still wear my CRT lens in my left. I haven't had to put on any readers since my surgery and they were a daily routine. I couldn't read recipes without my readers. I couldn't see to put on eye makeup.The Vivity lens has changed my life for the better. I hope that my left eye needs to be done, I know what lens I would choose.
I'm sorry you are having issues, perhaps they will get better.
Guest kathleen51218
Posted
Thanks so much for the report. Its great to hear of a good outcome. The two clinical trials but had very positive results but its different hearing it from a real person. And there is of course a strong negative bias to online posts since happy patients typically don't post online.
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My concern with Vivity is it's bench number for contrast. I would love if you could comment on your experience in scenarios like night driving, low visibility driving conditions (snow, rain, haze, fog) or just generally dim indoor lighting at close and distance. Of course you only have the one implant at the moment so it's not a perfect test but I'd still be very curious to hear your observations.
Kv1159 gayle14130
Posted
I just had a Vivity lens implant on my dominant right eye two days ago. Reading is still blurry, and I notice a decrease in peripheral vision to my right. Hoping that goes away. Has anyone else had the issue with peripheral vision decreasing? Did it eventually improve?
banterer gayle14130
Posted
Hello Gayle,
I'm sorry you did not get the results you were looking for. I just has both eyes done with the Light Adjustable Lens and have no experience with any other lens. I was looking at the Vivity but found out that the LAL was available which I was hoping to get several years ago but it was only undergoing trials at the time. I was told that the Vivity did not provide good close distance and in addition you lost contrast in lower light situations.
Please have a read of this post, where I describe my experience with the LAL. I am using a mono-vision light and my vision is FANTASTIC. I am right eye dominant and it is set for long distance but I can see close up to about 20 inches away and my left eye is set for closer vision and I can see clearly down to about 14-16 inches. Both eyes in combination see great, there are no visual artifacts around light source. Though I tried monovision when I had Lasik in 2004, I hated it and went back and was given mini-mono.
In any case, though I imagine the thought of a lens exchange is possibly not an option whether it is the risk or the cost, I wanted to at least let you know about this option.
Jorge
euan97815 gayle14130
Posted
hi Gayle
have you noticed any improvement? i had the same lense put in 4 days ago following a cataract after a detachment
i paid extra for the IQ vivity as i was led to believe it was the best option for a range of vision that would allow me to read my phone / laptop without glasses
4 days after the op my distance is amazing but my intermediate and near vision is really dissapointing
is this likely to improve?
euan97815
Posted
i should add that in bright light the vision close up is way better
unfortunately i live in scotland 😦
soks euan97815
Posted
and that bright light is sun light?
yvonne72970 gayle14130
Posted
Hi
I feel so happy to have found this site. I had Vivity implanted in my left eye 9 days ago and am not satisfied. All vision except about a foot from my face is blurry. I can read my phone and books clearly. All else is like double vision. My surgeon 's practice has blown me off as a patient that is just too complaining. My vision was checked the day after surgery and my calls to ask if blurriness (2) has been ignored and told to use refresh which I did add to my drops. I was scheduled for surgery on April 26 which they planned on going forward with in spite of my concerns. I did cancel the surgery. I did finally get an appointment tomorrow with the doctor. I expect lots of defence from him instead of an adult conversation about what can be done. I do not have enough knowledge to make decisions. Wish I had had a regular distance lens. Not sure if I can have this one changed. Do not know what to do for my right eye.
rwbil yvonne72970
Posted
Wow! It does take time to heel but after 9 days and everything is blurry past 1 foot is a major concern. Drops could make a difference, but seems more like something else to me. More concerning is you state the doctor is blowing you off. Under no circumstances would I get 2nd surgery until this issue is addressed.
What is your eye history and condition? Do you have major eye issues before surgery such that this was a known high risk situation? If not then IMHO something went wrong.
Did the surgeon dilate your eyes and make sure the lens was properly placed and not wrinkled or other issue. Did they miss the refractive mark by this much.
It is hard for me to imagine you are paying the extra cost for a premium lens and the doctor is blowing you off. If you do not get acceptable answers then I would start to look for another doctor and make sure they are a Top Doctor, preferable one that is heavily involved in clinical trials.
Are you in the US. If so I am other here might be able to make an Opthmalogist recommendation.
RonAKA yvonne72970
Posted
Unless things change it sounds like your eye was under corrected quite a bit and has left you near sighted. Generally it takes up to 6 weeks for the eye to fully heal and settle down. So, it may improve from where it is now. For sure I would wait 6 weeks and get your eyes checked by an optometrist to see where your vision really is and what their opinion is as to the problem. If it is under corrected but acceptable for reading and intermediate I would suggest getting a monofocal like the AcrySof IQ Aspheric in your right eye instead of the Vivity. It may give you a good all around solution for distance and close without glasses. If you don't trust the surgeon it will also give you some time to see someone else. Some surgeons only want to sell the "premium" lenses as I suspect they make a lot more money on them. To me it is a bit of an alarm bell if a surgeon will not implant a monofocal lens.
Richyt72 gayle14130
Edited
Gayle:
I am a 64 year-old male, I had the Vivity lens implanted in both eyes (right eye (18.5D) on 2/22/21 & left eye (19.5D) on 3/8/21). I don't know what my eye-sight numbers were before the cataract removal and lens implants, but I have required glasses to read since 2005. Over the last few years my distance vision was becoming greatly reduced, as well. I couldn't read road signs from far away, nor follow my golf ball when I teed off.
Initially, I was very impressed with the brightness of my vision after the first implant (right eye), but the clarity of vision (near, mid, and far) was poor (blurry) from the onset. I was told this was normal and would improve over time as my eye healed. On 3/8/21 I had my left eye done and the results were incredible to say the least. Perfect vision for all distances. I can read without glasses, and see my golf ball traveling through the air for the first time in years. Bottom line is the left eye is a tremendous success. HOWEVER, my vision remains blurry in my right eye, so I would say this eye surgery was a failure as I could at least see clearly (even with the cataract) for mid-to-far distances. To make matters even worse ... 6 weeks after my right eye implant I develop a brown spot (floater I guess) the the 3 o'clock position and cloudy floaters float that move around the eye, and do annoy the heck out of me. Once again ... the left eye ... perfect vision with no floaters.
I went to my optometrist at the 2-month mark and she said she couldn't see anything with her equipment, but it it time ... my brain will get used to them and I won't notice them anymore. Not the explanation I wanted after spending over $8,000 for the procedure. Having little confidence in her, I made an appointment to see my eye surgeon on 6/8/21 to see what he has to say. I even emailed Alcon to see if it was possible for the surgeon to implant the lens "backwards", and what would the result be if this were to happen. After two weeks ... no response from them.
I don't know if this post is helpful or not.
RonAKA Richyt72
Posted
By any chance is this a toric lens? If so it may have rotated out of the correct angular position.
Richyt72 RonAKA
Posted
The right eye is not a toric lens. It is a Vivity IOL with an 18.5D. My left eye "is" a Vivity toric lens with a 19.5D.
Do you think this is why my left eye had such good results and my right eye ... not?
Guest Richyt72
Posted
Toric is only necessary if you have significant astigmatism in that eye. Astigmatism can vary from one eye to the other. If the right eye needed a toric lens they would have used one.
RonAKA Richyt72
Posted
A toric lens will only help when you have cylinder (astigmatism) in the cornea. Any cylinder error that was in the natural lens, and was a factor in your eyeglass prescription will have been removed. The surgeons do topographic measurements of the cornea prior to surgery to estimate what the residual astigmatism will be. It is only an estimate as some residual astigmatism can be induced with the incision to do the cataract surgery. The minimum astigmatism in the cornea that is correctable with a toric lens is 0.75 to 1.0 D. The reason is that the minimum power for a toric cylinder correction is 1.5 D. Even if you have 0.75 a 1.5 D toric will over correct. Once you get over 1.0 D most will recommend the toric lens for correction.
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So to get back to your question it may be a matter of luck. You may have had less than 0.75 D in the cornea and the surgery made it worse. Your optician should be able to tell you if it is astigmatism that is the problem as they could correct in the eyeglass refractive testing.
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My thoughts are from what you describe it is more likely to be something else. I have ended up having 0.75 residual astigmatism in my IOL eye. The surgeon had estimated it to be 0 to 0.4 D, but it got worse. Still I have excellent vision in the IOL eye and even though it is a monofocal I can see down to 20" or so with it. Astigmatism can help with reading. Distance is excellent, and tests a bit better than 20/20.
jonathan95823 Richyt72
Posted
Have you considered replacing the disappointing lens with a monofocal? Or do you think the problem is in the eye itself? i would not expect useful commentary from a optometrist but an ophthamologist might know how to fix things. Hope it turns out alright.