Looking for Feedback on Tecnis Symfony

Susie, I'm sorry you are having problems.  If you can be patient a little while longer things will improve I'm sure.   I had the symfony lens implanted in my right eye 60 days ago and my vision is sitll improving.  Slowly but surely I can read more and more closely. Driving is still a terrible problem.  I do have a little scar tissue in that eye which is going to be removed in a couple more months.  I do not understand where that came from but the Dr. says my vision will be better after that.

?Because of the driving issues, and close up reading issues I had a Technis Multi-focal lens inserted in my left eye.   I like it much better for driving and for reading and if weren't for some astigmatism (which is going to be taken care of after full heaing)   I like it better than the Symfony which I think is oversold for near vision.   I don't find its anywhere near as good as I had hoped.   Dry eyes are a problem.  It's a nuisance,I know, but use drops as often as you can as it really does help.    I just wish I had been as fortunate as that lady who sees so wel after the surgery.

I need glasses to read

Have had an awful time with symphony

Mine was decebtered sbd I developed posterior opacity just had yag this week hoping it gets better

I keep referring to it as the symfony (abbott makes the technis as well) but I do have the technis multifocal lens.  I can see close up just fine.  When I work out on the treadmill or eliptical I can read without glasses.  My distance (to me the more important) vision is what's bad.  I don't mind the eye drops..I just want to see where I am driving and the tennis ball.

My eyes are improving daily.  However the YAG was instant improvement.  If you don't get the results you are hoping for...  get a second surgeon's opinion.   My surgeon wasn't satisfied until my eyes were both 20/20 or better...  and as of this past week...  he has done many laser corrections on my left eye since the surgeries were done on both eyes this past February.  

Sharon:

May I ask you a question? I had LASIK 17 years ago

Now they did Symfony lenses. They did laser at the same time to supposedly get rid of any residual astigmatism. My distance vision is barely adequate.  My near vision sucks.  I am 6 months post op.

i must wear readers of 1.75 in one eye and 1.25 in the other.  I am told I still have astigmatism.  Distance vision on a really good day isn't 20 /40.  

They tried rotating ting the lenses, did nothing.  They did Yag laser with minimal help.  Are these the kinds of issues that you encountred?

I paid $ 3800 per eye even after all insurance was taken care of.  My vision sucks.  And my night vision is a disaster.  

I'd love to hear what you have to say.  Thank you.

by the way, I am in the USA.

I can suggest only. I have everything good and absolutely no negatives to report in all my laser surgeries. It took time and that was the only setback. I did several months of research and actually contacted some of the patients that my surgeon worked on, inserted the Symfony Lens on... and was very excited to be accepted by this surgeon. Your eyes are very important... I would not stop until you get the very best corrections possible. I could copy your message and share it with my surgeon if you think there is any chance that you could travel to Michigan if he thinks he can improve your site. My astigmatism was worse in my left eye, and I too had to have the capsule removed... so once my eye healed, he went back in and took more measurements and corrected rhe astigmatism with laser on both sides of the cornea. Measurements were taken again before surgery, and again while under the laser. I would not rest until I found someone like this for a second opinion.

I have replied to your message,  but apparently it needs to be moderated first before it can be posted.    

Yes,  I have had most of what you have gone through with the Symfony Tecnis lens experience... and it has all been carefully corrected.  

In your particular case, did you have problems with both NEAR and FAR ??

?In my particular case, I feel like I am looking through waxed paper most of the time.  I can't read my IPAD without using reading glasses. 

?If I look at someone just a few feet away, I have to squint just to make out who they are. 

?Roughly, long long did it take for your surgeon to make it better ?   Was it a step type process.  Fix one thing...... and then once that seemed better, move onto the next?

Thanks so much for your input.

 

Yes, a step by step process since the second week in February, I have all of my follow up posts on here... in the cataract board and Symfony board if you look for my messages. I got tired of buying glasses, and looking through scratches. So I went for it... near and far vision... progressive glasses at 300.00+ no more. The end result of the last 4 months is now better than 20/20 in both eyes. Small print on my iPhone is no problem, distant vision is fantastic, and the halos and starbursts are less than they were at the beginning. I do have a little glare but I am not going to complain. I had my surgeries in Holland Michigan... 5600.00 complete. I did have one laser treatment that I am still thinking I may get a bill for, but well worth it 😉

I am going to look at your posts. From this particular brief reply, it sounds like you problems were similiar to mine. Right now, I can't see close, nor can I see far. They did originally tell me that the $ 3800 for each eye would be all inclusive and that if I needed additional work it would be included. 

I am am hoping that the eye doctor can get things moving along in the right direction. Right now, I can't even sign a check without looking for reading glasses to see the check to sign it.

i have no issues with a step process. Almost e Rey single person I know has gone with a regular mono type lens and has been very satisfied. The doctor suggested the Symphony lenses because of my age and activity level and saying that it would in theory keep me away from glasses.  I am 58.

I'm glad to hear that your doctor was indeed that dedicated to get things right.   Thank you for the input.

You are welcome to follow my posts from before the surgery in February, to this past week when I finished the process. I posted each treatment and laser surgery within a day or so of treatment along with the outcome of each. You can share my posts with your surgeon... it may help him to see how another surgeon handled a similar Symfony case. 😉

Sharon are you happy now with the Symfony lens? My surgery is in July so still trying to decide. would really like to see near and far but I do drive at night. Living in Canada we drive to and from work in the dark 4 months of the year. Child plays sports and we are often driving at night to matches so don't want my night vision compromised.

Four months of the year in the dark would be very difficult for me presently. Unless you have a relief driver. The first two months were tough driving as the eyes heal. But it's getting easier now, however I am sure I could not handle 4 months of dark driving even if I were wearing glasses.

All in all, I would do some serious background checking on your perspective surgeon's post surgery patients. I did, and found great feedback. I actually contacted one and had a very lengthy conversation that was most helpful and helped me go ahead with my choice of doctors. Not all doctors will stay the course until they have done all they can do to give you the best. If you read all my posts, you know all the laser treatments we did to correct the many obstacles we hit along the way. It was not a one shot surgery for me to get to 20/20 vision that I now have in both eyes. I had a serious astigmatism, that required two laser treatments. a capsule that had to be removed post cataract surgery, some cornea shaping, etc. which was all covered in the original package, but was timely. So these are things to consider, which may add weeks to your recovery. I would go through it all again, but I am retired, and don't have to worry about driving daily. I waited until I could take it day by day without the stress of a job.

The 4 months of short days in Canada are Nov thru Feb so with my surgery in July I will have a few months that at least for work won't have to face night driving. I do not live in a big city so have limited options for surgeons and they all do them through our local hospital. Coincidentally I was able to talk with someone just last week who had Symfony tonic lenses implanted last Dec. Day vision was really good within a matter of days although to this day she is still using drops daily but she did say she suffered dry eyes prior to surgery. She had glare halos and starbursts to the point she wasn't comfortable driving at night but around 5 week mark she still had these issues but could see through them to drive at night. She is happy with her choice. She was one of the first to get these lenses where I live. She said when she went for follow up visits other patients in sitting area who got monofocal lenses although none had her night vision issues mentioned they thought their eyesight would be better and were disappointed about that.

I will definitely ask next pre-op visit about tweakings and if there are additional expenses if I opt for Symfony as I do not know if that is covered under our Medicare system. currently I am near sighted and power in my glasses are -2.50 in right eye and -2.0 in left. Just started needed progressives but I usually take off my glasses to read. Hoping since my eyesight isn't too bad they can get power spot on for distance without tweaking. Don't have astigmatism.

Appreciate your feedback Sharon gives me food for thought.

You may have already seen my suggestion to other persons on this web site. In any case, I will like to suggest to anyone who wants to have a reasonably good vision at the reading, intermediate, and far distances with minimal chances of having night visions issues to consider a combination of a Symfony lens in the non-dominant eye for the intermediate (and near) and a monofocal lens in the dominant eye for the best focus at far distance. Most of the surgeons don't suggest combinations of different types of lenses. So, you will have to bring it up with them and get their feedback.

Firstly, my own background. I have a Symfony Toric lens in my right eye for distance and a monofocal lens in my left eye for close-up. (opposite of what I am suggesting to you). With this combination, I have good day vision at all distances beyond 16 inches. However, I wish that my night vision were better, the main issue being the seeing of multiple concentric circles or halos around lights at night time. Many other people seem to have had the same issue. Rather than repeating the details here, I will encourage you to read my post, “Has Any One Else Had This Very Unusual Vision Issue with Symfony Lens?” on this forum. You should be able to find it by clicking on my name and then looking under “Discussion”.

Any way, the problem with the multiple circles or halos, around lights, associated with the Symfony lens is at distances beyond about 20-30 yards. If you use the monofocal lens for the distance in the dominant eye, you should not have that issue. That will provide you with a good vision for driving at night. If you start with having the monofocal lens in the dominat eye and that turns out to be as planned, then have the Symfony lens in your non-dominant eye set for about 32-40 inches best-focus range, which will give you the capabilty of reading as well as overall good vision at all distances with both eyes.

You will still need to make sure that you get the best focus at the planned distance and have little astigmatism in both eyes to get the desired vision. This does not automatically happen in large number of cases, thus requiriing LASIK enhancement (or another similar procedure). This is true irrespective of how good or bad your current vision is. Many surgeons perform LASIK enhancement as part of the Premium lens package without any additional cost, but that is not always the case. So, you will need to check on that.

Thank you. I have jotted down a few of your suggestions as I meet with my surgeon one more time in June before my surgery in July. I don't think I have any treatments that might be needed after surgery included with Symfony purchase. Something I will inquire about for sure. My understanding was the cost was $1,200 per eye minus $300 per eye cost of monofocal lens covered by Canada's Medicare. That fee is paid to hospital for a Symfony lens not clinic. Cost of surgery completed covered by Canada's Medicare

So if I understand your post you have a Symfony in one eye and monofocal in the other but you still have night vision issues (I am assuming the issue stems from Symfony not monofocal lens) so at least you can drive safely at night.

I had an interesting conversation with someone who had Symfony lens implanted in both eyes last Dec. from same clinic I am seeing for my surgery. She said she had glare haloes starburst in the beginning but these subsided at 5 week mark. She still sees the circles but they are faint and she can see through them. She had Symfony Toric lenses implanted. Very pleased with daytime vision - no need for any further treatments for power. Had to use drops daily but she said she used drops often prior to surgery too.

Sue,  

My Medicare only paid for the initial cartaract surgery,  not the insertion of the Symfony Lens.  It was 5600.00 out of pocket.  To be paid within 6 months from first date of surgery back in Feburary.

I was out and about today and suddenly noticed that there were no halos...  I had almost forgotten the past few weeks of halos and starbursts.  I was pretty surprised to feel like i did in my teens before I needed glasses.  Every week that goes by gets better.  All the tweaking has worked.  I am now scheduled to revisit my surgeon in three months. I can read small print at 8 inches and distant vision is good at more than a quarter mile. My left cornea is healing and there is no swelling from the last laser surgery that was done just about three weeks ago.

Wow amazing. So glad to hear the glare, etc lessen with time. Canada Medicare covers cataract surgery plus cost of monofocal lens of $300 per eye. If I want Symfony lens my expense is $900 per eye. However I figure your expense also covers anything else required like lasik. That is something I will need to inquire about. If I opt for Symfony lenses I will need to inquire about potential additional charges for further 'tweaking ' if needed.

Yes, Sue,  I have never had Lasik,  only Laser.  Just glad I am now done with adjustments. Each treatment was about 200.00 but doctor said the clinic was obsorbing the tweaking costs.  They were part of the package deal  

 

Thanks for clarifying. Will need to add this to my list of questions. I am pretty sure my $1,800 out of pocket expense just covers the lenses.

My suggestion to you is essentially my thinking on what I will do differently from the combination of the monofocal lens and the Symfony lens, which I have to achieve the similar good daytime vision without the night vision issue of the multiple circles or halos around lights at night.

The monofocal lens is in my non-dominant left eye and is set for best focus at about 17 inches. That eye developed a cataract about 20 years back. At that time, that was the only lens options available.

I have had the Symfony lens installed in my right eye (which is the dominant eye) since about 6 months back. This one is set for the best focus at distance (achieving about 20/15 vision), but also provides good intermeditate vision. Between the 2 eyes, I can see well at all distances beyond about 16 inches. However, I still see the multiple circles around lights at night, which I don't like at all. I am learning to live with that night vision issue, but it would have been obviously better if I did not have that issue.

The issue of seeing multiple circles with Symfony lens seems to happen at distances more that 50 feet or so, and not at shorter distances. Thus, I feel that if I had had Symfony lens in my non-dominant left eye set for intermediate distance (providing me good near vision also) and the monofocal lens in my dominant right eye set for distance, i would have still achieved good vision at all distances beyond about 16 inches, but would have avoided the night vision issue. I never had that choice because of my eye history and I probably would not have known better any way even if I had had both eye surgeries recently. However, now that I know, I am making the suggestion of this combination in the proposed manner (different from mine) in the hope that someone will get some useful benefit from this.

Hello,

I have been thinking about you and the discussions we have had about a month ago.   How have you been,  and did  you get your issues resolved?

Our eyes are of utmost importance... do follow through with your eyecare and get more opinions if you aren't pleased with the information you receive.