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My Panoptix trifocal experience

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KingKwon
KingKwon

Hello,

I want to share my cataracts removal and the Panoptix trifocal lense experience and to see if everyone is having a similar experience as I am. As for the background, I am 35 years old and had severe congenital posterior subcapsular cataract and Astigmatism on both of my eyes and started to really notice the cloudy vision at approximately 7 to 10 years ago and I have been wearing prescription eye glasses mostly all of my life. The cataract surgeon advised to get a trifocal since it will correct my Astigmatism and not have to wear glasses. About 2 weeks ago, I had my left (dominant) eye surgery and the right eye a week ago. Both of my eyes were dilated to about 4 days after the surgery so I did not see immediate vision improvement the following day like many people noted (which freaked me out a bit). But after the dilation subsided, I was able to see much more vibrant colors, contrast and no cloudy vision. And no need for glasses.

On the left eye (2 weeks from surgery): I am able to see near (reading/cellphone distance), intermediate, and distance very well. However, anything below cellphone distance the vision become very blurry. I can still read medicine labels at distance but if I get closer, it gets out of focus.

On the right eye (1 week from surgery): I am able to see near (reading/cellphone distance) very well, better than my right eye. However, intermediate and distance (anything past about 2 feet) is blurry. It is complete opposite of my right eye. Note: I was not able to see anything past 2 feet on my right eye without my glasses prior to the surgery.

Night Vison: I notice a slight decline in low light vision, it does seem to get better every day. However, the starburst and halo around the oncoming traffic is very invasive. It almost makes my vision look blurry due it covering large area my view. I am able to drive, but it does take much more concentration and I could not see myself driving for long periods time. Prior to the surgery I had fairly ok night vision with my glasses, complete opposite of before and after the surgery.

On the one day follow up after my second eye surgery, the doctor (not the surgeon) claimed that I have a possible PCO. Which might cause the blurry the near sight on my left eye and far sight on my right eye. But I thought PCO causes cloud vision not blurriness and doesn’t build up until weeks or months after the surgery? And I only see negative reviews about YAG treatment. She referred me to the surgeon in 2 weeks for a further evaluation.

So this is where I am today. I don’t need glasses and have a very good sights during the day. And happy that I don't have to wear glasses. The night time driving is very discouraging due to the halos and starbursts. The right eye issues seem to be getting better every day, but with very little margin. I have heard that it takes weeks to month for your eyes and brain to adjust. Maybe my muscles just need to adjust to compensate for 10 years of blindness. The surgery does PRK/Lasik if I needed for 6 months. What were your experiences like and what are my options? Is there something I need to keep an eye out for or look into?

Thanks everyone.

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • soks
    soks KingKwon

    Posted

    thanks for sharing your experience. my pco has caused bluriness. it was first detected at 4 weeks but was not interefering with the vision at the time.

    • KingKwon
      KingKwon soks

      Posted

      Is it similar blurriness as what I am experiencing? and did you end up getting the YAG treatment?

    • soks
      soks KingKwon

      Posted

      not done YAG yet. YAG puts males under 50 at risk if retina detachment. and i also want to decide whether to exhange the symfony or not.

      it became gradually blurry. initially i could blink and make it clear.

  • janus381
    janus381 KingKwon

    Edited

    I have a long thread where I shared my experience with PanOptix from pre-surgery, to a few months after surgery. Take a look at it.Last reply was four months ago, so it is now on page 3. Look for the subject:"Cataract Surgery Just Completed Sharing My Experience - Panoptix-tri-focal". There were 96 replies in that thread, so lots of discussion.

    Some key points:

    • It is not unusual for it to take a few weeks, even months for your brain to neural adapt to the tri-focals to see well at all distances.It does seem strange that you can see pretty well at all distances with one eye, while the other eye has near only for now. But you are in the very early stages, and if you could not see beyond 2 feet with that eye before, that may be the reason it will take longer for that eye to adapt.Give it time to neural adapt.
    • PCO usually takes many months to develop, but "early PCO" is possible.I had early PCO in one eye. The nature of your cataract may impact this. Don't get YAG right away. At the very least wait 3 months to ensure lens has settled, and make sure it isn't something else that is impacting your vision (e.g. dry eye).
    • Having to get more light to read in dim conditions is not unusual.
    • Degree of halos and starbursts are different for each person. Most people find them mild. But here again, your brain will neural adapt, and most people find as the brain adapts to filter out the noise, it's not as troublesome many months later.But not everyone gets this result (adapting to diminish impact over time).
    • KingKwon
      KingKwon janus381

      Posted

      Thanks for that reply,

      I believe I have seen your thread and it was very helpful.

      My night time driving is what bothers me the most, they don't exactly tell you what to expect prior to the surgery. Is there any way for the time being to remedy the halo and starbursts? yellow glasses?

      My surgery does include PRK or Lasik to fine tune the vision. Would that help at all with night vision and blurriness?

      thanks

    • soks
      soks KingKwon

      Posted

      your iols are already yellow. PRK/Lasik would help refraction and eliminate blur if refraction is an issue. not sure if they would help nightvision issues if caused by glare or contrast loss.

  • KingKwon
    KingKwon

    Edited

    It has been about 3 weeks for my left eye and 2 weeks for my right eye. Both eyes were finished with the eye drops.

    My left eye is having hard time focusing on near object. It seems more blurry, seems like Astigmatism. It definitely feels like the eye is working extra hard and do feel more fatigued than before. Nothing has changed other than the drops.

    Right eye is still blurry for intermediate and distance. Near sight is great though.

    What could this mean?

    • soks
      soks KingKwon

      Posted

      astigmatism actually makes near better. so your left eye may not have any astigmatism.

    • KingKwon
      KingKwon soks

      Posted

      You were right,

      I just had a 3 week post-op appointment with my surgeon and he advised that inflammation is what's causing my left eye to have a blurry near vision due to it still healing.

      He also advised that my right eye has residual astigmatism (12 and 6 positions) which is causing blurry intermediate and distance vision and have great near vision. Also explains why I was able to see when I cross-eyed with my right eye.

      He want to see me again in 6 weeks (once the eyes are completely healed) to make final decision if I still need Lasik correction, which will fine tune the eye.

      Now I have to do some research on astigmatism corrections post cataract surgery and Lasik. Is this my best option? and isn't multiple focal lens completely correct the astigmatism?

      Thanks again

    • soks
      soks KingKwon

      Posted

      if distance and intermediate is not too terribly blurry i would just wear light astigmatism glasses.

  • KingKwon
    KingKwon

    Posted

    I tried few tests on my right eye today.

    I cross-eyed both of my eyes, covered the left eye, and I was able to see intermediate and distance fairly clearly with my right eye. The focus only lasts for about a second or so, but it was definitely more clear. I do think that my right is still trying to get use to the eye and I can feel the muscle working. It has been about 3 weeks for my right eye surgery.

    Could this be something else? AMD, dislocation, etc?

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