One year with the PanOptix
Posted , 5 users are following.
It's been one year since I had my left eye operated on and the Panoptics installed. The right eye was done approximately 7 months ago. Details of the first and second eye are posted in separate threads. I've been following these forums for a few years now, unfortunately most of the posts are people that are experiencing problems. I know initially I had come here for information and had some initial problems, discomfort, questions, and worries. But I definitely don't see many success stories or positive experiences posted here overall.
The Panoptix is no different than any other IOL. All of them have positives and negatives nothing will replace your natural lens perfectly. In my opinion much of how your vision settles out after your IOL is implanted is related to neuroadaptation and your willingness to adapt.
For me I can do everything in life from morning till night, near too far, without the need for glasses. I have very clear vivid vision that's probably equal to what I had when I was a teenager. I really can't remember when my vision was so clear and crisp as it is today.
Yes, like many initially I had concerns including halos, starbursts, ghosting, and many of the things that you see listed and related to multifocal lenses. However, those are no longer noticeable throughout my day or night. I see many posts about night vision, so I'll call that out specifically. My night vision is what I would call extremely good. I have no issues with contrast and still am continuously impressed with my night vision. The Halos and starburst have just gone away, I'm sure they're still there I just don't notice them anymore.
The one thing that my surgeon told me which I think stands very true. He said that your vision is just a mishmash of visual signals that your brain puts together. In the end if those visual signals are focused your brain sees what you want it to see and tunes out the unneeded. So, with multifocal lenses specifically you have several rings allowing focus at different distances. Obviously at any one given time/distance only one of them is in proper focus and it’s up to you to decide which one you would like to view. If every day you are continuing to focus on everything you will see everything the good and the bad. If you focus on just the given distance that is in focus that's what you will see. For those of you that may find this hard to believe just think about monovision. I'm sure that everyone would agree that the brain clearly through neuroadaptation learns to use the one eye for distance and the other eye for near. Obviously with monovision the brain is completely ignoring the eye that is not currently in focus for the given distance. So, through the same process it’s possible to learn how to use only the ring of the multifocal lens that is in focus and ignore the rest. In my opinion having two eyes that can focus on a given distance with clarity is an advantage over only one eye at a time. That's why I decided to not get monovision. But just like monovision is not for everyone multifocal lenses are also not for everyone.
For the people that are unhappy with their multifocal lenses please do not think that I am trying to take away from your experience or problems. I am only stating my own personal experience and opinion about myself take from it what you will.
I wish only the best to everyone here.
1 like, 5 replies
phil09 007Bond
Edited
Dr. Wong on youtube claims 99% patient satisfaction on more than 1,000 PanOptix lens implants. I'm not sure I totally believe that percentage, but I am considering PanOptix for my first cataract.
Thanks for posting your experience, and congratulations on the great outcome.
RonAKA 007Bond
Edited
First it is good to hear that you are happy with your PanOptix lenses. I wish you well with them. Outside of this forum I only know one person that has gone with the PanOptix lens. She has had them for 4-5 years now, and is not happy with them. She is not unhappy enough to have them explanted, but she said for sure if she had it to do over again she would not go with the PanOptix. She has been displeased with her night vision due to "huge" halos from oncoming cars, and the last time we spoke she was still not comfortable driving at night. She also did not get the reading vision she expected and now uses +1.75 D readers for many closer vision tasks. So, it is not a sure thing that one will adapt to the PanOptix. Some do not.
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"The Panoptix is no different than any other IOL." Actually it is very different in that it presents three different images at different focal points. I believe that is much harder to adapt to than two different focal points, one from each eye, with mini-monovision. Many people have monovison naturally and don't even know it. I am not of anyone having an eye condition that presents the brain with three different focal points. That is not natural at all.
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I think multifocal IOLs are like multifocal contact lenses. Some adapt to them and some do not. But, with contacts it is much easier to dump them in the garbage and get non multifocal lenses. With PanOptix not so easy. And if you do not adapt, eyeglasses cannot undo the multifocal effect of the lenses. You are stuck with it. With monovision eyeglasses can fully correct both eyes to plano or whatever you want them to be.
007Bond RonAKA
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Ron for sure a few good points.
Sounds like your friend really did not get the right power lens in the end maybe the Dr was off to need the readers. I would not like that for sure and maybe this makes adapation harder or not possible we just don't know.
I did see the halos/starburst at first for quite a while. But I realized why am I focusing on looking at oncoming car headlights I should be paying attention to the road ahead and that's clear. At this point I am driving like I did in the past keeping my eyes on the road and the oncoming headlights off to the side look very normal.
Like my Dr said you have to focus on what you want to see and that's much easer to say then do for many people. I am 100% sure the halos and starburst are actually there even for me. I am sure that the ghosting of letters on this computer monitor is still there in my eyes. But I have adapted to only focus on the clarity of the ring that is in focus and I just don't see the others anymore.
Agreed the Panoptix is harder to adapt then say monovision.
And for sure if you get monovision easy enough to correct with glasses or contacts.
So the Panoptix like any IOL or combo of IOL's is not for everyone for sure.
Everyone needs to make an informed decision and hopefully it works out for them since this is surgery and not easily undone.
phil09 RonAKA
Posted
"She also did not get the reading vision she expected and now uses +1.75 D readers for many closer vision tasks."
That seems strange. Do you have any speculation, or perhaps explanation from your friend's doctor, how this happens?
Just a really bad miss on the prescription? Does that miss affect all three focal points? That is, can your friend see 20/20 or close to it at long distance while wearing the readers? Might the problem be fixed by LASIK, or do they think it's unfixable short of explantation (understanding that there are other problems too, that can't be fixed by glasses or LASIK)?
RonAKA phil09
Edited
She says her distance vision during the day is fine, so I don't think it was any significant miss. But then again we have never gotten into any discussion about what her current eyeglass prescription is. She essentially does not wear any, except readers for closer vision. No, she does not use readers for long distance, only reading/sewing, etc. She says she has at least a dozen pairs of readers sprinkled everywhere in their two homes and trailer...
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She is resolved to live with the lenses and does not want to do anything more about it. Lasik is not likely to be of any benefit if the distance vision is good. That is kind of the way it works with MF lenses. You set them for distance, and get what you get at other distances. That part is built into the lens and is not adjustable.
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From other posts here I have concluded that PanOptix is more likely to come up short on the reading end of the vision range. Synergy seems to have a reputation for giving better reading, along with perhaps weaker distance vision. But they both have all the issues associated with MF lenses.