PanOptix lens still jiggling/flickering after almost 2 months...
Posted , 8 users are following.
I had a Panoptix toric lens placed in my right eye about two months ago. It jiggled/flickered almost immediately. My ophthalmologist has been useless.
The next day after surgery, I went in and told him that the lens was jiggling in my eye. He said, "That's normal." The next week, I went in and said the lens was still flickering/jiggling. He said, "That's normal." I returned three weeks later and told him the lens was still jiggling and flickering. He said, "That's rare and unusual. I haven't seen that before."
When did "normal" turn in to "rare and unusual?" I was supposed to have my other eye done two weeks after the first. I postponed it as I couldn't handle two jiggly flickering eyes. All he wants to do is do the other eye. He has given me no help or support or ideas of what to expect. I've seen the PanOptix lens jiggle video on YouTube and that is what I have. His surgical scheduler called me to reschedule the second surgery and said my eye result went bad due to have the pre-existing condition of PVD. Well, why didn't they mention that before the surgery? Why push me to schedule the second surgery when the first went badly?
My vision is not so great in the operated eye. The distance is OK. But, I can't read the computer or a book very well. Thank god I put off the second surgery and still can read with my left eye (with glasses). I went to an optician to try and get glasses to help the right eye. The first pair didn't work at all. I went back and am waiting to get the second pair maybe next week. I suspect that the right eye will be problematic again.
I have a second opinion scheduled in August at a teaching hospital nearby.
My cataracts weren't that bad and I regret the surgery terribly. The worst part is the surgeon has not been there for me in any way. I read a good article on an ophthalmology site about how to help a patient who has had a poor result from cataract surgery. He has done NONE of those things. I feel abandoned and hopeless.
Forgive my whining. I had to share somewhere!
2 likes, 10 replies
rwbil Eye-so-sad
Edited
Without knowing your entire eye history and condition(s) it is impossible to give advice. My only advice is:
Don't get the 2nd eye done to you resolve this issue first. That IMHO would be beyond stupid and
Find a top notch doctor with lots of experience with PanOptics IOL. Look for Trial doctors and doctors that write research papers. If in US look at Castle Connolly Top Doctors.
Eye-so-sad rwbil
Posted
Thanks for your reply and suggestion.
Oh. Hell. No. on the 2nd eye. I'm not letting anyone near that!
SadEyes Eye-so-sad
Edited
Good luck, Eye So Sad.
Eye-so-sad
Edited
Just an update:
The distance vision in the PanOptix eye is not as good as it was. It has become blurry. It also still flickers/jiggles in my eye. I've been to an optometrist and had two different prescriptions for bifocals to help read. Neither of them worked, So, I still used my old bifocals with one lens out. I read with my left eye mostly.
I don't have my second opinion appt. until early in August. The waiting has been tough. Sigh...
Av7894 Eye-so-sad
Edited
Eye-so-sad...I can completely relate. I have never used glasses or required reading glasses, have lived a fairly comfortable and happy live. I was told that i had congenital cataracts, worse in the right than the left and told i should get them removed....I'm only 43yrs old , but decided to go ahead. I never was told or completely understood the ramifications of this surgery.
Seven months on and the flickering has not stopped and my vision is blurry in both eyes, colour is over saturated and bleeds into each other. I am now so depressed, cant focus on my work or be a productive member in my family. I regret the surgery and wish i can take it away and was much! better off before.
I have been searching for so many answers and get told that the flickering is in my head and i need to look past it and my vision isn't as bad as i perceive it to be.
As i said, Eye-so-sad, I understand to much where you are. When and if i find any closure to this nightmare i will let you know.
Eye-so-sad Av7894
Edited
I'm so sorry you are having to endure this nightmare! Please keep us posted on how you proceed.
I wanted to reply sooner, but had trouble logging in.
I went for my specialist appointment at the The Stein Eye Institute. I received a very thorough exam and spoke to two of the doctors there. One an optometrist and the other an ophthalmologist. They could find nothing amiss.
I was given three options to consider.
New eyeglass prescription. Well, I had tried that already, but I'll give the new one a shot as it differs from the previous 2 that didn't help.
Have a monofocal lens placed in the left (virgin) eye to pick up slack for the PanOptix in the right eye that is not doing much for me. I am petrified to have that eye touched as it actually still works OK.
Last,have the PanOptix removed and replaced with some other lens. They were fairly discouraging about this option. They said exchanging lenses could make things worse. There could end up being complications and additional surgeries.
I'm still left feeling that having my cataract surgery was one of the stupidest things I've ever done in my 65 years of life.
author11 Eye-so-sad
Posted
I'm so sorry to hear that your IOL isn't working. Don't blame yourself. It certainly seems as if the doctor made a mistake.
Please tell us... You wrote, "I received a very thorough exam and spoke to two of the doctors there. One an optometrist and the other an ophthalmologist. They could find nothing amiss." But you also wrote, "My vision is not so great in the operated eye. The distance is OK. But, I can't read the computer or a book very well."
Since you have a PanOptix, isn't that by definition something "amiss". All three distances should be at least good-ish. How can they conclude "nothing amiss", unless they're commenting only on the placement and not on your ability to see.
My lay-person guess is that the surgeon put in the wrong lens power and accidentally made you super-farsighted. Matching that eye with a natural lens and glasses will be tricky. Doing it with a contact lens may be easier.
Av7894 Eye-so-sad
Posted
Eye-so-sad, i know its been a while. How are thing going your side, have you been able to get any further or any other answers?
Eye-so-sad
Edited
UPDATE 7/31/22: Well, here it is a year and a half later. I still hate my PanOptix lens. I refused to have the other eye done and thank god for that. It still works.
I went to the Stein Eye Clinic ages ago and they were not much help. (And wanted to do my other eye! )
All the doctors say the lens is well-seated and that my vision is fine. Maybe objectively it is fine, but subjectively, it is not!
So, I'm on my 4th opinion with an ophthalmologist experienced with the PanOptix lens. He is actually willing to take out the PO lens and replace it with a Mono lens. And then do a YAG for the blurriness.
My biggest fear is making things WORSE by doing more procedures.
I told him that I would not even consider having the other eye done until I get this one to be acceptable.
RonAKA Eye-so-sad
Posted
"His surgical scheduler called me... said my eye result went bad due to have the pre-existing condition of PVD."
.
The PVD may be the source of the flashing. It is caused by the vitreous lining at the back the eye pulling away causing what we perceive as flashes, but there is actually no light involved, and the IOL is not involved either. I got PVD in both of my eyes about a year after surgery. I see the flashing, but I can see it in a very dark room at night with my eyes closed, so no real light is involved.
.
There is no easy way to fix PVD. A vitrectomy can be done (drain and refill the vitreous), but it is a very difficult procedure and is only done as a last resort. The standard practice is to live with it, and hope that it fades and goes away over time.