Part I Symfony Lens of Part II Synergy lens update

Thanks @Sue.An2 I am hoping there isn't anything to this blurriness I am having. I have a check up in the morning and will see what they say.

Could also be swelling too as eye heals. I found vision best early morning - it wouldn't be as crisp either after putting drops in. Stayed crisp once drop regiment was over. Hoping same for you. This is why all who have had cataract surgery never recommend having 2nd eye done soon after first. Eye needs time to heal first and any adjustments needed can be made to 2nd eye. Your IOL once settled can give you .25 diopter either way during healing process.

The most common cause of blurriness after cataract surgery is posterior capsule opacification (PCO). There are varying reports on how quickly it can happen after surgery. My thoughts are that it would be unusual to have it this quickly though.

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The other possibilities would be that the lens has moved off center, or has tilted. Or, if it is a toric type, it may have rotated out of position.

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All things you should ask about at your post op follow up.

Hi @Sue.An2 and @ronAKA- had a check up today - all good. She said it's probably still healing and maybe still some internal inflammation that she cannot see. Like Sue says, I am mostly clear in the AM when I wake up and things get kind of fuzzy throughout the day. I am constantly using the computer for work, so this may be contributing to a slow recovery! 2nd eye is done on Monday. Hopefully things improve by then!

good luck. very interested in the comparison of the two.

Thanks! Right now, I am in the dreaded fasting (no coffee) part of the day!!! I can easily go without food (I intermittent fast regularly), but coffee is another story! Surgery isn't for another 6 hours.

That is so funny as I too intermittent fast so no food in the morning is no problem, but no coffee to wake up is another matter. This is why you schedule your surgery for the morning.

Wishing you the best and let us know how everything went.

Hi @rwbil - I wish! They don't allow us to schedule - they call and tell you your time.

Just woke up - have not yet been to the morning check up. Yesterday was worse than the first one. It was actually painful - not sure why, but my eye was burning a lot and I could feel the pressure in the procedure a lot more. The eye is VERY red today.

I'll report back here after my morning appointment. I can see out of it, so that's a good sign 😃

@rwbil - also, I LOVE IF. It really helps me to keep my weight in check and feel good. I fast for about 20-22 hours each day and have a smoothie when I break my fast and then one meal - mostly vegetarian except for chicken/fish maybe every two weeks. I started doing it in 2019 and will probably do it the rest of my life. I think it helps with mental clarity and overall health. What got you started on IF?

what if that caused the cataracts?

Hope all went well. Should have looked at your latest post before sending you my long post. What lens did you go with.

Odd you should mention IF - seriously looking into that.

My wife reported similar on her second eye. She was nearly blind in the first eye done and could not see much. Her vision was much better in the second eye, and she was much more aware of the procedure. Felt it was more uncomfortable than the first one. No difference in the recovery though. She had the 1/2 Ativan under the tongue for sedation, which was the same as the first time. I had an IV sedation that made me very unaware of everything that was going on with my first eye. My next eye is likely to be done in this same clinic as my wife, and I expect the Ativan treatment, as it is not a hospital. I am not really looking forward to that method, but it is either that or wait for months or years for COVID to get into a hospital.

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Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Hmmm, I am not sure that it would. Is there information out there that IF causes cataracts?

@Sue.An2,

Hi Sue Ann,

I stuck with what my surgeon recommended - the Symfony in my dominant eye and Synergy in the other one. So far so good.

I really like IF - basically, I drink my smoothie around 11 am to break my fast (I do have black coffee in the AM which does not break it) and then have my main meal at either 12 or 1PM (depending on schedule). I fast the rest of the time. It's quite freeing to my life as I am not constantly thinking about what's next for food. Having the same smoothie and then one meal simplifies my life. I actually also just feel better and sleep MUCH better. I did not realize what eating a 3rd meal around 6-7 pm was doing do my sleep until I stopped. This way of eating did affect my ability to process alcohol...like, really, one glass of wine max. I don't think that's a bad thing though.

Interesting. My nurse yesterday actually told me that I would be more aware this time of what's going on and that the Versed would not be as effective. So, I wonder if it was just as painful the first time, but I just don't remember it.

Good luck for your 2nd surgery. I am definitely glad it's over 😃

First how are you doing. Hope all is going well.

20-22 IF, you are a trooper. I am a whimp in comparison. I pretty much always do 12 hours, which is the bare IF minimum and easy to do. IMHO everyone should do 12 hours to give your digestive system time to rest and catch up. Normally I do between 14-16 hour IF.

@rwbil - I am doing better as the day progresses. I posted an update which is on the next page.

It took me a couple of years to work up to this long to fast. I started with 12. I've only been able to do 36 hours once, but that is my next goal. It was nice to fast for the surgery and not be bothered about eating - even hours afterward. Now the coffee though...hmm, that one not so easy, ha ha! 14-16 is great! I do believe the science in terms of cell regeneration etc. There was a story on BBC a few years ago of a 100-year old who walks the marathon each year. He eats only half the normal calories and attributes his good health and longevity to that.

Half the normal calories each day I meant to say.

Calorie restriction has shown to work to lengthen life spans. I don't know if you are familiar with the mice studies and IF, but that is what kicked off the trend. The problem is a mouse's 16 hours is not the same as a human 16 hours. I have read that a mice 16 hours would be like days for a human, so your 36 hour fast is actually probably very good.

But if the IF helps one control body fat then that is critical as being obese leads to so many other health issues. I know we are way off topic, but I also do HIIT classes sorta like crossfit, but you can not use that name as it is trademarked.

There have been studies that the human body needs obstacles / stress, obviously not ones that might lead to injury or death, to grow stronger and live longer. If you are not familiar with David Sinclair and his book and work you might enjoy reading and following his podcast. But I would be very wary of using mice studies and thinking they relate to humans. He also did a really good interiew on the Joe Rogan Podcast which you can catch on spotify. This will give you something to do during your recovery stage.

Hi @rwbil - thanks for the suggestion. I'll check him out. I searched on Amazon and his book looks very interesting. I'll order it as it looks to be an interesting read.

Ive heard of Joe Rogan - maybe I'll try him out on my weekly drives.

Thanks again 😃

Thanks for this. Doing a bit of reading up on IF. I see there are a few ways and schedules one can follow. Wine in the evenings on weekends will be hard. Also coffee wish I could drink it black - huge fan of cream.

For my surgeries they gave me Ativan 15 min ahead of when they called me in to surgical room. Poured a vial of numbing drops into the eye. Felt a bit of pressure each time but that was it. interesting the different processes depending where you live or place you go to. Not a lot of options in Canada - mine done at the hospital.

This would be good for my grocery bill too. Rising costs that see no end right now.

Also meant to say that I am doing a dry January and thinking about extending it as I am feeling so much better. I did not drink heavily - but even once a week I would feel pretty bad for a couple of days.

Hi @Sue.An2,

I responded but something in my message got it sent to the moderation queue. I noted that Dr. Fung says that a little bit of creamer in coffee is okay. I sometimes have a splash of Almond milk in mine and when not fasting I will have a Coconut milk latte from Starbucks as a treat (yummy!).

Also, noted that it is very interesting with regard to the difference in surgeries between countries (I wonder what my experience would have been like in the UK), but also between surgeries with the same surgeon! My 2nd eye was not a good experience like the first one. There was a different surgical staff and maybe this was the reason. I remember the placement of the thing on my eye before he did the surgery was rougher and the placement of the eye drops/water during the surgery a bit haphazard and not pleasant at all. Today, my eye is bruised as well! Good thing I put my classes online this week as going in with this shiner would need explaining! Of course it will still be there next week, but can at least put some make up on it by then.

The good news is that I can see VERY well and that is most important. In fact, the Synergy lens (the one implanted two days ago) is seeing better for me than the Symfony (two weeks ago). The Symfony eye just is not as clear! So, definitely the Synergy seems to be better and I guess that makes sense as it's newer in the J&J family.

Yes Synergy newer - when I got Symfony it was brand new. Always better IOLs being developed.

Sounds like your 2nd surgery indeed rough! The surgical team consisted of 2 for me. Nurse had me stand and tilt my head back while she poured numbing vial into the eye. after s minute she had me lay down and I did not know or feel anything after that. Pressure minimal. Stared straight up at 3 lights - reddish. Took less than 10 min.

My 1st one was like this - very smooth. Glad it's over 😃

is your distance vision and vision quality better with synergy?

Hi @soks - the distance and overall quality seem to be slightly better with the Synergy. Although I was told that the Synergy would give me better far off, my perception is that the Synergy is outperforming the Symfony on near, intermediate and far. So, I did not expect this. This Synergy lens seems to be having some slight issues - for example, it feels shaky in my eye like it's not quite settling. I am also still getting some infrequent peripheral flashes. So it seems to be taking its time settling into place. It may turn out to be better once it does - but it has been two weeks so who knows?

I meant Symfony would give me better far off...

Gosh - let me try this again! The Synergy seems to be outperforming the Symfony at all distances. The Symfony seems to be having some settling issues.

Hopefully your next visit with surgeon will provide answers. I didn't have any feeling Symfony was shaky or unsettled.Did have peripheral flashing of light that took several weeks to go away in one eye.

Thanks @Sue.An2 - I don't think it's actually shaking - it just feels like that. The vision is great - so not sure why it 'feels' like it. It's not all the time either, so hopefully just settling in 😃