Refractive Lens Replacement with Symphony Lens

I had opened a discussion of this issue of seeing multiple concentric circles around lights with Symfony lens in my post, "Has Any One Else Noticed this Unusual Vision Issue with Symfony Lens" on this forum. Many other people seem to have had this issue. Rather than repeating the discussion here, you may want to read the comments there as well as add to the discussion there, as you see fit.

What does your doctor say about this?  Three months is a long time.  Maybe you have an infection and need more antibiotic drops.  I'm certainly no expert but if I were in your shoes I would want answers and fast.  I say that because I've read that 3-6 months is usually an optimal time to consider a lens exchange (I've read no more than six months).  It can be done anytime but there are optimal times.  If I were in your shoes and my doctor was not addressing my needs, I would try to find the best doctor around and get a second opinion.  They might suggest changing it out with a monofocal lens.  Good luck to you.

I also see concentric rings around lights - as well as starbursts and halos. While this may improve with time, in my case the other advantages of the Symfony lens - freedom from glasses for the first time in over 60 years and (currently) excellent vision, are a great compensation.

Hi Rickyd, I am no help regarding your symptoms although I have had my fair share or  complications, I am sure someone will be able to advise you but it always annoys me that the person who caused you to have these symptoms isnt going to do something about it, have you asked them whats wrong, it wasnt as if you had cataracts like I had and most others on this site have had, your op should have been simple, and they symptoms you are having sound awful, you poor thing, I will be interested to read what other say, please keep us up to date with what you decide, again please ask whoever did your op what on earth is happening with your eyes

Kindest regards

Agnes

For others reading, those who are comfortable wearing contacts who dislike readers should consider trying multifocal contacts before considering surgery  (i don't know if you did), since unfortunately some eye doctors don't push them since they take more fitting time. Others find contacts in monovision to get more near to work well for them (though I found they reduced depth perception compared to multifocals).

re: "The outside corners of my eyes feel like I have a tear drop in them and the center of my bottom eyelids feel like they are welling up."

You can't actually feel the artificial lens in your eye, and its precense doesn't caus any of those senses of tears. 

That suggests you have some eye health issue that needs to be addressed, though a doctor would need to look at your eyes to determine what, e.g. perhaps  dry eye (which oddly can sometimes lead sometimes to compensating over production of tears).  If your current doctor doesn't deal with it, get a 2nd opinion. Such eye problems can impact the frequency of the halos you are seeing (the 10 rings around lights). Dry eye is one potential complication of lens replacement surgery, but its usually only temporary, sometimes due to nerves being cut during surgery that heal, though it can take several months to go away with some people.

The "glaze over my eyes" suggests the possibility of an issue a minority of people get, PCO, posterior capsular opacification, which can be treated with a few minute laser procedure (though it makes lens exchange more complicated, but stil possible). That can also impact the incidence of halos.

Most people don't have problems with halos with the Symfony, though a minority do. Most people who initially have halos with a premium lens see it go away eventually or at least reduce to where its less of a problem. Most studies on IOLs only ask about the incidence of halos after 3 or 6 months to see how many might have problems longer term. You've past the 3 month mark, but even beyond that many see the halos go away.

I haven't seen data on how long it takes for halos to reduce after the Symfony, but a recent article noted they diminished with trifocals (though trifocals have a higher incidence of problematic halos than the Symonfy). They note most of the drop off happening by 3 months, but do suggest the incidence is lower at 6 months (though unfortunately they don't give a figure for the drop between 3 to 6 months, or for drops after that):

"Regarding the perception of photic phenomena, 90% of patients reported to perceive halos at 1 month after surgery, although 80% of these patients described these halos as not disturbing. At 3 months after surgery, the perception of halos decreased to 50%. ...

This perception of halos decreased in all patients at 3 months after surgery. Law et al. [5] also found a reduction in the perception of halos over time, decreasing from 80% at 1 month to 40% at 6 months after the implantation of the same trifocal IOL."

(they moderate links here, google that to find the article, but thats the only relevant info). As they noted, most people don't find them disturbing, and even fewer people see them at all with the Symfony.

As they note, most people don't find them to be a problem. In my case I'm one of the minority that saw the halos with the Symfony from the start, but they are so mild/translucent that I see through/past them and don't consider them a problem since I find the headlights less distracting than they used to be, less glare disability, so that more than makes up for the halos and lets me function better at night than I used to. 

Your brain adapts to things like halos over time the more you expose yourself to them for the brain to learn to tune them out. In my case I've been busy in the 2 years postop working too much at home evenings on the computer and not outside as much as usual so that may have slowed my adaptation. Recently I've noticed that I've stopped seeing halos around some lights that consistently always had them in the past, although they are still there (but milder) around others. So adaptation continues to improve things even months or a few years afterwards.

If the issue is too problematic, you can get a lens exchange to a monofocal lens, which unfortunately that will reduce your near vision more than your presbyopia did before surgery. A second surgery may also compound dry eye issues, if that is your problem. 

 

HI RICKY I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH both MY EYES OPERATION FOR REFRACTIVE LENS REPLACEMENT Therapy in both eyes with a multifocal lenses. AFTER 5 and a half weeks my eyes are still watering and both of my eyes are sensative to light. NEAR VISION IS GOOD BUT DISTANCE VISION IS AVERAGE. ill keep you posted.

DEREK

Hi Ricky (and those following), i know its been some time since your RLE ... i had both my eyes done on 2nd Feb. I had perfect distance vision 20/20, but wear glasses (+2) for reading. i was told RLE would eliminate the need for reading glasses while NOT affecting my perfect distance vision. .. now 2.5 months post op, i can read without glasses but my distance vision is a blur.. Its like looking at the world from underwater... lights all have halo's, my life is a blur.. i am devastated .. $12600 to essentially rob me of my vision 😦 My surgeon keeps telling me to wait longer and perhaps consider lazik once i have reached a plateau.. but i havent improved since the op almost 3months ago... i am petrified that i have ruined my vision for life. i was assured there were no risks of losing my vision. i am now in contact lenses permanently, even with them my vision is half what it used to be... please tell me your vision has finally improved... im sure i just made the biggest mistake of my life 😦