Starbursts, Halos, Glares, etc before surgery.. Better now with new IOL?

I should also add that I see large translucent circles around lights which disappear when I look atht elight probably because my pupil undulates.  Also these circles are sometimes of the rainbow color.  I wonder if I get Symfony that the Symfony circles will be of that size.

Soks with Symfony lenses the circumference of the circles change depending on the distance between you and light source.  The closer I come to the light they get smaller and then disappear.

Thanks for sharing, did you set a surgery date yet?  Are you leaning towards Symfony or ?

lol Thank you for sharing your story about you and your husband.  Oh wow no night vision issues with Symfony, that's great. 

Also, there is a pilot who had Symfony implanted. If you Google AOPA and Symfony you will see the pilot report. There is no perfect lens--So just have to decide which is the most important priority for you.

AOPA staff confirmed with the FAA that the Tecnis Symfony replacement lens option is now allowed for pilots

Hope that helps-

Congrats on a successful surgery. Sounds like you are enjoying your new vision. I too enjoy jigsaw puzzles and spend hours on them during the holidays. Your near vision should improve once 2nd Symfony is implanted - mine did. Keep us posted on how things go.

ann39244 ... I'm in the same boat, but I only have 1 Symfony lens implanted. I was scheduled to have a 2nd Symfony lens implanted in my other eye in November of 2017 but canceled the surgery because I was too afraid of the possibility of my 2nd eye turning out like the 1st eye. I've been living with one Symfony eye and one near-sighted natural eye (without a prescription) ever since. My low light vision is worse now than before the surgery. To be fair, my day vision is okay (other than glare once in a while ... and I don't always read very well, but it's okay). My life was a nightmare following the surgery. I got to the point of just being exhausted from dwelling on it so much, so right now I'm doing nothing. I might wait until I absolutely have to do something before I do anything. After 2 second opinions (which were different) and email correspondence with somebody highly respected in another state, I'm really confused. But life goes on, which is why I'm giving myself a break from thinking about it all the time. I need to get my life back again. (My Symfony eye also waters a lot, which it never did before the surgery).

Just so people know ... it isn't all roses for everybody. I envy the people that Symfony lenses works for.

Thanks for update. I am in a similar situation. I am planning on a monofocal for my 2nd eye, hoping I will adjust end of June. I am unwilling to give up night driving completely. I am also nearsighted, -4.5. What were the 2nd opinions?

Right now, I'm thinking of a monofocal for my other eye too. I really don't want to lose my near vision, so I'm hoping I can have a near-focused mono lens in the other eye, if that's still possible. I don't know what to think ... when I asked the surgeon/opthalmologist about it, it wasn't clear to me how realistic that option was. I think the surgeon I'm seeing is a really good guy ... and probably a really good surgeon too, but I'm considering seeing somebody else in the hopes that the communication is better ... I want to have no doubts about what I'm doing with my other eye, not just hoping I'm doing the right thing (as with my first eye). I don't feel like I have any more room for error.

To answer your question ... The first 2nd opinion I got said that if he were me, he would get a 2nd Symfony lens in the other eye. He said that he thought most of the artifacts I'm seeing would go away in a month or so after the operation. (Although he didn't specify exactly which artifacts would go away and which would stay).

The second 2nd opinion suggested I do a lens exchange (exchanging the Symfony for a monofocal lens).

And the original surgeon recommends a monofocal lens in my other eye ... saying that he has had other unhappy patients go that route and that they were content with one eye being a Symfony lens and the other being monofocal. And ... if I wasn't happy after the monofocal lens at that point, that then he would be willing to do a lens exchange for either the Symfony or the monofocal, whichever I wanted. (I really really don't want to get to that last point though).

Three different surgeons ... three different opinions.

I'm leaning to the monofocal lens ... because I'm not happy with the Symfony lens, so why would I want another one? And thinking of doing a lens exchange really scares me. (I don't want to make an "iffy" situation even worse).

I feel exactly the same. f you lens was implanted in November of 2017, it would be very risky to do an exchange. I would not do it it on my eye. Most surgeons recommend an exchange in 6 months or less. The longer the implant the higher risk.

If first Symphony has unacceptable side effects, then the 2nd symfony would make them a lot worse. If they have not gone away after this length of time, they will not.

So I am also leaning towards a monofocal. With my RE symfony, I still need low add readers for a book or any prolonged reading. I can see my computer screen with large font and phone message with large font fine.Since I am -4.5 myopic, I don't want to set for full distance, since its unlikely I will have any near vision. So thinking of a -0.5 to -.75 offset on the monofocal. I think that will keep me in the 20/40 or 20/30 range for distance, and maintain some intermediate vision. I will need readers no matter what for extended reading, small print, or low light conditions. Have you given any thought to that arrangement?

I know when I tried monovision with contacts many years ago, I did not do well, I was frustrated with constant blurry vision and refocusing efforts. So, I know I will not want my 2nd eye set for near.So trying to decide between distance and intermediate, and will probably ending up somewhere in the middle. I am getting a 2nd opinion next week, so will see what he suggests.

Please let me know what you decide. I appreciate your struggles.

I see all of that plus lights inside my house have a glow around them and many have a tail trailing--not sure how else to explain it. Do you see those on inside lights too?

I'm sorry, but I have never understood what the numbers mean when they come up in discussion. So I don't understand what my limits are as far as setting the next implant for near vision ... before it's called mono-vision (if that makes any sense to you). I'm trusting that the opthalmologist will do the right thing ... and not put me in a situation where my eyes are somehow straining against each other. I don't know if near vision is a possibility for me any more at this point.

Today might be a good example of where my low light vision is currently at. I went to a fund-raiser being held inside sort of a bar/restaurant kind of place. The lighting inside wasn't dark, but it wasn't exactly bright either. There was sunlight coming in through the windows. Whenever I had to look into the crowd of people who had windows behind them, I saw glare coming at me. When my brother would notice somebody and say "Look, there's so-and-so", I'd have trouble making out who he was talking about because of the extra glare around them. I'm not sure if I would have that problem with monofocal lenses. My vision is pretty good in bright daylight ... not as good when it gets dim inside with other lighting around. (I'm not sure how well I'm explaining that, so sorry if it isn't clear).

In a lower light situation, any light will have a haze around it. The haze will be the color of the light. I have no light trails like you mention.

I see starbursts on lights all day long; the magnitude depends on the light level around me.

I am ultra sensitive to day light. I frequently wear sunglasses in my home.

My eyes burn, like I have been swimming with my eyes open in a chlorinated pool.Eye drops help for a little while.

If the surgeon had shown me a picture of a "starburst" simulation , I never would have picked the Symfony MIOL. I was told I wouldn't need glasses except for "....threading a needle."My intermediate vision is good but distance is not. The doctor said he has patients who found that wearing glasses at night helps them with night time driving.Glasses? I didn't invest > $5,000 to wear glasses.

I try to sort through available information on the web by looking at only professional organizations (e.g., aoa.org). On these websites, some of the reports on these MIOLS come from doctors and surgeons who are affiliated with the companies who make the lenses.

I have been told it takes 6 to 8 weeks to get adjusted to my lenses.

It's been 6 weeks since my left eye was done and the severity of the starbursts is just the same.

Has anyone had a discussion with their surgeon as to who pays for a lens exchange if that is the solution? My insurance company does have a CPT code for lens exchange, though I haven't confirmed with them yet that my situation would be covered.

How long has it been since you have your lens implanted?

iMO if you go with a total near correction for reading in your other eye, you will not be happy. I think that will leave you with eyes not in balance. You may want to consider just a slight monovision monofocal lens in your non surgical eye...meaning they would slightly undercorrect it to -.50 of .75. Can you try a contact lens on that eye to see if you'd like it before you do surgery?

Visual acuity declines at night with Symfony or any multifocal lenses -you no longer see 20/20, so glasses can help provide better sharpness at night. They do not help with starbursts or halos. There are a number of people who have reported sufficient relief from the starbursts and halos after exchange of 1 lens. If you decide to do an exchange, do one eye first, and see whether or not that helps enough.Improvement varies a lot, some people were fine at 8 weeks, others took several months.

Thank you for the response. I fear that you might be right about my eyes not being in balance with a monofocal lens set for near focus in my remaining eye. But then I wonder how different it could be than the way my eyes are right now (1 Symfony lens and 1 natural eye with near focus). When I brought the idea up to the opthalmologist, he didn't say it couldn't be done ... but he didn't say it could be done either. So I'm kind of limbo about that.

I don't like the idea of trying a contact lens ... only because I tried wearing contact lenses many years ago and had a lot of difficulty with them.

I discussed where to set monofocal with LE 2nd eye, Dr. recommended setting it to distance as best match for the symphony lens in RE. I will not lose the intermediate vision I now have, but will need readers for near vision. I will take that compromise if it provides some relief. It has been over 4 months since my Symfony lens implanted in January, there has been little change since week 7 or so, so I don't expect it will improve.

I will update you all after my surgery.

Thanks for the update. What you're saying is what I would have expected to hear with your (and my) situation.

I haven't gone back to further discuss anything my surgeon yet. I figure if I'm not going to have the Symfony lens exchanged, then there really isn't a hurry to have the other eye done. This has been an extremely nerve-wracking experience for me ... I sleep better when I don't think about it constantly.

Good luck with your surgery! It sounds like you have things under control. (thumbs up)

By the way, I do understand what you're doing ... I'm on the same path. I guess I'm just trying to hang onto my near vision as long as I can. Eventually I'll have to lose it too. (Thank you for thinking to keep me informed).