symfony lens in 1 eye and monofocal in 2nd eye

I have what you speak of. Wish I would’ve gotten to I have what you speak of. Wish I would’ve gotten two Symphony lenses Symphony lenses. The only difference is mines a 3.5 multifocal. Although I do understand your frustrations with up close with the symphony lens. That is why I opted for a multifocal but did not realize that my eyes eyes would not have any harmony between each other. I hope this makes sense

I'm so sorry George. I can relate to the harmony you mention. Right now my operated eye is 20/20 and my non-operated eye is corrected to 20/25 and even this is major annoying. I'm hoping to get them both 20/20 so they are "in synch." Fingers crossed.

my experience with the multifocal lens is anything from 2 feet to 10 feet is blurry just a little FYI

thank you seeheren

I AM HAVING DIFFICULTY FINDING RELATED POSTS WHAT IS THREAD TITLE?

HI all,

Trying to locate a thread by a210 posts on 1 symfony and 1 monofocal lens. if anyone can help, would really appreciate it.

Thanks

a201 wrote several posts - biggest one was "anyone else notice this unusual vision issue with Symfony"

Hi Sue.An2

I have tried searching for "anyone else notice this unusual vision issue with Symfony" without success. Is there any other way to locate a201?

Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

mady301

I sent you a PM with the link. User is at201 which may be why you couldn't find it.

I recently got a symfony lens in both eyes with about 3 weeks apart. it has been 2 weeks since my second surgery. Personally i do believe i made the right decision for myself. I do see halos and starbursts and spiderweb type halos at some distances, but they are manageable. I can see behind the halos and starbursts for the most part if that makes sense. I see well at all distances pretty well. I am 42 and i wasnt suffering that much from presbyopia before my cataracts. I was at a level of where most would be at age 40. Now I see just as good upclose and probably a little better than i did before cataracts. so i would compare my vision with someone who first started having presbyopia perhaps age 39. It might be hard for me to thread a needle, though i still might be able to, but for most other every day upclose tasks i dont need glasses. i notice i do need more light to read smaller print though than before. i researched a lot about one eye getting a symfony and one eye a monofocal versus two of the same. Some doctors push it because it gives you a little more range, but my doctor felt that the symfony worked best when they are in both eyes. He never mentioned one symfony and one MULTIfocal. Anyway, after my second surgery i do notice the upclose vision being better. I will say, however, that i am not exactly 20/20 in both eyes. i am 20/25 in one and 20/40 in the second eye, though that was at my one week post op visit and i feel it has gotten better since then. my second eye had so much more swelling for some reason so i think the healing process was/is slower and my guess is that it will probably settle down at 20/30 or maybe is right now. both are good enough that i wont need contacts or,glasses if they stay like this The ever so slight myopia might help me with upclose vision a bit. I think that having a different lens would be difficult for me to adapt to. The only reason i thought about having different ones was that having one have less halos and starbursts would help me drive as that eye would take over so to speak. After my first lens, though, after seeing that the starbursts weret blocking my vision and i could drive at night just fine, it made my decision easier to have the symfony in both. i do hope that my brain continues to adapt and they become less over time or go away completely. It is still early on for me. But i am happy overall with my decision so far.

This is good news. Congrats on successful surgeries. They do take 6 weeks to heal so small changes could still take place. Night vision for me took several months. Glare subsided - I pretty much just see the concentric circles around some light sources.

Needing good light will always be required (at least it is for me). I too noticed better reading after 2nd surgery with Symfony. I can thread a needle and have even fixed tiny screw when it fell out of my sunglasses. Only time I wear readers is for very tony print on bottles or extended reading. It has been 18 months since my surgeries and my right eye sees 20/20 . I could also read most of the letters on 20/15. left eye settled at 20/25.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks for the response. it is very helpful. It has bee 3 months since first eye, and I am still unsure how to proceed.

i researched a lot about one eye getting a symfony and one eye a monofocal versus two of the same. Can you share your research? It would be most appreciated.

Thanks

mady301

Sure. I found the doctors who recommend different lenses are really banking on the fact that you will adjust. One eye will take over at night and the other eye will take over when reading upclose. but i have read that some people have trouble even reading their computer screen and some even their TV without the aid of glasses with monofocals. So, to me the symfony lens would be the workhorse and the monofocal would be more just for driving at night. I also noticed doctors who recommend different lenses were not very adverse to using the same lenses if the patient so chooses whereas doctors who recommend the same lens seemed to be more against using different lenses. But in the end, I found that it is all dependent on how you heal and adjust. I was leaning towards different lenses at one point. however, they say to put the symphony in the dominant eye because it will help you adjust to reading closeup. he said if you dont get the right one, you will have problems adjusting. i am a rare breed however. The results of the dominant eye test changes all of the time. my doctor didnt believe me. when i,told him i,write with my left he said it is probably my left. But i told him i shoot with my right, so he was like, okay it is probably your right. but the truth is i shoot with both and can write with both though better with my left. i throw with both hands though better with my right. So this also caused me to think harder about it. My left eye was gone and i needed the surgery fast. I concluded my right eye was a little more dominant. My fear was that if i get a monofocal first and then get the symfony second and the symfony i adjusted to easer, i would regret my decision for the rest of my life. since neither eye was a clear dominant one, i went ahead with the symfony first to see how i would adjust. when i realized that i could handle the side effects and cold read upclose i went ahead with the symfony in my the other eye because my doctor said the eyes will Focus better on things up close when it has a symfony lens in both eyes. in the end for me was whether or not I thought if I was going to be annoyed by having two different types of lenses. What is it going to bother me in every day life that they are not seeing the same way.and in the end I found it all comes down to how you heal and adjust. Those are not easily predictable. But for me wearing the pros and cons of each scenario pointed me to having both eyes get the symphony lens. How bad exactly are the halos and starburst for you? Do they totally block your view around them?

It is not very safe for me to drive at night. If I were to do it again, I would choose monofocals set for slightly different distances, plano and -0.75 which should give me distance and intermediate. I would need readers for close, but that is OK by me.

I hate the night vision problem but could live with it if it did not get any worse, but most importantly, the interior lights also have a halo, and sometimes a tail. That is most annoying. Words on the TV have a glow,.

My Dr, said symfony works best together, I won't lost the vision I have, but wont gain the near vision two Symfonys would provide. Everything is a trade off. I canceled my 2nd eye day before surgery, so need to call for appt to discuss what do to. I am so scared as time is running out for an exchange. We did my right eye first as it was pretty bad.

Sorry that you are having so much trouble with your lens. i feel like you would adjust over time. i am still adjusting to the starbursts, and honestly the halos dont effect my driving at all. they are just a little weird to me. the words glowing on the TV is very minor for me. The halos on interior lights for me went away after the first might or two. so, if it has been 15 days i understand your concern. But everyone adjusts differently. interior lights for me now have a very small diagonal line through it. This is a tough decision. i am biased though because the two symfony lenses are working for me with the side effects being manageable thus far. i am also still hopeful that the side effects will get better. it has been only 5 weeks since my first surgery and 2 weeks since my second one. i do notice fluctuation of my vision which concerns me, but could be mostly from the drops and continued healing. i can say for me that i would hate the disparity of the vision from the different lenses. But maybe i would have a different view if i had more side effects from my first lens. What did they tell you as the time frame window to switch lenses?

Sparky21 - definitely the drops affect vision for many people. It takes 6 weeks to heal and several months for eyes to adapt to new 'view'Also dry eye affects vision so aside from prescription dtops artificial tears can be used. I teally like Systane Ultra and now Systane make a preservative free one (individual small vials). These help tremendously eith dry eye - and when eyes feel tired. Vision gets crisper after I use them.

If the side affects are manageable now at night I can tell you I felt same way and now after 18 months inside lights all look normal to me. See slight highlighting of white lettering on black background on TV but i have to look for it and it appears when no other lights are on and i am watching TV without other lamps or overhead light on.

Basically just see those spider web lights. Odd but i can see through them to drive ok.

3-6 moths for exchange and I am at 3 months now. Your first eye will continue to improve for at least 2-3 months, so if it is manageable now, you should be fine.

Hi Sparky:)

I used 2 different surgeons because the first one didn't have much experience with Symfony and wasn't into the mixed lens type. My 2nd surgeon had lots of Symfony experience and was open to the mix.

Importantly for me, I had the monofocal in the dominant eye because I knew it would naturally dominate for night driving. Also, I purposely waited 4 months between surgeries so I could see where the LE landed. Surprisingly, it improved even at 6 months, to the -0.25D.

I did monovision, with dominant LE set for -0.5D and RE set for -1.0D. They settled at LE -0.25 and RE -0.75, so far. I chose slight myopia so that I wouldn't lose any near vision, which was 20/15 before (& after) surgery. I'm very happy, with excellent vision at all ranges using both eyes in concert. Will get some very weak glasses for driving at night in rain in unfamiliar areas.

Like you, I'm somewhat ambidextrous. Also, I always had a 0.5D difference between eyes without contacts. I had worn multifocal contacts to correct, so I was confident that my brain would have no resistance to adjusting.

We have the same slight myopia at least for now as my results are still in the early stages. I know it can get better or worse during the healing process. i am hopeful though. I didn’t mean to have the slight myopia. But I guess if it helps me with my up close vision I can settle for it.perhaps at the end of the day as long as I can get to you very near 20/20 vision values in both eyes I should be satisfied. The crazy thing also is that I never even knew that a multifocal contact lens existed until I started my research after getting cataracts. being 42 years old I really didn’t have to deal much with presbyopia yet. so I never really had the need a for multifocal contact lens and since my cataracts were so fast forming, literally going from the first symptoms to only seeing shapes in high level lights, I didn’t have the opportunity to test a multifocal contact.but I would imagine that it is a great test run. When my prescription levels out I also am going to look into some weak glasses for driving at night but I honestly only intend on using them if I feel they are needed. I am just going to keep the pair in my glove compartment. I figure using only as needed will give me a better chance of not being totally reliant on them. that’s my theory anyway.

did you have an astigmatism? When did you fill your prescription level that out? Was it within the first month or was it more like a few months? Also do you recall how long after your surgery until the starbursts subsided? I am probably going to buy some eyedrops. I do feel like I have dry eyes more often now . it isn’t that bad, but I never really had problems with dry eyes before my surgery unless I have my contact lenses in for a while. I am wondering if this was a result of the surgery and if it will also subside when i fully heal. But again, it really isn’t that bad.

Sparky21 - I had minimal astigmatism prior to cataract surgery (not enough for a toric lens). At 6 week appointment I had .25 of astigmatism in RE and .50 in LE.

Last optometrist appointment I had in Jan (15 months after 2nd surgery) I had no astigmatism in RE and increased astigmatism to .75 in LE.

I have 2 Symfony lenses. Through insurance plan at work I can get prescriptions for glasses or contacts every 2 years. Even though both eyes at plano have the insurance pay for sunglasses to correct astigmatism only. I have blue eyes and wear sunglasses a lot even prior to surgeries so I like to get nice frames and getting astigmatism correction lows me to get them for free through insurance.

Glare and starbursts subside gradually - subtle differences with time. I used to drive with interior dome light on in car as I found that helped me a bit. Pupils wouldn't dilate as much. However at about 6 or 7 months that glare subsided. Overhead lighting on a black ceiling (cinemas) used to have flare but was there the other night and glanced up - no bad flare now.

Whether your brain/eyes just adapt a bit with time or it does actually improve I don't know. Maybe a bit of both. My surgeon said after 2 years a lot of people do much better with premium lenses. I do see the concentric circles still with some lights. Those likely are there forever - but it is something I just accept. After wearing glasses since 12 this is truly remarkable that I don't need glasses. To snorkel for first rime last year in Caribbean and see the coral and fish, turtles - unbelievable! Life is about compromises anyways and that varies person to person.

Sparky - should have mentioned cataract surgery can itself cause dry eyes. I still use artificial tears (not as often but still need them). Dry eye also affects vision. I used Systane Ultra and recently discovered Systane makes a preservative free one which I have only recently tried. Like it a lit as I worry about long term affects of drops with preservatives in them.

The other thing I do for dry eye is take a flax seed oil supplement. I would take Omega 3 but have an allergy. But flax seed oil has many benefits and if helps a bit with dry eye will keep on taking it.

Thank you, that is very helpful to know things may still improve with more time. I will wait another month or so before giving up and deciding on monofocal. I truly want the Symfony and range of vision it provides, but I can't give up driving at night, and I hate the afterglow I see on all indoor lights, especially the TV. They all have an aura or glow around the edges-ceiling lights, digital clocks, microwave etc. Some overhead lights have a tail depending upon the angle of view. Did you see that, and did it go away, or at least become insignificant?

I too have worn glasses since age 6 so can relate to this miracle of vision!

Hi mady301 - I don't recall seeing anything odd with inside lights. I did those first hours after surgery where all lights had streaks coming from them - due to eye being dilated. But next day they looked normal. I did and do see slight glow around white letters or numbers on TV or pvr when I am in a dimly lit room or dark or in a theatre with dark ceiling but that has diminished and I don't see much of that. Nothing bothersome. I have zero astigmatism in RE so wonder if it is astigmatism that accounts for that. Do you have much astigmatism in either eye?

Do you see the concentric circles at night? Are those well defined lights or is there glow and blurring of those too for you?