Symfony Lens results at 3 months

I am not sure Robert.  It’s been 3 months and I really haven’t struggled to read at all.  Mind you the reading I mainly do are newspapers, short articles email but haven’t had time for novel reading yet.  Going on a cruise in January and hoping to have time for that and maybe glasses will come in handy then.

My optometrist tried to discourage me from any multifocals as she said a lot of patients were unhappy with the results.  She questioned me a lot and spent time asking if this was better than this lens.

First off she had me read small print off a card (There were several paragraphs of varying sizes and I could read smallest one). I guess main difference is there is more contrast to the print with a reading lens.  

Wondering if my age has anything to do with it and therefore eyes accommodate more - not sure.

My optometrist was surprised my surgeon did a 6 week full exam as she says normally you get 24 hour post op and that’s it.   Guess in Canada our surgeons are paid same amount for each surgery due to our Medicare system so no time to spend doing much more.

I am grateful I had a good surgeon and he spent the time ensuring this worked out for me.

I do have some glare and starburst.  I really don’t sometimes know what is real (what others see as well) or what is simply due to having lens implants.  My eyesight deteriorated rapidly in the course of a year and night driving with cataracts was downright scary.  Even during the day I had trouble reading roadsigns and often couldn’t read one unless I was right near it.  So now that I have had cataract surgery vision is so much better.  Even with the glare I see it is a lot better.  I sometimes ask my husband about nighttime glare and he doesn’t have cataracts and he will say some headlights are bothersome too.

I know the concentric circles are due to the lens but although odd don’t cause me trouble driving.

All I can say is perceptions could be different person to person.  Even when I first googled multifocal lenses the subject of patient selection came up time and time again.  It is possible that for a certain person and personality type or what they do in life affects their perception of whether vision is good or bad with a specific lens.

I can say for certainty that the glare and starbursts have gotten better with time. At first driving on a dark road was uncomfortable and now that the glare is better I find night driving easier.

Although just 2 days since 1nd surgery I find your comment about distance vision interesting that there appears no difference in distance vision between 2 lenses.

There is no perfect solution but I am extremely grateful that cataract surgery is better than it was.  At 53 I couldn’t imagine losing eyesight and living with coke bottle glasses the rest of my life.

Really hope for you the glare gets better too.  And obviously with one monofocal now that should counter balance the Symfony eye.

Right. We can't tell if what we see is the same. With the symfony, I am having trouble watching TV- the glare extends beyond the screen if th scene has a lot of white. Reading a glossy magazine when there is a lot of light is not possible. I read a lot of books usually but find myself only reading magazines and things online since my first surgery. Going out at night in the city (NYC) has felt like arriving at an amusement park with all the lights. If I am at the theatre and there is a light on stage focused toward the audience, it's unbearable for me. I have to put up my hand to block the light. Now I don't know if the left eye with the monofocal will temper the glare of the symfony. I need to wait to see how the two work together. As far as my sight,  my doctor was surprised that I have 20-15 in each eye now. There is a slight difference with the symfony (better) but it's also been more than 4 weeks since It was implanted,  48 hours for the monofocal. I think I may conclude that the symfony was a mistake and that I would have been better off getting two monofocal for distance, one calibrated a bit nearer. That would have simulated the effect of the symfony without the glare (I think).  I have to wait to see the results of the current lenses. My surgeon said he can explant the symfony in 6-8 months if I am unable to tolerate it. And then I would have both eyes with monofocal for distance.

By the way I spent 24 hours with a near contacts lens in the unoperated eye. I totally enjoyed perfect near vision. However I decided against a near monofocal because my doctor said the distance one would counteract better the glare of the symfony.  

I appreciate this discussion. It helped me decide on the second lens. Maybe my experience will help others. 

My glare doesn’t extend to inside lights - no extended glare on TV.  Are you watching TV in the dark?   I do see slight highlight around PVR clock or white lettering on black on TV screen. 

Outside lights used to be very strong glare/ flare around them but I would say at about 6 week mark that started to diminish but when it did I see those concentric circles more.   I don’t live in a huge city so I can well imagine NYC how it would be (hoping to visit someday).

Give it some time to see if there is improvement.  If it isn’t something you’ll want to live with you can always have it exchanged for s monofocal.  Just make sure you don’t get a YAG done for PCO as that would make any lens exchange difficult if not impossible.

I am wondering if you aren’t seeing more edge glare than most- look up negative dysphotopsia.  That could explain the more severe glare you have. As you describe it - doesn’t sound anywhere near as bad as what I see.  Although that too they say subsides as the brain adapts and tunes it out.  Lens exchanges can be for as much as 6 months out so you can certainly take your time to see if there is any improvement.

So happy for you Ed.   Sounds like your results very similar to mine.  Thanks for sharing comment about reading glasses as I was wondering if my eyes would get lazy and not progress further if I got reading glasses.  The near vision does seem to get better with time.  At first I had to hold out my iPhone to read it and now arm is bent almost to where it was before cataract surgery.  I even threaded a needle the other day to sew a button!   

I think I will be holding off on the reading glasses - especially as I haven’t struggled at all with focusing.

Thanks for sharing your story - really think Symfony lenses are great and it is a shame there are many on the forums that haven’t gotten very good results.  I like to think since I came on the forums looking for advice prior to cataract surgery vs I have a problem after surgery that I may represent the norm versus the fewer percentage that have problems with a particular lens and post. 

I suspect just like my optometrist today only sees patients with problems with multifocal lenses that she was a little surprised (but at the end of appointment) she was very happy for me.  She had t heard of Symfony lenses before.

After wearing glasses since a child it still amazes me today how well I can see without them.

Enjoy your new vision Ed.  Thanks for tip on night vision glasses to help - will seek those out.  Any particular brand I should look at?

Ed you mentioned swimming.  Something I haven’t done since cataract surgery.  Totally forgot to ask my optometrist today.  I have a cruise planned for January and assume it’s OK to swim in salt water or chlorinated water?  It will first time I can snorkel and SEE.  I used to watch it on GoPro after to get a clearer picture.  So excited to try with my new eyes.

Hi Sue Ann:

I love swimming so I asked my surgeon:

"When can I hit the pool again?;"

he told me that my eyes would be completely healed two weeks after surgery.

That said, I'm not a doctor.

Perhaps you should consult with a doctor just to make sure that your individual circumstances do not preclude swimming next January.

I tend to err on the side of extreme caution with respect to medical matters.  My best guess is that you will be able to swim as much as you want and you will have superb vision.  No more having to review your swim on GoPro to see what you didn't see initially.

Have a wonderful time on your vacation!

Cheers,

Ed

Good evening, Sue Ann:

If you can thread a button and read the smallest line on the optometrist's chart, then it sounds as if you coming along very nicely indeed.

Time will tell. If you decide that you need reading glasses for extended reading -- eg novels -- then you can always buy a pair.

Have you tried an expensive pair of 1.25 D reading glasses available at most pharmacies, Target, Wal-Mart etc just to see if you like them?

I have several different pairs of driving/shooting glasses, but I like my yellow, high-definition Ray-Bans (classic aviator, of course) the best.  They shield the glare from oncoming LED/high beam headlights very well and they really help to define a target in low-light conditions.

Have a beautiful evening.

Best regards,

Ed

Thanks Ed - yes looking forward to this cruise.  Last one I did was in March and my vision with cataracts wasn’t so good.  

Doing a southern itinerary out of San Juan and hoping to make it there.  Flights cancelled and hotels are cancelling (have 4 places booked hoping one pans out).   Seems recovery since Hurricane has been slow.  

Thanks Ed.  Yes seen those readers in pharmacies and will try on a pair just to see how they are.

Will also look for a pair of Ray Bans for night driving.   Have a pair of good sunglasses - nice to be able to buy a pair of non prescription ones!

Have a good evening too Ed.

Ed - if you don’t my inquiring what brand of yellow tinted driving glasses (for night driving) do you have?  Been looking online and they sure range in price.  Do you find they help much?

Earlier on after my surgeries when glare was stronger I would turn on overhead inside car lights on driver and passenger side - that would cut the glare or more likely my pupils would not enlarge.  Now that glare has diminished don’t need to do that.  However those bright LED car headlights are bothersome (not just to me but people without cataracts or IOLs).  Would love something that would dim those.  

How long have you had your Symfony lenses?  I assume you see well at most or all distances too?  Would like your take on them too.

Yes much cheaper - saw them at Costco 3 pairs for $19.99 with different coloured frames for variety.  They even had a viewer to test which pair was better.  Odd thing is I saw no difference with plain no power add to the +1.50 but at optometrist under bright lights I could see the letters were darker/blacker with the prescription viewer she had.  Why is that?  It seemed to give more contrast than what I have ‘naturally’ without glasses.

And yes I am super pleased with the results.  Seems that prescription indicates I have a small amount of astigmatism?   

Sometimes, when one is in a store and looks at a viewer, the person is not always reading from a distance of 16 -17 inches, which is the distance used at the optometrist office and the one used by most people for reading a book. With your prescription of about 1.5D for reading, if you are reading at about 23 inches from the viewer, your vision will be equally good / bad without any glasses or with +1.5D glasses.

I hadn’t thought of that but yes that would be right.  At optometrist to read her viewer is different even from the test I did with surgeon at 24 hour post op.  He only tested near vision after 2nd surgery and got me to hold a card at whatever distance I wanted.