Symfony Toric IOL ZXT and halos

After 4 months I exchanged the Symfony for a monofocal. Much better! Night vision is far better.

can you confirm you had the ZXT?

can you confirm you had the ZXT?

hi danish

when you say trifocal has higher contrast loss do you notice that eye to be more darker/dim than the edof eye?

James - I have the Zeiss AT Lara. It is a slightly newer edof lens than Symfony, but it is more or less a copy of the Symfony lens, even that some studies show that Lara might could have a slight advantage over Symfony. I have read a lot of comments about Symfony, and I think the Lara and Symfony are very comparable.

Soks - it is hard to say, because Trifocal eye have always had somewhat worse vision, and it still have.

Far vision is one line better on edof eye, and I think this difference is because of the eyes, far vision should be where the lenses are most equal, and before surgery there were much bigger difference on the eyes.

Near vision is noticeable better on trifocal eye.

Colors in general and night vision are very similar, or they have the same difference in dark, in fact I feel I have quite good night vision.

So the contrast loss is from my point of view more theoretic than something I notice in real life.

I would recommend trifocal to anyone, that are considering premium lenses, in my opinion, the trifocal is the one that gives what we are searching for in the premium lenses.

Thanks for the detailed response. To be fair it's not really stressing me, I'm just interested in experiences with the ZXT lenses.

When you say "visual side effects with Symfony is well known, you will no doubt have side effects, but the scale of it varies from person to person", I assume that's based on charts like this:

I've never worn glasses regularly, my prescription is mild and seems to vary yearly I struggle with all the glasses I've bought and end up not wearing them, they distort and cause glare, and the worst is they are really awkward to wear on a motorbike with helmet. So the appeal of no glasses except for reading is very appealing to me.

I guess I'm hoping to be in the 90% that's no bothered by these artefacts. I've seen starbursts with my astigmatism for as long as I can remember and never even though to question them before now, so maybe there's a good chance.

Moderator comment:I have deleted the links to the images as they went to a site unsuitable for inclusion in the forums. Users can upload images directly to this site by using the image icon at the top of reply boxes.

Well, don´t get me wrong, I am a big fan of premium lenses, but no doubt it also depends on your expectations, if you like the result or not.

But there are nobody that don´t have side effects from the Symofony, that is not how you should read statistics, it is a matter of who can tolerate the side effects well, and who can not.

Have you looked into trifocals at all?

I would highly recommend you look into trifocals as well, before you make your final decision. You simply get more in the package for the same struggle, trifocals give you reading vision in the same package.

And trifocal lenses are not like trifocal glasses, the images are mixed together, but you don´t feel it like that, you just feel you have vision all distances.

In fact Symfony is just a manipulated small range bifocal, and Zeiss At Lara is a manipulated small range trifocal.

If you want reading vision, you need about +3 added to plano.

Symfony makes +1.75, and Zeiss Lara makes +2.0

A trifocal gives you +3 or more.

Some people with good genes and strong vision can get reading vision with less than +3, but you never know if you are one of them.

In USA they have not had trifocals before September this year, because there have not been a trifocal with fda before now. Her in Europe we have had trifocals since 2010.

But now, after the Panoptix have hit the US marked, many surgeons that before used Symfony, have started to use the Panoptix trifocal instead.

The Zeiss At Lara edof that I have, that are similar to the Symfony you are interested in, are considered to be slightly better than Symfony, although only by a small margin, so there are other lenses on the marked, that could be interesting for you.

I understand that you have more or less your mind set on the Symfony, and it could very well be the right lens for you, but again I highly recommend that you visit other clinics and get other opinions, before you make your final decision.

In any case, I wish you the best of luck 😃

Hi James 704

Will weigh in as I have 2 Symfony (non toric lenses) Had my surgeries in late 2017 six weeks apart. I live in a smaller province in Canada. At the time of my surgeries Symfony was out about 6 months here. I found these forum prior to my surgeries while searching for reviews. I was 53 at time of my surgeries. Both eyes had cataracts. Best corrected with glasses at the time was 20/60 RE and 20/50 LE. I have worn glasses for distance since childhood (-2.75 and -3.25). Reading was still good w/o glasses at the time although needed to start. Surgeon felt cataracts due to ling time steriod and cortizone use for eczema and allergies.

There were no trifocals here to choose from. Since that time the larger centers in Toronto Montreal Vancouver offer some. Still not available where I live.

You could say I am one of the fortunate ones in that my daytime vision is very good. Do not need glasses to function on a daily basis. I did buy readers +1.25 which I can count on 1 hand times I've used them - usually for extended periods of reading or low light conditions. I am not bothered by inside lights (but I had a lot of glare issues with cataracts so perhaps I don't recall what lights should look like. I do not see concentric circles around inside lights but do see them starting at dusk outside. I was bothered by this and glare fir several months and whether it is brain adapting or my not focusing on them so much I can't say but I do drive at night without a 2nd thought. Yes I still see concentric circles around red traffic lights, cars when they brake etc.

I did want to be as glasses free as possible and chose the latest lens available at the time. I did briefly consider monofocals with mini monovision but in the end due to migraines I suffer couldn't see myself opting for something where my eyes would be targeted for different distances. My cataracts were affecting my vision where testing that out with contact lenses wasn't a possibility. Perhaps this might be worth doing for you to try that out.

It is so difficult to decide which is best for you. Perfection is always the enemy of the good. Second guessing after the fact is never wise unless something goes terribly wrong. This is something you should take your time with carefully weighing options and really looking at your preferences: where you spend the most time, hobbies you have, do you do a lot of night driving, work requirements, etc. One cannot have it all and the decision requires making compromises. You can be relatively satisfied with the outcome. And there are dome gains too. I have never been able to see the ocean floor and coral reefs and now really enjoy it glasses free. Playing golf too now very enjoyable.

I wish you well in your decision

Thanks Sue. My cataract has warped my lens so much I can only see 6" from my face in focus. Everything else a blur. I tried a prescription but it lasted 2 weeks before the cataract progression made the prescription useless. They were a huge eyestrain too.

Glad to hear your positive experiences!

Thanks again Danish Viking!

It's tough to make a selection on behalf of my specialist as patient selection is crucial, so he has already ruled out other options. I've asked specifically why trifocals weren't recommended and will see what he says, but second guessing him with my limited knowledge is tricky. That's why I'm really looking for experiences with the exact lenses (ZXT not ZXR) for patients with mild astigmatism and mild long sightedness. Otherwise I'm comparing apples and oranges. If people with the same lens and similar pre-cataract eyesight say it's awful lens and I'll regret if for rest of my life, then I know what to do.

I'll be honest, the technical info in your responses goes over my head. So the numbers mean nothing. I know what my sight was like before cataract and after in real terms, but sadly not numbers.

I think in hindsight, I wish I hadn't asked.

And to clarify, I didn't choose the lens, the consultant did.

James - I think you would be best off going with a toric lens no matter which one you choose otherwise you'll need glasses to correct for all distances.