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Tecnis Synergy

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el2020
el2020

Hello all - if anyone has any experience using the Tecnis Synergy IOLs, please share your views. Thanks!

7 likes, 262 replies

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  • JDDS
    JDDS el2020

    Edited

    I wish I had found this forum sooner. I have the Synergy IOL in my left eye. It was placed about 3 months ago. My vision is not great at any distance. I see very large rings, star bursts and halos with a glare type fog around lights. I am not happy with this lens. Apparently there is a problem with the "effective position" of the lens. The ophthalmologist wants to do Lasik to correct the vision. He did not say if it would correct both near and distance. He said Lasik will reduce the dysphotopsias. If he can correct the vision and reduce the dysphotopsias as promised I will be very excited.

    If anyone has expericence with Lasik reducing the dsyphotopsias please let me know.

    I contacted the IOL manufacturer, Johnson and Johnson Vision, and they were of absolutely no help!

    • grich
      grich JDDS

      Edited

      if your eye is bad at any distance then they might have screwed up for the placement. Your surgeon isnt very competent. Lasik might remove astigmatism, but it doesnt help with dysphotopsia problem. These artifacts are permanent and by design part of the lens. I have yet to see anyone with this lens say the effects are mild. All say the dysphotopasia is fairly severe.

      Just keep in mind if you had the Lasik it permanently reshapes your eye. There is no going back. Find a second and third opinion outside of the surgeons in that same office, unless one of them is a professor in the field with a big university.

    • Sue.An2
      Sue.An2 JDDS

      Edited

      reading posts a few days behind. I really hope you are not going ahead with lasik to correct with this surgeon. If your vision is blurry at all distances you've either got too much swelling or the power calculation was way off.

      It would be best if you could go back to your regular optometrist to get a refraction test and prescription. That would tell you at least if it is the power that is off.

      If a mystery still get a 2nd opinion from another surgeon.

      Hope you are able to figure out what is wrong

    • andyhp
      andyhp JDDS

      Edited

      Hi, very sorry to hear about your bad Synergy experience.

      I had the lens installed 6 days ago - from blind in my left eye to better vision than my right / good eye. I would call my new eye, my better eye at this point. That said, I highly recommend a second opinion - asap, before you make any quick decisions. Its possible that the lens needs to be re-positioned - I have heard of the odd person's iol slips out of place. It also takes a long time for things to heal up - I have tons of eye junk still, and taking drops religiously 6x a day - the drops are essential. I have halos at night, they are decreasing, but I knew this going in and was prepared to live with that. My philosophy - any improvement would be better than being blind - common sense no doubt? But now, I am blown away by this lens. I don't care about lens flares or halos at night, but they are decreasing at only 6 days post surgery and I expect that they will be easy to deal with in another week. I found the best Opthalmologist known to the Kootenays, or interior of BC. I 100% believe this was largely responsible for my success. I was reading the finest print the morning after surgery - from 99% blind. I highly recommend to get a second opinion before proceeding.

    • RajMPatel
      RajMPatel JDDS

      Posted

      I have similar issue since three months, waiting to improve. My Dr suggested that if not improved my halos and ring will replace mono lenses. My day vision is great along with sort, and far.

      I do not know what to do.

    • karbonbee
      karbonbee andyhp

      Posted

      Hi. I"m so glad that the Synergy is working for you. Would you mind letting us know how it is working for you now, a year later? Thanks so much.

  • andyhp
    andyhp el2020

    Edited

    Synergy IOL installed yesterday in my left eye with incredible success!!!

    The lens used was apparently a newly updated Synergy IOL - & was not pre-loaded, which might have something to do with a previous Synergy IOL that may have been harder to center in place? Not positive - the things you hear during surgery, lol. The results are MIN D BLOWING. The eye is still swollen today, inflamed a bit, a headache and scratchy kind of feeling, but those are expected symptoms post surgery, as I was fully aware of. At the first post op check-up this morning, I read the finest print on the page with my new eye - the doc said he usually doesn't ask anyone to read the fine print 1 day post as its not fair, but he asked if it was ok to try it. I skipped to the last couple lines immediately, and read both perfectly. He was literally blown away I could read the tiniest line, at 30 cm roughly. Its important to note that generally, that's about as close as it can focus. You can get closer vision with mono-focal lens and apparently ICals? The even better news is that the overall performance will improve over the next couple weeks and I can already read fine print. I was 99% blind in this eye yesterday morning due to a severe cataract, that typical of a 90 year old. I am 56. The eye degraded dramatically over 3 years, the last two it has been unusable to the point of causing mild hallucinations.

    I have read lots of not so great stories about this IOL on this forum I can only speak from my experience thus far, which is literally, "a miracle", to quote actor, Tim Roth. Like anything in life, it helps to have the best Ophthalmologist. The wait for this particular lens to become available in Canada, and the Superstar Doctor was painful, as he is off the charts booked - but for good reason. Completely worth the wait.

    The only sad thing is, my eye with the implant is substantially better than my good eye. I will have the other eye done in roughly 2 years, as it has the beginning of the same cataract. For now, when its ok to resume my regular routine of hiking, skiing and mountain biking, I will have confidence again, with reasonable depth perception. The failing eye over the last 3 years has been responsible for at least 10 broken bones, and elbows that have developed calluses from running into doorways.

    Sincerely,

    A very happy customer

    • andyhp
      andyhp

      Edited

      Day 6 Post Surgery Check In

      • less cloudy discharge
      • swelling decreasing
      • visible floaters decreasing
      • vision at ALL distances improving dramatically
      • 1st optometrist check up yesterday, lens perfectly centered, reading finest print on chart, distance viewing better now than good eye
      • still feels a bit scratchy, like there is an eyelash stuck, but far less uncomfortable now - usually just annoying after the steriod drop
      • 1 more day to go with using the night time eye shield! (this part is proving to be the actual most annoying part of the whole process - so you dont scratch your eye during sleep)
      • no shower for a week is a bit of a stretch, but important

        It was recommended by several medical professionals, for me to take vitamin C, D, E, Mag, Bilberry concentrate, omega 3, and Chlorophyll - which all aid in the healing process, and just generally good for you, so it can't hurt. I completely recommend this - sure, supplements are expensive, but worth it. This is basically what I am taking every day: (yes, a pain in the #$%)

        c 2000, d 20000iu , E800iu, mag 1000iu, omg 2000iu, teaspoon of chlorophyll

      • tons of water!!!
    • mary27273
      mary27273 andyhp

      Edited

      Had to say Congratulations on your positive experience. Knowing that you went from 99 blind to incredible success is inspirational. Superstar Dr earned his stars

    • andyhp
      andyhp mary27273

      Edited

      1 month today post surgery

      • still some dry scratchy feeling, and taking anti steroid drops for another few weeks, improving daily, headaches are also decreasing (the brain is working hard to catch up).
      • night time halos and starbursts are decreasing and I can drive at night which is a new thing, its a bit bright still with oncoming idiots & high-beams engaged, but sharp vision.
      • there is what I think might be discharge from the the surgery, that blurs vision, but clears if I look around. This is also improving slowly as the eye heals I suspect, and assured it will eventually go away.
      • some days, I can read at about 15cm - which is less than half of the lens manufacturers claim. Not sure that is normal? I can also see for a very long distance, more-so than my semi good un-operated eye.

        When the swelling and discharge are all back to normal, I suspect to be functioning and seeing like I did 25 years ago. Judging by my personal progress.

      Synergy is pure gold baby 😃

  • RajMPatel
    RajMPatel el2020

    Edited

    Hi

    I had cataract surgery done on 7th August, 2021. I have Tecnis Synergy IOLs both eyes, after three months still I have halos and ring around any traffic light or bright light.

    How long it takes to disappear halos and ring. I know little that it takes couple weeks.

    Should I wait to six months or replace mono lenses?

    I have consulted couple times with Eye Surgeon and Surgery is concern there is no issue. I am not adapting this lens faster that normal.

    • assia99778
      assia99778 RajMPatel

      Posted

      The rings and halos won't disappear because it's the diffractive optic of the lenses that causes the dysphotopsia. In my case I was told to wait at least 12 months and I did but they are still there and didn't reduce in size or brightness. Traffic lights or approaching cars are looking like monsters. Sometimes I can't figure out what's behind the rings: whether it's a car, a truck, or a motorcycle. I wasn't told this before the surgery. I have trifocal IOLs with diffractive optics. If the dysphotopsia is not that strong, one can get used to it. Do you have to pay for IOL-exchange? If your vision is great, I would wait for adaptation. Another two or three months make no difference. Take your time!

    • grich
      grich RajMPatel

      Posted

      There isnt a single person on here who said the lens rings, halos, starbursts disappear. Because it never will. I would know since i had one and got it removed.

      What your surgeon meant is that you might adapt to it neurologically and ignore it. This is a very bad lens for adapting to these anomalies, because it is more severe than a panotpics

      Some surgeons will give you 3 months before they say no to lens replacement. So if you're crazy enough to wait 6 months then sorry, you might be stuck for life, unless another surgeon from a different place takes the risk to remove it. Whatever you do, dont put this into another eye. Or you will be stuck with 2 of them.

      I will predict the Synergy will flop much like the Sympony because of the severity of the dysphotopsia. The panoptix remains the one recommended for a reason.

      Get a second opinion from another surgeon if you need it. Your eyes - your right.

    • Nivo14
      Nivo14 RajMPatel

      Edited

      i had technis synergy implanted in both eyes in December 2019 and cannot still drive at night for the same reasons you have mentioned. my eyes have not adapted and my vision still varies from day to day. i do hope you have a better journey with them

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