I see lots of discussion about the Symfony lenses, but no mention of Crystalens. My surgeries are scheduled in a month+ but I have to choose between these two options. After reading these discussions, I am not feeling good at all about the Symfony. Does anyone have experience with the Crystalens option? Thanks for your inputs!
i had cataract surgery on August 13 and September 13 of 2018. I have a SYMFONY lens in my right eye and a SYMFONY Toric lens in my left eye. I am extremely happy with the results. I now have 20/20 vision at all three distances and couldn't be happier. I truly believe it is because my Ophthamologist is very experienced with using premium lenses and selecting the perfect lens.
I did extensive research and read many comments from people who had cataract surgery and could not make up my mind for months about the lens. I had Lasik surgery about 12 years ago and most sites and even some doctors said if you had had Lasik surgery that you should not have premium lenses implanted. in addition, I had chronic dry eyes that had to be addressed prior to my cataract surgery. The first doctor I saw referred me to the head doctor in their group because of all my issues. It took 8 months to get my eyes ready for the surgery. (And I had already been using RESTASIS for 2 years prescribed by my previous doctor.)
In the end, I trusted my doctor, and also the fact that he told me his father had Symfony lenes. When I asked him how his father liked them, he said that his father said his vision was as good as when he was in his 20's. I can also say the same thing. I consider my great vision a miracle.
I, too, would love to hear if anyone had the Crystalens. When they first came out, I almost had them implanted for my crap eyes, but my mom talked me out of it (very happy that she did). As stupid as it sounds, I never even thought about them for cataract surgery, just for bad vision (I know, I know...connect the dots).
Please let us know what you choose and how it goes.
The very best of luck to you!
Phyllis, congrats on such a spectacular outcome! What I am apprehensive about with the Symphony lenses is the likelihood of halos, spider, starbursts, etc. Many posts indicate that they do not fade away or get better with time, and that is a real concern for me. What was your experience?
I am curious to find out if the Crystalens has a similar outcome. My doctor is very experienced indeed and is on faculty at UCLA. I have complete confidence in him; he is very skilled and quite well known. He tells me either the Symfony or Crystalens would be a good choice.
Thanks so much for your help!
So, why are you happy that your Mom talked you out of the Crystalens? Have you had cataract surgery with a different lens implanted? I am finding it hard to get patient input about the Crystalens option!
Hello Ladyleader, I do see starbursts at night from oncoming headlights, but it has not been a big deal for me. I still drive at night; I just don't look directly at the oncoming lights. I have so much more confidence in my driving at night since the surgery. Before the surgery, the oncoming lights looked like a big white blur to me. My eye doctor said the starbursts should go away or get less noticeable (if they do, great, if they don't, it's no big deal for me.) It has been 6 months since my second surgery. The great vision that I now have is certainly worth seeing a few starbursts for a short period of time at night.
As I mentioned in my first reply to you, it took my awhile to make up my mind on the SYMFONY lens, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I am totally happy with my decision and results, even with the starbursts.
I'm so sorry that I missed one very important thing about my non-experience: this was about 25 years ago when they first came out and replacing your natural lens with an artificial one became possible for those of us who wore Coke bottle glasses and nothing could be done for us. It was so tempting after years of trying to find a surgery/solution for my myopic eyes. It had nothing to do with Crystalens; just the idea of replacing natural lenses. My mom was an RN and her first question to me was, "Why would you want to replace your perfectly healthy lenses?" Of course, I value her advice and so I waited and wore (with more or less with adequate results) contacts for another 15+ years until really deteriorating eyes and the beginning of cataracts made it a no-brainer solution to have the surgery.
I had Zeiss multifocals (one is a toric for astigmatism). While I'm beyond thrilled (best vision in over 40 years), I think that there are so many wonderful choices out there now. What has been a godsend for me may not work for someone else.
I wrote about my experience back in June or July last year, with follow-ups, and now mainly lurk on the site. I forget sometimes that not everyone knows my story and it sure bit me in the buns here! I wish you the very best of success in whichever choice you make. It's been nearly 6 months for me and I still look out of the window in awe at leaves on the trees.
I am also scheduled for cataract surgery and at mt evaluation the surgeon mentioned the monofocal and the multifocals but never mentioned the Crystalens So after I asked him about it he that it's bot so good and he is not recommending it
He said that after a while it can get stuck in a certain position which would make an expensive monofocal or worse
In theory that would be the best choice as I also thought but if it cannot function properly over a long time than I would not want to get stuck with one in my eye
So now I can only choose from the Symfony or monofocals
Mike, what great info! I've also now read that there is a greater chance of a particular complication that requires another procedure to correct (YAG?) that is fairly common it seems. So, now I am definitely leaning toward the Symfony. I rarely drive at night (though that may be a chicken and egg problem; do I not drive because of the glare or just because I avoid it in general. Heh.) It seems that the Symfony offers a greater opportunity for multi focus vision with a potential side effect that minimizes over time, with luck, or can be tolerated.
I'm going to ask my surgeon about your info re: Crystalens and see what his response is. Thanks so much for the input.
You can do a search on what is z syndrome
I heard about the night issues with the Symfony lens but my cataract is so bad that at this point I would rather see clearly with rings than cloudy with starbursts Assuming that are no other issues or complications
Just did that. Thanks. From my thinking at the moment, pretty scary stuff. Thanks for helping in my continuing education!
Thanks for giving me "the rest of the story." I hadn't heard of the Zeiss; my surgeon recommended either Symfony or Crystalens. I assume other options were not suitable for my situation. I certainly hope I achieve the result you have. So glad that you found your nirvana!
Depending where you live you may not have access to Zeiss lenses. Sadly we cannot get access to these in Canada and I don't believe they are available in USA either.
Hello Mike, I'm assuming you read my responses to Ladyleader about my experience and great results with the Symfony lenses. i just read your last post about your vision being so bad that you would rather see clearly with rings than cloudy with starbursts. I wanted to share with you that my vision was so bad that I could not read the largest letters on the eye chart at the DMV, even with my classes on. Now with the Symfony lens, I can see clearly at all distances. I can read very small print on my phone, use my computer, and drive all without glasses. I do not see rings, and the starbursts I see from headlights are not cloudy. They are very clear and actually look beautiful compared to the blurry headlights I saw before my surgery. For me, seeing a few starbursts, only when it is very dark, is a small tradeoff for the crystal clear vision I now experience. I was also very nervous and unsure for a long time prior to my surgery about what would be best for my vision, but in the end, I trusted my doctor and am very happy with the outcome.
Your experience is very similar to my own except I do see concentric circles around certain lights at night with Symfony lenses. I am still pleased with the vision I have though and don't wear glasses except for the tiniest print.
Thanks for sharing your good results I read about a lot of the good results here on this forum but I also read a few not so good ones I am hoping to get similar good results I am not sure how to compare my vision to the big e on the DMV charts as I have not been there in about 10 years but I was told at my first and ever eye evaluation in Nov of 2018 that I have 20/40 vision which is borderline passing for drivers license I was also told that I have aggressive cataracts which I never heard that term used before Since than it has been getting progressively worse to the point that I am nearly blind when the sun is out The green light is hard to see until i get close to it so I usually try to follow another car and watch their brake lights With sunglasses it's slightly better but sometimes I wear 2 sunglasses one on top of the other yo cut down on the intensity of the bright sun At night the cloudiness is not visible and the only problem I have is with the starburst from the LED headlights otherwise if I am the only one on the road at night I can still see pretty good
Hi Mike - I can relate to your experience with eyesight. I regularly have eye exams every 2 years and 6 months after getting new prescription things started to deteriorate. I thought it was just a matter of needing stronger glasses although I had a nagging feeling something else was going on. Road signs were hard to read. Night driving was to a point I didn't drive on unfamiliar roads. Waited for Jan 2017 for eye appointment (new insurance plan year) and quickly learned I had rapid progression of cataracts - which 8 months earlier had no signs of. Even with glasses couldn't read big E on eye chart. Right eye was 20/60 and Left was 20/50. Healthcare in canada covers the surgery but had to wait 3 months for consult with surgeon and 4 months for first surgery and 6 weeks later had 2nd surgery. I am fortunate that the surgeries were covered and all I paid out of pocket was $900 each eye for upgrade to Symfony lenses.
At 53 I work full time and lead active lifestyle and live to travel so really wanted to be able to see well at all distances. My surgeon told me about the night time halis with Symfony IOLs so I knew about the compromise and I was fortunate enough to stumble across this forum where I learned the halos were actually more like concentric circles (many) around certain light sources. My surgeries worked out fine and I have excellent vision during the day and with good lighting. I only teach for glasses in dim lighting (or use flashlight feature on iphone for menus in restaurants when lighting not optimal).
There is a compromise to every lens and the added worry the power calculation off a bit (more do with a premium lens as your expectation of being glasses free is there as well as added expense). No lens is perfect. However the odds are in your favour as there is s high success rate.
For myself I weighed the pros & cons taking onto account my work requirements, hobbies etc. Thankfully I still drive at night despite the concentric circles. Although they are noticeable with time I tuned them out. There was also more glare first 6 months which isn't an issue now. Definitely much improved than driving with cataracts.
As I have been near sighted since 12 experiencing things like snorkeling and being able to see fish and coral for first time clearly is a definite benefit.
I hope all goes well for you in your decision. If you have a particular lens in mind please research a good surgeon who does a lot of surgeries and is comfortable implanting that lens. Often a surgeon will recommend what they are mist at ease with.
Good luck to you.
Mine went from bad to worse in about 4 months Inside the house is not so bad but going outside in the sun without sunglasses is horrible Also at work we have a lot of fluorescent lights above so it;s bad over there too Another thing that is bad is the computer I can no longer see the black text on white background so I switched to high contrast black but now other people complain that they can't read the email because it comes out yellow text on white background I wanted to ask you a question You said you had 6 weeks between the 2 surgeries What was that period like ? Was the other bad eye interfering with the good eye ? Could you have gone longer before doing the second eye ? I would like to do one eye first than wait a while for it to stabilize and for me to get used to the rings and any other issues and than decide if I want to do the second eye with the same iol ar maybe go with a mono focal in the other eye
My manager said to me after my surgeries she was happy everything worked out. Said it was almost like I was legally blind. I too struggled with reading anything on my computer. Nose was like 6 inches from screen!
Yes I could have waited longer between surgeries but there really was no additional benefit for me. Eyes ate fully healed at 6 weeks (many here on the forums have them done 1 or 2 weeks apart which I wouldn't recommend due to reasons you state. That IOL is only 1mm thick whereas your natural lens is 4. During those initial 6 weeks (and why you really can't get an accurate new prescription should you need glasses) is the IOL shifts back and forth before adhering to tissue. The power can be off .25 diopter either way due to that movement.
In Canada due to this procedure being completely covered there is a minimum wait of 4 weeks and often due to shortage of surgeons and operating rooms wait times can be longer.
During those 6 weeks I managed by poking a lens put of my glasses. From less than 24 hours after surgery I could see very well with Symfony. For driving that eye took over pretty much for every distance except reading. With just one eye dine reading distance was 16 to 18 inches whereas cataract eye could read at 6 inches. Once 2nd surgery was done reading distance improved to 14 inches and within months I could read at a very comfortable 11 inches. My regular optometrist was against my going with Symfony lenses - she said many with multifocal lenses had problems with halos and still needed glasses to see well. However Symfony were so new to Canada (6 months on the market) so I thought she was talking about true multifocals. In any case have seen her twice since my surgeries and he admits I have very good vision.
I believe one reason those 6 weeks weren't too bad that Symfony is an EDOF lens providing seamless vision so there isn't a focal point that one eye won't see which otherwise with a monofcal would cause depth perception issues. Also prior to surgery I was nearsighted only - prescription of -3.25 in RE and -2.25 LE so perhaps the worse the initial eyesight is the more challenging the period is with one surgery done.
Barring any complications you should fine for 2nd surgery in 4 to 6 weeks. Ample time for first eye to settle and surgeon to make any adjustments to power calculation in 2nd eye.
Wishing you every success. I know how nerve wracking this time is for you.
Hello Mike, I read your questions to Sue about the time between her two surgeries, so I thought I would share my experience as well. My second surgery was exactly one month after the first surgery. However, the plan with my surgeon was to do the second surgery two weeks after the first surgery. When I saw my surgeon 12 days after the first surgery, he said my right eye was healing well, my vision was great and we were good to go two days later. Unfortunately, his scheduling assistant did not put me on the schedule, so I had to wait two more weeks. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. The time between the two surgeries was a challenging. My first surgery was on my right eye, which I considered my dominant eye. My vision in my left eye was worse than my right eye had been (left eye 20/70), so after my first surgery, I was seeing very clearly in my right eye and dealing with very poor vision in my left eye. I tried taking the right lens out of my glasses, but that did not work for me because the difference between my two eyes was so great even using my prescription left eye lens. i started trying to just use or focus on everything with my right eye.
I can relate to everything you said about driving, especially in the sun; very hard to distinguish if the light was green, hard to see the white lines in the road. Also, not seeing the black writing on the computer. It was also very hard to read the newspaper, because the ink looked light gray. Everything you said, I also experienced. The only thing different in my experience is that my cataracts came on more gradually, over a period of about 3 years. During that time though, I experienced other issues because of severe dry eyes.
I hope your surgery goes as well as mine and Sue's did. I know it is very nerve racking trying to decide on the lens. Keep us posted on your progress.