Aa
Any ideas on what i am experiencing
I am frustrated with my recent experience post cataract surgery and would love some direction. I recently had the new Symfony IOL implanted in one of my eyes.
Surgery day itself was very complicated. I had a capsular rapture that cause the Dr. to insert some Gel to hold the IOL in place. My eye pressure was fairly high all day as a result (around 40) but stabilized below 20 after about 4-5 hours. The next day my vision was 20/30. 5 days later i was at 20/25 and 10 days later i was at 20/20. Everything seemed to be going great and i loved my vision. Then suddenly, i woke up the morning of the 14th day and saw my vision was worse. Over the next several days my eye was sore (slightly red) and my vision was poor. When i saw my Dr. he thought everything should stabilize and could not really tell me what was happening. His only real explanation was possible nerve damage. There was no infection, nor retina tear, no edema in cornea or retina and every test I did for nerve damage showed normal results.
When tested, over the next few weeks i tested at 20/60, 20/80, 20/40, 20/50. Basically all over the place. Then over the course of a month, it seemed that vision began to improve. I got to 20/30 when squinting and began to feel good about the eye. Then suddenly 3 days after my prior check up and about 2.5 months post-surgery the exact same thing happened and i woke up with grey, grainy vision. Right back to 20/80.
When the DR. examines me they say it could be a fold in the back of my eye. It could be posterior vitreous rapture, it could be nerve damage, it could be the lense itself. Nothing concrete that can answer the questions i have.
From a symptom standpoint, i tell them that it is not the blurriness that is causing the visual issues but the depth of vision. I can see everything but it is faint. Not enough light is coming in. Numbers on the TV cable box are fainter with left eye vs right. The vision appears at times like i am looking through a dirty glass window, a bit wavy, it is pixelated. Objects are easier to see than letters/numbers. Not enough light is penetrating the eye. He has ruled out a secondary cataract and any lens, fit, refraction related issues. Glasses don’t help and the vision also fluctuates from day to day although on either an uptrend or a down trend.
Would love any direction you can think off to help me get to the root cause of what the issue could be. If anyone had or is having a similar experience, i would love to better understand what this could be.
Surgery day itself was very complicated. I had a capsular rapture that cause the Dr. to insert some Gel to hold the IOL in place. My eye pressure was fairly high all day as a result (around 40) but stabilized below 20 after about 4-5 hours. The next day my vision was 20/30. 5 days later i was at 20/25 and 10 days later i was at 20/20. Everything seemed to be going great and i loved my vision. Then suddenly, i woke up the morning of the 14th day and saw my vision was worse. Over the next several days my eye was sore (slightly red) and my vision was poor. When i saw my Dr. he thought everything should stabilize and could not really tell me what was happening. His only real explanation was possible nerve damage. There was no infection, nor retina tear, no edema in cornea or retina and every test I did for nerve damage showed normal results.
When tested, over the next few weeks i tested at 20/60, 20/80, 20/40, 20/50. Basically all over the place. Then over the course of a month, it seemed that vision began to improve. I got to 20/30 when squinting and began to feel good about the eye. Then suddenly 3 days after my prior check up and about 2.5 months post-surgery the exact same thing happened and i woke up with grey, grainy vision. Right back to 20/80.
When the DR. examines me they say it could be a fold in the back of my eye. It could be posterior vitreous rapture, it could be nerve damage, it could be the lense itself. Nothing concrete that can answer the questions i have.
From a symptom standpoint, i tell them that it is not the blurriness that is causing the visual issues but the depth of vision. I can see everything but it is faint. Not enough light is coming in. Numbers on the TV cable box are fainter with left eye vs right. The vision appears at times like i am looking through a dirty glass window, a bit wavy, it is pixelated. Objects are easier to see than letters/numbers. Not enough light is penetrating the eye. He has ruled out a secondary cataract and any lens, fit, refraction related issues. Glasses don’t help and the vision also fluctuates from day to day although on either an uptrend or a down trend.
Would love any direction you can think off to help me get to the root cause of what the issue could be. If anyone had or is having a similar experience, i would love to better understand what this could be.
I'm only another post-cataract patient and nothing comes to mind beyond what the doctor suggested, so I just wanted to stress that it makes sense if your doctor isn't sure what the cause is to of course consider consulting other doctors with either more experience and/or better scanning or other diagnostic equipment.
Some of your comments are potentially ambiguous. While unfortunately I think the worst possible interpretation is what you meant, I figured its best to confirm. When you mention: "When tested, over the next few weeks i tested at 20/60, 20/80, 20/40, 20/50. " those could mean your uncorrected vision and indicate that you have some refractive error and the refraction is shifting (perhaps the lens shifting positions). Unfortunately I'm guessing your comment that "Glasses don't help" (unless that is merely because the refraction is shifting) and that he has ruled out any "refraction related issues" means that instead those numbers are your "best corrected" vision even with glasses/contacts. Since you don't mention it, I'm assuming you didn't get a toric IOL? If you did, then rotation of the lens can cause your vision to get worse since a toric lens needs to be in the right position to achieve the intended refraction, but it seems like that would be covered in your comment that he ruled out lens fit and refraction related issues.
Some of your comments are potentially ambiguous. While unfortunately I think the worst possible interpretation is what you meant, I figured its best to confirm. When you mention: "When tested, over the next few weeks i tested at 20/60, 20/80, 20/40, 20/50. " those could mean your uncorrected vision and indicate that you have some refractive error and the refraction is shifting (perhaps the lens shifting positions). Unfortunately I'm guessing your comment that "Glasses don't help" (unless that is merely because the refraction is shifting) and that he has ruled out any "refraction related issues" means that instead those numbers are your "best corrected" vision even with glasses/contacts. Since you don't mention it, I'm assuming you didn't get a toric IOL? If you did, then rotation of the lens can cause your vision to get worse since a toric lens needs to be in the right position to achieve the intended refraction, but it seems like that would be covered in your comment that he ruled out lens fit and refraction related issues.
Do you mean "Capsular rupture" ? There is no "rapture" in the eye.
By far the most common cause of your symptoms would be Cytoid macular edema which is much more common after capsular rupture and/or vitreous loss.
You need Macular OCT and perhaps a second opinion.
JCH MD
By far the most common cause of your symptoms would be Cytoid macular edema which is much more common after capsular rupture and/or vitreous loss.
You need Macular OCT and perhaps a second opinion.
JCH MD
You are reading content posted in the Eye Care Community
Top General Health Answerers
Kansas City, MO
Grand Prairie, TX
San Diego, CA
Discharge often isn't normal, and could mean an infection or an STD.
In this unique and fascinating report from Missouri Medicine, world-renowned expert Dr. Raymond Moody examines what really happens when we almost die.
Think a loved one may be experiencing hearing loss? Here are five warning signs to watch for.
When it comes to your health, timing is everything
We’ve got a crash course on metabolism basics.
Learn what you can do to avoid ski injury and other common winter sports injury.
