Cyrstalens problems

[blueeyes57]

I had my final and dominate eye implanted with Crystalens a month ago. I can't see up close or far away with it, only intermediate or arms length. With my less dominate eye I can only see close up or intermediate, far off is very blurry too. I feel like I wasted so much money when I could have just had Lasix even though I'm over 40. I am so upset because I now have trouble seeing when I drive or watch TV. I think I had better far off vision before the surgery. My surgeon wants to 'tweak'  my dominate eye with a Lasix procedure but I am afraid to keep messing with that eye as I don't trust that procedure now that I am so disappointed with the Crystalens procedure. I had an allergic reaction  to preservatives in the eye drops during the surgery resulting in an abraded cornea which has healed by now, I think. Could this have anything to do with my vision or the lens not working like I was told they would do. I was expecting 20/20 vision or close in both eyes just like the Doctor told me I would have.

[blueeyes57]

I looked on the tube of the GenTeal and it says for Extreme dry eyes. He said to use it at night but I tried during the day, it is very thick and after a few minutes it seems to really help. I hope most of my problems is just the dry eyes and hopefully I can overcome that with meds. Good luck with your dry eyes too. I tried the Restasis last night and this morning and it didn't burn like yours did so maybe I can tolerate it. Now with summer coming up and humidity levels rising maybe we can all see better, let's hope.

[ace399]

I've not tried the Genteal Extreme.  I use the Genteal PM, a 3.5g ointment in a tiny tube.  Good luck to you.  Visualize an excellent outcome.

[blueeyes57]

Yesterday the Dr. gave me the GenTeal Extreme which is probably what you use at night. I did use it last night and put some in my eyes this morning and it really seems to help. Sounds like your eyes are as dry as mine or worse. I have to get the Restasis today so it will be later before I get a chance to see how it works or if it burns like it did for you. You would think it wouldn't burn as it is supposed to soothe the eyes. I carry the regular GenTeal with me at all times but it only lasts so long then they are very dry again. When I was trying to wear contacts I would take them out and they were very dry, that's another reason I wanted IOLs. My Dr. said that taking a lot of Omega 3 would help as it improves any mucous in your body. I have been taking that but not long enough to see results. He recommended the Prenatal dose because it has a much higher dosage .He takes it, too. I get it from Melaleuca which has great vitamins and other 'green' products what may be bothering my eyes.  I will ask him about the Bausch & Lomb book, that makes a lot of sense.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[ace399]

Yes I tried Restasis for 3 months and all it did was burn my eyes, so I stopped.  My bottom ducts are plugged.  I found that the only thing that helped was an ointment.  Prior to cataract surgery, I was using Genteal PM a lot.  You do have to wipe off the excess and allow your vision to clear before driving.  It is a petrolatum gel that should duplicate the oily tears that protect your eyes.  I found that the liquid drops made things worse.  I think because they evaporate, which then dries the eyes.

The funny thing is after using the Nevanac (anti-inflammation), Vigamox (antibiotic) pre-surgery and adding Omnipred (steroid) post surgery, my dry eyes went from severe to mild.  I now only occasionally use the ointment.  Of course, I stopped using anything in the operated eye due to concern of possible infection for 4 weeks.  Dr, Hagan thinks the Omnipred is probably helping.  But, prolonged use of steroids is not recommended due to bad side effects.  I weaned off of the Omnipred (and Nevanac) after 4 weeks per my Dr.'s plan.

Just reading books gets you some eye exercise, but your Dr. should give you a Bausch & Lomb book with word puzzles (groups of letters and you find the word) that is better.  You can do a puzzle a day.  You will notice that over time, the type size gets smaller.

[blueeyes57]

Thanks for your comments. I have extremely dry eyes and while at the Dr. office today they were fluctuating like a camera! He kept putting GenTeal drops in and that would make the letters so clear then after blinking several times it would get blurry again. So, he has me on Restasis because he thinks the few tears that I do produce are not good quality.  He also put plugs in the bottom ducts before the surgery because we knew this could be a problem. Also, my cornea was abraded during surgery because of an allergy to the preservatives in the drops used and the cornea has dramatically smoothed compared to what it was 2 weeks ago. Plus, my astigmatism is almost gone. Sounds like I had everything going against me! I have 20/40 in the non dominant eye and 20/60 in the dominate one but he wants me to wait as does my second opinion Dr. for about 4 months because that eye has more healing to do and hopefully by then the Crystalens will be able to focus and I can see better for distance. Right now I am having some glasses made for my distance vision as that is my main problem at this point.This should be a temporary measure and will help with my driving. He says to read a lot to make the muscles re-learn how to move. Have you tried Restasis or any eye drops? He gave me some really thick drops to use at bed time because it is like putting vaseline in your eyes so maybe that will help have clearer vision in the morning.

[ace399]

I had a Crystalens HD implanted in my right eye and the vision fluctuated for 5 weeks between 20/30 and 20/60.  My Dr. was not worried because it takes 5 weeks for complete healing.  It finally settled in at 20/30 and my records show that this was the best I had achieved before cataract surgery.  I am not planning on Lasik or any other tweaking for this eye.  I am concerned about dry eye from any surgery to the cornea.  It's now been 6 weeks and I am still not getting good near (< 2 ft) vision.  I can read the computer monitor.

[blueeyes57]

Thanks for your comments, it really helped. I have never asked what refraction I ended up with. He has checked my eyes for vision distance, far and near. At first I had 20/40 in my non-dominant eye but I don't know what I have in my dominate eye. I go to him today and will have lots of questions to ask. Actually, I do trust him or I wouldn't have let him work on my eyes but since my vision was not as he enthusiastically told me, that is why I had doubts. Seems like my vision was better right after the surgery even though I know dilation helped. I spoke to a second opinion Dr. yesterday who was instrumental in getting FDA approval so he will be a great resource but I just don't want to spend more money ,as it costs enough already , nor do I wantto have to go through anymore surgery to achieve near perfect vision. I also called the number given in this forum to Crystalens and she told me that my eye could be tweaked with Lasix for distance and the accommodating lens would take over for the close up vision only to have the second opinion Dr. tell me that ther are no guarantees that would work. I would think the people at Crystalens would know? Ya think?  Thanks for all of your help and support.

[peakhope]

By one month after surgery, you should have a pretty good idea of the outcome with Crystalenses.

One immediate question is whether you have any remaining astigmatism. Your doctor should already know the answer.

The second question is whether your vision can be corrected to give excellent distance vision, and whether it can be corrected to give excellent near vision. Your doctor may not have done those specific tests yet (my doctor won't do mine until my 9 week checkup), but since you are having trouble, s/he should be willing to check. This can also tell you what refraction you ended up with, and how near or far it was from the target (for example, maybe you are at -0.50 and the target was -0.25...that's just an example, not a guess).

You will need that information to make any decisions, and with it we might be able to give you a little guidance or reassurance here. But you won't get specific medical advice here, so you will still need that second opinion.

If you really do not trust this doctor, don't have him or her do more work on your eyes. Spend a night in a nearby city if you need to in order to get high quality eye care. You could also get a second opinion from an opthomologist who does not work with Crystalens, although that would not be as valuable.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

You need to get a second or even a third opinion.

By now most people are at or close to adjusting to their vision.

It would be a felony to knowingly have you pay for a Crystalens and then insert a monofocal.

Just this morning I had a nurse in the office with a ReStor in both eyes and so bad vision shd can't work. I've recommended a colleige that specializes in "fixing" problems like this.

JH MD

[blueeyes57]

I only had floaters and had the Crystalens surgery so I could ditch the glasses and never could wear contacts, dry eyes. After paying over $10,000 for this procedure including the Crystalens I wonder if my surgeon could have just put in mono focal regular cataract lens that the insurance would have covered. I heard it takes a while for Crystalens for do their work properly but I am concerned because my dominate eye not being able to see close up or far off. That should not be the case for these as that is their selling point....you will have he vision you had at 20 and the hinges on these lens move to accommodate our vision. How long does it take for the eye muscles to recognize this and start working to move he lens. In my town I think my surgeon is the only one who does Crystalens surgery so getting a second or third opinion is almost impossible. Do you think that 'tweaking' my cornea would help my dominate eye to see further away better? It is the only eye that I can see close/intermediate with. My non-dominant eye can see at arms length like for computer but that's it. Any suggestions on how Lasix could improve my dominant eye after having the lens implanted. I often wonder if a Crystalens was actually implanted and not the regular IOL that is used for cataract surgery. Sorry that I am so skeptical but I am not getting what I paid for and my vision is very valuable to me as I am an artist. I may have to take up pottery where I feel the end product and not see it! Please help!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

1. If you had a cataract before your surgery now you don't.
2. Any cataract operation where you can see good WITH GLASSES is a ressult many people who post here would change with you in a flash.
3. If you had perfect eyes and didn't need glasses then you would still need glasses in your early 40s for reading. Now you will  just need glasses for distance and it sounds like you can get by for reading and shopping/computer with out glasses.
4. Get a second or third opinion about your situation.
5. If the operation had been the other way around you would not need glasses for driving or shop/computer but likely for reading you would need glasses.

JCH MD