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574673 tn?1234125978

Explanting ReStor IOL

After going through three months of blurry vision at all distances with my left eye ReStor IOL., I took the advice listed on this forum and submitted an Adverse Medical Report to the FDA. Imagine my surprise to find 50 pages of reports, over 500 of them associated with this lens. Most of them were for my model lens as well. All had similar problems to mine and none were resolved by Yag laser capsulotomy or PRK lasix to fix the power. I understand once they do the Yag it is much more dangerous to explant. Three doctors have confirmed that my capsule does not look blurry and contrary to the typical events, my vision after surgery hasn't changed, verses becomming blury later like most capsule problems. My current doctor recommended a piggy back lens for the power, which he claims is off due to measurement error. This type of procedure is not recommended by the manufacturer of the lens. I sought the opinion of MASS Eye and Ear, a world renowned facility and they said that there were risks in explanting my lens.
So now I am faced with a life of blurry vision that can't be corrected with contacts or glasses. I currently wear a contact in my "good eye", which is -7.5 with a small cataract, a +2.5 in my operated eye to even out my vision so my mid distance isn't half in and half out of focus and reading glasses! My visual handicap was better before the surgery when the only thing I couldn't do was drive at night, which I did any way.
The other alternative appears to be an explant of the left eye, continuing with the right eye wearing a contact. What are the risks of an explant? Would you replace the Restor with a monofocal for far distance and get a far-intermediate contact lens for the right? Acylic verses silicone, which is better?
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Avatar universal
RESTOR HAS BEEN THE WORSE MISTAKE I HAVE EVER MADE. I WOULD ADVISE ONLY A PERSON THAT IS DECLARED LEGALLY BLIND TO ATTEMPT IT. I AM SCARED TO DEATH THAT MY EYE'S ARE PERMANENTLY RUINED. I HAD A RENOWNED EYE SPECIALIST THAT HAS PERFORMED THE PROCEDURE FOR 10 YEARS IN CHARLOTTE NC TO PREFORM THE RESTOR PROCEDURE ON MY EYE'S. I HAD IT DONE OCT.13, 2012 - YAG NOV. 7 I HAVE SEEN NO IMPROVEMENT AT ALL ! I SAW  20/20/ DISTANCE VERY CRISP AND CLEAR IN BOTH EYE'S BEFORE THE PROCEDURE AND 20/100 - 20/150 IN CLOSE UP IS WHY I HAD THE PROCEDURE GOT TIRED OF READERS, BROKEN ARMS ON GLASSES, SMUG ON GLASSES, COULDN'T KEEP UP WITH THEM.  MY EYE'S ACHE, WATER, AND I WISH I COULD GO TO BED AND NEVER WAKE UP. I AM A POSITIVE PERSON AND LOOKING TO WAKE UP AND SEE IMPROVEMENTS AND THERE ARE NONE. I CAN SEE WITHOUT READERS BUT IT IS FRUSTRATING WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE WORDS YOU HAVE TO FOCUS LIKE A LENSE ON A CAMERA.. THEY PUT TUBES DOWN MY TEAR DUCTS AND THEY ARE UNCOMFORTABLE.I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO HAVE MY EYE'S BACK THE WAY THEY WERE BEFORE THE PROCEDURE!      
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Avatar universal
I a male age 46 and was diagnosed with a cataract in my right eye at age 42. My vision was better than 20/20 in my left eye at age 42 (20/17). My right eye was 20/20 at age 38 before the cataract and 20/200 at age 42.

My problem is this. I have a terrible phobia of having my eyes "probed". Some conditional things. I take Synthroid and Allopurinol. I have very pale blue eyes and have always been very sensitive to sunlight.

Is it possible to take anti-anxiety drugs like Halcyon before these procedures?

Given the good state of vision prior to cataract is there a predisposition to a negative outcome with a Multifocal lens?

Any known drug interactions with the above listed drugs?

Thanks in advance for any help.
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Avatar universal
Dear Dr. Hagen, You said:
"Ask yourselves: If I was told BEFORE SURGERY that I might need glasses some or most of the time even with a ReStoR IOL and I was told that my night vision would be bad and that optical abberations might be a big problem (dysphotopsia) would I have had the surgery ?"

I just stumbled upon this website yesterday! I would not have selected ReStoR implants for my eyes if I had been told this by my ophthalmologist. Because I had nearly mature cataracts, I would have gone ahead with cataract removal but selected single focus implants for both eyes. I am a retired M.D. (family practitioner) who , 5 years ago, switched from my previous ophthalmologist to my current one after reading a newspaper article (it may have been an advertisement) that the latter's clinic was inserting multifocal implants that often eliminated a patient's need to wear reading glasses after cataract surgery. Before the surgery I do not recall my surgeon's mentioning of the likelihood of bad night vision problems and dysphotopsia postoperatively. He did mention that some patients saw halos but that these usually were transient side effects. His staff provided me with literature that discussed the side effects of ReStoR implants. The literature did mention that some patients experienced halos and discussed the usual major side effects such as eye infection and retinal detachment. In retriospect, as a physician I should have done more research on the ReStoR implants before slecting them for my own eyes.Right after surgery I noticed large halos and long radial rays/light streaks emanating from the light sources. My ophthalmologist assured me that these side effects would lessen with time as my brain adjusted to them. He has told me this several times on followup visits. With time my mind apparently converted what used to be halos to large circular ghost images (having a radius of about 4 to 5 times the diameter of the light source, for example) Now, after 5 years there has not been any significant reduction (at most, 5 to10%) in the ghost images and long radial rays. I feel that the overall result of my cataract surgery has been a loss of at least a third of my visual acuity at night. I've continued to drive some nights but have almost collided 2 or 3 times with other oncoming vehicles. For me, the worst driving conditions may occur at dusk when most vehicles have their headlights on but some have not turned them on. On an out-of-state trip 2 months ago, for example, while driving on an unfamiliar highway, I made a left turn at an intersection after carefully looking several times (as I always do) to ascertain that no vehicles were approaching. A little into the turn my right seat passenger yelled out a warning. I hit the brakes and stopped in time. I think that the light streaks and ghosts from other vehicles may have partially obliterated my view of that oncoming one.
Following this recent close call I decided to return for another consultation with my surgeon. Last week he did an extensive exam, refracted my eyes and ran several tests, which included a retinal scan. He assured me that everything looked fine (from the outside looking inward, that is! - not from the inside looking out which is what matters most to me). He told me that there was not much that he could do to correct my nighttime impairment. He also stated that removal of the ReStoR implants might result in considerable permanent damage to my vision because the implants were cemented into my eyes. By this I understood that they were cemented to the insides of the capsules. My daytime vision also is not all that acute. With eyeglasses my distant vision is 20/40. I do not see well at any distance and must wear separate eyeglasses and other glasses for reading and working at the computer.

Although I presently am 76, I am in relatively good health and anticipate that I may have 18 to 20 years more of life (My parents died in their mid 90s and their parents lived just as long if not longer than them. I have no chronic illnesses at present and have neither smoked nor consumed alcohol or other harmful drugs. After confessing to my wife of my nocturnal impirment, she insisted on being my chauffeur at night. I've also given up flying airplanes. This was due to being afraid that I would not be able to spot other airplanes while in flight. Night landings also might be extremely hazardous for me.

Reading this long thread about explanting ReStoR implants has given me some hope that my vision may be restored to a near normal state - instead of having to live with my visual impairment for another 20 years. I live in California, several thousand miles away from the experts in Massachusetts and Connecticut who were described to have successfully removed some ReStoR implants. I am, however, 3 or 4 hours drive away from Stanford University, UCLA and Univ. of California, Davis. Might I be able to find ophthalmologists at one of these institutions with the expertise to successfully remove my current implants and replace them with single focus ones? I know that I should be able to pose this question to my ophthalmologist during a subsequent visit. In the meantime, however, I am going to be trying his suggestion of wearing polarizing lenses with two-surface anti glare coatings. I am going to comply even though I had to suppress myself from stating that I really need the polarizing, anti glare lenses between my fresnel implants and my retinas. Thanks for any comments or suggestions you might have.
Larry L, M.D.
Helpful - 0
574673 tn?1234125978
I have been wondering how you are doing. It sounds though that you have found a doctor who is logical and methodical in helping you explore and weigh all of your options. That is important and why I ultimately went with MEEI. They did not have only one answer but let me evaluate all of the possibilities.
Believe me I understand and feel your frustrations. I think no option is perfect and one has to weigh the risks and benefits obviously. I am happy with my choice, but I still do not have a perfect situation. My new eye works great at one focal point, (about 14"- 3')which I am most grateful for. There is still some blurriness (could be the capsule, but not significant enough to warrant doing anything). I still need a contact in my dominant eye and I plan to get glasses over top to hopefully sharpen up reading for both and distance for the IOL eye.  So I guess what I am saying is that even if you decide to live with the Restor eye, do not regret making that choice either.
Best wishes and keep us posted.
londonbridge
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Avatar universal
Your feelings make complete sense to me.  What is your doctor suggesting in the event that you don't attain complete satisfaction with your ReStor vision?
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662703 tn?1226271428
Londonbridge and Lerbea, I am so glad you had good results!
I am trying to use glasses to see what vision would be like if the ReStor worked correctly. I have glasses for far that vision work pretty well. The image is a bit too sharp, and now that both eyes are working together, I really notice the highlight problem—on ALL light sources, including rings in very dim light, and the light of white paper around type. In bright light, they work all right but in dim light, they are a problem. There is still a strong dependence on the cataract eye, which is progressing steadily, unfortunately.
On order are glasses for reading—the ReStor has never worked well for that, but maybe with a new, stronger prescription they will work better. I have drugstore readers but I am trying to make both work together, which means different corrections for each eye. My doctor recommends COMPLETE satisfaction before going forward with the PRK. He is conservative, which is good.
I am torn…I cant help but feel that I am going thru a lot of expensive invasive surgery to make a product that doesn’t work well, work a little better. If this were a car or a dishwasher, I would have protection by the “lemon law”—this way, we put our eyes and pocketbooks on the line to correct design flaws. It is not a good feeling. Sorry, I am a bit discouraged today. It is good to hear that others are solving the problem—that always gives hope. Aleif
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