Restor Lens Problems

[MiserableinNj]

I had cataracts removed 9 weeks ago right eye, 7 weeks ago left eye.  I had the Restor lens put in both eyes.  I have had nothing but problems and curious if anyone else has had similar problems. My first problem was light sensitivity. I had to wear my sunglasses inside for almost 8 weeks (my husband refers to our house as the Bat Cave).  Fluorescent lighting is the worst and thats whats in my office. I had to work with the lights off for the first 8 weeks, I can turn them on now but the light still bothers me. I have dry eyes and it has gotten worse since surgery, the doctor put plugs in my tearducts but I'm constantly putting artificial tears in, which blurs my vision. Then my eyesight kept getting blurry with double vision. The doctor said I have Blepharitis and gave me Azisite. That seems to help but I have to use it every day along with warm compresses and a cleansing routine or the blurry vision gets worse.  She now wants to perform laser surgery on me for a slight astigmatism I have. She says this will help, they gave me glasses to try on with the way it should look after surgery. I can see clearer but still double vision and she doesn't know if that will go away.
I went to another doctor for a second opinion and he said don't do the surgery if there is a chance I'm going to extract the lens and put in a monofocal lens. Now I don't know what to do. I'm scared to have these lens' extracted and would like to try and keep them in. We won't even get into the issue of the so called "halos" around headlights. They are such HUGE spider webs that I can not drive at night any more. Has anyone had any or all of my problems? Has it gotten better with time? Has anyone had the laser surgery for astigmastism after implants? Any help would be appreciated, my quality of life is 0 these days.

[JohnHaganMD]

Back home to the land of full keyboards.  As Softwear Developer says its not that the IOL can't be replaced after a yag capsulotomy.   1. It often is not possible to put the replacement IOL "In the capsular bag" but their are IOLs for "out of the bag"placement and also anterior chamber IOL. The primary problem is that if a yag capsuology has been done there is usually vitreous loss at the time of surgery because the posterior capsule doesn't hold it back.  Vitreous loss means a vitrectomy at the time of surgery and increased risk of retinal detachment and cystoid macular edema but the risks are still low.

It's important to remember that these health forums attract UNHAPPY people. the people that have had RESTOR and are happy are not her posting good results.  I know there are ophthalmologists and optometrists that have had RESTOR put in their eyes.

[JohnHaganMD]

Working off iPhone on road yag  and mean   Spellcheck changes above

[achillea]

For me, Dr. Hagan, iPhone plus road equals dam* strange keystrokes.

[JohnHaganMD]

Yes curses on small keyboards

[JohnHaganMD]

Just because you had yah capsulotomy does NOT MESN THEY CAN'T BE REMOVED AND MONOFOCAL IOL PUT IN

[Judybell59]

I had cataract surgery an had the restore lens put in was that a mistake I had thening but problems an with what costs you think hard before you do this

[achillea]

A contrary note here:  

In 2010, I had cataract surgery for both eyes.  My surgeon is an unusally thoughtful person, and after careful assessment of my eyes ("far-sighted," small pupils, very slight astigmatism), he chose the ReStor D1 lens for me.

One day after each surgery, my vision, from 14 inches from my face to infinity, was perfect.  I had almost the vision of a kid again, with only the need to wear readers in very low-light situations.

Six years later, this is still true.  I got a superb result with these early ReStor lenses.  

[SCUcolumbia]

Your case is rare!

[Restor]

Let me add my miserable experience to that of the other Restor sufferers. After a year, I still have very bad eye problems, and blink so much that people think I have a tic. I use Hydroeye supplements 4 daily, all sorts of drops, eye lash cleaners, etc, but nothing seems to help. It is impossible to read except with an auxiliary type of light, like my phone flashlight, and mid range acuity is terrible.  I am a sculptor and have a lot of difficulty focusing. Of course, I have the halos and glare when driving at night.

My renowned eye doctor in Sarasota Florida pretty much has given up,trying to help and says my problems were all pre existing.  He had no problem cashing the $7000 check above the Medicare payments, though.

In my opinion, the Restor lenses are a scam to pad the pockets of the docs who are not content with the normal insurance payments.

I just wish I had the normal mono focal lenses which seem to work for most everyone. Since I had the YAG, I know it is not advisable to take out these lenses, so I will suffer with them the rest of my life.

[SoftwareDeveloper]

As the doctor seems to be struggling to post off an iPhone, I thought I'd elaborate that as he says, it is possible even after a YAG to have a lens exchange to a monofocal. The issue is that after a YAG it is likely that when they remove the lens, the  capsular bag where they prefer to put IOLs likely won't remain intact. However there are IOLs that can be placed *outside* the bag , they are merely designed a little differently (and usually monofocals). If you look at a thread here on "Should I risk for IOL after 24 yrs of Aphakia?" you'll see someone who needs to have a lens implant that goes outside of the bag (he never had a lens implant so his capsular bag isn't intact to place an IOL into it).

Obviously some of those issues like halos and glare and lower quality midrange vision are related to the lens choice unfortunately. The majority of people are happy with multifocals, the existence of an unhappy minority doesn't make them a "scam". What might be considered a "scam" is if they didn't properly inform you of the risks beforehand and the slight possibility you might wish a lens exchange.

I will note that some of the issues you mention don't have anything to do with the lens choice. The issue of using drops suggests eye problems like dry eye which can be a side effect of cataract surgery. Whatever issues you are using drops for have *nothing* to do with which particular lens you had put in .

[SoftwareDeveloper]

I should add that it isn't clear that you would have had any better midrange vision with a monofocal.  Unfortunately the US IOLs are bifocals that are best for distance and near, though the newer ones have lower near adds so they should be better with intermediate than older high add bifocals.  Outside the US they have better lenses for intermediate (trifocals, even lower add bifocals, and extended depth of focus like the Symfony).  If the Crystalens accommodates at all (vs. the small minority that have it essentially perform like a monofocal), it may be better for intermediate than US approved bifocals

[arubachick]

how did you proceed to get your money back?  Did you ask your surgeon or get an attorney? I am having the same problems as you and everyone else on this board