Rezoom lenses

I had Rezoom lenses implanted in my right eye.  I am having surgery in 3 weeks for the left eye.  It is only been 10 days since my first surgery.  Still cannot see 100% in my right eye as yet but when I use both eyes, my vision is pretty good.  

The only problem is at night.  I was told I would see halos - one of the side effects of multifocal lenses - it is the Starburst at night which worries me.  I have not as yet driven in the past 10 days because of the Starburst.  Does this go away with time.  Has anyone else experienced it.  

Unfortunately, I was supposed to see my surgeon but he was called away for an emergency and another doctor saw me mainly to see if there were any complications.  He said my eye was healing fine and did not have time to discuss my question of Starburst.  All he said was - "Your eye is still healing."

Anyone out there with the same problem.


This discussion is related to ReZoom lens.

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

Perhaps your surgeon being called away is a good thing.  

1. Use the search feature, archives and heath topics to look at all the many, many many unhappy patients with REZOOM Lens. Strongly consider NOT having another ReZoom IOL put in your second eye.
2. Of all the multifocal IOLs (crystalens, ReZoom, ReStor the ReZoom is in my opinion the worse
3. At a recent medical conference I attended with over 200 surgeons in the room not a single one said they would have ReZoom lens put in both eyes, most would not even consider one in either I.  Personally I would avoid that lens like the plaguq.

4. Get a second opinion before you do anything to the second eye.

JCH III MD

[lori1945]

Thank you so much for your prompt reply.  

I was so hoping you would not say what you said.  I am definitely going to try and get an appointment with my surgeon and cancel my May 5 surgery for my left eye.  

I will tell him that I want the Starburst to go away before I do anything.  My left eye is pretty good.  After all, people with cataracts do have one eye done at a time and maybe 2 years later do the other eye.  

Getting a second opinion is not easy as we have to get a referral from a doctor to see an ophthalmologist which may take a couple of months.  

Thanks again.  

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

Good luck
JCH II MD

[lori1945]

Hi Dr. Hagan:

I have managed to get an appointment with my doctor tomorrow.  As mentioned before, you said I should get a second opinion.  This is very difficult and will take a long time.

What do you think I should say to him.  Should I ask him to remove the Rezoom Multifocal lens and put in Monofocal lenses in both eyes.  I have been reading all the e-mails from the archives and no one seems to be happy with these lenses.  Just went for a walk on my street and those Starbursts are as bright as ever !!! How could I not drive at night for the rest of my life.

Hoping to hear from you.  Thanking you once again for your help.

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

I cannot answer questions that are person and exam specific. You can consider having a monofocial aspheric IOL like Tecnis put in the left eye and see what that is like and allow more time to see if you can get use to the ReZoom IOL.

If you are still very symptomatic in several months and things are no better than and IOL exhcange for a monofocial would be worth considering.

JCH IIMD

[lori1945]

Hi Doctor:

I saw my Doctor yesterday.  

I told him how unhappy I was and I said I know now a lot of people are very unhappy with the Rezoom Multifocal lenses.

He said before we do anything, he would like to laser the right eye because he believes there might be a bit of film left there.  If things still don't improve, he will gladly exchange the lens to Monofocals.  He wanted my right eye to heal a bit longer so he is going to do it on May 1.

I had cancelled the surgery on the left eye after my first e-mail with you.  

I am so glad that you recommend Monofocals too. This way now once one eye is working as it should then I can concentrate on the other one.  

Thank you Doctor for your time.  

I have learned one thing I thought I did enough  research on new lenses by going to their websites but that was not good enough because they are promoting their products.  What you have to do is find websites where people have good and bad problems.  I accidentally came by this site and would recommend it to everyone I know, not just for eye problems but all other ailments.

I will let you know how I progress so it might help other people make informed decisions.

Bye for now.  
.  

[Occupant]

I just want to caution you about the starbursts - that seems to be your biggest complaint - I had cataract surgery about one year ago and had Alcon monofocal lenses put in. I have about the same amount of starbursts that I had with the cataract, very irritating. I don't really know what causes them, but obviously it's not the multifocal lenses. My guess is, it has to do with vitreuos floaters or it could be some other condition that I am not aware of.

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

State of the art monofocals are ASPHERIC   best in my opinion Tecnis (no financial disclosures to make).

JCH II MD

[lori1945]

Thanks for your message.  

With my cataracts, I was getting halos but I never got starbursts.  Like if I look at the traffic lights at night, there was haze around the lights but I could see the traffic lights okay and, therefore, not dangerous to drive. The doctor told me that is one of the first signs of cataracts == halos.  When he had recommended Multifocals, in the literature provided, it does mention that one can see halos at night, halos I could handle but starbursts are a whole different thing.   Actually, I did not know what starbursts were until I had my right eye done.  I knew I had an appointment with the Doctor but I did not know how to explain it to him.  Kept googling "after effects of cataract surgery" and then came upon a site where it lists and shows in pictures all the different kind of problems one gets, so I copied the picture.

Now, if I look at the backlights of a car (at night only) it is like a huge star with lots of spokes, therefore, you cannot judge how far the car is in front of you so I have not driven since April 8.  I am assuming you are driving at night.

Its sure is interesting and helpful to get other people's views.

[lori1945]

Thank you Doctor.

I have made a note of the name and type of Monofocals.

[lori1945]

As an afterthought, you might be interested in seeing different problems people have.  I got the picture from this site -

www.afterlasik.com/My_Story.html

It was a problem a lady was having but if you read through it, it is very interesting and then you go scroll further down where you can click on

www.visionsimulations.com

Hope it helps.

[Occupant]

Yes, in fact I went to the very same website after the surgery and adjusted the starbursts to what I thought, I was experiencing, printed it and took it to the ophthalmologist to show him the problem. He basically shrugged his shoulders and said: "Your eyes are getting old". I suppose if you are under 50 that answer might not be acceptable to you, but I wasn't going to explant the lenses I had, especially since they are not multifocal.

[lori1945]

That's interesting, at least we are both on the same page.

In the 2 pictures:  Top picture 1-6 examples and in the 2nd Picture 1-4 examples - which size and type of starburst do you experience.

Are you driving at night and did your doctor give you any kind of drops to put in your eyes.  Also do you use glasses to drive.  

Hoping to hear from you.

[Occupant]

Well, I would say in the top row of pictures No. 2 would come closest. The bottom row doesn't really apply in my case. I do see some bars like that, but not an actual compass rose type of display, they are not as pronounced and they are certainly not bowed. I am driving at night, but not a lot. I feel uncomfortable doing it. The only drops I took are Zymar, Acular and a steroid solution that had to be stopped after 5 days due to a high IOP and then, of course, I had to take drops again to bring it down.

[lori1945]

I will let you know how I progress after they laser my eye on May 1.  I don't believe it will work but I will give the doctor the benefit of the doubt.  

The starbursts you see are pretty bad and I am sure you are very disappointed about this.

Bye for now.  

[lori1945]

Hi Doctor:

Sorry to trouble you again.  I had written to you on April 23 after I had visited my doctor and updated you on what he had said.  He is going to do the laser procedure first on May 1 because he believes there might be a bit of film left behind. He said if this does not get rid of the starbursts, then he will exchange the Rezoom Multifocal to a Monofocal.  Only my right eye was done.

Today, I got a message from JodieJ and she says I should not do the laser procedure because it is very difficult to exchange the lens after this treatment.  

She asked me to write to you first and get your opinion.  I told her you had already recommended the type of Monofocal ASPHERIC Tecnis lens but you did not say it was impossible to do an exchange after laser treatment.

I cannot argue with my doctor nor can I get a second opinion like you can in the United States.  I would have to get a referral from my optometrist to go see an opthamologist which can take 2 to 3 months waiting period.  

Hoping to hear from you.  Once again, sorry for the trouble.

[JodieJ]

Lori1945, I'm bumping your question up to the top and hope Dr. Hagan sees it.  I'd really like you to get a second opinion about the wisdom of doing the Yag.

[lori1945]

I hope you remember me.  I just wanted to update you on my Rezoom multifocal problem regarding starbursts.  I am the lady from Canada.

I had asked my Doctor to remove the multifocal and exchange it for a monofocal.  Dr. Hagan also suggested this.  Anyways, on May 1 he did the Yag procedure, he wanted to try this first.  I gave him the benefit of the doubt.  He told me that if this does not work he will do the exchange.  

Enough time has now past, so I could give you an update.  I was getting major starbursts from the front lights and back lights of cars.  After two weeks now, the starbursts from the back lights have disappeared, however, I am still getting starbursts from the front lights but not as big.  So to make a left hand turn in front of oncoming cars is still a problem.  So needless to say, I am still not driving at night but I can drive until it is dusk.  

I am seeing my doctor again on May 23, 2008 and I am still going for the exchange to a monofocal.  

[JodieJ]

Please let me know how it goes.  I hope that having had the Yag isn't a big obstacle.

[lori1945]

I saw my Dr. on May 23 and he is going to exchange the Rezoom multifocal.  Of course, I only had one eye done.  

He, of course, warned me that I could have bleeding of the eye and also going blind.  It is so scary JodieJ but how can you not drive at night for the rest of your life.  

I drove in the dark last night for the first time in 2 months.  Driving on the highway was fine as the cars on the other side of the road are too far away and I kept trying to just make right hand turns.  Also having the Yag done, the starbursts are much smaller but they are still a major problem.

JodieJ, I read a message from someone called blue92 dated July 17, 2007, who had 2 (both eyes) Rezoom multifocals exchanged for Monofocals and is very happy.  How could I get in touch with that person.  I just wanted to ask if blue92 had any bleeding problems or any such problems after surgery.  Because so many months have passed maybe blue92 will not be looking at this site anymore. How do you send a private message? When you try to compose a message, there is code that has been inserted -- I just cannot figure out how to do that.  

Hoping to hear from you.

[JodieJ]

Yes, I remember reading blue92's posts.  I believe that he travelled from the Boston area to Indianapolis to have his ReZooms explanted by Dr. Kevin Waltz.  (Dr. Waltz reportedly has special expertise at explanting IOLs, and he has performed successful explant procedures for several people posting here.)  To send a private message, click blue92's name, then click "send message" and, finally, re-type the letters indicated in the designated space before sending.

I don't blame you for wanting your ReZoom explanted.  The forum doctors have stated that an explant is safe if performed by an experienced surgeon.  It's my impression that having had a YAG procedure might complicate the situation.

Please let me know how things go for you.  

[lori1945]

Thanks for replying.  I tried sending blue92 a message and typed out the message and typed that code in at the bottom but it keeps coming back as incorrect code.  So I don't think he will receive my message.

Since he had two lenses removed I just wonder if he experienced any problems at all.  I also wonder if he had the Yag procedure.  From reading that post, he seems so happy.

JodieJ how long can you wait before you have a lens exchanged.  Does waiting longer make things more difficult or less difficult.  As you have been a member for quite a while, has anyone ever had the problem of starbursts eventually go away with time.

Hoping to hear from you.

[JodieJ]

Blue92 has several posts about his ReZoom problems (see archives.)  Initially, it was suspected that his vision problems were due to a slight decentration of his ReZooms.  He had surgery in each eye to re-center the lenses.  This didn't help, and several months later his ReZooms were explanted.  I don't think that he had YAG.  Unless he's changed his email address, he should receive a notification of your message.  Try re-sending the message--don't leave any spaces between the code letters.  (If you want, you can send me a message as a test.  I'll let you know if I receive it.)

Yes, there was one woman (a nurse from Missouri) who reported that her ReZoom "night show" went away after 6+ months.  (I'll see if I can find her post in the archives.)  But this doesn't seem to happen for most people.

Please re-post your questions about exchanging your ReZoom so that one of the forum doctors can respond.  (Either post it in the "expert" forum or post a new question in this forum, giving the doctor's name in the subject line.  That will catch their attention.)

[blue92]

Lori, It just so happened that I checked the forum today. I don't check it as frequently as I use to, but I do from time to time.  It has been a while since I had my Rezoom lenses explanted and my vision now is very good - crispy clear without any aberrations. Just to let you know that I did not have the Yag procedure done. (Yag makes the explanting much more complicated.)  In general, without the Yag procedure, in the hands of a good surgeon, the complications would be similar to a typical cataract surgery. I would be happy to talk to you to share my experience if you'd like.

[lori1945]

Hi JodieJ:

If you check the posts, you will see that blue92 sent me a message.  He said he just happened to check the site yesterday.  He said he would be happy to talk to me by sharing his experience.

How do we make contact.  I would need to get his telephone number.  I could send him my e-mail address but how do I get to do it privately.  

Also tried to send you a message last night but it came back as your messages are blocked.

Thanks.

[JodieJ]

Try sending blue92 another private message.  If all else fails, try posting a message to him on this thread.

[lori1945]

I just wanted to let you know after reading all the bad reports on the Rezoom lenses as well as my own experience with very bad starbursts after my one implant on April 8, I had my Rezoom lens explanted on June 9.  

For anyone out there, I did have the Yag procedure on May 1 which did help a little bit but after talking personally with blue92 who was advised to have Rezoom in both eyes and wait "because it will get better" but it never did (after waiting one year), I listened to his advice and had the lens replaced with a Baush & Lomb Monofocal lens. Dr. Hagan I know you said the Tecnis is the best, but Baush & Lomb is what my doctor uses.  

As soon as I was out of surgery, maybe 15 minutes, I looked up at the potlights in the doctor's office and gone were the starbursts.  I could not believe it.

I had an appointment the next morning at 7.30 a.m. not even 24 hours later, I drove myself to the doctor's office.  I could see so well.  When I left the house, it was a cloudy day and on the way, it started to rain and it got very dark, guess what --- no more starbursts.  It was like I was given a second chance in life.  

I was so afraid of having the lens removed as I was told I could go blind, bleeding of the eye, retinal detachment etc. etc. but I listened to blue92 and he said remove it - you won't regret it.  Was he right  !!!

No problems even after having the Yag procedure.  I am sure the doctor's expertise has a lot to do with it.  I simply made the wrong choice with the Multifocal Rezoom lenses.

I will be having the other eye done in about a month's time.  

I just thought I would give you an update and for anyone out there sitting on the fence afraid to do the exchange - don't be - it will all work out.

[JodieJ]

I'm so glad to hear about your successful explant and excellent outcome!