I'm wondering if any of the folks with poor results had similar sight prior to surgery?

I'm thinking about Lasik and currently have -4.5/-4.25 and a slight astigmatism. I've always worn contacts but in the past 3 years can no longer tolerate them. I work at a computer and I think the dry air and computer work simply make my eyes too dry. When I wear glasses I never get dry eyes. I also feel pressure sometimes in my eyes, but the doctor thinks that might be allergy related.

For people that have had the surgery: does any of this sound familiar? How were your results?

Thanks! Skylar

My prescription was identitcal to yours pre-surgery and I got lousy results. I ended up up -1.25 or about 20/50. So a lot better than before surgery but obviously still need glasses so the whole thing was an expensive, pointless, risky hassle. However, my results are exceptional. Based on the literature about 85% of people with your prescription end up 20/20 after surgery and can ditch glasses. Another 7% or so end up 20/25 and 20/30 and "get by" without glasses but don't see quite as well as they did prior to surgery with glasses. Another 7% (including me) get lousy results and still need glasses after surgery.

So if you are doing it to get rid of glasses and see 20/20 after surgery, you only have an 85% chance of getting there and there are plenty of real life people like me who did not get there.

Why not get an enhancement?....I've read of many, especially with higher prescriptions who after the 1st treatment need to go in for a 2nd and end up where they want to be......I'm probably one of those...I'm 2 weeks post/op and have much better eyesight now than uncorrected but not where I was with glasses yet....I'm hoping if it does not get better I'll get an enhancement....but right now they say it is too soon to tell.....When I put on my Nephews thin glasses I actually see great....I'll be seeing the DR tomorrow to see what he says....

Yes, I am going to try to get an enhancement. However, I have very thin corneas and when I go on November 12th, the will measure my corneas and tell me if I have enough tissue left to safely do the enhancement.

Skylar:
I would not recommend getting laser eye surgery if your eyes are dry now. Surgery will only make it worse.

my vision was -5.25 in both eyes, with slight astigmatism, and my eyes were fairly dry also from excessive contact lense use, and i had lasik done in december of 2006. as of june this year, my vision is 20/12.5 in both eyes. i had the typical post op issues with blurry vision for a few months, and i still get dry eyes (i use refresh tears in the morning when i first wake up and i'm usually good for the rest of the day).

i spent the money and got the custom lasik, which was guaranteed 20/20 or money back... so if my vision ever goes bad, they're supposed to fix it for free. but so far, it's been good! very VERY worth it!

do check about your dry eyes though... your eye doc might want to put you on drops or something for a few months before surgery to try to clear it up so you're not in worse shape post op.

Skylar:
I would not recommend getting laser eye surgery if your eyes are dry now. Surgery will only make it worse.

+1

It's really good to read all your replies. I'm not too concerned about the dry eyes because I only have dry eyes when I wear contacts. It got so bad I had to stop contacts. I now wear glasses all the time and never have dry eyes.

Does anyone get headaches with their new vision or do you get used to it quickly-I am prone to headaches and dizziness sometimes. Thanks!!

I just had lasik 9 days ago. My vision was poor to begin with but the doctor told me he is usually able to get patients of my sight up to 95%. I was -8.50 & -7.50. Now, I can see better than before but am not good enough to drive. My -7.50 eye is blurry with ghosts and double vison at any distance, up close or far away. I had a lot of trouble with foggy eyes after about 3 days so I put a call in and the doc told me to discontinue the antibiotic drops I was using 4 x's a day. I can't drive, can't read much, my eyes get too dry, can't use the computer much and can't do much of anything really. The doc told me to wait for two weeks and keep using drops. Frankly, he didn't have the time of day for me once he got my money and screwed up my eyes. I'm really sorry I did this. It has ruined my summer. I just hope I can get some form of correction again sometime soon so I can function somewhat normally again. I have to go back to work in a few weeks and am really concerned! Anyone have any advice or similar experiences to share??

I just had lasik 9 days ago. My vision was poor to begin with but the doctor told me he is usually able to get patients of my sight up to 95%. I was -8.50 & -7.50. Now, I can see better than before but am not good enough to drive. My -7.50 eye is blurry with ghosts and double vison at any distance, up close or far away. I had a lot of trouble with foggy eyes after about 3 days so I put a call in and the doc told me to discontinue the antibiotic drops I was using 4 x's a day. I can't drive, can't read much, my eyes get too dry, can't use the computer much and can't do much of anything really. The doc told me to wait for two weeks and keep using drops. Frankly, he didn't have the time of day for me once he got my money and screwed up my eyes. I'm really sorry I did this. It has ruined my summer. I just hope I can get some form of correction again sometime soon so I can function somewhat normally again. I have to go back to work in a few weeks and am really concerned! Anyone have any advice or similar experiences to share??

GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO HEAL!!! I went through very similar experiences post-op. Definitely not the next day 20/20 dream they all advertise! And yeah, at 9 days post-op, I really regretted my decicision to get surgery, because my vision was AWFUL!!!

****HOWEVER****
Here's what they don't tell you! It takes at LEAST 2 months for your eyes to heal and your vision to normalize (most people it takes about 6 months). Don't panic! And don't regret your decision just yet! I'm guessing your doctor isn't overly concerned, because he probably sees these very normal problems in most of his patients, and they usually just require time to heal.

Also, are you sure your doc said to quit the antibiotics? I'd been using antibiotic drops and steroid drops, and it was the steroid drops that made everything so foggy! Be sure you don't quit the wrong drops (it would suck if you got an infection in your eyes on top of everything else!).

Anyway, don't stress! And give yourself time to heal! As of today, my vision is 20/12.5 in both eye! I've been swimming and can actually see under the water (kind of scary actually!), I can take a shower without worrying about my contacts, I can get up in the middle of the night and see around my bedroom without having to stumble around trying to find my glasses.... it's AWESOME!!!

It's really good to read all your replies. I'm not too concerned about the dry eyes because I only have dry eyes when I wear contacts. It got so bad I had to stop contacts. I now wear glasses all the time and never have dry eyes.

Does anyone get headaches with their new vision or do you get used to it quickly-I am prone to headaches and dizziness sometimes. Thanks!!

I used to get headaches and dizziness all the time with my glasses... something about where they hit me behind the ears (can't wear headbands either), and also something about how bad my vision was and how thick they had to make the lenses of my glasses... anyway, it killed me! So yeah, I think I used to be prone to headaches before. A few days post-op, my eyes kind of hurt in bright light and I recall having headaches for a day or two, but nothing serious or unexpected.

Now, 8 months after surgery, my vision is great, and I only get headaches when I wear heavy or tight fitting sunglasses (when I can't find my good pair!). LASIK is awesome, I highly recommend it!

Thanks for your information! I'll try to be more patient. I just really need enough improvement to drive to work next month. As far as the drops, he just gave me tears and antibiotics and they antibiotics were only supposed to be for 4 days so he had me quit them a half day early. I think it would help if he would treat me like a person rather than just another number! He seemed better before I had the surgery. :(

It's really good to read all your replies. I'm not too concerned about the dry eyes because I only have dry eyes when I wear contacts. It got so bad I had to stop contacts. I now wear glasses all the time and never have dry eyes.

Does anyone get headaches with their new vision or do you get used to it quickly-I am prone to headaches and dizziness sometimes. Thanks!!

My vision was similar to yours prior to Lasik. I also got migraine headaches quite frequently which I think had a lot to do with the discomfort I had from my contacts. I also had your same problems...dry eyes with contacts, fine with glasses.
Since I had Lasik, which was about 9 months ago, my vision is FANTASTIC, I get headaches a lot less frequently, and my eyes actually feel COMFORTABLE!!! When I would wear contacts I was constantly sticking my finger in my eye and moving them around to try to make them more comfortable, or taking them out and putting them back in. I tried all different brands and NOTHING was any better. Lasik was a very good choice for me. I had 20/20 vision my last checkup and I have a checkup next month so hopefully it is still just as good because I see fine. Based on my experience, I would say go for it, but definitely have a consultation first and if the doctor advises against it I wouldn't do it.

Keep in mind your eyes were really bad pre-surgery so your expectations might have been too high. To go from -8 to 0 in one surgery is asking for a lot.

You will probably need an enhancement done at 3 to 6 months to get you close to 20/20 IF you have enough corneal tissue left.

Until you get the enhancement you should have the doctor write you a prescription to get some cheap glasses for distance vision to hold you over until you get an enhancement so you can get back to functioning again.

As far as reading goes, how old are you? If you are over 40 you should have been told pre-surgery by the doctor that if they take you from -8 down to zero you would almost certainly need reading glasses after the surgery.

Thanks for all the comments! I had my evaluation last week and the doc said I'm a good candidate but he wants me completely out of contacts for 2 weeks and redo the tests/scans just to be certain. My eyes were slightly dry on the Shirmer's (he said in the low normal range) so he has me using Restasis 1 month before surgery and probably afterwards during the healing process. Also wants to do a antibiotic before the surgery as a precaution. Does all this sound normal?