Crystalens Nightmare

[EYE-KANT-C]

Sorry, this is a long post:



I am 47 years old, female and in "excellent" health, no smoking, drinking, etc. I had a clear lens extraction (for refraction -- no cataracts) because my eye doctor and his associates were so excited about the new alternatives to Lasik. I was losing my near vision, but intermediate was still good. They told me that I would be free from reading glasses, except for really small type. I have pretty bad eyes (-10 myopia soft contacts for 33 years). I wore +1.5 readers for extended reading, but not needed for computer work. He put in -12.5 Crystalens for right eye and I had great distance vision, and was planning to do the left eye 4 weeks later. I called to tell him that my closeup vision was much worse than before the surgery and his technician said he may want to do more measurements before doing the 2nd eye. He never called me to come in, but when I went for surgery on the left eye, he said they had decided to do my other eye so that I would be slightly nearsighted and that would carry me through till the right eye gained near vision. He put in -14 in the left eye. The near was immediately amazing in the left, but terrible distance. I NEVER WANTED MONO-VISION AND I HATE IT!!!!

Now -- right eye (2-1/2 months post-op) and left (1-1/2 months post-op) are exactly the same as after surgery -- distance in right 20/20 but can't see to even use the computer, let alone read. Left eye -- good for closeup, 20/70 for distance. MONO-VISION. Which is pretty irritating during the day, and I can NOT see well enough to drive at night. And I drive at night a lot.

But in addition to that: I have cloudiness in both eyes which he says I need to have laser to fix (YAG?) and I am at high risk for detached retinas being very myopic and my mom & sister both had D.R. previously for no apparent reason. I heard that YAG really increased the risk of D.R. And Crystalens really increases the risk of PCO because it is made of silicone. And you can't get a Scleral Buckle if you need it for Detached Retina because of the silicone in the Crystalens. Why didn't anyone tell me this?????

Believe it or not: the worst part is this -- I have constant edge glare where I can see reflections around the lens (doctor says this is not possible, I'm not really seeing the edge of the lens). It's like floaters -- no big deal if you just ignore it and I have halos at night -- also not such a big deal -- BUT, I have EXTREME edge glare/flare that looks like sunrays only usually rainbow-coloured, that flash across the front of the lens when any light source hits the edge of the lens, day or night. In doctor's offices and side-view, rear-view mirrors, street lights being the worst. I also see major glare from windows even during the day. He gave me the Alphagan P (Allergan) but that did nothing to stop the light show.

I know that removing the lenses is probably not possible -- I've read all the horror stories, and YAG would weaken the capsule, quite possibly causing Detached Retinas. He said I may not have a choice and I will have to do the laser procedure. Why would a reputable surgeon do this to a perfectly healthy person, knowing how risky these lenses are? Are they using us as guinea pigs??? Is there anything I can do to see better/not go blind?

I thought about sports contacts to cut down on the glare/reflections -- not sure how dark they are for night driving (I sometimes use sunglasses at night now, but it's scary) And I considered Multifocal contacts to get back some near vision -- I miss it badly. That's the only reason I did the surgery. I'm now wearing one contact for distance, since I was so miserable with mono-vision. So I'll be back to contacts and reading glasses and I went through excruciating pain for the 1st eye surgery and still have eye pain in that eye, a lot of money ($6,000 total) and I am higher than ever risk for detached retina and have major light show/fireworks when encountering light sources in my peripheral vision.

I'm so miserable. It's good I went through this first because several relatives/friends were considering Crystalens implants. I have spared them and I hope to warn others. I know everyone says have patience, but I highly doubt this will get better since it hasn't changed at all in 2-1/2 months. Not even a little.

[seriousperson]

Originally Posted by EYE-KANT-C

... And you can't get a Scleral Buckle if you need it for Detached Retina because of the silicone in the Crystalens. Why didn't anyone tell me this?????

That's news to me too!

I have constant edge glare where I can see reflections around the lens (doctor says this is not possible, I'm not really seeing the edge of the lens). It's like floaters -- no big deal if you just ignore it and I have halos at night -- also not such a big deal -- BUT, I have EXTREME edge glare/flare that looks like sunrays only usually rainbow-coloured, that flash across the front of the lens when any light source hits the edge of the lens, day or night...

I have that too with my left eye (the one with the crystalens). Someone else on these boards explained that the diameter of the crystalens is smaller than many people's pupils, and that causes the glare and halos and shooting light and reflections.

...He said I may not have a choice and I will have to do the laser procedure....

I'd suggest a second opinion, but when I got one, the second doctor called up the first doctor when he "stepped out for a moment," and then came back and agreed with everything the first doctor said.

Why would a reputable surgeon do this to a perfectly healthy person, knowing how risky these lenses are? Are they using us as guinea pigs???

That's the way it seems to me.

Is there anything I can do to see better/not go blind?

You might want to wait on the YAG. I think the doctors just suggest the YAG anytime a patient isn't happy with the outcome of lens replacement surgery, and often it doesn't do any good. However, for some people it is a big improvement. See my post on your YAG thread.
The best thing you have going for you is your brain. You just have to give it a little time to get used to interpreting the new visuals it is getting. For example, if you look out the side of your eye, you don't see your nose because your brain learned to filter that out a long time ago. I still have the glares and halos (two years later), but a lot of the time I don't see them because my brain filters them out.

I thought about sports contacts to cut down on the glare/reflections -- not sure how dark they are for night driving (I sometimes use sunglasses at night now, but it's scary)

Amber or brown tinted sunglasses help a lot, but not at night. Someone suggested yellow ski glasses for night, but I haven't tried it. I wear glasses for driving (mostly for astigmatism, not that I legally need them now) and have non-glare coating on the lenses, which probably helps a little. You just have to drive slow in the dark.

And I considered Multifocal contacts to get back some near vision -- I miss it badly.

On the crystalens thread I explained the 3 pairs of glasses that I use (contacts are not an option for my super-dry eyes). It may take you a year to figure out what corrective lenses will give you functional vision in what situations.

I personally know your frustration and disappointment. But trust me that it will get better as your brain learns this new way of seeing. There may even be days when you're looking across a landscape in bright sunlight and you will be amazed at what you can see.

[EYE-KANT-C]

Thanks for the reply S.P.

I read lots of your posts here (and some other unfortunate people with problems like ours).

I guess I'd rather live with the flashing and daytime glare (which really takes away from how nice and crisp my distance vision is in good lighting!) than to try to have them explanted and risk all the serious problems I've been reading about.

I'm not doing the Yag until I ABSOLUTELY have to. My right eye is still so extremely painful from the surgery (almost 12 weeks ago now) I wish I never had to do another eye surgery. Sometimes it feels like my eye is going to explode! The left is fine, except a little muscle soreness under eyebrow, which I wonder: is from the muscle trying to move the lenses? I think I'm actually a little over-corrected, maybe that's why they aren't working at all.

I tried the green colored contacts today to try and cut down the flashing, but they just made everything yellow and darker like sunglasses. I thought he said they were opaque, but they sure looked pretty clear to me. So I'll ask again about that. Meantime, no "little LASIK touchup" or "simple YAG procedure" for me! NO WAY.

I'm either going to try multifocal contacts or just some with a slight under-correction to make me slightly nearsighted to see if I can get back some of the intermediate vision that I lost. I guess that's all I can do.

I see the doc in a week and I'll let you know what happens.

[seriousperson]

EYE-KANT-C,
I'm surprised you are still having pain. Be sure your doctor knows about that. Maybe he would want to see you sooner.

[EYE-KANT-C]

I called a couple weeks before my last scheduled appt. with the surgeon and saw my regular opthalmologist. He said the pain was due to dry eye. He looked at the inside of my eyelid and said the tear glands were damaged and I had inflammation and tissue damage. He was surprised and said they normally don't see this much damage with cataract/lens replacement, but sometimes do with glaucoma treatment??? I don't know about glaucoma treatments, but I do know I didn't think I'd survive the surgery, I was in excruciating pain throughout the procedure. As soon as he put in the lens to hold my eye open I had extreme nerve pain and it just got worse as the surgery went along. He knew I was in pain and even asked if I was okay once and I said "not really." He said I'll try to hurry and apologized for hurting me. I think a nerve was damaged. My eye was half shut for 5 weeks, but now is looking better and the pain comes and goes - I think the nerve is "decompressing" or something. But they do check pressure every time I go in. I may have to live with this, unless it eventually does get better if it is from nerve damage.