Cataract Surgery with Toric IOL's

[happ]

Five months ago I had cataract surgery with Toric iols implant to correct for astigmatism. I'm having dry eye issues and doing lubricating drops 4-5 times daily and still using Ketorolac once a day in one eye as a precaution as I was having infection issues at first.

My vision is about 20/40. It varies probably because of the dry issue and I need cheater to read small print. My vision seems busy best I can explain and small doubling most noticeable at night when looking at red tail lights and white lettering on signs. My doc suggest that I wear bifocals.

Did you have an issues with your iol's? Is there a knowledgeable person here that can explain to me what's going on? It stinks that I paid more for the special lenses and still have to wear bifocals.

 

[W2R]

Five months ago I had cataract surgery with Toric iols implant to correct for astigmatism. I'm having dry eye issues and doing lubricating drops 4-5 times daily and still using Ketorolac once a day in one eye as a precaution as I was having infection issues at first.

My vision is about 20/40. It varies probably because of the dry issue and I need cheater to read small print. My vision seems busy best I can explain and small doubling most noticeable at night when looking at red tail lights and white lettering on signs. My doc suggest that I wear bifocals.

Did you have an issues with your iol's? Is there a knowledgeable person here that can explain to me what's going on? It stinks that I paid more for the special lenses and still have to wear bifocals.

When I had my cataract surgery back in October, 2015, they told me that my (pretty doggone severe) astigmatism was caused by the cataract and not by the shape of my cornea, so they said it would vanish after the surgery. They insisted on the regular (cheaper) IOL instead of the toric one. I was mad about that but they just didn't want to do anything else so I got the regular lenses. I got them for distance vision because I don't mind wearing readers.

They say my vision is 20/25. I can drive without glasses and I love being able to do that. My main problem is that after about 4 PM or so I get double vision in each eye separately. My ophthalmologist/surgeon says he just doesn't know why. I suspect because there was no astigmatism correction, but oh well, it's over and done with. I tried lubricating drops and they didn't help. I gave up because I don't do much in the late afternoon and evenings anyway, so the double vision doesn't affect my lifestyle much. Actually, in my case my vision overall is better than it has ever been before, though, because I have had vision problems all my life.

As for your bifocals, I think that some people who get cataract surgery just have results that way. It's such a shame! I'm sorry you are going through this. I don't know of any solution to the problem, other than those bifocals that I know you'd really rather not be wearing.

 

[RE2Boys]

Here is an interesting article regarding your condition, though a bit dated.
https://www.aao.org/eyenet/article/toric-iols-four-options-addressing-residual-astigm

 

[folivier]

Don't know if this could apply to your double vision W2R but a few years ago I had a severe reaction to contacts and had vertical double vision in both eyes for a few months. My ophthalmologist eventually diagnosed it as the eye positioning muscles were badly inflamed and prescribed Acuvail drops which finally cleared it up.
I still get dry eyes and some inflammation especially in the spring when all the pollen is floating around and use Alaway drops to help with that.

 

[W2R]

Thanks, Folivier. I'll ask my ophthalmologist about those drops at my appointment. I had given up! So thanks for the helpful information.

 

[eytonxav]

I do suffer from my eyes drying out and therefore use the preservative free lubricating drops 1-2X/day. I also had to have one eye zapped with the laser about 10 months after my initial cataract surgery to eliminate some scar tissue and that improved my vision. I ended up getting progressive lenses after my surgery and wear them quite a bit, as I found it more convenient when more closeup vision is needed. The rx also sharpened my distance vision slightly.