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Looking for opinions or experiences with the Alcon Panoptix Lens used in cataract surgery. In particular, looking for info on the multifocal lenses that allow a person to see clearly at near, intermediate, and distant distances. Anyone had this done?
Recently had my 1 year plus 3 month follow up. My vision is 20/20. I can read the tiniest fonts on my phone. I've been without glasses for those 16 months for the first time in almost 40 years, and I can read labels and small print that people 10+ years younger than me cannot.
I recently renewed my driver's license and was able to pass their vision test "without corrective lenses" for the first time in my life, so in that respect my vision is better than when I was 15.
It's not perfect. Especially at night.
Even after 16 months, my eye doctor said that he expects my vision to improve over the next few years, especially as it pertains to the limitations of the technology.
Recently had my 1 year plus 3 month follow up. My vision is 20/20. I can read the tiniest fonts on my phone. I've been without glasses for those 16 months for the first time in almost 40 years, and I can read labels and small print that people 10+ years younger than me cannot.
I recently renewed my driver's license and was able to pass their vision test "without corrective lenses" for the first time in my life, so in that respect my vision is better than when I was 15.
It's not perfect. Especially at night.
Did you have any specific questions?
Basically I was just looking for satisfaction (or lack thereof) of people who had this procedure. I had one eye done (cataract surgery) about 8 to 10 years ago and had a monovision (distance) lens installed. Now the other eye needs the cataract removed and I'm pretty sure that I don't want another distance lens installed because that would give me very poor intermediate or near vision.
I think that my main concern with the next lens is getting good intermediate vision (say about 2.5 feet to 6 feet distance). A good friend of mine had the Alcon Panoptix lens installed several months ago and he recommends it. I just wondered what other people's experience was.
My eye surgeon told me that with my vision these IOLs had to be installed in in pairs or I would be miserable waiting 2 weeks in between surgeries so I had them done on consecutive days.
Unless your surgery involves replacing the lens in the other eye as well, or your vision isn't as bad as mine was, I don't think this is the implant for you.
As far as my experience... I can see in every situation much better than I could without corrective lenses. So comparing these with no correction is an absolute no brainer.
Prior to getting cataracts I had multi-focal contact lenses that essentially gave me the same vision I had when I was a kid, everything was perfectly focused at any distance. I understand that my experience was better than most, but for those 18 months I really enjoyed "young" eyes again.
The panoptix implants aren't like that for me. There are definitely different focal ranges. Like my computer monitor is completely sharp at the distance I am sitting, but if I go back or forward a little bit, it might not be, but if I go back or forward a little further, it might be. But within those questionable zones, it's still a million times better than no correction at all.
It's not a perfect solution, it's a solution with tradeoffs, and it has a high $ price.
I wouldn't get one in just one eye, based on my experience.
My eye surgeon told me that with my vision these IOLs had to be installed in in pairs or I would be miserable waiting 2 weeks in between surgeries so I had them done on consecutive days.
Unless your surgery involves replacing the lens in the other eye as well, or your vision isn't as bad as mine was, I don't think this is the implant for you.
As far as my experience... I can see in every situation much better than I could without corrective lenses. So comparing these with no correction is an absolute no brainer.
Prior to getting cataracts I had multi-focal contact lenses that essentially gave me the same vision I had when I was a kid, everything was perfectly focused at any distance. I understand that my experience was better than most, but for those 18 months I really enjoyed "young" eyes again.
The panoptix implants aren't like that for me. There are definitely different focal ranges. Like my computer monitor is completely sharp at the distance I am sitting, but if I go back or forward a little bit, it might not be, but if I go back or forward a little further, it might be. But within those questionable zones, it's still a million times better than no correction at all.
It's not a perfect solution, it's a solution with tradeoffs, and it has a high $ price.
I wouldn't get one in just one eye, based on my experience.
I think the reason for your getting both eyes done just a day apart is so that you wouldn't have two separate "recovery periods" of 2 to 3 weeks each. Get 'em both done at nearly the same time and cut the total recovery period in half.
Second, I don't see any reason not to get just the one remaining eye done. I'm reasonably content with the distance vision in my right eye (the one that had the cataract surgery). I just want to get the other eye done because the vision is not as clear in that eye as it used to be and also I want clearer intermediate and perhaps even near vision than I now have without resorting to reading glasses.
My understanding is that some people actually prefer two different focal lengths (one for each eye) rather than getting the same for both eyes. In your case, you got the multi-focal vision for both eyes and apparently it is working very well, but I'd rather not change the right eye that has already been done.
If you want to drive at night, you you should be aware that the Alcon Acrysof® PanOptix IOL, which has multiple rings in its design, tends to cause problematic "halos" around lights at night, from both oncoming vehicles and street lights.
Take a look at another Alcon IOL, the Alcon Acrysof® IQ Vivity. It supposedly does not create halos, but one might not get as sharp near vision with it.
Basically I was just looking for satisfaction (or lack thereof) of people who had this procedure. I had one eye done (cataract surgery) about 8 to 10 years ago and had a monovision (distance) lens installed. Now the other eye needs the cataract removed and I'm pretty sure that I don't want another distance lens installed because that would give me very poor intermediate or near vision.
I think that my main concern with the next lens is getting good intermediate vision (say about 2.5 feet to 6 feet distance). A good friend of mine had the Alcon Panoptix lens installed several months ago and he recommends it. I just wondered what other people's experience was.
Since your right eye was done 8 to 10 years ago, it is unlikely your eye doctor would explant the old standard (monofocal) lens, and implant a new multifocal lens. Too risky.
Most eye doctor would recommend "monovision" using the same standard (monofocal) lens on your left eye to give it a "good near/intermediate vision" to complement your right eye.
Some posters on reddit mentioned that they had one eye with standard (monofocal) lens and the other eye with multifocal lens. So it all depends on your eye doctor, and hope he has time to listen to patients on "medicare".
Since your right eye was done 8 to 10 years ago, it is unlikely your eye doctor would explant the old standard (monofocal) lens, and implant a new multifocal lens. Too risky.
Most eye doctor would recommend "monovision" using the same standard (monofocal) lens on your left eye to give it a "good near/intermediate vision" to complement your right eye. Some posters on reddit mentioned that they had one eye with standard (monofocal) lens and the other eye with multifocal lens. So it all depends on your eye doctor, and hope he has time to listen to patients on "medicare".
I think that is what I would like done since I already have the one eye with the distance lens. Having the other eye with multifocal lens would give me greater versatility in eyesight without having to rely on glasses as much. BTW, I don't use Medicare.
"I think the reason for your getting both eyes done just a day apart is so that you wouldn't have two separate "recovery periods" of 2 to 3 weeks each. Get 'em both done at nearly the same time and cut the total recovery period in half."
Actually it had nothing to do with that. For brevity and medical accuracy, I'm not going to go into details, you must discuss these with the surgeon, but it had nothing to do with the recovery period.
Last edited by terracore; 03-11-2022 at 09:05 PM..
Reading some of theses posts about replacement lenses is making me a tad envious.
Some 7 or 8 years ago my GP sent me to the ophthalmology department of St. Thomas’s Hospital in London, as she’d noticed a scar on one of my corneas.
The ophthalmologist dismissed the scar, saying “You and a million others who’ve rubbed their eye after getting a bit of grit in it have got the same scar.”
He did say that I had cataracts slowly developing though, and would email me when he had a spare slot in which to do the first procedure, remember, this is all on the government’s dime over here, so you work to their timetable, you can’t say, “I’m paying for this, I want it done sooner than that.”
He mentioned that he’d seen calcium build up in both eyes and this would have to be scraped off before doing the cataracts, this sounded bad, but was a virtually painless walk in the park.
To make a long story short, when it came to doing the actual lens replacement, as the scraping had altered the curvature of the eyeballs, I couldn’t be fitted with lenses to improve my vision.
So I have to wait 6 weeks after the second procedure, (3.5 weeks to go), then go see an optician to get tested for eyeglasses.
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before doing the cataracts, this sounded bad, but was a virtually painless walk in the park.
