Visian ICL Story

[judge515]

I had moderate to sever dry eye throughout the year, however, after a year, I have mild to moderate dry eye, depending on the day. I have basically done through all of the steps to fix the dry eye (including Dr ******'s probing). I have come to terms with the fact that this is going to be as good as it gets.

So, now, I feel like if I can get rid of my (very thick) glasses, I could live with my dry eye. When I heard about ICL, I sought it out.

Before posting this, let me iterate that Kremer Eye Center is one of the best in the country, performs [around] the third highest number of Visian ICL procedures in the country, took great care of me, and it was worth the $6300 to go to one of the best.

I was pretty nervous to have the pre-op LPI laser procedure. Someone described the procedure itself as like having a rubber band snap at your eye and another person described being "in rough shape" afterwards (but did not explain why). I went in on 6/04/10.

I was given two Tylenol before given the drops that constrict the retina, the same type of drops that Glaucoma patients use and have been requesting medicinal marijuana be legalized to counteract the drops side effects. The drops...are...brutal. The drops immediately blur your vision as the retina contracts. The headache came five minutes later... See More. The nurse gave me three Advil (although I did not request it). The nausea came 10 minutes after that and was rough (and I am not one to complain about "nausea"). I felt pretty much like I was going to pass out. This may have partially due to the 5 pain killers (5'5", 150 pounds), but I noticed my speech slowing down before the nausea and three Advil. Apparently, I became extremely pale. They got me water, coke (caffeine/sugar), a few little pretzels, and a cold wet clothe. It was pretty bad, but I told the doctor I would not throw up (although I was thinking...prettying sure I am not going to throw up) and we ready to go. The nurses also said I may have been hit so hard because I have such light colored irises. But after a little while, we were ready to go.

I put my head onto the chin holder, a nurse gently held my head in place, and a red light comes on right in front of you. The doctor put a contact lens on the eye he is working on. The lens is covered in some sort of ointment to keep it in place. Then he shot 5 pulses, about 2 seconds apart from one another. Each pulse felt like...well, like a small stinging in the eye...or when your eye involuntarily twitches, except at the end of the twitch, there was a little bit of pain. It was not terrible at all. He did this twice in each eye, four times total. They washed the ointment out of my eyes and had me wait an hour to check the pressure in my eyes. The hour I waited, I was still quite nauseous and just wanted to keep my eyes shut. The pressure went up from 18 to 19, thus, everything was satisfactory. At this point, I was starting to get a little better, i.e., I could open my eyes, but did not quite want to. The world was still hazy from the light. ONE HOUR AFTER THE DROPS, NOT FEELING GREAT.

Last week, I was told I would not NEED a ride, although some people thought it was a good idea to have one. I ABSOLUTELY needed a ride and pretty much knew that five minutes after the drops were put in. By the time my ride got here, I felt a little bit of a bounce in my step, but still, I was tired. TWO HOURS AFTER DROPS, SLIGHTLY BETTER.

I went home and sat on the porch for an hour. THREE HOURS AFTER DROPS, RECOVERING BUT STILL HAZY. I tried to eat a little something, but the nausea was still there. I went up stairs and laid down for an hour. I woke up and my left eye was still hazy, leading me to think this was a side effect. FOUR HOURS AFTER DROPS, NAUSEA GONE. FIVE HOURS AFTER DROPS, VISION BACK TO NORMAL. At this point, I am feeling mostly back to normal, although my eyes would sting a little bit. 10 HOURS AFTER THE PROCEDURE, I have no marks on my vision, my eyes feel completely normal, and I am excited to go in on Thursday for the implant. Apparently, the implantation is a "cake walk" and this was the rough part.

In conclusion, the pre-op procedure itself is not too bad at all and has not affected my dry eye condition. It is the drops they have to use during the procedure that are bad. The effects of the drops lasts between four and six hours. Arrange for a ride to drive you home. In the end, I think it will be worth it.

[whyme?]

keep us updated with your progress

I had a similar experience with those eye drops. I had some new eye symptoms - floaters, so my eye doc decided to have a look at the back of my eye (or something). He put some eyedrops in my eye and said my vision would be blurred for a couple of hours.

Anyway, as I was leaving his office and stepped outside - I was blinded by the light, I tried to walk but couldn't see. I went back into his office - waited 30 minutes and tried again, no luck. It was the most surreal experience. Tried again several times but my pupils were too dilated and letting in too much light which was hurting my eye. My eye doctor then put some pilocarpine eyedrops - to constrict the pupil. Tried to go outside again - at this point - i just wanted to go home (i'd been there 3 hours). Couldnt see anything, he put some more of the pilocarpine eyedrops in, after the 2nd dose I couldnt see anything. My head started pounding, I felt sick and was light-headed. it didnt help that i hadnt eaten. My appointment was at 12pm, and it was now 4pm, the receptionist made me some sweet tea.

My eye doctor said that in 25 years he had not see anything like this ( not very reassuring at the time), I honestly thought I'd gone blind. They called me a taxi and a porter to escort me home (a very expensive trip home for me!!).

the blurred vision lasted the whole day - and the doctor didnt inform me of the headache or nausea.

i'm considering ICL implants - but terrified of the risks, that is why I never had laser surgery before my dry eyes developed. But i'm a single 29 year old woman and glasses just dont suit me!!! I enjoy hiding my red eyes behind thick frames but it is not doing much for my love life!!

good luck and keep us updated with your progress, i'm going to book a consultation and might just bite the bullet.

[gz9gjg]

Whenever I get my eyes dilated, I speak to the doctor first - I am very sensitive to the drops, and if they use the normal dosage, my pupils can remain dilated as much as 2 days afterward. My eyes dilate very satisfactorily with just one drop per eye of the dilating drops; and go back to normal in less than 8 hours.

My OD in Arizona offers the option to avoid dilation, he uses a digital photo system to take a picture of my retinas instead. It hink he charges $25 or $30 for this optioon - well worth it to me!

Good luck . . .

[judge515]

I have mild to moderate dry eye and can no longer wear contact lenses. I have spent a year in glasses and could no longer endure them. Visian seemed like the option for me. With my 20/400 prescription and astigmatism in my left eye, I was told that I could expect 20/30-35 vision after the procedure and that could be ...corrected with PRK or Lasik.

18 hours after surgery I am as close to 20/20 as it gets. No pain, although some (very) mild pressure on my left eye. That went away after 48 hours. I couldn't be happier with my new vision; although I may be happier when I no longer have to wear the vision shield at night.

Interestingly, my dry eye is better than it was before. This may be due to numerous factors, i.e., cleaner environment during the recuperation period, less reading while recuperating, the shield they make me wear at night may help (although I tried a shield before and it did nothing), the anti-biotic drops (although I tried them before), or maybe the glasses had caused increased stress on my eyes.