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Ytlaya posted:Oh wow, I didn't know about that. How is the procedure/recovery in terms of pain, cost, etc? I'll break it all down individually. Procedure: I think I wound up being at the clinic for about 2hrs. Showed up, checked in, paid, forms filled out etc etc. They got you to go to the pharmacy in the building and get all your meds before the procedure. Then into waiting room for about 1/2hr, then into a quick checkup with a nurse who gives you a Xanax to calm you down. Once that's taken effect, you have a final eye test by the doctor doing the procedure to confirm your vision. Then it's into the room for the procedure, takes about 15min. Then into a darkroom with a nurse who gives you some Valium and more Xanax, then they send you home with your carer. Recovery: I had the surgery on a Thursday, recovered over the weekend, had a check up on the Monday, and was back at work on the Wednesday. You have to have some to take care of you, take you home after, and take you to the checkup on the Monday because you basically can't see. That said, by the Saturday afternoon I was ok to look after myself. There is a fairly rigorous regimen of drops to follow as well. Pain-wise, it's not so bad. More discomfort than pain. They basically just tell you to go home and sleep. Any pain you do have can be dealt with by just putting an ice-pack over your face for 15min then having a sleep. Cost: Well, it cost me $2000AUD for both eyes, but the clinic I used is considerably cheaper than everywhere else due to them being part of a large network of med clinics, most other places are $2K per eye.
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May 27, 2010 04:40
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How long do you have to give up wearing your contacts before?
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Jun 12, 2010 20:13
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TLG James posted:How long do you have to give up wearing your contacts before? I wasn't a contact wearer before, but if memory serves it was 2 weeks for soft contacts, and 4-6 for hard lenses.
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Jun 13, 2010 05:37
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What is the ratio of instances of permanent dry eyes and night vision affectedness. My mother is sending me all these sorts of scare articles citing high instances of dry eyes, 36% etc. It's hard to find reliable information.
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Jun 18, 2010 01:33
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I suffer from dry eyes, but I did a bit before I had the surgery (on the bottom edge of acceptable range of dryness). But it's dependent on a few things, particularly how much sleep I've been getting. The clinic I went to also advised taking Flax Seed oil, which does seem to help somewhat.
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Jun 18, 2010 08:00
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2ndclasscitizen posted:I suffer from dry eyes, but I did a bit before I had the surgery (on the bottom edge of acceptable range of dryness). But it's dependent on a few things, particularly how much sleep I've been getting. The clinic I went to also advised taking Flax Seed oil, which does seem to help somewhat. Is it that much of an inconvenience or annoyance that you regret getting the surgery done?
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Jun 18, 2010 16:01
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I'm really considering lasik myself, had a couple of questions for you guys: * What is the fastest, safest and least stressful lasik variation out there? I'm fine with dishing out a bit more dough if it reduces the risks and the recovery time. * Anybody done this in WA state? I have no idea what location I should visit to have this done.
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Jun 18, 2010 21:35
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Ramms+ein posted:Is it that much of an inconvenience or annoyance that you regret getting the surgery done? Hell no, no regrets.
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Jun 18, 2010 22:39
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Just got back a few hours ago from my surgery. Awesome stuff. I was very nervous going into it, I hate touching my eyes, or thinking about stuff touching my eyes, or seeing anything touch anybody's eyes. So I really wanted the Valium. They were a little hesitant to give it to me, didn't think I'd need it, and it was going to delay everything a bit since they couldn't dispense it there and I'd have to send my friend to go pick it up. In hindsight, I really didn't need it. If I need a touch up in the future, I won't use it. Also, I didn't notice that it did a whole lot. I was no longer nervous, but I wouldn't say I felt much different than my normal relaxed state. The procedure was very quick. As advertised, no pain, only a little bit of pressure and none of that was a big deal. Suction ring, cut that flap. Suction ring on the other eye, cut that flap. Lasered one eye for 16 seconds, lasered the 2nd eye for 10 seconds. Then I was out. It was a little weird when I could barely see anything, but my vision never went totally dark from the suction ring. At some point I got nervous because he said to stare at the red blinking light when I was about to get the 2nd eye ablated and I didn't see it, then he shifted my head a little bit and I could. Those 2 seconds when I thought something was wrong were probably the most uncomfortable of the whole procedure. Really not a big deal. So I went home and went to bed. They said to sleep for 2-3 hours to miss the worst of the pain. I woke up about 1.5 hours in, my eyes were not happy. Definitely hurt, fortunately I managed to get back to sleep, and when I woke up 4 hours after originally falling asleep, the pain was gone. First thought upon waking up: So what if I can see that clock, I could always see that clock. Oh, I could always see that clock WHEN I WAS WEARING GLASSES. I still have this weird desire to put on my glasses when I get up to walk around, even though I see fine. I'm getting a little bit of haloing/fuzziness around some windows on the screen, and a little bit when looking at stuff not on the screen as well. But they said to expect that, so I'm not worried about it and assume it will go away as my eyes stabilize. Still not night yet so we'll see what happens when it actually gets dark in a few hours. I had a fairly minor prescription, I think it was -2.5 and -1.75. 6.2mm pupils maybe, and a little over 600 microns of cornea to work with. I think that means I have a very low chance of side effects, but we'll see.
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Jun 22, 2010 23:47
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I just had my final check-up today. It has been four months since I got PRK with the custom laser. They said my eyes are pretty much completely healed. I'd say I'm around 20/25 although I can read the 20 line with some lucky blinks and a bit of squinting. I'd be perfectly happy if my vision stays right here, which I'm guessing it will since it hasn't really changed in three months. I have no dryness or halos or anything bad at all. That was the best fuckload of money I've ever spent.
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Jun 23, 2010 00:05
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I'm planning on LASIK this Thursday and was thinking about recovery. Would smoking weed be bad for me during recovery, what with red-eye and all? I have a feeling that would help a lot with the closed-eyes, listening to books, napping and such, but didn't want to ask my doctor if I didn't have to. e: also, using a vaporizer, not fire-combustion-smoke, if it matters.
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Jun 23, 2010 01:47
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I'm thinking about getting laser eye surgery of some sort before I graduate college (mostly so I can use my parents' insurance for it, since they've got military insurance which I hear covers eye surgery pretty well). I have pretty bad eyes, -5.75 and -6.00 with an astigmatism in at least one of my eyes. I really want to get PRK done since I don't want to get my eyes sliced open. I'm fine with most medical procedures as long as I can look away, but since this is happening to my eyeballs I don't really have a choice. With PRK all they do is force your eyelids open then laser your eyes, right? Or do they do the whole suctioning thing as well? I'm thinking maybe next winter break I'll see if I can get it done since I'll be home with nothing better to do than lay around with my eyes closed.
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Jun 23, 2010 05:00
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It's easy not to look away. They'll probably have you stare at a little green or red light while they do their thing. You only have to do it for a minute or so and they go in little bursts with the grinder thing if you move your eye around too much. It's really easy to concentrate on staring at the light though because you know the whole thing is going to be over very quickly.
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Jun 23, 2010 05:05
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Soopafly posted:I'm planning on LASIK this Thursday and was thinking about recovery. Would smoking weed be bad for me during recovery, what with red-eye and all? I have a feeling that would help a lot with the closed-eyes, listening to books, napping and such, but didn't want to ask my doctor if I didn't have to. Probably won't do anything, but this is something you should really ask your doctor. They don't care about the elicit use of controlled substances except for when they may interact with your medical treatment. The only way you can know for sure is to ask your doctor.
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Jun 23, 2010 06:37
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:I'm thinking about getting laser eye surgery of some sort before I graduate college (mostly so I can use my parents' insurance for it, since they've got military insurance which I hear covers eye surgery pretty well). I have pretty bad eyes, -5.75 and -6.00 with an astigmatism in at least one of my eyes. There's plenty of reasons to go with PRK over LASIK, but I don't think being scared of the flap cutting procedure (having the flap itself is different) is a good one. If I didn't know that I was under the intralase machine, I wouldn't have known they were cutting the flap. All I knew is I was staring at some pretty lights. The suction ring wasn't a big deal either. And I've got some blood spots on my eyes, and I would say there was nothing more than minor discomfort during the procedure. Minor. Yes, they're doing all this stuff to your eyes, but you can't really see what they're doing. Your vision goes to crap, you see some blurry shapes, some lights, there's a bad smell, then its over. I am terrible about stuff being near my eyes and lasik was easy. Easy. Was out a little last night, and I'm getting haloing around lights. Car headlights are annoying, but I could definitely drive. Other lights have haloing but not really enough to bother me. If it never got any better and I had to deal with this the rest of my life, I would probably still say it was completely worth it. But since everyone says the haloing is the worst the first few days/weeks, I think it will end up being much less. I really want to rub my eyes right now. And I don't sleep so great with the shields over my eyes, possibly because I'm paranoid about it coming loose and me rubbing my eyes. I don't know if its the steroid drops or the antibiotic drops, but one of these leaves a nasty taste in the back of my throat a few minutes after I take it. These are the kind of things I have to complain about it with lasik.
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Jun 23, 2010 13:26
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Soopafly posted:I'm planning on LASIK this Thursday and was thinking about recovery. Would smoking weed be bad for me during recovery, what with red-eye and all? I have a feeling that would help a lot with the closed-eyes, listening to books, napping and such, but didn't want to ask my doctor if I didn't have to. When I had my PRK done, I asked the doctor about weed. He told me to abstain for a day or two before the surgery, but I was good to go afterwards.
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Jun 23, 2010 16:39
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I've noticed alot of people discussing PRK vs. Lasik. From my reading, PRK is the alternative if you don't have thick enough corneas. All things being equal, if I had a choice between the two, is one "better" than the other? I know the two procedures only differ in cutting/not cutting the flap and recovery time, but does one method provide a better result than the other? I have no issues with the flap being cut, but if it's a one time thing I'd rather put up a bit more cash and get the "better" process done, if i have a choice.
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Jun 23, 2010 17:45
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Well, personally, I didn't want to have a flap or flap scar for the rest of my life. The likelihood of it ever being an issue is extremely slim but I could deal with a couple days of pain for the comfort of never having to think about that. My doctor really wanted to do both eyes separately so I had to deal with the pain and recovery twice and I still wouldn't have gone with the flap. It was also about $500 cheaper for me although that's not the case everywhere. The hardest part was getting the doctors to stop trying to talk me out of PRK but they couldn't come up with a single valid reason to do LASIK over PRK so I never changed my mind.
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Jun 23, 2010 17:56
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Soopafly posted:I'm planning on LASIK this Thursday and was thinking about recovery. Would smoking weed be bad for me during recovery, what with red-eye and all? I have a feeling that would help a lot with the closed-eyes, listening to books, napping and such, but didn't want to ask my doctor if I didn't have to. How about you just go a few days without for the sake of your goddamn eyes? This thread has pretty much convinced me to go for PRK though. The idea of a flap sounds pretty lovely and all the posters coming in with "NO REGRETS" are a great motivator, thanks guys!
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Jun 23, 2010 17:58
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Let me rephrase the question: Other than flap vs no flap, and PRK having a longer recovery time, are there any differences besides cost? Edit: VV Awesome. I could never tell if there were any outcome differences. I've got a consultation coming up and hopefully I can get my eyes sliced open soon. Praesil fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Jun 23, 2010 |
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Jun 23, 2010 18:22
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Praesil posted:Let me rephrase the question: No.
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Jun 23, 2010 18:29
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Namarrgon posted:How about you just go a few days without for the sake of your goddamn eyes? Sorry for asking a question in an ask/tell thread. My bad. For anyone else curious, I asked my doctor today and they said a couple days before and a few days after I should abstain, and than I should be very liberal with the wetting drops when I do. Surgery scheduled for 6.45 tomorrow night!
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Jun 23, 2010 19:52
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Another "no regrets" here. Currently nine months after LASIK and doing great. I had the predicted dryness and night vision problems after surgery. After a couple months of making sure you have eye drops at all times, and seeing halos around lights at night, I got used to it and quit worrying about whether it would clear up. Then I stopped noticing the incremental improvements, until it hit me last week- "Hey, I haven't needed eye drops first thing in the morning for over a month!" I also feel my night vision is as good as before. When driving last weekend, I slowed as a cat ran across the road. My friend couldn't see it, and that's when I realized I'd gone weeks without even considering my night vision. My prescription was awful, -5.50 and -6.75. Loving my eyesight now. For a couple months, my eyes burned if I used very minty toothpaste, or leaned over an open bottle of Listerine. That's all gone, except I can't loving cut onions. I used to be completely unaffected, now I better be wearing waterproof mascara. If they give you an Ambien to take right after surgery, do it. If I had slept through the first few hours, I would have woken up feeling slightly uncomfortable. I was tired, so I thought I would just skip it and lay down. Spent three hours hating myself and dry crying. It's apparently not that uncomfortable for everyone, but if you have the option to be unconscious, you may want to utilize it just in case.
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Jun 23, 2010 20:42
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Put it in Your Mouf posted:That's all gone, except I can't loving cut onions. I used to be completely unaffected, now I better be wearing waterproof mascara. Yeah that's just about the only thing I miss about not wearing contacts.
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Jun 23, 2010 20:55
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Put it in Your Mouf posted:Another "no regrets" here. Currently nine months after LASIK and doing great. I had the predicted dryness and night vision problems after surgery. After a couple months of making sure you have eye drops at all times, and seeing halos around lights at night, I got used to it and quit worrying about whether it would clear up. Then I stopped noticing the incremental improvements, until it hit me last week- "Hey, I haven't needed eye drops first thing in the morning for over a month!" Quick question if you don't mind: Was your vision fully corrected? 20/20?
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Jun 24, 2010 10:20
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Yeah, I'd like to know about 20/20 vision as well. Are there any hard numbers of how many people achieve perfect vision and how many still need to use glasses (even only for certain situations) after the procedure? I'm not worried about pain, or flaps, or halos, or just having my entire head vaporized by an aberrant laser. I'm worried I'll get the procedure and then still need glasses, so basically all the money down the drain. Even if it significantly improved my vision, it wouldn't be worth it unless I could basically be guaranteed perfect vision.
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Jun 24, 2010 12:53
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Well, I'm ~12 hours out from my procedure, and can already see great. I can tell it isn't 20/20, but that will happen in the next couple days. I am certainly good to drive, and without a doubt can see as well as I could with glasses beforehand. I have absolutely zero pain, a little bit of redness, and hadn't had any problems watching tv / using a computer. As far as the procedure goes, other goons here nailed it. The worst of the experience was mild discomfort, and I was in and our of the surgery room in less than 15. They gave me something less cool than an Ambiem, told me to go home and go to sleep, and when I woke up, I could see the clock on the other side of the room.  I've still got fog and a little haze, but all in all, even if this was as good as it got, I'd have very few complaints. EDIT - I'm now something like 36 hours out, and am now 20/20, no fog or haze, and am progressing well. I have the halos that everyone gets, but it isn't a big deal. My eye doctor tells me my left eye is a little swollen, and to go to town on the wetting drops for the next couple days. Also, I still haven't been smoking, I'm just going to hold off until it's been a week or so. My eyes feel pretty dry as is. Overall, gently caress yes, no regrets, loving it, etc etc. Soopafly fucked around with this message at 14:56 on Jun 26, 2010 |
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Jun 25, 2010 15:53
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Soopafly posted:Well, I'm ~12 hours out from my procedure, and can already see great. I can tell it isn't 20/20, but that will happen in the next couple days. I am certainly good to drive, and without a doubt can see as well as I could with glasses beforehand. I have absolutely zero pain, a little bit of redness, and hadn't had any problems watching tv / using a computer. Which procedure did you have done? Also how bad was your eyesight before the surgery?
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Jun 29, 2010 20:26
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Praesil posted:Let me rephrase the question: Not /quite/. I had PRK. I practice martial arts, and the Dr. felt that no-flap was safer due to that. No flap isn't exactly something to dismiss outright, since the flap introduces a lot of complications. OTOH, no-flap has it's own set. Mainly corneal hazing, but that's about as rare as flap complications if you take care while healing. JGTheSpy posted:I could deal with a couple days of pain for the comfort of never having to think about that. My experience: Week 1, I was perfect but painful 20/20. Week 2 to month 3, it randomly went from ~20/30 to 20/60 on a daily basis. (but always WAY better than before) I was worried that it was hosed up for a lot of that time. I was perfectly functional the whole time, since it was *so* much better. But it was kind of unnerving. Around month 4, it stabilized, and I've been 20/15 for the last 3 years. My Dr. said my experience was entirely typical of PRK, but she's seen the whole range from instantly fine to taking 9 months to stabilize.
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Jun 30, 2010 21:03
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I was going to sign up for intralase + wavefront next weekend, I have a bit of astigmatism and myopia (somewhere in the range of 2.0) and I was hoping to get rid of them. Talk me out of this?
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Jun 30, 2010 22:04
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DreadCthulhu posted:Talk me out of this? No. I like you too much to do that.
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Jun 30, 2010 22:07
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Is it a reasonable assumption that the smaller the correction that needs to be made, the lesser the chance of loving up your eye? Or is most of the risk in post-surgery couple of days when you can accidentally displace the flap?
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Jun 30, 2010 22:14
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Stroke Volume posted:Which procedure did you have done? Also how bad was your eyesight before the surgery? Regular ol' LASIK, and I was -4.50 in my left, -5.50 in my right, with an astigmatism in one. (don't remember which) Edit - Forgot to mention, I had another followup and am now seeing 20/15. 
Soopafly fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Jul 2, 2010 |
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Jul 1, 2010 07:48
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Do you go insane from having your eyes open for 20 minutes without being able to blink? I know they numb them up, but is it still incredibly irritating?
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Jul 2, 2010 23:54
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DreadCthulhu posted:Do you go insane from having your eyes open for 20 minutes without being able to blink? I know they numb them up, but is it still incredibly irritating? It's more like 3 minutes and no you don't really notice it.
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Jul 2, 2010 23:58
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Soopafly posted:Regular ol' LASIK, and I was -4.50 in my left, -5.50 in my right, with an astigmatism in one. (don't remember which) Soopafly, how did you choose your doctor?
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Jul 2, 2010 23:59
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DreadCthulhu posted:Do you go insane from having your eyes open for 20 minutes without being able to blink? I know they numb them up, but is it still incredibly irritating? Anytime you aren't supposed to blink there will be something keeping you from blinking. And your eyes are numb so you don't notice the dryness that normally makes you want to blink. Kase Im Licht fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Jul 3, 2010 |
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Jul 3, 2010 04:49
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Stroke Volume posted:Soopafly, how did you choose your doctor? I asked my optometrist that I've had since I was a little kid, and he without hesitation recommended my surgeon. Although my optometrist and I are pretty tight. (friends with his kids)
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Jul 5, 2010 00:31
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Ok so I had intralase + wavefront stuff done to me, wasn't bad at all. You're a bit stressed during those 10 minutes when you're spun around under all these different machines and poo poo happens and you go blind and the doc pulls a piece of your eye off, but they keep you as comfortable as possible and there's no pain involved. I had simple myopia on the right eye, and astigmatism + myopia on the left eye. I can see probably 20/15 with the right eye now most of the times with enough tears in the eye, but the left eye is kind of off and on blurry. Has anybody had blurriness in their post-lasik vision for a few days? When did it resolve? It's interesting because the PC screen is quite blurry, but if I go for a drive outside, everything's amazing. Is it because of the brightness of the screen?
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Jul 12, 2010 05:26
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I had lasik done a little over 2 months ago. For a few weeks afterward whenever I used the computer or watched tv my left eye would get blurry after a few minutes. Gradually I'd be able to look at the screen for a little bit longer without it happening and now it doesn't happen no matter how long I'm on the computer. I'd say it took about 6 weeks before it cleared up completely. My left eye also would get blurry on and off but that cleared up at the same time as the computer problem.
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Jul 12, 2010 09:56
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