One eye Slightly overcorrected, - Clapiks question

[Colin151]

HI there,
Was wondering if anyone could give me some kind advice?

I had Z-lasik (blade free) with wavefront 2 weeks ago for mild short sight. My original Rx was -2.25 Sph no Astigmatism in the left eye and -2.50 Sph no astigmatism in the right eye.
After surgery I currently have what would probably be considered a mild power imbalance between the eyes, - I am currently +0.50 left eye and plano in the right eye.
I noticed a problem from the first night, - that the left eye was stronger than the right eye and its been at the same difference ever since. I get headaches, eye strain and when I focus at distance it feels (with both eyes open) my right eye is covered and I am only seeing with the left eye. Up close I have trouble focusing too and it feels objects in the left eye are closer which is very disorientating. I think this is some sort of convergence issue and whilst perhaps not problematic for most people this 0.5 diopter difference is a real problem for me if it the difference in power stays like this. I simply can't tolerate the eyes not being equal power, - on many occasions before I’ve bought glasses or contact lenses and I've had to get one of the lenses for an eye changed by as little as 0.25 Diopters as am so sensitive to this issue.

I was pretty unaware of the possibility of inaccuracies of Lasik before surgery. I mentioned at my initial consultation that the power balance between the eyes was very important to me and was told there was unlikely to be much error at all for my very low prescription.
Bearing this in mind and what has happened I now know that Lasik is something I personally should never have done, but I can’t go back obviously and want to find a way around this problem.
I’ve been told to give it time, - up to at least a 6 weeks post op to see what direction things are going in and how my eyes are settling. Of course I will hope the power gap between the eyes will lessen but of course it might stay the same or worse, even increase.

Due to my very low original prescription I suppose it is probably reasonably safe to assume the numbers post lasik will not change that much, if at all?

What I am worried is that 3 months or so down the line I am still at the point where I have an imbalance and feel I can’t live with it and no surgeon will be willing to enhance on such a small difference, - enhancement might of course not be a great idea anyway as the end result would also be unknown and the final outcome might even be worse.

I have read with great interest about the possibility of using Acular LS to induce regression for a slight overcorrection, and also of course CLAPIKS therapy, - using Acular and a tight fitting soft contact lens for several weeks to increase the regression effect. I understand it might be a hit and miss thing and might not work for many people but I am very interested in giving this a go if it might help. I would obviously do this for my left eye in order to try to bring the power down to the same level as the right eye. Whatever level that might be I am not too bothered, - even if I ended up with -0.75 in both eyes that would be far more acceptable to me than having any power imbalance between the eyes and theoretically better sight in each eye when tested in isolation.
My question is, - for what period after surgery would CLAIPKS or Acular therapy be effective? Should I try as soon as now only two weeks after the surgery or would that be unwise for such a small overcorrection. I am happy to wait a while to see how my eyes settle but the situation I don’t want to be in is for it to have waited too long and there be no point in trying these therapies as they are unlikely to work.

If anyone has any advice on how long/what time frame after surgery CLAPIKS/Acular therapy might be for reducing a small overcorrection it would be much appreciated.
Best Regards,
Colin

[PRKorIntacs]

I agree that lasik would be unlikley to work out if a tiny anisometropia caused you big issues. If you can(still) tolerate contact lenses, would a +0.5 lens in the left eye work out? Yes youd have to go back to wearing corrective lenses but at least this is your best option.

If you can't tolerate contact lenses, buy two pairs of cheap reading glasses of +0.5d difference. Make sure both frames are identical. Swap out the lenses so the left eye has +0.5 stronger than the right eye. This will test if your very mild anisometropia can be corrected with glasses without aniseikonia. I really hope this does work out then you can use reading glasses for the computer and reading.

For distance, youd want a +0.5 lens and a plano lens. This will correct your slightly hyperopic eye and let both eyes work together.

You have every right to be upset, I am upset that your surgeon exaggerated the accuracy of the laser. Ironically, I think most surgeons say the same. At my PRK consultation, both surgeons claim a 90% chance of being no more than 0.25d from target. I wish you had researched more. It's common to end up give/take a half diopter and full diopter differences in one or both eyes(under/over) happen about 10% of the time from what I read.

[Mr.UnPerfect]

My goodness, would you please settle down and be a little patient. It's only been a few weeks.
I am suprised you haven't looked into corneal transplant YET. You seem to be projecting everything else. Trust you Doctor for now and I will bet you . Things will turn out better than they look right now.
Said with LOVE..............rjk
Also if it makes you feel better get a second opinion from and other quaified doctor.

[Colin151]

Thanks for the advice from you both. I'll give the glasses a try for the time being.

I agree I'm being quite impatient and am panicking a bit, - I need to give it some time to settle down. I've been told at about 4-6 weeks after surgery I will have more of an idea of what sort of measurements I'll end up with in the long term.
Like I say I am happy to "wait and see" for the time being but am just a bit worried I might miss the chance to try to balance up my eyes a bit more to my liking using CLAPIKS and was just wondering how long after surgery it might be effective for? (if anyone knows). I have been told that the numbers can change the most over the first three months the most so I assume its best to use CLAPIKS at some point in this time frame during the healing if you need to? I woudl be very cautious and only use it for a short time if I only required a small change. I realise it might not work and it might even make the problem worse but I want to be ready to give it a go if I need to.

So far my eyesight (apart from the anisometropia problem) looks OK so I know I should be highly grateful for that if it stays that way,- considering the other terrible horror stories I have read on forums (I feel for you guys). If the worst comes to the worst I suppose I can end up wearing glasses again full time (I can't use soft contacts, - my eyes are too dry, - it would have to be RGPs which I have not tried before so I'm unsure if I could toloerate them) , but if thats required it does make having this surgery a big waste of money for someone like me, - I really wish I had reseached it a bit more beforehand, - I'd much rather have just stuck with glasses and saved a lot of money rather than risk the worry/anxiety over these variable long term results.