Have you had Laser Vitreolysis for floaters/weiss rings?

[Anonymous]

Looking for other experiences with Laser Vitreolysis for floaters. I've had small floaters my whole life and learned to live with them. Now I have had a double posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (in both eyes) and I'm miserable, weiss rings, cloud floatings, all of it. What was your experience? Hoping for help, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking for other experiences with Laser Vitreolysis for floaters. I've had small floaters my whole life and learned to live with them. Now I have had a double posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (in both eyes) and I'm miserable, weiss rings, cloud floatings, all of it. What was your experience? Hoping for help, thank you.

I'm just putting up with the debris. My ophthalmologist isn't a fan.

[Anonymous]

Same issue here. It isn't fun. But my optometrist says these procedures are risky and should be a last resort. So I just live with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking for other experiences with Laser Vitreolysis for floaters. I've had small floaters my whole life and learned to live with them. Now I have had a double posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (in both eyes) and I'm miserable, weiss rings, cloud floatings, all of it. What was your experience? Hoping for help, thank you.

I'm just putting up with the debris. My ophthalmologist isn't a fan.

Did they say why? Have you had PVD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same issue here. It isn't fun. But my optometrist says these procedures are risky and should be a last resort. So I just live with it.

Have you had floaters your whole life or those from PVD? How intrusive are yours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking for other experiences with Laser Vitreolysis for floaters. I've had small floaters my whole life and learned to live with them. Now I have had a double posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (in both eyes) and I'm miserable, weiss rings, cloud floatings, all of it. What was your experience? Hoping for help, thank you.

I'm just putting up with the debris. My ophthalmologist isn't a fan.

Did they say why? Have you had PVD?

Yes, pvd in both eyes.

The retina specialist said I could do a procedure where they replace the vitreous gel with saline. (Vitrectomy). I'd likely need cataract surgery several months after that as a result though. The retina specialist warned me against laser surgery.

The opthalmologist also warned against laser surgery. That doc gets patients considering the vitreous gel replacement procedure to watch on YouTube how it is done, which usually results in people opting to put up with floaters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same issue here. It isn't fun. But my optometrist says these procedures are risky and should be a last resort. So I just live with it.

Have you had floaters your whole life or those from PVD? How intrusive are yours?

As for how intrusive, it's most annoying when looking at clear blue sky, white walls and plain backgrounds, or reading in bright light. I'm pretty near sighted anyway, so vision is already an imperfect blur without my glasses. It's just another wrinkle. I guess it's like tinnitus - I don't think about it too much unless I'm purposely thinking about it.

I have had floaters since my twenties, and they got worse after the PVDs.

[Anonymous]

Another one here with multiple floaters after PVD. I only have them in one eye though. I have one large one like a skein of wool that I was told might break into smaller floaters eventually but this has never happened. Also multiple small ones.

I have also been warned that surgery is not recommended and likely to have a poor outcome.

My father had horrific complications after cataract surgery in which he had to have a vitrectomy and it convinced me to never have elective eye surgery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking for other experiences with Laser Vitreolysis for floaters. I've had small floaters my whole life and learned to live with them. Now I have had a double posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (in both eyes) and I'm miserable, weiss rings, cloud floatings, all of it. What was your experience? Hoping for help, thank you.

I'm just putting up with the debris. My ophthalmologist isn't a fan.

Did they say why? Have you had PVD?

Yes, pvd in both eyes.

The retina specialist said I could do a procedure where they replace the vitreous gel with saline. (Vitrectomy). I'd likely need cataract surgery several months after that as a result though. The retina specialist warned me against laser surgery.

The opthalmologist also warned against laser surgery. That doc gets patients considering the vitreous gel replacement procedure to watch on YouTube how it is done, which usually results in people opting to put up with floaters.

Thank you for posting back. This is helpful. I have not watched the actual procedure on youtube but read they make 3 holes in the eye. And that yes indeed can cause cataracts. Scary! That's why I was leaning more to the laser that breaks them up. Did the retina specialist or opthalmologists say why they're not fond of the laser surgery as that seems like it has much less risks then the total Vitrectomy? To me reading about it online seemed promising or gave me a tiny bit of hope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same issue here. It isn't fun. But my optometrist says these procedures are risky and should be a last resort. So I just live with it.

Have you had floaters your whole life or those from PVD? How intrusive are yours?

As for how intrusive, it's most annoying when looking at clear blue sky, white walls and plain backgrounds, or reading in bright light. I'm pretty near sighted anyway, so vision is already an imperfect blur without my glasses. It's just another wrinkle. I guess it's like tinnitus - I don't think about it too much unless I'm purposely thinking about it.

I have had floaters since my twenties, and they got worse after the PVDs.

Reading, watching tv being out in the sun is just annoying to be now when I used to enjoy those things. My vision loss is severe so adding the regular floaters with the newer PVD floaters is making me pretty upset and can't belive this is my new normal. I'm trying to live with it but it's been hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another one here with multiple floaters after PVD. I only have them in one eye though. I have one large one like a skein of wool that I was told might break into smaller floaters eventually but this has never happened. Also multiple small ones.

I have also been warned that surgery is not recommended and likely to have a poor outcome.

My father had horrific complications after cataract surgery in which he had to have a vitrectomy and it convinced me to never have elective eye surgery.

How long have you had the large one? They have never told me they may break up. I hope that's true for all of us. Were they saying not to do the laser surgery or the whole vitrectomy? Did they say why? I'm sorry to hear about your dad, what complications did he have? I'm a pretty conservative person when it comes to medical stuff that's why I wanted to ask here. I also am going to make myself wait a full year or two before even asking about at the doctors or making any decisions because it's your eyes and all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another one here with multiple floaters after PVD. I only have them in one eye though. I have one large one like a skein of wool that I was told might break into smaller floaters eventually but this has never happened. Also multiple small ones.

I have also been warned that surgery is not recommended and likely to have a poor outcome.

My father had horrific complications after cataract surgery in which he had to have a vitrectomy and it convinced me to never have elective eye surgery.

How long have you had the large one? They have never told me they may break up. I hope that's true for all of us. Were they saying not to do the laser surgery or the whole vitrectomy? Did they say why? I'm sorry to hear about your dad, what complications did he have? I'm a pretty conservative person when it comes to medical stuff that's why I wanted to ask here. I also am going to make myself wait a full year or two before even asking about at the doctors or making any decisions because it's your eyes and all.

You are very smart to wait and research!

I’ve had the large floater around 5 years. This is in my right eye which has the worst vision as well as lattice degeneration. I was seen at Hopkins Hospital at the time ( was afraid it might be retinal detachment) My ophthalmologist still asks about it at my annual exams, and never seems surprised it is still there. I doubt it will change at this point. If I remember correctly, they strongly discouraged any procedure due to low chance of improvement and high rate of complications. I have been told this both at Hopkins Wilmer Clinic and by my regular doctor.

Years ago my Dad had a large cataract that broke apart while they were removing it. ( this is a known possible complication) That night at home he had severe nausea and vomiting— his intraocular pressure was sky high and they had to do the vitrectomy. IIRC, they put saline into his eye to replace the vitreous. Vision never the same in that eye.

If I needed cataract surgery, I would have it done but be very cautious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking for other experiences with Laser Vitreolysis for floaters. I've had small floaters my whole life and learned to live with them. Now I have had a double posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (in both eyes) and I'm miserable, weiss rings, cloud floatings, all of it. What was your experience? Hoping for help, thank you.

I'm just putting up with the debris. My ophthalmologist isn't a fan.

Did they say why? Have you had PVD?

Yes, pvd in both eyes.

The retina specialist said I could do a procedure where they replace the vitreous gel with saline. (Vitrectomy). I'd likely need cataract surgery several months after that as a result though. The retina specialist warned me against laser surgery.

The opthalmologist also warned against laser surgery. That doc gets patients considering the vitreous gel replacement procedure to watch on YouTube how it is done, which usually results in people opting to put up with floaters.

Thank you for posting back. This is helpful. I have not watched the actual procedure on youtube but read they make 3 holes in the eye. And that yes indeed can cause cataracts. Scary! That's why I was leaning more to the laser that breaks them up. Did the retina specialist or opthalmologists say why they're not fond of the laser surgery as that seems like it has much less risks then the total Vitrectomy? To me reading about it online seemed promising or gave me a tiny bit of hope.

They didn't say why they didn't like it, but both warned against laser treatment. They work in different offices. I didn't investigate further as I wasn't interested.

[Anonymous]

Our retina specialist said just to deal with the vitreous loss. He said the brain adapts over time and then it stops. I’m going in month 3 and the floaters are greatly reduced. I have a follow up next week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another one here with multiple floaters after PVD. I only have them in one eye though. I have one large one like a skein of wool that I was told might break into smaller floaters eventually but this has never happened. Also multiple small ones.

I have also been warned that surgery is not recommended and likely to have a poor outcome.

My father had horrific complications after cataract surgery in which he had to have a vitrectomy and it convinced me to never have elective eye surgery.

How long have you had the large one? They have never told me they may break up. I hope that's true for all of us. Were they saying not to do the laser surgery or the whole vitrectomy? Did they say why? I'm sorry to hear about your dad, what complications did he have? I'm a pretty conservative person when it comes to medical stuff that's why I wanted to ask here. I also am going to make myself wait a full year or two before even asking about at the doctors or making any decisions because it's your eyes and all.

You are very smart to wait and research!

I’ve had the large floater around 5 years. This is in my right eye which has the worst vision as well as lattice degeneration. I was seen at Hopkins Hospital at the time ( was afraid it might be retinal detachment) My ophthalmologist still asks about it at my annual exams, and never seems surprised it is still there. I doubt it will change at this point. If I remember correctly, they strongly discouraged any procedure due to low chance of improvement and high rate of complications. I have been told this both at Hopkins Wilmer Clinic and by my regular doctor.

Years ago my Dad had a large cataract that broke apart while they were removing it. ( this is a known possible complication) That night at home he had severe nausea and vomiting— his intraocular pressure was sky high and they had to do the vitrectomy. IIRC, they put saline into his eye to replace the vitreous. Vision never the same in that eye.

If I needed cataract surgery, I would have it done but be very cautious.

Wow this is helpful. In a few years I was going to check in with the Hopkins Wilmer Clinic but hearing they don't recommend it is pretty telling. There is just so much going on its hard for me to see two huge weiss rings, a few larger dark floaters and the small floaters I've had my whole life it's like I'm trying to live with this active circus in my eyes. My brain has not adapted to it. I'm having a hard time accepting this new normal. I have so many other medicals things too so this is even harder to process.

I had no idea cataract surgery could cause those effects it's scary!