lasik eye surgery

[MuppDog]

Hi friends!

Has anyone received lasik eye surgery after being diagnosed and treated with a b12 deficiency?

I was diagnosed in spring 2023, and have been. On shots ever since. No testable reason could be found.

Would love to hear about anyone else’s lasik experience when also dealing with B12D

[TroyNZ]

I had lasik eye surgery in 2020, two years after diagnosis but more than 15 years after symptoms started.

I'm not sure whether I should have waited a bit longer (2-3 years) until I was much better but, I don't regret it. I haven't worn glasses in five years but there are some days when I just about need them.

I obviously told the surgeon about the B12 deficiency and the shots. He didn't seem to think it mattered but, most people (even in the health system) don't understand B12 deficiency. I don't recall telling my own doctor but I probably should have discussed it with him first. I was not really thinking about that, I was just sick of wearing glasses.

The surgery itself was nerve-wracking but all of the staff were so casual about it that I just let them do their job. They do this 6 or more times a day after all.

Recovery for me was much better than I expected. I lay in bed with the pain killers at the ready, but the pain never came so I went for a walk downtown in the middle of the night with my sunglasses on.

eyedrops everyday (multiple times per day) got a bit tiresome but I didn't really have any of the problems that you read about

After about 8 weeks, 1 eye was not where it needed to be so they re-did it for free

All in all a worthwhile experience

But, as I said at the beginning, waiting a bit longer might have been the sensible thing to do because some of the blurriness might have come right with time from my B12 injections. I guess I'll never know

[EiCa in reply to TroyNZ]

The first 2-3 years after lasik, I suffered with terribly painful dry eyes despite using drops as prescribed. I loved seeing without glasses though. That said, over more than 10 years (maybe 12-15) my vision deteriorated again. I chose not to have the surgery and now wear glasses all the time. My vision is regressing quickly though probably because I need cataract surgery which I am putting off because of the dry eye risk. It’s a common side effect of cataract surgery. I am constantly cleaning my glasses for naught. I have “cloudy vision” most of the time now. Ugh…(I have many chronic conditions to handle and some get pretty distressing. Putting this off.

[MuppDog in reply to TroyNZ]

I am nervous about the potential for nerves not healing…but it sounds like you healed well. I know everyone is different, but I struggled to find anyone mentioning it in any forum. And yes…the lack of familiarity with our condition makes talking to the doctor less helpful than we would hope. Thank you for sharing !