YAG Laser Iridotomy Complications

She sounds wonderful and brave. I've read a lot of articles about ophthalmologists being afraid to dilate or say let's wait if the angles are very narrow, just in case, they don't want to be blamed for an angle closure. But your doctor is so prepared and sounds so smart.

I have been advised by my ophthalmologist to have a YAG Laser Iridotomy, I am having concerns about this procedure, basically the after effects and or the pain during the procedure, If anyone out there have had this procedure done will you kindly share your experience and after affects. Thank you in advance.

I have had Yag Laser on my 2 eyes. Afterward I felt that something was wrong.
I could not focus, had tears, and they feel not perfect.
I failed to tell opthamologist that I had a BB in my temple on the head.
Generally I was told not to ever have an MRI.
I did not think that would affect my vision after the Yag procedure.
I did see a new opthamologist but did not tell him about the BB in temple.
I think I should have told him about this BB.
Now I am feeling after affects in both eyes.
Any advice from someone else?

Do you have dry eyes? After laser surgery they could get more dry and cause a lot of symptoms. BTW, it can affect your vision. My right eye caused cloudy vision and I went to the Eye ER. Diagnosed with blepharitis and dry eyes.
I would question this with your opthalmologist first. I have dry eyes again after 10 years and trying to get them settled down before the iridotomy.
I don't know what BB is, but I would see about dry eyes first, which can resolve with the right treatment.
Hope this helps.

Good morning. I just wanted to share my experience with the group. I had a laser iridotomy procedure done to both my eyes. My right eye was done last week and my left eye was done yesterday. I first went to my optometrist about 6 months ago due to the fact that I had a weird feeling in my right eye - a feeling like there was fluid building up in my eye and had headaches. The dr said it looked like I had narrow angles and sent me to an Opthamologist. At that appt she said that I do have narrow angles and scheduled me in for a laser iridotomy the following month. I think I was in shock at the appointment and didnt ask all the questions I had. I ended up spending a lot of time online connecting with people who had the procedure and reading so many posts and horror stories about the actual procedure and the possible side effects. There were some positive experiences as well. I was so freaked out that I almost cancelled my appt even though I was still experiencing symptoms. Going online can be scary. I was so scared that entire month before my appt. I did go ahead with the procedure on both eyes. The right eye last week and my left eye yesterday. I would like to let you know my experience. I understand that everyone is different and will experience different things and in no way am I trying to downplay the experiences of others but only want to share my experience to try to help others. Before my appt I did take 2 tylenol as I heard that some people get awful headaches from the drops they use to constrict the pupils. At both appts I did not experience any headaches or pain from the drops. Right before the laser I had the numbing drops put in. Next is the lense thing they put on your eye that has gel on it. It didnt hurt just felt a bit weird. I was told a specific area to look at. All I could see was the gel....no lights or anything. The sound of the laser wasnt loud at all...just a clicking sound. Didnt startle me at all. The right eye took about 8 times and I could feel something only with the last 2 lasers. Wasn't painful at all!!! Felt like I got something in my eye. My experience with the left eye was almost the same except that eye was only lasered 4 times but my eye pressure went up afterwards which I got drops for that I will use for a week and will use the anti inflammatory drops for 4 days. Fortunately I haven't had any side effects really. My eyes are/were sensitive to lights and screens for a few days after and I haven't noticed anything else except that I dont have the headaches anymore and that feeling of fluid build up has gone away. I hope this might help someone. I was so scared going in I was actually surprised that I did. I go in a month for a follow up appt to make sure everything looks good.

Good read. I am nervous, who wouldn’t be. I am going in in 3 days. I went for a regular exam and here I am. Your post is encouraging. Of course we are all so different. I remember going through some hard questions about cardiac ablations and then eventually a pacemaker and then the 2nd pacer after AV ablation…all of the posts that I read were so scary and negative. I love all the honesty but reading it all was terrifying. This is the same, so to read your experience is helping me get off that ledge.

I had laser Irodotomy. Dr said I would go blind without it. I do not have glaucoma and could see perfect. Left eye went great 2 weeks ago with 40 laser zaps. A week ago right eye was 300 zaps to make hole. Severe pain. Chipped iris. Blood vessel hit. Cornea filled with blood. Never checked pressure either eye until yesterday when it was high 30s. Cannot see thru right eye. Aches even to blink. Took me off steroid drops and added new pressure drops. Got pressure down to 30 but still painful. Next appt. with him is in 2 weeks. Has anyone experienced this and how long will this last??

I'm so sorry that happened to you. Can you find a glaucoma specialist? It's critical even if you don't have glaucoma. Do you live in the US?
The first opthalmologist said I would go blind if he didn't do the laser iridotomy in one week. Like you my pressures were perfect, eyesight was good, but he claimed I had glaucoma without doing any tests. I started crying on the phone with him literally the next day asking how could he say that, how could he diagnose me with glaucoma, didn't do any of the tests. I was referred to a glaucoma specialist who totally disagreed with him. I have no glaucoma and anatomical narrow angles. I didn't want the iridotomy. I've been seeing her every 3 months for almost one year and nothing has changed. Pressures are around 10 in both eyes.
I think you should get a second opinion with a glaucoma specialist even though you don't have glaucoma. Is your optic nerve still normal? Oh I'm so very sorry this happened to you. But you can move on and try to find a glaucoma specialist? Do you live in the US?

I do live in US. I have thick corneas so pressure runs 19 at the lowest. They do all the testing every 6 months. No glaucoma. My right pupil is large after surgery and he tried restriction drops 2x that temporarily made it a little smaller. He said he’d never seen this with surgery, only with trauma. 300 laser zaps sounds like trauma to me. Eye is so blurry and tender. It aches. Even when I blink.