[Maru]

Jenny, my grandmother has wet macular degeneration in both eyes and has to have the injections regularly. I believe they are a small dose of chemotherapy. It was caught early enough in her case, as a previous doctor had missed it during examinations. She credits it for saving her eyesight and has been on them for several years now. Unfortunately, it is something she needs to have done monthly. She has each eye injected once a month for several years now. A new doctor recently tried to take her off the injections slowly, and it works for some people to come off, but in her case it didn't work.

When I was caretaking for her, occasionally she would have small blood-spot in her eye burst post-shot that would go away after a few days to a few weeks. The doctor said it was normal and harmless. Her vision occasionally had small anamolies/changes... for example lines were never straight for her, but there was a small period where in those "wavey" lines, there would be small "juts". She also has a lot of floaters.

Getting the shots themselves, she's adjusted to the routine and doesn't complain about any pain at all. Her doctors are very skilled about it and she's never had issues. One time she had a different one do the injections and they just made it more uncomfortable than normal, nothing too bad though but your experience may vary by doctor.

She has very good insurance that cover the injections, that are $700/each (last I checked) without it. That's the only real downside of the injections... they are expensive, at least here.

Oh, her doctors also have her take these vitamins regularly (they order her to take them actually)... I believe it's these exactly but can't remember if it was the one on the box that had Lutein or not.

Bausch & Lomb Preservision with Lutein Eye Vitamin & Mineral Supplement
https://www.amazon.com/Bausch-Lomb-P.../dp/B0018C8ZA6


I'm sorry you were diagnosed with this. I'm not a fan of needles myself, much less doctors. It's a whole lot easier for me to take my husband and my grandmother than myself as the nurture/caretaking gene is strong in my family, but I always feel so vulnerable in these situations even on minor visits...

Edit: Btw, the drug they inject is Avastin

[jennyjuniper]

Originally Posted by Maru

Jenny, my grandmother has wet macular degeneration in both eyes and has to have the injections regularly. I believe they are a small dose of chemotherapy. It was caught early enough in her case, as a previous doctor had missed it during examinations. She credits it for saving her eyesight and has been on them for several years now. Unfortunately, it is something she needs to have done monthly. She has each eye injected once a month for several years now. A new doctor recently tried to take her off the injections slowly, and it works for some people to come off, but in her case it didn't work.

When I was caretaking for her, occasionally she would have small blood-spot in her eye burst post-shot that would go away after a few days to a few weeks. The doctor said it was normal and harmless. Her vision occasionally had small anamolies/changes... for example lines were never straight for her, but there was a small period where in those "wavey" lines, there would be small "juts". She also has a lot of floaters.

Getting the shots themselves, she's adjusted to the routine and doesn't complain about any pain at all. Her doctors are very skilled about it and she's never had issues. One time she had a different one do the injections and they just made it more uncomfortable than normal, nothing too bad though but your experience may vary by doctor.

She has very good insurance that cover the injections, that are $700/each (last I checked) without it. That's the only real downside of the injections... they are expensive, at least here.

Oh, her doctors also have her take these vitamins regularly (they order her to take them actually)... I believe it's these exactly but can't remember if it was the one on the box that had Lutein or not.

Bausch & Lomb Preservision with Lutein Eye Vitamin & Mineral Supplement
https://www.amazon.com/Bausch-Lomb-P.../dp/B0018C8ZA6


I'm sorry you were diagnosed with this. I'm not a fan of needles myself, much less doctors. It's a whole lot easier for me to take my husband and my grandmother than myself as the nurture/caretaking gene is strong in my family, but I always feel so vulnerable in these situations even on minor visits...

Edit: Btw, the drug they inject is Avastin

Thanks for the information Maru. The doctor I saw said I would have a series of 3 injections (free I'm glad to say) then be tested to see if those three had improved anything.
There are also vitamins to take (six times the reccommended dose) Synvital, Cezin or Ophtamin 20.
I've made an appointment and am quite willing to have those three injections, but the thought of having them every month is a bit off putting.
Anyway thanks again.

[jennyjuniper]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

Go for it Jenny. The thought of putting contact lenses in eyes makes many people cringe, yet millions do it every day .... we put drops in our eyes for all sorts of things, we get dust in our eyes and scratch them for all its worth. A precise little prick is nothing

That is sp true.

[Maru]

Originally Posted by jennyjuniper

Thanks for the information Maru. The doctor I saw said I would have a series of 3 injections (free I'm glad to say) then be tested to see if those three had improved anything.
There are also vitamins to take (six times the reccommended dose) Synvital, Cezin or Ophtamin 20.
I've made an appointment and am quite willing to have those three injections, but the thought of having them every month is a bit off putting.
Anyway thanks again.

The injections aren't really that bad as they numb your eye with drops before you have them. You'd think anyone would not look forward to it or be reluctant to go, but my grandmother really doesn't seem to be too stressed by the visits at all. Sitting in the waiting room and checking her in to see the doctor and getting her information in the computer takes the longest. It takes them almost no time to do the injections. The staff has always made the experience pleasant so I think getting a good doctor you trust to do the injections really helps.

I for one don't like needles either, so I commend you on your bravery. Personally, after seeing her get the injections, it feels like that having the eye injections would be easier than getting blood drawn. I always end up with that one special person who takes forever to find a vein and gives me a bruise (same with IV's). Her doctor makes the eye injections look so effortless.

I'm not sure what is in the eye vitamins that she is prescribed. Another option is to add more dark green vegetables to your diet (such as spinach, kale, etc). However, if your diet is restricted and you are limited on how much Vitamin K you can have (i.e. on blood thinners for blood clots), then probably taking the supplements would be easier. The one I linked she pays about $20-25/mo in the US (w/wo coupon)

Make sure your blood pressure is under control (especially not high) and check it daily as that can have a significant impact over time as well. My grandmother had BP that was trending up and that was around the time she was seeing more floaters/distortions... We found out at an unrelated visit to the ER soon after that that she had atrial fibrillation that took them a little while to get confirmed because she wasn't showing up on EKG during the visits (but it shows up every time now after they confirmed it on the 24hr home EKG). Her BP spikes and drops quite often, so that could've played a role as well.

[jennyjuniper]

Originally Posted by jaxie

So sorry to hear about your eyes Jenny. My father had glaucoma (among many other ailments down to his diabetes) and had to have injections in his eyes. He didn't speak about it much but know he found it one of the less pleasant things he had to have done, however he said it was worth it to retain his eyesight.

I hope that whatever you decide it works out to be the best choice for you.

Thanks Jaxie.

[Ammi]

..I remembered also Jenny with my father in law when he was diagnosed in his deteriorating eyesight...?..he found the Royal National Institute of the Blind really so helpful in the aids that were suggested to him.../so much talking stuff that isn't reliant on vision..he had a very cool talking watch with a very sexy voice coming from it...he seemed to press the time button rather a lot if I recall correctly...anyways maybe contact them as well, they're really helpful...

[jennyjuniper]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..I remembered also Jenny with my father in law when he was diagnosed in his deteriorating eyesight...?..he found the Royal National Institute of the Blind really so helpful in the aids that were suggested to him.../so much talking stuff that isn't reliant on vision..he had a very cool talking watch with a very sexy voice coming from it...he seemed to press the time button rather a lot if I recall correctly...anyways maybe contact them as well, they're really helpful...

Thanks Ammi, the watch sounds amazing, especially if I could get one with Alan Rickmans voice on it, or Tom Conti's
The kommune here is very good at supplying aids to help people with various ailments, although at present my regular strong specs are doing the trick, but it's good to know that help is available when needed.

[bitontheslide]

Originally Posted by jennyjuniper

Thanks Ammi, the watch sounds amazing, especially if I could get one with Alan Rickmans voice on it, or Tom Conti's
The kommune here is very good at supplying aids to help people with various ailments, although at present my regular strong specs are doing the trick, but it's good to know that help is available when needed.

one of the watch faces on the apple watch, a Mickey mouse one, speaks the time when you tap it