Just Diagnosed with AMD

by Mike
(Brentwood Tn)

I needed new glasses and at the same time I had an optomat(?) exam of my eyes and learned this month (Nov 2010) I had age related dry macular degeneration.

I guess it now makes sense. I've been complaining to my wife not to buy 40w light bulbs (buy 5000 watt bulbs, hah!) I can't read very well with 40w bulbs.

And I've had trouble reading the keys on my laptop with normal lighting. And very recently in my left eye I've noticed a slight blurring as if there were a smudge on my eye glasses.

Of course there is no treatment but the key is to be sure to get with my optometrist/ophthamologist should my vision dramatically worsen (wet MD) as they can halt the bleeding/damage.

I check the Amsler chart every morning to be sure of no dramatic change in the lines.

I take the AREDS vitamin cocktail twice a day and I take 20 mg of Lutein every other day, and I take 3 Omega 3 fish oil tablets daily, along with a multivitamin and a baby aspirin for my heart.

I'm 64, blue/grey eyes, northern Europe ancestry, and was outside working construction or in the Army til I was 27. No sunglasses, (glad to see our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan always wear sun glasses).

I also smoked for 10 years from age 21 to age 31. I think those ultraviolet rays and cigarette smoking narrowing my arteries hasn't helped my eyes much.

I do exercise regularly and am in pretty good shape although I also have an enlarged prostate and I've read somewhere of a similarity to blood flow to the prostate similar to the retina???

Not sure if I've had AMD in my family, probably a good chance of it, but they probably wrote it off to 'gettin' old'. Pretty sure they never had the wet MD.

My prayer and hope of course is that my dry MD will progress ever so slowly and not jump to wet MD overnight.

Thanx for letting me share my story and good luck to all of you!