Macular Degeneration and Me

I had dry macular for about five years when it turned wet suddenly. My husband was ill with cancer at the time and I often wonder if stress helped it along. I started taking Avastin injections every five weeks and have been doing this for almost three years.

My eyesight has deteriorated during this time but I also have cataracts. My retina doctor doesn't feel that removing them will help much but I think I will do one soon and hope he is wrong. I know some doctors say it could make the macular degeneration worse and others say it will not, so go figure. I am certainly hoping I will improve even a little.

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Aug 24, 2018
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starstarstarstarstar 		I was very trusting
by: Barbara

I had caratact surgery in March 2016. Something went wrong during the procedure, The retina specialist was called in to vacuum "debris" out of the treated eye. I was quite sedated during all of this, and only remember myself joking about "hoovering". The procedure took much longer than planned. In early Summer I was informed that my eye had now wet AMD.

I began receiving eye injections. When it got worse I made an appointment at Duke University. The doc there did a special procedure called "cool laser treatment" (I can find the proper name if needed) - it was VERY helpful. I continued to get the injections. Developed an infection.

I, too, am concerned about the over 500% zinc and some other ingredients in the daily dose of the AREDS2 -I cannot get really good info from manufacturer, docs are not well informed about nutrition.
My other eye has dry AMD - I test it daily with the "Foresee Home Monitor" for which Medicare pays.
Feb 28, 2018
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starstarstarstarstar 		Cataract Surgery
by: Sue

I write here for my mother who will be 92 soon. She has had AMD since she was 50 yrs old. She has always had dry in her right eye and we’re not really sure what happened to her left eye. She had a bad bleed in that eye after she was put on Coumadin. She also has afib, so she had to go on a blood thinner. We think the dosage may have been too high for my mother at the time. She is now on a different blood thinner and she seems to be doing well.

I will agree with you about stress. My mother kept pretty good sight until we had a lot of stress when she was about 85 yrs old. We lost some loved ones all within a year of each other. She has managed to keep her vision pretty stable since then with a good diet. She had cataract surgery about 3 yrs ago in her right eye and she was able to see so much better! It helped her a lot. Her vision has not changed since then. She is tested every 6 months. So this is my mother’s experience. I hope it helps you. I wish you the best.
Feb 28, 2018
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starstarstarstarstar 		Vision Getting Worse after Many Injections
by: Anonymous

Mine is getting worse, too, but I believe it is the dry. I have not had injections for about three years. Will have to check my records on this. My doctor is checking me every few months. He told me my vision was better than anyone in his practice who had had AMD as long as I have.

I never took those pills. I Googled the vitamins, found out how many units, etc. I needed, then looked up the foods that would supply the daily requirements. I now snack on a raw carrot every day along with those tiny red, orange and yellow sweet peppers.

In the begining, I thought having an eye go wet was the worse thing that could happen. But I had a blind spot in my left eye before I had a bleed. I find I need more and more light to see things. One of the first things I noticed--long before I saw a retinal specialist was that my eyes didn't adjust to the dark like they used to.

My doctor never told me not to drive, but I stopped several years ago because of the blind spot. I drove once and couldn't see the directions on the glass panel on the gas tank because the sun was glaring on it.

I use a cane because of a bad back, but it helps me greatly to find curbs.

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