Wondering if anyone has had any successes with treating macular edema with Lucentis (or Avastin, for that matter). My doctor first planned to treat my eyes (problems were discovered a few months ago) with one injection in each eye and then laser, but decided at my last visit to wait on the laser and do up to six injections in each eye before trying something else.
I guess this is good news, but I'm wondering if I should just ask for laser treatment now: the shots are painful and anxiety producing, I have to take time off work for each, and can't do much for a few hours after. Also, my insurance covered the first two injections, but surely they'll balk soon? Obviously, if this is the way to go, I want to do it, but wonder if anyone has any opinions...
hi Leata! I've had two Avastin injections in each eye (4 total), followed by laser treatments in each eye. Unfortunately, instead of destroying the cysts, the cysts went from focal to defuse. That was followed by two Lucentis in each eye (4 total).This week, I am scheduled for more laser.So I guess, I am an expert.
Here's my experience.
Lucendis is better than Avastin because you recover sooner. There are not the big black marbles bouncing up and down in your line of vision afterwards. My vision is good right now.
Unfortunately, Lucindis is a temporary solution. The manufacturer actually expects you to have the treatment redone once a month indefinately. Until we know otherwise,let us hope our insurance will pay for this.
My opthomalogist wants me to have a cataract removed from my right eye in about nine months. He hopes that will make further Lucindis unnecessary in that eye.
I had shots of Lucentis and Avantis for over 2 years, one a month, for macular edema. It improved somewhat, but finally it was decided that I should go to the Ottawa Eye Hospital for consultation. There they found that the edema was caused by a vein occlusion, and they gave me an appointment for the following day to have a vitrectomy. After 6 months or so the improvement began to show and although I still have some distortion in that eye, it has fairly good sight.
I found the shots at first to be quite scary, but after a few months it became routine. Also my retinal specialist changed his method of injecting, and discarded the use of the plastic ring to keep the eye open, and just used his little finger to keep the lid open. I found this much more comfortable. My problem with the retaining ring was that I kept blinking because it irritated and was more painful because of it. I hardly felt the shot after he changed his procedure. I was lucky to be covered by insurance for most of the costs.
Thank you so much. Yes, I find the plastic ring really annoying, as well as whatever they use to clean my eye out. I had a lot of bleeding in one eye (none in the other) which was annoying because it looked gross even though it didn't hurt, etc. My doctor says that it happens frequently, but not always.
Did you ever have any bleeding/bruising from the injections?
My son has had 5 treatments with Lucentus with one macula brought back to normal contour and thickness. The other eye was improved but there is still some swelling on one side of the macula of the right eye. It's hard to know if the treatments will be a cure or just be a temporary improvement. His ophthalmologist is optimistic that his condition will stabilize. The problem with laser however, is that it can ruin the peripheral vision and of course there is some scarring. If you can handle the hassles of injections, I would say go for it.
I had one one Lucentis injection in my left eye almost 2 years ago and my eye has been stable ever since. It was the first sign of any edema so I assume it was caught very early. I just came back from my retina specialist appointment actually and things still look good. I've never had laser but my doctor didn't want to do that because of causing a black spot in my vision? I'd say my experience has been a positive one.
I have had three Lucentis shots now and my right eye is almost back to 100%. I did have one Avastin shot to start, but I only saw minor improvement. In fact, my doctor tells me the blood vessels look better than they have for years. The anxiety and the antiseptic they use to clean the eye is the worst part. The injection is nearly painless.
