Hello all 
I want to ask you about your experience with DME, the mine, basically i got my first injection of avastin on March '17 and then each month from that on both eyes 
I also get a session of sub-threshold laser and, well my edema is like a roller coster some times the OCT shows the macula dry others totally cyst, my Retinologist says that i will keep my vision if i just keep the avastin shoots ,
any one of you had this treatment more of one year ? more of two?
I have been receiving treatments for retinopathy/macular edema since 2011. I am pretty much at my limit for laser treatments and have been for some time. I received my first injections of Avastin shortly after beginning treatment. I really donāt recall how long these treatments went on. The doctor said they helped, but my condition was so poor at the time I could not tell.
Avastin only lasts a relatively short time. That is why the treatments must be repeated. Once it is gone the swelling can begin again.
A couple of years in I had a vitrectomy in both eyes. They did some work and additional laser. They replaced the vitreous with a saline. Since the saline is much thinner the Avastin will not retain and will only last a few days. I was switched to a different medication after that, but still had regular injections.
I eventually tried a newly approved medication that was supposed to last three years. It worked for about three months. I had to change to another type of steroid altogether. And began monthly treatments in each eye of Ilyea (not sure of spelling). I did this for over a year. Eventually we stretched that out to six weeks than eight weeks. Now I go every three months for this treatment.
I was told by my retinologist the very first time he gave me an injection that these treatments would accelerate the development of cataracts. By the end of 2013 my eyesight had gone from about 20:250 (in the very beginning) to something around 20:600. That was December 2013. By June 2014 it was something around 20:1500. I had the cataracts removed by the end of summer and was startled at how well I could see. Still poorly, but much better than before the cataracts were removed. And, much better than when I first started treatment.
That is my story as of now. I still get the injections, and in fact I have my next appointment in a couple weeks. My eyesight is back to something over 20:225 but overall it is much clearer than it has been from the day I started. It continues to improve ever so slightly.
I donāt know if I really answered your questions, but I do hope that this helps to understand what you are dealing with. I am more than glad to share any information with you. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
I have been dealing with eye problems since 2010. Have had tons of lasering, vitrctomies in both eyes, cataracts in both eyes, hundreds of injections.
Once you start going down the road of eye problems, there seems to be no end to it. Thatās the bad news. The good news is that there are lots of different strategies that actually do work to keep your eyes going. Do whatever the dr says. Itās a pain but itās better than the alternative.
Iāve been dealing with the same since 2012. Went through Avastin for a year or so until it stopped working then moved to Lucentis. Maculas have just recently stabilized to the point that I can get prescription glasses with shots at 11 weeks apart.
At my most recent appointment the doctor said that they are working on a longer lasting version of Lucentis, so in the future I may only need 3 to 4 treatments per year.
Iāve also gone through multiple laser, cataracts and vitrectomy. As another noted, once you go down this roadā¦
I have Diabetic Retinopathy and other eye problems. I get the Eyelea shot and it works for a while and then itās back to the same routine. I go once a month. Itās never ending but if I want to keep my vision I must do this. Iāve had laser treatment and I hated the nerve blocker shot in right eye. The left one went fine. I had a black eye for a week. Iāve had cataract surgery and I think I would have liked it if I didnāt have retinopathy. I can tell my eyes are going and my appointment is next week. Iām not sure if Iām glad or not. I get extreme anxiety before my shot appointment and when my eyes fog up like now I get extremely depressed. Good Luck!
Thanks for relating your story, @Julie1. Sorry for your eye troubles. Your reaching out to others, like in this post, is a healthy instinct. Do you have anyone in person who you can talk to about this? Your challenge and feelings are real, Julie. Try to find someone to talk to. Take care.
Hi Julie,
I donāt have any retinopathy at this point. I hope I never do.
I was curious about your post though.
I often wondered how you know something is happening.
Do you see bleeding? Do you feel it? Does your vision go dim?
I have floaters in my vision that really annoy me and when they settle out, I get new ones. I only really notice when Iām looking at the sky.
I want to know if itās similar to that or totally different and how to know when something is really wrong.
I get retinal scans every year, but thatās a long time for something to occur
I hate to be the one to say it, but thatās exactly what my retinopathy looks like to me. At least in my case, the floaters are blood. Especially minor bleeds are hard to notice, and they tend to settle at the bottom of my eyes. I only really see them if I move my eyes quickly. Itās sorta like shaking up a snow globe, and the floaters dance around a bit before settling back down. Theyāll also dissipate on their own and disappear. But then a new bleed pops up, and a new spot (or more than one) will appear.
Iāve also had two major bleeds, both in the right eye, that were very different. They actually obscured my vision for months at a time. It was like trying to look out between the fibers of a barely-sheer cloth. This is not my normal retinopathy experience, though. Those were freakish, to me, events.
I had vitreal detachment (something common to near-sighted people and not at all related to diabetes) in my early 20s, which caused both my eyes to fill with blood. It was really scary, and I was entirely blinded for a week, but was assured it was perfectly normal and would clear up on its own with no damage. And it did. So I was really shocked to learn that the other serious bleeds were actually retinopathy, because I just assumed they were the vitreous shrinking more.
Iāve never felt like my vision was damaged. Temporarily occurred, but never damaged. The floaters arenāt always there, only occasionally. And even when they are there, I can see just fine around them as they move around. Iām very near-sighted, but my prescription hasnāt changed at all in nearly 10 years. Everyone talks about blindness and saving vision, and the specialist tells me he likely canāt restore vision, but only save whatās left. All this talk seems so foreign, though, because I have no vision loss whatsoeverā¦ Just occasional floaters.
I learned on this board, though, that what I think of as āfloatersā is very different than what other people think of as āfloatersā. And that for most people the floaters arenāt actually blood. So while your description might sound identical to my experience, it could very well be something entirely different. My retina specialist says that everyone gets floaters to some degree or another.
Iāve been getting Avastin injections in both eyes every six weeks. Mostly because I have really severe inflammation, thatās in my eyes too, and the Avastin helps that as well as slow/stop bleeds. Iāve had the left eye lasered already, and havenāt had a single floater since. Vision is perfect and clear. The right eye hasnāt been lasered yet because I still have one leaky spot, and he wonāt do it until he can clearly see the blood vessels. I can see that spot if I look for it, but otherwise itās unnoticeable to me.
Hi Timothy,
I can tell because my vision get blurry and colors like white all come together. Example like this morning I looked out the window and it looked like a snow storm but when I got right up to the window I could see that it hadnāt snowed at all. I could see the grass and snow was only in the ditches. Itās very frustrating because my vision is distorted. Itās kinda like seeing a mirage. Something that really isnāt there. Itās also getting difficult for me to read and write. Itās very upsetting. It throws my depth perception off. Looking at steps is like looking at a mountain. I have to go slow or I could trip. Sunlight is unbearable and at night I am basically blind. Itās a big change and I am thankful the shot works for me but I I have negative thoughts of what if. What if the shot stops working and so on. Sorry I donāt mean to bring anyone down I am just stating the truth because I believe people are owed the truth. My Doctor said he could fix me and he has a great job but I am really not fixed. Itās temporary. Take care and like I said I donāt mean to bring anyone down.
I had 4 bleeding blood vessels in each eye
You said you had āother eye problemsā, is macular edema one of them?
Yesā¦ I was also told I had glaucoma. My optic nerve is also swollen.
My floaters look like hairs sometimes hairs with dots on them.
Sometimes I think I have hair in my eyes and Iām trying to brush it away.
My doctor told me that they are normal floaters with no bleeding. But I was only asking because I want to know if I ever get a bleed, I want to react.
But umm maybe that is an unrealistic expectation.
I am also slightly nearsighted. I can get by with no glasses in the mornings but by the time noon comes, I need them. And evenings when I look at my HD tv, itās a little blurry, I should have bought a cheaper tv.