AMD Drugs... yes or no?

[Butitisme]

AMD perhaps... doc wants me on prednisolone acetate and nepafenac ophthalmic susp. drugs for 6 weeks... and I'm concerned it will give me a problem with my immunity... Any thoughts... he want to see if it is really AMD before giving shots... sounds like the shots do the trick... seems started by stress --moving into assisted living... downsizing.. FL to PA.. 80 yr olds.. have been W&W for 2 years.. 3 gamma infusions... scared of impacting immunity... would shots be better than prednisone?

[AussieNeil Administrator]

According to Mayo Clinic, corticosteroids such as prednisolone, do come with an "Increased risk of infections, especially with common bacterial, viral and fungal microorganisms.

mayoclinic.org/steroids/art...

If you do have Age related Macular Generation and are weighing up the difference between shots into your eyes and taking prednisolone tablets, then bear in mind that having localised delivery into your eyes avoids the potential risks of having your entire body exposed to the immunity reducing effects of prednisolone. Having IVIG infusions will somewhat help your immunity, but CLL broadly impacts our immunity.

I hope I have understood your question correctly. I'm not medically trained and thankfully AMD is not something with which I've had personal experience. However it is unfortunately a serious problem for many in the same age group as are affected by CLL, so I hope you get some further replies from others who have this quandary. You might get more responses if you edit your post to make it private to our community.

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

Neil

[livinglifewell]

I've been on similar eye gtts to what you listed in both eyes daily for a few years now, I have one wet and one dry MD. My eye disease is related to orbital radiation when my SLL metzed there. The eye drops have not affected my CLL, immunity status, or any other ill effect. In addition, I get an injection into one eye of aflibercept (similar to avastin) every few weeks to couple of months. Having this disease is certainly a journey. But I recommend the eye drops, you need to protect your vision.