I had my second eylea injection yesterday. And what a different experience this was from my first one! As so many of you had advised me to tell the clinic of the painful experience I had during the first injection the clinic took it onboard.
First of all, I was given two aenestetic drops instead of one before even entering the sterile room.
Secondly, once in the sterile room, more drops were instilled into my eye and not just repeatedly in one place of my eye ball as was the case with my first injection but in several places. At the point of injection I just felt a tiny scratch, so insignificant that it did not even make me flinch.
Thirdly, it was a different doctor who performed the injection.
As one would expect my eye felt very sore all day yesterday, but what I had not experienced with my first injection was two large coat button-sized black discs in my lower peripheral vision. When I looked up they flipped one above the other. Has anyone else had this experience?
Today only one black disc remains and my eye hardly feels sore.
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Ayayay80
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I am pleased to read that your second injection went so much better than the first.
It would be worthwhile ringing the eye clinic to discuss your concerns about the black discs. then you will be able to establish if there is anything to be concerned about and if any action is needed.
Kind regards,
Macular Society Helpline
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Hi ayayay, yes I had 2 shiny black "polo mints" once bobbing about at the bottom of my vision. weird isn't it! my clinic said it was the inj fluid and not to worry. Went away after a couple of days.
Glad your whole experience was better this time, well done for speaking up to your clinic and well done to them for listening . Best of luck going forward x
Hello eyesright, I had already replied to you but I have no idea where it has gone to. So I'll try again. Yes, seing the large black buttons was weird. It disoriented me so that when I put a spoon or fork to my mouth I had to put it through the buttons and I was not quite sure where my mouth was. Quite funny really!
I was intrigued rather than worried as the buttons were in my peripheral field of vision. Had they been in my central vision it would have been more serious indeed. Anyway, the button is now only pea-sized.
Very impressed that you were intrigued rather than worried! I called my doctor right away and was *very* concerned. Dr will see me in AM if needed, but I feel far more reassured now.
I have had 4 injections now and I like you had a very painful injection to start with and I told them they changed the drops and gave me a lot to deaden the eye. The last injection I had the buttons appeared but have now gone, and also I see a white light circle during the night.
It is amazing how many same, similar or even different experiences fellow sufferers have been decribing over the past few months since I joined this forum. It is good that such a site exists; it has helped me through times of anxiety, to put things into perspective and not to feel alone.
Sure, family and friends are trying to be helpful, but they do not have the first hand experience of what it is actually like. So, thank you for your reply. Together with all other sufferers we soldier on and give each other advice and comfort when issues seem too benign to trouble our clinics. x
I prefer talking to non related people over family. They try to help but cannot really understand what its like. In 46 and my good eyes the one affected so it sucks but so far the 3 yr steroid injection seems to be ok. Ill go back oct 10th to see if its keeping the swelling down. The 3 month injection worked awesome but it releases more during a shorter time
It is most unusual that the circle should last so long. I still get them occasionally after an eylea injection. Is this a remnant of an original larger one? Mine only last anything from 30 hrs to 4 days. They are supposed to be air bubbles and should disappear.
Having said that, do you think it could be a floater? I have a large floater amongst the dozens of tiny ones in my "untreated" eye which I see all the time and could be mistaken for an air bubble, but the shape of it tells me it is a floater.
Hi some years ago i had Lucentis injections in my right eye for wet amd & each time had the 'buttons' at the bottom of my vision. Thet would be there for a day ot two then gone. Talked on here to others & some had the 'buttons' also.
Now having Eyelea injections in my left eye but no 'buttons' now. Perhaps it depends on which medication is used?
Worth asking at your next appointment though.
Good luck with your treatment & a big hug for you.
Hello cormorin. Thank you for your reply. I am having eylea injections, so I doubt that it is the type of medication that causes the buttons to appear. Apparently, eyesright was told by her clinic that it was the injection fluid. I guess that in my case, because the second injection was done quicker than the first, or so it seemed, that the fluid was more concentrated at the point of injection. With my first injection I immediately saw the fluid in my eye as a network of clear bubbles, which I did not see with my second one. Just an amateur theory of mine! Anyway, the large button has now shrunk to the size of a pea and will probably gone by tomorrow.
I am sending you a big hug too and wish you all the best. I really apreciate all replies. x
DONT WORRY the discs are perfectly normal it is actually a good sign that the injection is in the right place. I have had about 50 injections now and it happened to me 75% of the time. They will fade away get / smaller as the drug is absorbed . Some drugs produce blue/ black dots more often avastin and lucentis do for example
Hello tallyho. Thank you for that. After so many injections you certainly know what you are talking about. I was not so much worried as intrigued why it happened with the second injection but not with the first. So, it seems it may or may not happen. I have formed some amateurish theory of my own on this issue, rightly or wrongly, ie speed of injection? Anyway, the black disc is shrinking steadily.
Don't worry too much about them. I had two black dots appear after my third Lucentis injection. My injection was early morning and they appeared after an hour or so. When I rang the clinic the doctor was still in clinic. She asked what they were like, I said they were like a couple of ball bearings rolling around the bottom of the eye when I moved my head. She said nothing to worry about that they were tiny air bubbles and should disperse within 24 hours which they did. Out of 20 injections to date ( Lucentis and Eyelea ) I would say just under half produced black discs all of which disappeared in less than 12 hours.
Good luck
On the subject of black discs (not the injection type) as posted by Bobbie915 a month ago I promised I would ask my consultant at a forthcoming eye review what these black discs could be. What emerged in simple terms (he was quite technical in in his response) it could be because not enough light is available to the DISEASED macular to produce an image and thus the central vision is represented as a blank or black disc. That's how I understood it anyway.
Thank you, Raemar. All very interesting. My large double black discs, after merging into one large one, and then shrinking steadily, has now exactly after three days of the injection finally disappeared. I was intrigued rather than worried why it happened after the second injection but not after the first. Being the inquisitive type I like to make sense of everything. I think I got my answers now and all is as well as it ever will be. Hope your treatment is going well too.
From what I am reading, the black discs appear to be due to air bubbles. That’s preferable to their being due to the macular being defective, so I am hoping that the air bubble theory is correct.
Hi
By the time you see this your black discs will probably have disappeared.
Usually, they are nothing more than harmless air bubbles which absorb, generally between 1 and 36hrs.
They appear at the bottom of the eye because they are behind the lens. In reality of course they are floating at the top of your eye but we don't see them that way.
My first ones were amusing because at night they were luminescent and I had my very own orange coloured lightshow. My first thought was that I was still radioactive from the radiation therapy I underwent!
To date I have had 59 Avastin/Lucentis shots and I get the bubbles occasionally. Nothing to be worried about.
Yes, after the two large discs merged into one and then steadily began to shrink, now exactly 3 days after the injection there are no more discs or buttons floating around and my visual acuity is back to 20/63 as it was before the injections.
Yes, I have had these too. They are very strange indeed and I was told they were floaters and quite normal. I described them as being like little black rings and another gentleman told me in clinic on Tuesday that when he experienced these he kept thinking there were hoops by his feet and that he was going to be tripped up by them. I am so very pleased that you had a better experience this time; I know the doctors and nurses try their very best to keep the experience as stress free as they can and a little more anaesthetic can make all the difference.
Thanks kalahuchi. Those buttons, rings or whatever else we see are weird indeed because we can't see beyond them and can't judge what is real and what is not. No big deal really as they disappear eventually, just a little confusing at the time.
Dear ayayay80 just been reading your news, my third injection was much better than the first 2. How are Your eyes now? My fourth one is next week but the fluid has mounted up so i feel it's not working very well. Keep us posted xxx
Hi squinty. Nice to hear from you again. I am sorry to hear that your progress is not as good as you had hoped. Has your cosultant give you any information? And have you noticed any difference to your eyesight? Do let us know. When I check the Amsler grid and the letter chart it has not altered a great deal, only maybe slightly worse. My first review will not be until early January. So I will not know until then whether or not things have actually changed. You and I both are still only at the beginning of our treatment, so perhaps we need to be patient. I do hope things work out for you alright in time.
Yes - I've had the 2 black discs quite often (I am at injection 26 of Eylea/Lucentis). I have also reacted badly to residual Iodine and have been told to remind the nurse injectors each time that I need a 'super' flush. They use a whole 10ml bottle of sterile water each time, flushing from all angles and in every corner! No sore eye at all!
Thank you for this post! Had a more thorough flush first time and mild effects. Had a less thorough flush second time and eye is very teary and gritty. Will request super cleanings in future.
My retinal specialist changed me from Avastin to Eylea yesterday at the time of my appointment. I could tell no change in my vision and more of a grayish film over my central vision after the last appointment. My OCT shows more fluid and had gotten worse. I had three dark black circular discs form in my lower field of vision but went up half way to the pupil field of vision. Occurred as I left the office so went back and was told this was normal for this injection. So slightly over 24 hours, they are gone except for a very small circular disc in my lower field of vision that is not distracting. This is the first time I have not experience severe light sensitivity with pain the following day...I am praying perhaps by changing from Avastin to Eylea this will not happen. I have not looked at a lot of posts on this site so not sure if anyone else experiences severe light sensitivity with pain or not. I was diagnosed last year with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
I just realized this post was 5 months old but decided to post any way.
I think that light-sensitivity is a common occurance after an eye injection, no matter what drug is being used and a certain amount of soreness rather than pain can be expected, but there should be no pain the next day. Get in touch with the clinic if this happens. I always wear sunglasses when I leave the clinic. With AMD itself, whether wet or dry, the light-sensitivity is usually more pronounced than in a healthy eye. As for the black discs or hoops appearing after injections - sometimes it happens to me and sometimes it does not, but they always disappear after 3 days the most.
I hope that the Eylea is more successful than the Avastin seems to have been for your wet AMD, but of course, it all depends on your underlying eye condititions; there are many different types and subtypes connected with AMD and all may respond in a different way. To prove my point - after my 5th eyelea injection my treatment has been put on hold until it becomes necessary again, while other people have had dozens and dozens of injections and still receiving treatment. I am just wondering - am I the lucky one or is our local Health Service cutting down on costs? Who can tell?
Ayayay80-thank you for your comments. I appreciate them very much. Today I am post injection Eylea, day 2 and feel so blessed that I have not had the light sensitivity and pain that I had with Avastin. I totally agree that each of us is different and will respond differently to the injections. I started injections at time of diagnosis in May 2016, received Avastin 5 times then in November, stopped injections as no fluid seen...follow up appointment in January 2017 (when my usual dr was back from maternity leave). Fluid was back; she seemed displeased that I did not get an injection in November. So restarted Avastin in January and February and changed to Eylea on March 29 since vision did not improve and worsening fluid per OCT. It is confusing if once improvement if injections are "paused" with a look-and see follow ups versus many need for a lifetime based on fluid buildup due to increased blood vessel growth and leakage and the need for anti-VEGF injections. Time will tell!
I did not see the circles with the Avastin shot, but I do with Eylea, which the doctor said would happen. (He didn't mention it when I had 3 Avastin shots. IN any event, usually they're gone within 2 days. For some reason I have a bright spot with black rim, not very large now -- almost a week after the injection. Only when I spend a ot of time looking down. I noticed when I was cleaning out the bottom of my closet. It's kind or worrying me, but I'm going on vacation for a week.
Yes I have, it's nothing to worry about I was told it's a very small amount of air in the syringe. I had one large disc about the size of a two pence piece for about three days. I'm pleased they are using more anesthetic drops it's an unpleasant experience it doesn't need to be painful as well. Good luck.
yes ive had 2 black discs floating around..no pain and they gradually get smaller and smaller .. ...do you think its the thickness of the eylea inj ...like oil and water .....i have asked at clinic but they dont know :/
I have only experienced it twice. Some people say they are air bubbles, but why they should be black I don't know. . Whatever they are - as you say, the gradually get smaller and then disappear. They are not harmful, just a nusiance as they interfere with co-ordination. All the best.
I've just had my 7th Eylea injection and now got a black disk for the first time. It's the size of my fist at arm's length. Others have said their black disk (or button) is the size of a 2 pence piece, but at what distance? 2 pence at arm's length is very small compared to mine and this is day 2 and there is no change in size at all. Can anyone out there please be more precise about the size of their black disks at arm's length? Thanks.
This is a new reply to an old post, but my retinal consultant once gave me an excellent piece of advice: *Call or visit your consultant whenever you get an adverse change in your vision.*
Just had injection number 9. No problems previously, but now I have a floating black 'Polo Mint' at the bottom of my field of vision. Glad I wound up here and learnt that it should be only temporary. I was quite worried, Thanks y'all.
I include a page from my diary that shares the 'black spheres; experience . I might reassure the reader that it is not as worrysome as it first appears.
Page from my diary
Eyelea Injection today,
Fourteenth Injection, only mildly uncomfortable.
16:00.
On sitting up on treatment bed I noticed five startlingly black round objects at the lower-right of my vision. On enquiring the cause from the consultant he said that it was a common occurrence and they would disappear soon.
When I looked directly downward I was able to compare the size of the images to my finger at six inches.
22:00
There are three images reduced in size to 1/3rd of a fingers diameter.
07:00 second day, only two images, diameter of a drinking straw.
21:00,
Both images ‘popped’ out of sight.
Happy to see the back of them, I have had floaters, large and small, but these seemed benign. These jet black shiny objects were starting in their sudden dramatic appearance, this I found disconcerting. I am reassured by their rapid and sudden departure from my field of vision.
I hope that this shared experience will reassure the reader.
Oh my, my nerves. I have Central Serous Retinopothy treated like Macular degeneration and get the injections. I have had three so far . The first two it just felt like splinters in my eye and then sore. Next morning would wake up and much better. This time i had a brown or black disk that i could see from lower corner of right eye that would move when my head did which scared me to death. Then I went to bed got up in the morning the sorness was still there but better didn't see the black/brown dot but as i was outside I swear it got smaller but i would see it kind of moved to the upper eye corner can see like it's on the side of my head if you can imagine. it's not really in the field of vision. My eye is less sore today it's been two days now. but is this going to go away? when i called friday they told me that everything was fine. I just have tiny soreness now and tiny feelings of splinter to left bottom...i'm afraid it will go to my brain and kill me.
Thank you all for posting your experiences with the black disc ect. I felt a feeling of panic .. really appreciate your posts, I’m starting to calm down now after reading the posts here.. so thanks so much all x
Hi yeso, glad you're feeling better. Just a tip for using this site - comments / questions put on very old posts can easily get missed ( like Terrys above from 10 months ago) and you might never get a reply so always a good idea to write your own post instead if you're looking for a response. It's easy and will pop up in everyone's notifications. Good luck going forwards.
Terryneedshelp, I've only just seen your post from 10 months ago - guess everyone missed it (I think because you commented on a very old post rather than created your own post). Anyway, you've surely discovered by now that the discs are nothing to worry about and do disappear. Also the splintery feeling goes away. So sorry you were left to worry! Hope things have improved for you.
I saw a black disc after my second injection. It appeared after my appointment, so I Googled it and came across this wonderfully informative thread. Thank you, everybody! I calmed down knowing it was common, it was an air bubble, and that it would disappear on its own.
I started playing with it. If I looked down, I could place my hand under it. When I closed my fist, it didn't disappear, it floated above my hand. I had my own little hologram!!! I also discovered that if I aligned it over print it was a magnifying glass. I missed it when it disappeared overnight after getting smaller. Hope I get one after each injection.
This thread calmed me down, too. Thanks so much to all.
My 2 black discs (now 1) appeared after my 2nd injection of Avastin. I don’t especially want to play with my black disc/s (I just want them gone), but it’s wonderful to think of them as a personal hologram. Great reframing!
I have been more far tolerant of the image that appeared after the retinal hemorrhage that led to my eye shots. That has been smaller, has changed color and seems more like an innocent hologram. It appears to be fading over time, but I have gotten reasonably accustomed to it.
Thank you so much for posting about your experience. Just had my 2nd shot of Avastin in eye, and had 2 black discs appear in lower visual field. Very glad to hear that I am not the only one! Wish that my doctor had warned me about this possibility!
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Deteriorating eyesight...........
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