I am a new member, I have had 3 Lucentis eye injections.
the after pain was something I did not expect, I can only take paracetamol nothing stronger and blinking was agony, using wet pad does help to stop the blinking. However my last injection was painful in its self as though the anaesthetic had not worked. I never get a satisfactory answer or any explanation from from medical staff. Since then I have a permanent blood shot eye, that at times clears slightly then comes back with vengeance. will I always have this unsightly problem, can anyone help.?
Valerie.
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I have injections at Moorfields and am given some Carmellose drops which stop the grittiness that hurts. I should be careful about using wet pads unless they are sterile as you need to be very careful re eye infection after injections. Talk to the doctor before your next injection and ask them to make sure you have had enough anaesthetic drops and that they have waited long enough for them to work.
Thank you for your reply, yes I am careful with the eye pads. the last thing I want is an eye infection. I feel sometimes the doctors are too busy to explain everything to me as I am deaf, but next visit I will talk to the nurse as she is very helpful and patient with me.
I hope you keep well, and many thanks once again, Valerie x
My consultant told me to use gauze sterile pads, never cotton wool pads and to use boiled, cooled water
Hi Valerie, dryness and grittiness is not uncommon - usually due to the drops, which can cause cells on the surface to die off giving a scratch effect - this is very painful because it is superficial. Lubricating drops can help alleviate this - no painkillers really help as the cornea is avascular (no blood supply). The pain on injection by have been as the anaesthetic drops had not worked well, or a small nerve within the sclera was touched during injection which cannot be seen. The blood shot eye I think is a bruise - otherwise known as a subconjunctival haemorrhage, although unsightly will usually go in about 4-14 days depending on its size.
unfortunately the above are known side effect of the injections, hopefully any further will be much less painful or traumatic.
Wow Wheezyl..you certainly your stuff, thank you for sharing it with me.
The blood in the eye has cleared once but has come back again, l, do have some drops that help the dryness Hylo-forte prescribed for Sjorgrens Syndrome, but the Lucentis injections have been given owing to a recent bleed at the back of the eye.
I am hoping that l will not need anymore injections.
The actual injection itself should not be painful; it could be that the eye clinic did not allow sufficient time for the anesthetic drops to take effect?
You must be persistent with your clinic so that this does not re-occur.
Thank you so much for your factsheet which I find very helpful, I will print it out for future reference and take with me next week for my appointment at the eye clinic.
Kindest regards,
Valerie.
Hi, I agree with what's been said. Hope you're feeling a bit better x
When I was finding actual inj painful I asked for extra anaesthetic it helped. My consultant said some eyes are just more sensitive.
Also if they take too long eye dries out . My clinic now give soothing drops after inj which helps.. I also ask for the iodine to be really well rinsed out too.
My gp gives me Hylotear and hypromellose drops on prescription. I open a new bottle after inj and use every couple of hours.
If your eye tears up it's probably dry (consultant said) so use drops then too.
They do sometimes hit a vessel, can't be helped, but if it bleeds bad that makes eye sore too. I get pain around the orbit and it might be placebo but I find two paracetamol an hour pre inj and two 4 hours later help. Also distraction - I put a film on, can't see it but gives something else to focus on than eye.
Thank you Eyesright, I will try 2 paracetamol before the injection, if l do need more injections. But I love the idea of a film for distraction which I will try rather than just resting with my eyes shut.
You're welcome x I also use a hot bag (hot water bottle would also work) - not on eye but on hands or other side of face, again it's a distraction for the brain x
I'm on to my 8th Lucentis now in my left eye and 4th in my right (I've had 2 injections in the last 7 days.) I find my experiences vary tremendously after the injections. I would definitely tell your doctors and nurses at clinic that you felt the injection; I always ask for an extra drop of anaesthetic and the worst I've felt so far is a feeling of pressure (a bit like the dull ache of pressing on a bruise), but certainly nothing sharp and definitely no pain. Often I don't feel any sensation at all so if it hurts you, that isn't right and the medical staff need to know.
I had grittiness and soreness after the first couple, but after that they seemed to wash the iodine out a lot more thoroughly and it hasn't happened since. This last injection has left me feeling a dull ache each time I blink - sounds a bit like your experience - which is pretty uncomfortable but I've just had a couple of paracetamol and hope that will take the edge off it. I don't know why your bloodshot eye wouldn't be clearing up.
Sometimes I think the nurses act more as our advocates than the medical staff so it may be worth explaining your concerns to a clinic nurse and also it may be worth phoning the Consultant's secretary; I find they are generally very good when it comes to getting answers.
Thank you for your reply, l am sorry that you have had 12 injections, l don`t know if l could be so brave. only my last injection hurt very much and made me feel dizzy and I had large floaters going up and down for about 45 minutes., but the pain after all my injections started about 2 hours later and blinking was agony, and as you say paracetamol do help, but I still have a bloodshot eye which cleared once but returned. I certainly will talk to the nurse next visit which is next week.
I can't grumble about my measly 14 injections because I met a lady in clinic last time whose friend had clocked up a total of almost 80 but, thankfully, most seem to stabilise much, much sooner. She said that he was in surprisingly good spirits though and I suppose he had just got used to it all. I went six months between injections last time which was wonderful and I hope there is good news at my next review.
We don't have a lot of choice with this treatment do we? Just have to keep our chin up and fight to keep our eyesight going but it's still hurting me to blink this morning which is my second day post injection and it's a bit of a misery. I'm all for a bit of distraction during the healing process and soon I'll be off for a nice walk, despite the rain, and then a bit of serious retail therapy; a nice new dress usually cheers me up and then I'll have to clear out my wardrobe and throw a few things out to make room.
Good luck with your next appointment; I hope you'll let us know how you get on x
Lovely to hear from you, hard to believe someone had 80 injections, and I whinge about 3, shame on me, but I will certainly do some more whinging if I need anymore !! that is something I am very good at
My next appointment is on the 6th July, hopefully my bloodshot eye will be a thing of the past, its a blinking nuisance.. excuse the pun, so fingers crossed.
I, do wish you good luck with your next review and would love to know how you get on, as I will with my results.
There is nothing quite like a wardrobe cull, replenishing is such good fun, and the Charity shops love us.
my eye is still bruised, battered and bloodshot today but as long as the treatment works I don't mind a bit of discomfort now and again. We're off our to Stratford for a family treat; the two huge bin bags of clothes will have to wait till Monday when the charity shops are open again.
My check up is on 5th July so good luck to both of us. Do keep in touch and we can compare notes x
I was happy to receive some brilliant eye drops, eye now clear but still need to use them for 3 weeks. The down side of my visit was I need more injections starting on the 31st July my vision has deteriorated in the last month, so I felt very disappointed but hopefully all will okay one day.
All for now, take care, I let you know how I get on next month.
I went to the clinic for a check up after my injections. The fluid has gone in my left eye which is great, but is worse in my right eye so they're going to do another Lucentis injection. I asked whether I would go onto Eylea if it was no better next time and was told that Eylea wasn't licensed for use in my condition (pathological myopia/myopic cnv).
I was so shocked and very upset because the implications for the future are pretty awful if I stop responding to Lucentis.
I did a bit of research and, do you know what I found? Eylea is licensed for use in the UK as a whole but treatment is denied to us in England while those in Scotland and Wales switch from Lucentis to Eylea if the Lucentis stops having an effect (that is also what happens in England for those with AMD).
I feel a spot of campaigning is in order but don't know how to go about this grossly unfair situation where people are, potentially, being left to lose their vision when a perfectly good treatment is available and being successfully used in other parts of the UK.
I seriously wish we could all have a referendum to opt out of being English altogether and choose to become a united Scotland.
Anyway, I hope your next injection has good results and I'm so pleased the vampire eye has cleared up at long last. Hang on in there - Lucentis has been really great for me so far and I hope it does the trick for you too x
I am sad to hear of your news, as I always thought if Lucentis did not work for me, there is always Eylea....... seems not!
I, do not have great communications with my consultant, in fact a couple of visits ago I asked if I could have more eye drops (prescribed by another doctor) as a stand by for the inflammation, as was told NO in an abrupt manner, next visit my eye was considerately worse and I now have this very blurred vision, he prescribes the Maxidex drops.
This vision problem is so different than from my original eye bleed. I, miss reading the papers, my crosswords and subtitles on television.
Anyway, be in touch soon, take care, going for a short break in Somerset where the cider apples grow.
I always think a good walk lifts the spirits and it sounds very beautiful down in Somerset.
How awful that you're unable to read, do your crosswords and see subtitles now. I know that will happen to me too and I dread it so much. It's sometimes those little things that have big impacts in our lives.
Do you have pathological myopia/myopic CNV too? If so I've come across others who are also up for a bit of campaigning to change things and I've had some excellent practical suggestions from Eyesright via this forum so if you would like to join forces with us, please let me know.
If you have AMD I think you're usually switched onto Eylea if Lucentis stops working as Eylea is licensed for use in England for AMD so it could be that you don't have to face this particular problem. I do hope so and it often takes a few injections for the Lucentis to work for many of us, even if it is working well so a switch could be a very long way off and you may not need Eylea at all.
Speak to you soon x
Agree with all of the above but also, you could ask if they can use a different anaesthetic. Most hospitals carry at least one alternative.
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my vision has deteriorated in the last month, so I felt very disappointed but hopefully all will okay one day.
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