I had a reply to my last post from someone saying their consultant was stopping treatment as Lucentis not working and there was no alternative. I think this is clearly wrong so found this little clearly written article to get some analysis.
Thanks. While in the first throws of treatment it's not always time to step back and 'see' what it's all about . I thought the difference between the treatments fascinating with Eyelea having some extra benefits it seems. Also the price differentials although this may vary between countries, this article being Canada based while I'm in UK.
I am replying to you both. If a change in medication is not suggested by my practitioners, your information gives me confidence to suggest such a change to them. Thank you so much.
Thank you for the article. I wish I had read it before I had 8 injections with Avastin. I switched to Eylea because of concern over possible infection. I have leukemia and have to be careful with infections.
Do your research folks! I called the company who manufactures Avastin and found out Avastin was only approved for colon cancer, but research found that it could stop the bleeding from Wet Mac. Deg. .
In the US the drug and adm. dept. stated , Avastin is NOT formally approved for Wet Mac. Deg. but the docs could give it "off label" so to speak.
The pharmacist withdraws MULTIPLE syringes from a single Avastin vial, so when I heard that, I became very concerned about proper sterile technique and wonder if I should trust a pharmacist to maintain a sterile field at all times.
Eylea comes in a SINGLE dose vial ONLY for the eyes. I have had 2 treatments so far and it seems to work as well as Avastin, but I feel safer getting it now.
The cost of Eylea is about $2800.00 as opposed to Avastin $50.00.
Sorry, this post is so long, but I feel I should have been given Eyelea from the start.
I do hope you continue with Eyelea and your condition improves. It is hard sometimes for us in the UK to understand what seeking treatment outside our National Health Service must be like. We have a body called NICE that decides what medicines are approved and consider value for money. Guess they decided that paying for treatment and now catching it early is better than paying for a load of social services for the visually impaired!
I had some Lucentis injections initially but then the doctor decided on Eylea. Any reduction in macular oedema did not lead to any sharpness of vision. Now I've had a steroid implant (Ozurdex = dexamethasone) with a bigger reduction of macular oedema already within two weeks. Has my vision improved yet? Not really. My vision through my left eye looks as if I am seeing things in a tarnished mirror. And the implant is visible as floaters in the field of vision. Will these eventually disappear? I sure hope so.
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