Wet Macula degeneration. Severe daily pain.

[MaculaMaty]

My mother has the wet macular degeneration, she has had inyections for 2 years now and she constantly complains about severe pain. The day of the inyection she gets really nervous which we all understand. However, the main concern now is that every day she goes through a period of 1 or 2 hours of intense pain. She closes her eyes for several hours, she does not watch TV and her lifestylye has been affected by the daily pain. At some point her eye was very dry, then she had some kind of allergic reaction and she was prescribed some eye drops. Now her eye isn't that dry but she has severe daily pain every day of the week. Any ideas?

[Hidden]

If it was related to the inj day I'd say they need to rinse the iodine out better. If it was more often than just a bit each day I'd say eye still dry ( a clue - if it tears up it's dry). Is there a common activity that triggers it? Eye strain hurts, does she read a lot?

Eye pain can be a side effect of the inj drug but I don't know how it manifests - I get random pain for a few minutes not hours.

I have heard of retinal migraine but no idea what that feels like.

Best if you ask eye Dr and gp too in case related to other conditions.

Call the Macular Society too or Google their website. They have lots of info.

Good luck getting it sorted.

[MaculaMaty in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it!

[davidcyule]

I have had 50+ injections. Some result in discomfort, some do not.

If the choice is between continuing to see or not see, I have resolved to pt up with those that result in pain.

David

[MaculaMaty in reply to davidcyule]

David,

Thanks. Yes, there is no doubt about the injections. The issue is not related to the pain of the injection or the day after, the issue is that everyday she suffers pain in her eyes and we do not know how to stop that pain. She uses eye drops for dryness , for allergy but still she says her eyes hurt everyday. The strange thing is that is not a constant pain, it's a couple of hours during the morning or afternoon and sometimes at night that she has severe pain. Her doctor hasn't been able to stop the pain with those drops.

[Rosalyn-helpline Partner]

Dear MaculaMaty,

I am sorry to read of the pain that you describe your mother as experiencing.

Are you referring to the days immediately following the injection, or is the pain you describe continuous?

Injections should not be painful. I am copying a link to our fact sheet on Pain following injections, so that your mother can use this as a discussion point with her ophthalmologist via their secretary:

macularsociety.org/sites/de...

Pain is not directly associated with the macular condition. If your mother is experiencing continuous pain which is not linked to the injections she is receiving, then it is important that she also has a word with her GP.

Could your mother be experiencing issues with glare? Individuals with a macular related condition tend to develop a heightened sensitivity to glare. The glare is produced by the blue light in the spectrum. Ordinary sunglasses protect against the UV but not the blue light. Therefore, individuals can find that they can end up trying to eradicate the discomfort from the glare by wearing ordinary sunglasses which are too dark for the lighting conditions, thereby obscuring their vision. The way to potentially address this is to choose spectacles from the anti-glare protection range, as they both protect against the blue light in the spectrum and the UV, and come in a range of shades. Therefore, an individual can either choose to purchase one shade or various for different lighting conditions.

Anti-glare protection comes in a variety of styles of frames; however, fit-overs are handy when an individual already wears spectacles.

In terms of colour choice, as an indication, e.g. yellow anti-glare fit-overs are generally good for indoor use as they do not reduce the amount of light coming in; reduce glare, increase contrast and definition. They are also suitable for outdoor use on a dull day when glare may still be an issue, but there is not adequate natural light to wear a darker shade. On a brighter day out an orange pair of fit-overs may be advisable, followed by an amber pair on a very bright day out.

I am copying a link to our booklet on Protecting your eyes. Please contact us for suppliers details:

macularsociety.org/sites/de...

Just to make you aware, we are currently offering free 6 month membership:

macularsociety.org/6months

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further help. The Macular Society helpline is open 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday on 0300 3030 111.

Alternately, you can contact us via:

[e-mail]

Kind regards,

Rosalyn