Failed Eye Injection

[mararay]

Yesterday I had my first injection of EYLEA as 3 injections of Avastin were not working. I have Best's Disease so MD isn't sure how these meds will work for this condition. Does anybody here have Best's Disease?

My main question though is for everybody who gets eye injections. With my 3rd Avastin injection I felt a good deal of discomfort and pressure and seemed like the doctor was using a lot of force. I semi-panicked as my mind was racing to understand why this injection was different. I was pretty close to asking her to stop.

Then she did stop and said something along the lines of..."oh gosh sorry I have to do that again."

What? Confused and a bit in shock she gave me another injection. I must have agreed to it but really I was just in shock.

She said that had never happened before but the needle must have been dull and the medicine would not come out.

OUCH!!!

I still received my full bill of course. Why is it in the Retail store where I work when we mess up or inconvenience a customer we gift them with a store gift card or give them a free product?

I feel like I should get that visit on the house?

[ironbrain]

One hopes to just feel some pressure, but I've felt a prick (about as painful as being careless pruning the roses) on a few occasions.

I had an injection (of Eylea for CNV) last week. I'd had anaethetic eyedrops put in and had been sitting a while, waiting for them to work. Usually then I thought the procedure was to test with some object (I don't know what) that the anaesthetic is working. Instead of just feeling pressure, I felt a sharp but not terribly painful prick (a low amplitude sharp prick, if you will) plus some pressure. It was then decided that another anaesthetic was required, tetra- something (sounded longer than tetracaine). The previous time, this anaesthetic had been applied before attempting anything at all, i.e. straight after the couple of doses of the standard stuff. Anyway I was then told that moving as I did when I felt the prick was dangerous. So I realized then that the injection of the c. £1,000 medication was already being attempted and braced myself with an assistant holding my hand while it was delivered. I still felt a slight prick.

Is the anaestetic test a dummy run with the needle with the anti-VEGF – I don't know.

It seems to me that you already got two doses of the £600/$2,000 (?) stuff for the price of one, so I don't know you should complain!

When one "just" feels pressure, that pressure can seem considerable – one can imagine quite a depression being made in the white of the eye.

There's more danger of damaging the cornea using tetracaine, I read.

[mararay in reply to ironbrain]

Thanks for sharing your insight. I hope they figure out the anesthetic for you so you only feel pressure with your next injection!

[Ayralin]

Hello, one must remember that Avastin is packaged by secondary pharmacies from multi-dose vials. The syringes are loaded at these pharmacies, by hand. All of the other medications are packaged at the manufacturer, by machine. I'm a nurse. I have experienced malfunctioning syringes several times throughout my 30-plus year career. So sometimes there's a mechanical malfunction. Also realize that the clinician has to apply pressure so that the needle can puncture through the surface of the eye. I'm actually aware of a sensation of pressure and then feel a slight pop as a needle enters the eye. It might be surprising to non-medical people, it takes quite a bit of pressure sticking a needle into an area of the human body! I know it was a surprise to me back in my nursing school days!

I think at some point, we will all experience some less that perfect injections. Mechanical issues, a clinician's experience level, or maybe someone having a bad day. Unpleasant for sure, but not surprising.

Let's hope the good days outnumber the bad!

[mararay in reply to Ayralin]

Thank you Ayralin Nice reminder.