Macular Degeneration (just diagnosed)

[EmNetta]

Is there anything I can do to improve/slow this down please?

footle is it just the oct scan once referred our first step is a dye test where we inject two dyes into a small drip in your arm that will highlight the blood vessels at the back of the eye. after that its usually 2-3 weeks to initiate treatment so that does seem like a long time if it was urgent i would expect it to be quicker that.

var non age-related is rarer but does happen and i do see it quite a bit. There is no cure but i have seen people have long breaks between treatments. i have even seen a small ammount of patients discharged. the injections do appear to work long term i have known patients have them for many years. i have only known them to stop working once but in this case the patient had very low vision from the ofset and a poor prognosis. Lucentis is available on the nhs, although in most cases eylea tends to be the first choice that is also available on the nhs.

Okay that sounds like a non urgent referral then footle. Do you know what the appointmen. Tomo rrow is for. Are youvseeing a consultant or is it further tests?

Just missed seeing the fascinating info from CishandFips; I'm another who's really grateful to learn more than told at original sight test- (had a bad evening and day so far and only just switched on laptop).
I'm sure when I know a bit more, I'll be asking for more details, but meanwhile, it's so good to be able to go to Mumsnet for some answers.
By the way Footle, I did get a leaflet on the subject from College of Optometrists, and am happy to take a copy and send it to you if you think it might be of interest later. I won't include the cover, which is an almost life-sized photo of a gentleman aged about 100, so I file it at the bottom of my "reading in bed" basket; it's a bit unnerving.

I'll be thinking about you tomorrow Footle, and really hoping there's some good news too.

Hoping you have some good news today Footle.

Really, really pleased for you Footle! Apart from the horrible drops, of course, and another lot of tests this Thursday, but it could have been so much worse, and eyes are worrying, of course.
Noticing the time posted, so you've done rather well to manage so much after the drops. Hope you're planning a nice, relaxing evening, and can manage to spoil yourself a bit between now and Thursday.
Thanks for letting me know about today's appt.

Of course you'll cope on Thursday Footle, in fact, my friend who has eye injections said they don't bother him now, and all the procedures get easier over time.

My only appointment so far is with GP in 2 weeks, but I'll be in touch when I've more news, PM probably.

Enjoy a good sleep tonight, you do deserve one after today's events. Goodnight.

I also have the early stage of AMD. The advice I have is, in no particular order. 1. Wear a sunhat all of the time to keep out direct sunlight. 2. Wear glasses which are light sensitive and have large lenses to keep out the sun. 3. Take vitimins and there are lots of expensive ones specially for AMD. 4. And the surprising one is statins. A study from Australia, which was looking for heart issues, found that if you reach the age of 69 and have taken statins for 10 years you are less likely to have a problem. My GP has given me statins. 5. Yup eat kale!

Hello Rabbit, and welcome. Thank you for passing on the hints, some of which are new to me. The statins are a surprise. Friends have stopped taking these due to side effects, in fact, I don't think I know anyone still taking them, so I do hope yours have only positive effects.
I'm planning to ask GP's advice about dietary supplements, and am resigned to paying for them if genuinely useful, but really doubt I could manage kale.... DB-the-health-freak has a Nutri-Bullet, which he fills with home-grown greens amongst other things, but seems to be avoiding kale, even as a thoughtful gift from a friend. Do you have any helpful hints or recipes for this please?
Hope you'll let us know how you get on with statins too.

Statins after three months are OK. I think! In ten years I will find out if they worked! As to kale. Chop it very thin, cook well and eat with gravy. Add to stew or whatever. It is much like cabbage. But there are other veg like spinach, cabbage, yellow and orange peppers, carrots, blueberries.
For me AMD is a family thing so I have anticipated a problem. I have chosen to eat spinach for years and it has not worked! The statin suggestion is new but I have seen others with eye and heart problems so it seems a possibility. But the main thing is the research; I would love to have an answer. Keep up the good work.

Oh Footle, I did love the kale-and-statin-pie! Thanks to Rabbit for the suggestions, (although extra spinach is more appealing at present, and I'm unsure my ancient teeth will be able to manage
much coarse kale).
I'm wondering if there are any alternative remedies which might help, must start looking.

I'm so pleased I thought to ask on Mumsnet.

Just realised Thursday's been and gone, so wondering how second appointment went for Footle?

Been looking into possible alternative remedies for AMD, and saw Saffron looks good. I have some in the cupboard (from when Lidl had special offer and I bought three), and have been taking a teaspoon or so of water after soaking five bits, about half dose as far as I can see. Before I go further, asking GP or buying expensive 20Saffron20 tabs, has anyone else tried this please?

Thanks for the update, Footle. This is an awkward wait for results, isn't it, but I suppose the consultant might need a word when results are in. Sorry you've had to have even more tests and drops, but hopefully these will be the last for a while. Getting short-notice appointments is a good idea if one can manage the planning, certainly saves time, so I hope you hear something soon.

My GP appointment's on Monday, so I hope to have more info from my usual expert. Saffron certainly has some of the relevant chemicals to be useful, but surprisingly, nothing about turmeric
(or the other one). One of the pages I found had lots of reasons to avoid statins, and gave some impressive details of papers etc., but not about
AMD.

This is a link to the statin research. www.nature.com/eye/journal/v28/n4/full/eye20148a.html
The research was carried out between 2005 - 2008 with a sample of over 5000 people and the AMD thing was not what they were looking for, it was a surprise. There is further research work being carried out now see www.cera.org.au/research/macular-research/
Australia seems to be the place that is doing research;it is much sunnier than here so they have a big problem.
So if you don't fancy statins stick to hats!

Thanks Rabbit, for the very impressive info on statins, not that I fully understood all of it. The pro-Saffron notes were also from an Australian university (much smaller sample etc) and you're right about them having a natural interest due to sun of course.
Will be making a list of questions for GP next week.
(And hoping for sudden research breakthrough on Sunday).