Is the macular degeneration shot necessary?

As long as your mom is able to handle the appointments please, please do allow her to be treated. AMD stole my mother's vision 25 years ago, we would have walked through fire to treat it but at the time no help was available. My mom managed very well too, but she couldn't go out on her own and discovered that well meaning friends didn't see the hazards, social functions centred around films, card playing, shuffleboard, things that take your eyes. Even eating out is a problem when you can't see what is on your plate. Hand your brother a pair of dark wrap around sunglasses with most of the centre completely obscured and ask him to leave them on for a day and I'll bet he changes his tune.

esposla, my Dad was 94 when he started the macular degeneration shots, and he felt the shots were helpful, as he was starting to see better.

As cwillie above had mentioned, if your Mom can handle the appointments, keep having those shots.

Wish those shots were available for my Mom when she was alive, but the shots were still in clinical trials. Mom had to stop reading as it was too tiring trying to read out of the corner of her eyes.

Thank you both for your replies. Appreciate your views on this. I will certainly continue to take her. Unfortunately, I am in NY and they are in FL. My brother will need to go too.

Esposla, I am 67. I watched my mother slowly lose her vision. By the time the shots were available, she was beyond the point of them helping. She never went completely blind, but she struggled with many things. I am 67. I have macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. I have my first Eylea treatment after Thanksgiving. I'm nervous, but I want to save as much of my vision as possible. My circumstances are different than your mother's but I would encourage her to get the shot.

I don't believe in pushing treatments beyond where they are useful but if these are helping they are a quality of life issue. Yes! As the others said, if she can handle the appointments, these need to be done. Saving her vision is vital to her quality of life. Ask your brother to put gel goggles over his eye and walk around for awhile. He may get the picture. I understand where he's coming from (I think), but this is one treatment that needs to be continued for as long as she can handle it. I hope that he listens to you.

One day my Father said to me, "I can't see." I said out of both eyes or just one? Both. I took him to the eye Dr and they did some kind of laser and It worked. Only thing about that is it stops working after awhile, and he had to have it done again. I am not sure if he ever had shots.

My Mom was 82 and she stopped going for the injections after 2 years. She felt the process was incredibly painful and was not helping her vision that much. So the benefit for her did not outweigh the pain of getting it done. But if your Mom is getting the benefit and it is not uncomfortable for her then best to continue. Good luck.

First, I didn't know there to be such a thing as a Macular Degeneration shot.

Second, my DH is 96 - so to me, 84 isn't old yet. I'd say continue it as long as Mom can handle it. She won't handle going blind either.

Third - I'm going to ask my doctor about it as I've never heard of it - but I'm 66 and I don't want to go blind either.

My mom is 95 and has had macular degeneration (MD) for at least 8 years. One eye was wet MD and one dry MD, now both wet MD. This is the kind that the shot helps, and mom gets one every 6 weeks. It should not hurt if they put plenty of numbing drops in and give that time to work. Every visit, mom looks into a machine that takes a picture of the eye; if there is any inflammation, that eye gets a shot. Most of the time, it's just one eye or the other, but once in a while she needs a shot in each. Her eye doc told me he's had patients who delayed treatment and are now blind. People who put off the shots can lose their vision! It would be cruel to deny a person this treatment.

My 89 year old Mum with mid stage Alzheimer's was diagnosed several months ago. She had already lost the sight in one eye before diagnosis because she wasn't able to discern that her sight was bad. She has had the injection every two months since and the sighted eye has stabilized. We only had problems with the first shot because as the freezing was coming out she rubbed her eye and scratched the iris which caused pain and swelling. After that, we make sure to use the drops prescribed by the doctor after each visit and watch to make sure she doesn't rub her eye. She doesn't like the injection process, (who would!) but my brother makes it an outing with treats to follow at the coffee shop so she is usually okay. The following day she has some discomfort but nothing she can't handle. Please make sure she gets these injections. Alzheimer's is bad enough without being blind too.

My mom at 95 is still getting her shot. Up until last year she took them every four weeks. A newer medication now has her at 7-8 weeks and her vision is stable. Unless she becomes bedridden I will continue to take her each time.

Yes!!!!! By ALL means. I have lost my sight in the left eye due to dry AMD. I have been taking an injection in the right eye now for about four years. My sight in that eye is slowly going, wet AMD, but I believe the injections are still slowing the process of losing my sight in that eye. Ren

The short answer is "Yes, she should continue to have them unless there is a very good reason not to."

Yes

Early vision problems especially with my retinas led to my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis b

My late mother had wet Macular Degeneration and her retinologist gave her 701 eye injections total in both eyes. However, her retinologist was a criminal who funneled $800,000.00 into a faux fund he created. He was caught and ended up in Federal Prison. I know, shocking, right but it's true! So then she went to a new retinologist who said "My protocol of care for you, Norma will be NO eye injections because YOU HAVE THE WORST CASE OF WET MACULAR DEGENERATION I HAVE EVER SEEN AND AS A RESULT OF ALL THE PRIOR EYE INJECTIONS, YOU HAVE VERY, VERY SIGNIFICANT SCARING." So I know a LOT about this disease since I was diagnosed with the lesser version of it in August of this year, which is dry Macular Degeneration.  Technology has advanced leaps and bounds and The Amsler Grid is a dinosaur. I use a state-of-the-art Wi-Fi enabled eye machine that I have to use daily  to make sure that mine doesn't worsen.

If I were the OP I'd be a bit wary of back-seat driving.

The brother has attended appointments with the OP's mother but the OP has not - what did the ophthalmologist actually say about these injections? The mother is diabetic. I don't know enough to have an opinion, but if the cause of sight loss is diabetic retinopathy and the injections would not do anything to alleviate that, then it's a different story isn't it?

I have both macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. I had two evaluations and both drs. Recommended the injections. I went this morning and had injections in both eyes. They were uncomfortable and as the day wore on some pain, but not severe. I go tomorrow for a follow up check. If they help I will definitely go back. It was not the bad experience I had feared.

upset - so glad it was not as bad as you expected. Hope the results are great!!

Thank you all for replies. I didn't realize this thread was still going. I will gently suggest to caregiver (brother of mine, 58yo and single) that it is important she go for the shot. She isn't bedridden, and if this can save some of her sight for seeing her children and grandchildren---I'm all for it. Assisting with the care from far away isn't easy. My 2 others brothers and I need to yield to the brother doing the day to day care.

Espola, is caregiver brother getting burned out from too many appointments?

I may be too late in the game for answers Esposla..but just in case you were still in the discussion phase I thought I'd add my 2¢....
I'm in no way suggesting any treatment but I always feel better armed with good info...
In my mom's family my grandmother... 3 maternal aunts ..2 great aunts all ended blind from AMD....only my mother and one of her sisters' was offered shots. In my mother's case we started about 10 years ago with ICAP vitamins ...started Avastin injections about 6 years ago. I want to make clear , really clear ( my mom doesn't get it) the injections will not fix the eyesight that's been lost in any way. It stops an active bleed. You need a macular specialist... Mom's is wonderful in that he gets her on the special eyeball xray machine and shows me where the bleed(s) are and if there is one she gets a shot. Hardest part to grasp( I can't say it enough) it is not going to give any sight back ... it breaks my heart every time to re explain it to my mom ...hard enough for me to accept let alone someone older ..frightened and confused.
In our case I feel the shots are helping ..at this age my mom's only joy is reading and over the years I've gotten her a kindle and she's still reading it ( biggest font setting ,I think it's 6 words per page.
If you have any layperson questions ( I'm no medical professional.. just a daughter and full time caregiver ) I'm happy to answer. Losing eyesight AND mobility is definitely a game changer.
I'm happy you and your brother are a team. I have siblings but they are not involved so any treatment convoy I have is with myself ...at least I'm always right that way !!! Lol...

Good night and God bless...

PS . I know the post is old but I saw it while scrolling and put in response just in case ...

Patients with Dry Macular Degeneration do not need eye injections. Have your retinologist monitor your Dry Macular Degeneration vision closely with a high-tech, WiFi enabled machine from Notal Vision. THIS IS OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE! If you have been diagnosed with Dry Macular Degeneration, see your retinologist stat, where you will get angiography so that the retinologist can look at the back of your eye. Dye will be administered through an IV. How do I know all of this? Because I have Dry Macular Degeneration.