This is about macular degeneration, a condition affecting the retina, the part of the eye that converts what comes into the eye into signals the brain can recognize.
Elsewhere I've discussed some the treatments -- AREDS vitamins for the "dry" macular degeneration I have in one eye, and SHOTS IN THE EYE of a drug, Eylea, administered by a retinal specialist for the more advanced "wet" macular degeneration in the other. The latter I find quite scary!
This post is about the misinformation I received and what happened because of this!
The misinformation came from the retina doctor who told me that I had this eye condition because I was on Prolia!
This understandably left me with the impression that continuing on Prolia could leave me blind!
This in turn led me to believe that if I could cut back on Prolia I could still get some benefit to my bones, and also reduce the risk of blindness.
So I delayed a Prolia shot, whereupon three vertebrae -- two thoracic and one lumbar - -fractured!
The pain was unbelievable! I could hardly walk for several weeks and even today over a year later, I am still in a good deal of pain.
So you can imagine how I felt when I learned that it was NOT the PROLIA. but the osteoporosis itself that was the risk factor for macular degeneration!
I hope that the retina doctor who so casually told me that the macular degeneration was "because [I was] on Prolia" will rethink this advice for patients in the future.
The flood of pain and disability I endure to this day (I am writing this in 2022) should not destroy the active life of anyone else.
This will be something of a challenge because normally the retina doctors spend little or no time explaining anything and rarely if ever invite questions.
But when I asked this retina doctor why I had these eye condition requiring shots in the eye, the answer I received set off a series of actions that leave me disabled and in pain.
I discuss this in more detail in another post:
http://www.joansbackbonedisaster.com/2021/08/are-drugs-for-my-bones-harming-my-eyes.html
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