Early in 2018 I sustained three painful vertebral fractures, two thoracic and one lumbar. Based on a retinal doctor’s remark that I had macular degeneration “because you are on Prolia,” I had delayed my Prolia shot, hoping to “wean” myself from this drug that I now believed -- based on what this eye specialist had told me -- threatened my eyesight.
Only later, after the damage was done, leaving me with a flood of pain, did I learn that the macular degeneration was associated with osteoporosis, not with Prolia!
Why that retina doctor couldn't have simply said: "Your macular degeneration is related to your osteoporosis," I will never know.
Predictably, I suffered three painful vertebral fractures, two thoracic and one lumbar. Now, after years of physical therapy and exercise to gain some mobility and build core muscles (which can never adequately replace vertebral bones), I can get around a little — albeit unsteadily and in pain.
I’m sad and angry to miss travel I’d anticipated in retirement. And as driving was dangerously painful the car and driver’s license went too. Likewise holiday get-togethers with family (all COVID-19 immunized and with masks as needed) will be painful if I can manage them at all.
I should add: I asked an old friend, a retired ophthalmologist who had serve for years as a research director at the National Institutes of Health National Eye Institute what she knew about the drug Prolia (denosumab) and macular degeneration.
She kindly reached out to colleagues at this flagship research agency and returned with the news that there was nothing reliable suggesting a causal relationship between Prolia and macular degeneration. The references she found from credible sources noted connections between macular degeneration and osteoporosis itself.
For this reason, I believe it might be safer for anyone involved with eye conditions to understand that while macular degeneration may be related to osteoporosis, it is not likely because of Prolia.
Written November 5, 2022
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