Comments on: Avastin versus Lucentis, a controversy you never knew or cared about, or, far too much information about this author’s retinas

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:02:20 +0000

I received Avastin shots in my right for diabetic retinopathy/macular edema(once a month for 8 months) – H1ac 6.0. Initially the symptoms were suppressed for 30 to 32 days, but by the end of 8 months it was lasting only 22 days. I’ve received monthly shots of Lucentis for the past 2 months and it seems to be woking the full month. Next month I will be getting shots in both eyes.

A couple of diet changes also impacted effectiveness, no nitrates/processed lunch meats, reduced red meat consumptions, taking fish oil supplements.

By: JUDITH

JUDITH — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:56:50 +0000

i am not diabetic but i had a retinal branch vein occlusion 8 years ago. have had numerous laser surgeries for retinal bleeding. for the last two years i have had macular edema due to fluid back up in the macula. i had seven avastin injections over a period of 15months. they were quite expensive, not covered by insurance, and not that effective. took 3 weeks to work, bought me a month of clearer vision and then desired effect started to wear off. within 3months after injection fluid buildup was worse and required another injection. about 9months after the first injection my sense of taste changed. things started to taste tainted. i totally lost my taste of wine – it all tasted bitter. during that time i also noticed that my beautiful skin started to look withered and my hair started to fall out. one day, after the seventh shot, i sat down and asked myself “what is different ?” i realized that the only thing different was the avastin. i researched side effects with intraoccular injections. no info on whole body sides effects with local application. also my retina specialist had no info. when i researched avastin sides effects as a chemo drug – there were my symptoms. i refused more avastin. i have since had an ozurdex implant and it has worked very well almost from the start. three months later it is still working. don’t know if that would solve your problem but if you choose avastin be prepared for significant side effects beyond redness at the sight of the injection and infection. oh and it was at least four months afer the last injection that my skin started to look good again, hair is doing better (but not great) and hada glass of wine saturday night. tasted great.

By: Pam

Pam — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:26:18 +0000

Hi my husband is diabetic and just been told that avastin is no good for diabetic macular oedema he has had no treatment on his eyes for over 6 months as they kept losing his records we are now being told his vision is so bad he cant drive if someone could help us i would be grateful

By: Barry Wheeler

Barry Wheeler — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:39:19 +0000

This is an ongoing controversy for some time now. My mom was treated with Avastin because Lucentis was not approved or available at the time. Now it’s been a year later and the progression of her disease has halted, which is great!

Barry Wheeler
WebMaster
http://www.amdsupport.ca/

By: Nii Simmonds

Nii Simmonds — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:11:26 +0000

Ethan,

It’s been a while. I hope that you get the best procedure for your eye.

Your ailment makes me appreciate the little that I take for granted everyday.

Nii

By: …My heart’s in Accra » My eyes

…My heart’s in Accra » My eyes — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:47:23 +0000

[...] A little more than a year ago, I wrote about problems I’ve been having with my eyes and the treatment I’d sought for the condition. Time for an update. Please feel free to skip this post if you’re a) squeamish, b) dislike hearing people talk about their health problems or c) really couldn’t care less about my health so long as I keep writing about sumo wrestling. It falls firmly into the realm of “too much information“, but it has pretty pictures. [...]

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:47:09 +0000

I have just had my fourth shot of Avastin. I went from barely seeing anything in my one good eye, to 20/25 at my last exam. My left eye is legally blind as a result of myopic macular degeneration occuring about 10 years ago.
It was a miracle for me to go from VERY dim vision to where I am today. Unfortunately, a blood vessel was broken this time, and there is still blood showing in my eye. Today the news that Avastin has been dropped from lung cancer trials because of patient’s extreme reactions and even death. I wonder if there is a down side to the injections in the eye that are now known or being discussed at this time.

By: ggtgirl

ggtgirl — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 18:07:00 +0000

Hey there,
My mom is a 65 y/o diabetic with all sorts of complications such as heart muscle issues, incontinence, leg/foot ulcers and neropothy of tissues, and now she has lost her sight from diabetic retinopathy and blood hemorrhaging. The doctors want to try Avastin for treatment in Detroit, but claims that it is $300 per injection. He did not mention Lucentis at all. My mom only has Medicare at this time and I am wondering why he did not mention a drug that was approved and covered?

ggtgirl

By: peter

peter — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:03:18 +0000

ethan,

here’s the audio from an interview i did with Dr. William Rich from the American Academy of Ophthalmology on the head to head trial between Lucentis and Avastin.

http://health.scribemedia.org/2007/03/03/lucentis-avastin/

i’m going to talk to someone from medicare next week on the delay to funding the research. more to come…

peter

By: …My heart’s in Accra » The good part of yesterday…

…My heart’s in Accra » The good part of yesterday… — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:55:40 +0000

[...] The bad part of yesterday – some guy poked me in the eye with a sharp needle. And I paid for the privilege. [...]