2 replies to this topic

[cedespres]

Hello everyone,

Today is day 12 on gleevec and I feel all is going well so far. Yesterday I went to the eye doctor and he dx advanced diabetic retinopathy. I am diabetic but have been treating it with adkins diet and exercise for 2 years post cabg x4. My morning numbers have been around 100 consistently over this time frame. I was surprised that my a1c was at 7 during my recent hospitalization so my numbers may be off. He is sending me to the to see a specialist for potential laser surgery on Tuesday.

My question is; Could this be a side effect of the gleevec rather than the diabetes? Should I have the the laser surgery in either case? I have been experiencing some vision problems for a few months ( cloudy vision in the AM when first out of bed) but I thought this was from cataracts worsening.

Thank you all for responding to my last post about starting gleevec, it was very helpful.

CE Despres

[Trey]

Gleevec can cause side effects in the eyes.  Two fairly common ones are subconjuctive hemorrhage (eye bleeds) and blurry vision.  The blurry vision is usually early in treatment and resolves itself over time.  That blurry vision is caused by bleeding in the retina.  I had this issue, and I could make small objects "disappear" by looking at them in a certain way that focused the bloody spot on the object. 

http://www.mayoclini...on/con-20029242

 

I assume you had a fluorescein angiography done which showed blood-filled bulges in the retinal arteries.  Gleevec has been shown to actually eliminate these, rather than cause them.  Here are a couple articles you should have your opthamologist read:

http://www.ajo.com/a...tract?cc=y?cc=y

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/12964961

 

I do not know if this is your exact issue.  If it were me, I would ask the Opthamologist if waiting for a while would be OK, and if so I would wait and see if things get better over the next few months.

[cedespres]

Hello,

Thank you very much Trey. I will be printing the links you gave me and bringing them with me to my doctors visit next week. I hope that he feels we can wait a few months and see just what the Gleevec does. I will post the results when I have them.