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Geographic Atrophy?

abbyschmidt

Have you heard of geographic atrophy? This is considered the late stage of dry macular degeneration.

Have you been diagnosed with it?

Join the conversation and share your story with us.

CommunityMember1a760e Member

Hadn’t heard of it.
Mary573290 Member

My retinaologist told me at my last visit that he was putting me on his patient list for injections for geographic atrophy when it come available- first conversation about this part of the disease. I have read a lot about the disease and have very classic symptoms. My vision changes seem to be coming at a much faster rate in the last year. At times it is scary, frustrating, and dishearting. I am trying to cope with this, but some days are difficult. My grand father and great grand father became blind with AMD
1. Linda Hoopes Member
  
  - Thank you for sharing your experience. The answers here have brought much clarity about the progression of dry AMD & the correlation between the advanced stage & GA. I have intermediate AMD so am not yet a candidate for the potential treatments explained here. However, you mentioned how quickly yours accelerated so I’m curious when that occurred. My RS said typically it accelerates in the mid-seventies (my current age). So far, I’ve been fairly stable but I wonder if that might change quickly at some point. I know everyone is different but would love to hear more about when & how quickly people went from intermediate to advanced. Thank you! Linda Hoopes, Advocate
2. Sharon Moore Member
  
  I am sorry to read about your experience. It is appalling that your doctor didn’t tell you about your progression to GA. I had a similar experience with an ophthalmologist that removed my cataracts. He noted early stage macular degeneration in my chart but never mentioned it to me. It was 2 years before my optometrist correctly diagnosed me and referred me to a retinal specialist. I am learning that we each have to advocate for ourself. Ask lots of questions (which I write down). I also asked for a copy of all my records so I can read the doctors comments. I am glad you are seeing a low vision specialist. Keep us posted how your visit goes. Regards, Sharon Moore patient leader
Mary573290 Member

Thank you so much. I appreciate your empthy and kindness. Will keep in touch about the new treatments.
CommunityMemberd13281 Member

I've got GA in both eyes now as well. For those unfamiliar, I've gone from being able to see 3 letters in a 5-letter line on an eye chart to being able to see only 2. So if the line says A B C D E, I used to see A C E; now I see A D or A E right next to each other. GA also causes sparkly distortion in and around my central vision. Really trippy! 😛

My ophthalmologist is an M.D. as well as a Ph.D. AMD researcher, so I figure he's got the latest info. At my last visit, on 12/6/22, he mentioned injections for GA that are in the experimental stage and told me to come back in 6 months so there's time for the study results to be compiled and reviewed. He suggested I Google "geographic atrophy macular degeneration therapy" for more info, so I'm starting there.