How Elmiron Affects Eye Health
Interstitial cystitis is responsible for chronic pain in the pelvis and bladder and is a condition that affects over one million Americans, most of whom are women. Elmiron’s the only FDA-approved drug to treat it. As the only treatment option for the condition, the drug has been the only solution for hundreds of thousands of people suffering from interstitial cystitis for decades.
Chronic conditions like interstitial cystitis don’t have a cure, and there’s no effective treatment. The drug’s been used for years because it is believed to have very few risks and side effects. As a result, most people take the medication without any second thought. And year after year, the number of pills they have to take increases.
However, about a quarter of the people who’ve been exposed to Elmiron have shown positive signs of eye damage. Furthermore, it’s been discovered that the medication’s toxicity could masquerade itself as other well-known retinal conditions like age-related pattern dystrophy or macular degeneration.
For over two decades, Elmiron has been prescribed to millions of patients worldwide, and many of these people have been taking the medication daily since it was introduced to the market in 1996.
Back then, no one would have thought that a bladder issue treatment drug prescribed by professional and qualified urologists would be the source of debilitating eye damage.
The thing about Elmiron-related retinal maculopathy is that it’s so similar to age-related eye issues like pattern/macular dystrophy and macular degeneration, that it is very likely ophthalmologists around the world have been improperly diagnosing the condition as such, not realizing that it’s a unique retinal injury caused by unknown mechanisms instigated by the drug Elmiron.
Many people who take Elmiron probably don’t even know that they suffer this macular disorder; most assume its normal vision degradation.
Experts from different medical fields agree that people who use Elmiron, both now and in the past, should make a point of seeing an ophthalmologist and have their eyes checked for Elmiron-related retinal maculopathy.
It is vital that Elmiron users seek a comprehensive eye examination from an experienced ophthalmologist and not an optometrist since optometrists mostly deal with evaluating vision and prescribing glasses. On the other hand, ophthalmologists specialize in performing eye examinations to determine whether a patient’s retinal health is perfect. As such, they have the experience and knowledge needed to tell whether your vision is being affected by Elmiron-associated eye disease or natural degradation.
People who have been taking Elmiron are advised to see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible and have their eye health – especially their retinas – tested and monitored for potential issues.
Consider establishing a baseline as soon as you can, if you haven’t yet! That way, it becomes easier to monitor your eye health and catch potential diseases early.
Additionally, should you start developing maculopathy symptoms, you’d have records of when it began developing and if the nature of your condition is similar to what’s been represented in recent research. If you have complications with Elmiron please contact an Elmiron Lawsuit attorney immediately.