Week 33

As I am on roll talking about Gilenya's side effects, and that is the actual reason you are reading, I'm going to talk about it a bit more.

Gilenya can cause a swelling of the macula (a spot in the centre of the retina of the eye), generally within 3-4 months of starting treatment. Macular swelling can cause symptoms similar to those that occur with an attack of optic neuritis, or may not be noticed at all.

I haven't experienced any problems with my vision since I started taking Gilenya and when I went to see (irony) an Ophthalmologist (eye doctor) for a routine eye examination after 3 months, they couldn't see (irony again) any swelling inside my retinas. As they were happy that I had swerved this potential side effect and I didn't need to see (last one) me anymore, they discharged me. Yay!

I did have an incident with my left eye back in 1998 when I woke up one morning and my vision in that eye was a bit blurred. Nothing massive, but after a few weeks I went to see (that really is the last one) an optician. He had a look (no more puns, eye promise) and said I needed to go to the eye unit at my local hospital and see (sorry) an ophthalmologist. After they had examined me, they told me that there was something behind my eye? They said it was more than likely fluid, but if it didn't clear up within two months to go back and they would investigate further. Did you notice that I resisted the urge to say look instead of investigate back then?

I've still got it to this day and I've always wondered that if I had gone back, would it have led to a diagnosis of MS seven years before I had my first official relapse and subsequent diagnosis? For the record, I believe I made the right decision to not look further into my eye issue when I was 24.

In other news, I think the fatigue is slowly working its way back into my body. That dark fuzzy mist is making an appearance. Only sporadically, but it's starting to rear its ugly head once more. Only for an hour, or two, but it's there nonetheless. I did say a few weeks ago that it cropped up for an hour or two 'here and there', but I do think the regularity has increased; not every day, but definitely 2 or 3 times a week. I am writing this on Tuesday and I've had some this morning. I also had it Sunday afternoon. I'll monitor it this week and let you know how the next few days have gone when I publish this blog on Friday. It's definitely something that needs keeping an eye on...

Eye apologise for the puns, but I did warn you of my returning to foolishness after such a sensible blog entry last week.

Enjoy your weekend,

Dan