{"id":624452,"date":"2023-04-01T17:49:41","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T22:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/01\/depression-and-age-related-macular-degeneration\/"},"modified":"2023-04-01T17:49:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-01T22:49:41","slug":"depression-and-age-related-macular-degeneration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/01\/depression-and-age-related-macular-degeneration\/","title":{"rendered":"Depression and Age-Related Macular Degeneration"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

By Margret Krakauer, as told to Keri Wiginton<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

My introduction to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was a day of hell.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m 79 now, but I had cataract surgery when I was 70. About 4 days after the procedure, I had what\u2019s called a central retinal occlusion, which is like an eye stroke. They also found macular fluid leaking into my eye.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They rushed me to a retinal specialist after that. The doctor immediately told me it looked like I had wet macular degeneration and I\u2019d need a shot in my eye to control these thick blood vessels. Because when those form, they create scar tissue. And I might lose my sight if they didn\u2019t stop the process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I followed up with the retinal specialist about a week later. That\u2019s when he told me I had dry macular degeneration in my right eye and wet in my left.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At first, I was flabbergasted. No one in my family had ever had this disease. I knew nothing about it. Nothing. And I wondered what I was going to do. I was frightened and became very depressed. Everyday life started to feel very heavy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve since learned not to worry too much about my future with AMD. Do you know how hard that is? When I go to bed at night, I shut my eyes and I\u2019m thankful and I\u2019m grateful. And I think going to therapy taught me that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

Asking for Mental Health Help<\/h2>\n

Once I learned I had AMD, I made an appointment with my family doctor right away. I talked a little about my feelings during the visit. And the physician assistant mentioned that she was in counseling to manage her own depression related to chronic illness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When she told me what she was going through, that\u2019s when I opened up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I talked about how I cried all the time and didn\u2019t want to be around other people. I said I felt like no one understood what was happening to me. At the same time, I didn\u2019t want to talk about what was going on with my eyes because I was so uncomfortable with my diagnosis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

I left the doctor\u2019s office that day with a psychologist\u2019s phone number. But I waited about 2 weeks to call. I was hesitant because I didn\u2019t know if I wanted a stranger to know personal details about me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

<\/pagebreak>\n

But one day my husband heard me crying in our spare room. He came over and asked me what was wrong. I told him I didn\u2019t know. Because I really didn\u2019t know. I just said, \u201cI\u2019m miserable and I\u2019m scared. And I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen next.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, I got up the courage to pick up the phone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

Finding My Way Out of Depression<\/h2>\n

During the first visit, my therapist asked how I felt about what was happening. And I found it very hard to express myself. But she kept pulling stuff out of me. Then one day I just started crying. And I didn\u2019t stop for about a half hour.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I told her I couldn\u2019t fall asleep at night because all I could think about was waking up blind. And I felt like my life was over. Because here I was, newly retired, and all of a sudden everything came to a screeching halt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

But she helped me realize that I\u2019m one of the almost million and a half people living with this. And I didn\u2019t get AMD so I could learn a lesson or grow stronger. It\u2019s just something that happened.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though, now I\u2019d have to figure out how to handle life with this disease. And some weeks she\u2019d have me write a list of challenges in my life. Then she\u2019d ask me what I was going to do to adapt or make things better. In other words, I had to work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She also taught me breathing techniques that helped me get to sleep at night. Specifically, I learned to focus on the sound of my own breath. At the same time, I started a low-dose antidepressant. For me, the medication worked miracles and I still take it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the early days of my diagnosis, I kept going back to therapy to get a grip on what was happening. It was a journey and a process. But once I got treatment for my depression and anxiety, that made everyday life a little easier.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Support and My AMD Community<\/h2>\n

My therapist urged me to learn everything I could from people in the world of retinal diseases. She also encouraged me to meet other people walking a similar path.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I turned to Facebook in search of something to do with macular diseases. And I found this wonderful, comforting group called Our Macular Degeneration Journey. After that, I really started to learn a lot about my disease.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s amazing to connect with other people who are going through what you\u2019re going through.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

Adjusting to Life With AMD<\/h2>\n

My husband and I love to walk an hour every day. And I can still do that. Though, now I need to wear amber-tinted sunglasses. Because if I get a really dark pair, I can\u2019t see the cracks in the ground. And I might go ass over tea kettle, to say the least.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another issue is that while I\u2019ve always worn glasses, everything was clear as a bell before AMD. But now certain things can get a little blurry and confusing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

For example, when I go out for a walk, I\u2019ll see something and it\u2019s not what I think it is. Say there\u2019s a pile of leaves on the ground under a tree. That might look like a squirrel to me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One time, I thought I saw a dead cat in the middle of the road. But it was just somebody\u2019s hat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And when it\u2019s still dark in my bedroom — before I go to sleep at night and when I first wake up in the morning — I\u2019ll look up and see a grey, round shadow. It goes away, but it\u2019s pretty spooky.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I also go to bed earlier at night because my eyes get really tired. And I read on a Kindle or a big computer monitor. I can see things easier if I can change the contrast or make the text bigger. Even the fonts on my cell phone are much larger than normal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Going Forward<\/h2>\n

Each time I lose a little bit more sight, I still consider myself lucky. Because I\u2019m 6 years into this disease, and I still have great vision in my right eye. And my left eye has remained stable thanks to the shots I get every 14 weeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In general, I\u2019m much more appreciative of everything I see. I\u2019ve also learned to live in the moment. Because if you keep worrying about what\u2019s going to happen with your eyes tomorrow, you\u2019re never going to experience what you can see today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

<\/nossr><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Nancie Mischke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Margret Krakauer, as told to Keri WigintonMy introduction to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was a day of hell.\u00a0I\u2019m 79 now, but I had cataract surgery when I was 70. About 4 days after the procedure, I had what\u2019s called a central retinal occlusion, which is like an eye stroke. They also found macular fluid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":624453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54705,3821],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-624452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-age-related","8":"category-depression"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}