very quickly. Within hours, I was having multiple blood “Things moved tests, a chest X-ray, and my eyes were examined by several doctors. I was very frightened and worried greatly about what lay ahead. work and personal life were disrupted by week-after-week of eye clinic “My appointments. The hospital was 30 miles away and, with eyes dilated at each appointment, I had to rely on friends to drive me there. My treatment during that time - different types of eye drops - did not improve my eyes. I was referred to a tertiary eye centre for further investigation. “Eventually, After a fluorescein angiogram, I overheard a discussion about my condition and heard the word for the first time. I went online for information ‘birdshot’ and found the BUS site. spent the next four weeks in limbo: upset and worried till my next “I then appointment, when my consultant confirmed the diagnosis. He told me that each birdshot patient is unique. It would be trial and error to find the correct medications and dosages for me. Since then, my treatment journey has been difficult: juggling various medicines and their side-effects - prednisolone, mycophenolate, ciclosporin with very little improvement. Ciclosporin in particular made – me physically unwell. have now been fortunate to be prescribed Humira (adalimumab), “I recently approved for use in England and Wales. I have been on fortnightly self-administered injections of Humira since September 2017. I have my life back both mentally and physically. My eyesight is improving with each dose and I no longer feel so ill. my journey I have had fantastic support from fellow “Throughout on the BUS Facebook group who understand how I feel and ‘birdshotters’ what I see. my most important source of information is the BUS website, “However, which tells you everything you need to know about birdshot, its treatments, side effects, and more. It helped me to get through the endless round of hospital appointments and tests. For anyone newly diagnosed, I would highly recommend checking it out, to know you are not alone on your birdshot journey.”
“Things moved very quickly. Within hours, I was having multiple blood tests, a chest X-ray, and my eyes were examined by several doctors. I was very frightened and worried greatly about what lay ahead. “My work and personal life were disrupted by week-after-week of eye clinic appointments. The hospital was 30 miles away and, with eyes dilated at each appointment, I had to rely on friends to drive me there. My treatment during that time - different types of eye drops - did not improve my eyes. “Eventually, I was referred to a tertiary eye centre for further investigation. After a fluorescein angiogram, I overheard a discussion about my condition and heard the word ‘birdshot’ for the first time. I went online for information and found the BUS site. “I then spent the next four weeks in limbo: upset and worried till my next appointment, when my consultant confirmed the diagnosis. He told me that each birdshot patient is unique. It would be trial and error to find the correct medications and dosages for me. Since then, my treatment journey has been difficult: juggling various medicines and their side-effects - prednisolone, mycophenolate, ciclosporin – with very little improvement. Ciclosporin in particular made me physically unwell. “I have now been fortunate to be prescribed Humira (adalimumab), recently approved for use in England and Wales. I have been on fortnightly self-administered injections of Humira since September 2017. I have my life back both mentally and physically. My eyesight is improving with each dose and I no longer feel so ill. “Throughout my journey I have had fantastic support from fellow ‘birdshotters’ on the BUS Facebook group who understand how I feel and what I see. “However, my most important source of information is the BUS website, which tells you everything you need to know about birdshot, its treatments, side effects, and more. It helped me to get through the endless round of hospital appointments and tests. For anyone newly diagnosed, I would highly recommend checking it out, to know you are not alone on your birdshot journey.”
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