Photobiomodulation for Early/Intermediate Dry AMD

I use “ Eye-charger” a flashlight set to a certain frequency to stimulate mitochondria and it’s a home device researched and tested at the Univ. of London. This device is for AMD. Consult chatGPT on the specifics. GPT observes that the research behind this little device is sound. The device costs 89.00. Nothing offered for dry intermediate AMD except AREDS 2 in the states.

In November 2024, the FDA approved photobiomodulation / low does light therapy for Early and intermediate dry AMD. And we have injections for GA.
I'm early intermediate dry which I would be a candidate for the therapy but I'm not sure if my insurance covers it yet. It's only been approved by the FDA for two months.
Even though I've been told by several specialists it will take decades to affect me, I'm still worried about everything, especially my future.
What stage are you, how old are you, and when were you diagnosed? Is the flashlight therapy only for certain stages and is it helping you? Have tests shown progress?

I use Areds2 , eyecharger, NMN, PQQ, NAD and Melatonin over the counter. Rapamyacin low dose 5 mg weekly now for two years by preventive medicine DR by prescription. Cost 1100. Age 75. First diagnosed age 60. Have the bad AMD gene from both parents, Mother had wet. Blue eyes, female. At the intermediate dry stage now for over 8 years. See a MD a retina doctor every 6 months. got cataracts out early my choice in case they wouldn't do surgery in case AMD got worse. For my stage there’s only AREDS 2. No geographical atrophy. I contacted a Mayo Clinic MN doctor who is researching gene therapy and AMD but he never responded. Rapa is going to be my failsafe it gets rid of all of my physical based inflammation with no side effects so I know it’s helping my eyes too. Eyecharger is like AREDS2 you see no effect. I am looking for non FDA approved, but recommended nonetheless , by research toprevent further retina cell death. There is nothing my retina doctor can do but monitor the condition which surely will progress.

Hello,
You may never go to the late stage, not everyone does. You're still dry intermediate. You said for 8 years, has it been stable? How is your vision? You were diagnosed at age 60 with early AMD?
I'm not familiar with all of the things you are taking or doing. I'm just eating very healthy, walking, taking vit c pills, AREDS2, turmeric and alive antioxidant multivitamins. I feel mine is moving along quickly especially since I never knew I had early AMD even with regular check ups. I took my eye health seriously and now this.
I only found out my father had AMD this year. I've never heard of it. My dad passed in 2021 and I believe when he was diagnosed 2015, at 83, the doctors told him nothing because I know they tell me very little. It's like they are all desensitized to our feelings. I believe my father lost his central vision in both eyes but I have no clue if he went wet or GA. Had I known I would have done everything I could to save his vision. His sister is 89 and has been getting shots for wet in one eye. She still paints, reads, drives etc but I really don't know how long she's had it. I feel it very hard to get her to open up. So I just research, research, research.
I have early intermediate with no real change to my vision. I do use low dose reading glasses but my visual acuity is 20/20. I pray everyday for a cure before it's too late for me but that gene therapy you mentioned seems very promising. I've been researching it as well. It may be around between 2030 -2035. They think it will be able to restore and reverse even lost vision. 🙏 🙏 🙏
I do apologize for writing so much. I love hearing people's stories and sharing my own. We have to stick together.

In the past 3÷ months, I have discussed treatments for MD with two different ophthalmologists in two different countries, and neither one of them breathed a word about photobiomodulation. (Whew! That's tiring to type! I'll just use PBM.) But if it's been around long enough to have received at least two national approvals, then it seems to me that specialists should know at least SOMETHING about it by now. Why are they keeping it a secret? Best guess: it works with a relatively cheap device that eliminates a cash cow (injections and frequent appointments). I think that all of us (within the noted parameters) need a lot of new information. Vitamins that maybe slow progression, and injections if the vitamins don't, is sounding like obsolete medical practice. I think that we all need to urge our retinologists to get current with updated treatments -- or at least give us reasons why not. Since MD is very often progressive, up to blindness!, I think that delays in implementing better treatments is very dangerous and unfair to patients. I'll echo others' comments to members who have written that they'll ask about PBM in upcoming appointments to please do share the news with all of us. We're eager for a real cure! Particularly if the new best one is DIY home care, and cheaper/easier than what's currently available. There MUST be articles in the retinology journals about it by now, and I assume that most of our specialists subscribe to and read those journals. Something is not being disclosed.

PBM is used at a different stage of AMD than injections. PBM is used for early to intermediate dry AMD with a visual acuity of 20/120 or better. Injections are used for late stage WET or GA AMD.
I left a message for my retinal specialist on Thursday but I have not received a call back. I wanted to schedule a Q&A but was told it would have included a complete work up appointment. I don't want to go through that again before I have to, so it's that, or a call back. And like I wrote I haven't gotten a call back.
How old are and how long have you had AMD? Are you late stage wet? Or dry?

Thank you for your reply, and for your efforts on behalf of all of us to get information.
I am nearly 78, with still early stage dry AMD, progressing slowly for over 15 years. I eat healthfully, heavy in vegies, and take Ocuvite (or it's equivalent) most days, as advised consistently by docs. My concerns arise because my physical self follows my late father more and more as I age, including non-lethal senescent degeneration. I've even gradually stopped looking like Mom, and now look more like Dad's twin! And HE eventually had wet in both eyes, injections for several years, ultimately not enough vision to be useful. He was a lifelong optician, therefore knowledgeable and conscientious about eye health. But essentially blind. And that was a major contributor to his giving up and dying after a long and active life (retiring in his 80's). While he actively fought his MD, he lost the battle. If modern medicine can prevent my decline taking the same course, then I'm eager to exploit that. But I need my eye docs to keep up at least as much as I do. This is not a rare disease, and people are not dying younger. So I strive to learn as much as I can, which I'll then use to mine my doc's knowledge and skills, and inspire her to actively keep improving. And just maybe be able to read and write in this forum when I'm in my mid-nineties. (Longevity runs in both sides of my family. Along with the non-fatal declines that rob life of its quality -- including sight and mobility.) So thank you for contributing to "the cure on the horizon" -- for alĺ of us. Knowledge is key; it's why we all subscribe to Mayo Clinic Connect.

Research, treatments, and the ability to detect this life robbing disease early has come so much farther than when your dad lost his vision. I don't think many people lose their vision from AMD today and if they do it's because they didn't take it seriously.
Do you mean you are early intermediate AMD? Has your doctor ever mentioned AREDS? Or is Ocuvite the same?
I research this despicable disease every day. I can't stop, it's part of me now. I hope I remain stable for years to come. I eat a lot of fruits especially citrus and I love spinach.
This disease scares me but my specialist seems to think it will take years to affect me if it ever does. New hope is coming .. like someone said to me recently "We live in awesome times"!
What is your visual acuity? 20/?

Thank you, P2L, for your reply. Honestly, my ophthalmologist never uses the same terminology as is evidently used by others on this forum. So it's only from context that I understand "early intermediate AMD" and "AREDS". They've pointed out to me the trouble spots on my retinal photographs; and recommended Ocuvite vitamin supplements (identical generics are acceptable, and lucky for me, I tolerate them just fine); and told me that continual monitoring is the best practice for now. The same as what my father's ophthalmologists told him... before he advanced to wet, and those needles-into-his-eyeballs! (They looked worse than they evidently were. To an observer, they were horrible!) And they never report my refraction results as 20/xxx. My results are always reported in corrections. (My last two ophthalmologists also do optometrics. Both services in one visit. )
More explicitly:
R sphere +2.50 cylinder -0.50 axis 105 and add 2.75
L +2.75 -0.75 080 2.75
and the results end up being something like 20/20 vision (my guess), with retinas that require regular monitoring (approximately annually). I'll have to ask for the other data next time I go for that annual exam. So one of the benefits to me of this forum is becoming acquainted with retinopathy terms that most people never even hear, let alone use. But since my eyes are deteriorating at a very slow pace, just corrective lenses have been sufficient for me up til now. I'm trying to be proactive, in case there's something that I SHOULD be doing NOW to prevent my following my father's journey into blindness. It's good to know that that's no longer the usual outcome. Unfortunately, my mother followed that same journey, but had other health issues to compound it; and she died essentially blind. It sounds like what I'm doing already is what I SHOULD be doing to avoid the blindness outcome. So that's a relief! Thanks again for your information and help.