Interstitial cystitis is a painful bladder condition that affects hundreds of thousands of Canadians, mostly women, but doctors are now warning patients that Elmiron, the only oral medication available to treat it, has been linked to permanent vision loss.
TORONTO -- Imagine having a painful bladder disorder for which there is only one oral drug available -- that isn’t even always effective for everyone who takes it -- and discovering that it may be toxic enough to also severely damage your eyes.
Interstitial cystitis affects hundreds of thousands of Canadians -- mostly women -- and there is no cure. Patients suffering from the condition may have constant bladder pain that starts as soon as the bladder begins to fill. They feel a frequent and urgent need to urinate that can be significantly disabling -- in severe cases, it could mean sleepless nights and as many as 40 to 60 trips a day to the washroom. Relief -- if it comes -- may last just minutes after the bladder is empty.
Then two years ago, eye doctors began noticing vision problems in patients who had been on the medication over a long period of time. One study on the apparent side-effect found that about 25 per cent of those taking Elmiron for five years or longer had quietly developed significant damage to the retina, the part of the eye that contains light-sensitive cells that help us see.
Health Canada updated its information on Elmiron late last year, advising patients on Elmiron to get regular eye exams and to discontinue the drug if vision problems develop. A second medical alert went out to Canadian doctors who prescribe this drug for bladder issues. For Nickel, who is also an urologist at Kingston General Hospital and has specialized in bladder pain syndrome, the drug’s potential long-term toxicity to the retina was something he only became aware of in the last year or so.
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