Lucentis Side Effects: An Introduction
As with any medicine, side effects are possible with
Lucentis® (
ranibizumab); however, not everyone who takes the drug will experience side effects. In fact, most people tolerate it quite well. If side effects do occur, in most cases, they are minor and either require no treatment or can easily be treated by you or your healthcare provider.
(This article covers many, but not all, of the possible side effects with Lucentis. Your healthcare provider can discuss a more complete list of Lucentis side effects with you.)
Common Lucentis Side Effects
Lucentis has been studied thoroughly in clinical trials. In these studies, the side effects that occur in a group of people taking the drug are documented and are then compared to side effects that occur in another group of people not taking the medicine. This way, it is possible to see what side effects occur, how often they appear, and how they compare to the group not taking the medicine.
In these studies, the most common side effects of Lucentis included:
- Redness or blood spots on the white part of the eye -- in up to 77 percent of people
- Eye pain -- up to 37 percent
- Specks in your vision -- up to 32 percent
- High blood pressure (hypertension) -- up to 23 percent
- Feeling like there is something in your eye -- up to 19 percent
- Eye irritation -- up to 18 percent.
Other common Lucentis side effects, occurring in 4 to 17 percent of people, included:
