Lasik before my Dx

[dankap]

Hey there,
I had lasik done to correct nearsightedness about 15 months ago. great results, couldn't be happier. about the same time as my new Dx i started experiencing some farsightedness to the point where i can read my Blackberry less than 8-10 inches from my eyes. The though of getting bi-focal reading glasses at 36 years old seems strange.

1. Could the meds I'm on Janumet and Amaryl be playing with my vision?
2. is farsightedness a common effect of diabetes?
3. seems strange that as i started taking meds and LOWERING my BG, my eyes would get worse, not the other way around.

any help would be great, i have a Dr apt today, so i will certainly ask him, but thought i would get the groups take on this first.

thanks
DK

[fgummett]

You had Lasik 15 months ago. When was your Diabetes Dx..? I'm hoping that your eyesight was not affected by the D when you had your Lasik done. As sugars build up in the eye it can affect your vision and throw off your eye tests...

[dankap]

my Dx was 2 and half weeks ago, my lasik was 15 months ago. my doc thinks its just my eyes adjusting to the lower amount of sugar in my system now. he thinks it will correct itself within the next couple of months.

[fgummett]

Maybe I don't fully understand Lasik but I thought they were effectively making a corrective lens on the front of your eye..? In that case I would be concerned that they have corrected for your eyes WITH Diabetes. Now if your vision changes as the D comes under control you may end up needing glasses again. I certainly needed a different lens prescription after my D was controlled.

I'd also be concerned that the Lasik clinic did not test for Diabetes... not only can it affect your vision but it can also lead to higher risks of infection and longer healing times.

That said, I truly hope everything works out well for you :)

[dankap]

Thanks. Yeah, i had the same thought, but i had routine blood tests at the time of the Lsik and my BG wasnt high at all. The high BG is a pretty recent thing. Also, the prescription that the Lasik corrected was my glasses prescription for many years. so im thinking this might either be meds related or my brain trying to figure out how to now deal with the rehydration of the lens.

[fgummett]

You are lucky seems like they caught your D early... I was working on the assumption I had read that most folks have had D for several years before diagnosis.

[Scrabblechick]

Not me. I've probably been pre-diabetic (insulin resistant) for some years, but just fell off the cliff the past two years or so.

[MinimedPumper07]

I might need bifocals at 19 dude, AHA!

[volleyball]

Dan I had lasik a decade ago. Before diabetes. I was corrected to 20/10 and 20/30 on purpose. the undercorrection was to help with the need for reading glasses. That is your issue. You need reading glasses, not being farsighted, they are different.
Before my diagnosis, I bought the lowest grade reading glasses and did not think about it as I had passed the average age of 40 to need reading glasses. Since my improved diet, the need for reading glasses disappeared and only recently reappeared.
I actually can get a good indication of my diabetes by my vision. It goes high, and reading gets blurry.
The lasik procedure is like lifting the area rug, removing the dirt underneath and then putting the rug back down all smooth.
You doctor would have tested eye pressure so I would not worry about being miscorrected.
At your age, you happen on the low side for reading glasses and diabetes. Your eyes start aging at 20 and at 40, it becomes noticeable. You diabetes aggravates this. Eat right, get exercise and medicine if you need it and you may see the problem go away for awhile

[davef]

Dankap,

It could all resolve itself when you get your BG under control, I didn't have Lasik, but just berfore DX (and afterwards) my sight had changed, so I went to optician, she urged me to attend doctor for Diabetes check and said not to change any glasses precriptions until after that.

There's a thread about this here: http://www.diabetesforums.com/forum/eyes/23960-dramatic-eyesight-improvement-weird.html

You are only two weeks after DX, I wouldn't rush into get glasses just yet, how are your BG numbers at the moment?

[dankap]

my numbers seem to be getter better, i clocked in 93 before dinner today which was the first time since my Dx that i dipped below 100 and i havent had a number over 190 in a week.

[dankap]

Just wanted to post an update to my original post...i am week 4 or 5 since my Dx and my reading/farsightedness issue seems to have corrected itself. I guess now that my sugars are under contrrol with the drugs my eyesight is getting back to normal. thanks for the reassurance an tips.

DK

[fgummett]

Glad and relieved to hear it :)

[Stacman]

It's not unusual at all for near vision to be affected after eye surgery, and vice versa. In fact, the doctor should have advised prior to it that it could have that effect, and will offer to do one eye for far sightedness and one for nearsightedness. The dominant eye gets the far vision upgrade, and the weaker of the two gets the near vision upgrade. Often they'll only do one eye and wait to see how the other is affected before proceeding, or you may opt to wear a contact in the reading eye. Also, when you have eye surgery for nearsightedness it tends to accelerate the degradation process of the near vision caused by increasing age. Still, having the eyes corrected to 20/20 or better (mine was 20/16 before sudden diagnosis of diabetes has taken all that good fortune away and gone blurry). Now I'm waiting to see if it returns as they say. I've been under BG control for almost a month, and still no improvement.

My understanding with laser/lasik, and any other eye surgery will not be approved of if you have diabetes because of the effect it has on the vision changing. So whatever corrective surgery you have could have adverse effects. It's possible they would consider the surgery if after a retinopathy scan reveals no damage to the eye has been caused by diabetes.

[art]

When I was in the process of getting my BS under control my eysight was all over the place.
I have been wearing glasses since I'm 12. I'm nearsighted.

When I first went on Lanthus my eyesight went almost to 20/20 without glasses. Then as I got under control my eyes started to revert back to my orginal prescription. It happened slowly over a period of months.
Once I got off lanthus and onto Janumet my eye sight was back to my orginal pre control prescription.
A strange trip
My eye Doc told me after it all happened it's not unusual. He's no longer my eyeball looker.

Art

[volleyball]

It's not unusual at all for near vision to be affected after eye surgery, and vice versa. In fact, the doctor should have advised prior to it that it could have that effect, and will offer to do one eye for far sightedness and one for nearsightedness. The dominant eye gets the far vision upgrade, and the weaker of the two gets the near vision upgrade. Often they'll only do one eye and wait to see how the other is affected before proceeding, or you may opt to wear a contact in the reading eye. Also, when you have eye surgery for nearsightedness it tends to accelerate the degradation process of the near vision caused by increasing age. Still, having the eyes corrected to 20/20 or better (mine was 20/16 before sudden diagnosis of diabetes has taken all that good fortune away and gone blurry). Now I'm waiting to see if it returns as they say. I've been under BG control for almost a month, and still no improvement.

My understanding with laser/lasik, and any other eye surgery will not be approved of if you have diabetes because of the effect it has on the vision changing. So whatever corrective surgery you have could have adverse effects. It's possible they would consider the surgery if after a retinopathy scan reveals no damage to the eye has been caused by diabetes.

I interviewed every local doctor before I had mine done and the guy I chose was the only one who suggested the undercorrection.
If your eyes were such that you need reading glasses afterwards than you needed them before. It was just that your nearsightedness hid that fact. As I stated before, they are two unrelated things.
My eyes are still better than most people a decade younger so I am fortunate.
As a side thing, I wanted to test whether refrigerated cooked potatoes would affect BS. I ate a bowl of red and new potatoes mixed with zucchini. In 15 minutes I had to go exercise as my vision got blurry. So for me. I'm going to have to watch potatoes more than I thought