Question..

[SarahRenee]

Ok, so I have retnopathy. I'm trying to get my a1c down. My last a1c was 9.4. I know, yikes. haha. Anyway, I went from higher blood sugars down to tight control in the last few weeks. My vision has gotten worse. My eye doctor told me that going from high to tight control can do more damage. So my question is, is this general knowledge? Lowering blood sugar fast instead of slowly can do more damage? :confused: Or am I just not with it? Haha. :)

I wish I would of known this before.. :(

[RobiJo]

My doctor told me this as well. My reduction has been slow, though not necessarily on purpose. It's something to do with the blood vessels used to having higher numbers, a drastic reduction and the blood vessels still feel starved and keep growing all over. Don't let it get you down though, improved control should still be your goal. Have you had any laser??? Blurred vision is now one of my first symptoms of a hypo. Before lasers, this was never the case. I go back to the eye doctor next Monday, we'll see what it looks like 1 year after my vitrectomies cleared out the back of my eyes. As of 3 months ago things were still looking good. I hope it's the same.

[SarahRenee]

A good a1c is definatly my goal. :) I wanna keep my eyesight for as long as I can. I was just shocked when he told me this. This disease is all kinds of crazy. haha.

Good luck at the eye doctor! :)

[xMenace]

What do you mean your vision has gotten worse? Are things blurry or do you see black gobs floating around in your eye?

What kind of retinopathy have you been diagnosed with? Have you had any treatments?

You're not allowed to keep secrets here, eh! :vollkomme

BTW I've had proliferative retinopathy since '94. I've had well over 3,000 laser blasts in about 15 sessions. I've had one hemmorhage, three minor bleeders, one edema, and a vitrectomy. And by some miracle called a low A1C my vision is still 20/20 and there's no signs of retinopathy anymore. My hemm happened when I dropped my A1C from 7.3% to 6.4% in three months. Coincidence I was told.

[SarahRenee]

What do you mean your vision has gotten worse? Are things blurry or do you see black gobs floating around in your eye?

What kind of retinopathy have you been diagnosed with? Have you had any treatments?

You're not allowed to keep secrets here, eh! :vollkomme

BTW I've had proliferative retinopathy since '94. I've had well over 3,000 laser blasts in about 15 sessions. I've had one hemmorhage, three minor bleeders, one edema, and a vitrectomy. And by some miracle called a low A1C my vision is still 20/20 and there's no signs of retinopathy anymore. My hemm happened when I dropped my A1C from 7.3% to 6.4% in three months. Coincidence I was told.



My vision is alittle more blurry. My eye doctor said there wasn't that much swelling going on when I told him this. I was diagnosed with it back in the beggining of March. The vision is my right is pretty bad. I've had 2 laser treatments on my right eye and one on my left so far. I'll probably have to have surgery on my right eye because the blood vessels and scar tissue are pulling on my retna and causing it to bleed. I still have more time to wait to see how the laser treatments are affecting my eyes. So far so good. :) I also had an injection in my right eye too. Time will tell I guess. So all and all my vision isn't to good. I'm just greatful I still have it. :)

That's great that there is no more signs of retinopathy. :)

[Stacman]

I didn't want to start a new thread when others dealing with the same topic already exist (I hope you don't mind SarahRenee).

Almost immediately after being diagnosed with Type II (three weeks ago) my vision became blurry. So much so that my reading glasses don't work, and my far vision is even worse. I went from 20/18 vision in both eyes to something far worse. I'll find out Tuesday when I see the opthamologist. Anyway, the doctor started me on some mild medication and since my BG has stayed within the recommended target ranges, and really without trying to maintain a strict diet. I'm kind of going along experimenting with how my normal foods affect the levels. I don't go out of my way to intake sugar, but not avoiding it entirely either.

My question after all this (for a first post it had to be something of substance) is had anyone experienced the same thing and had their normal vision return after an extended period (barring any damage)? I can wait it out, but I've been relatively normal for a few weeks now and I'm getting anxious to be able to see clearly again.

I was previously screened for retinopathy and showed no signs of any problems. I would imagine another screening on Tuesday but I don't imagine a big change (if any) from a couple months ago.

Thanks, and I'm learning a lot I didn' know here. I've been lurking and reading most all new posts, so most of my questions have been answered. The only one not answered is how I got this in the first place. No family history, I'm not fat, and I never ate unhealthy either. In fact, if not for the blurry vision I'd probably question whether I had diabetes at all (VA doctors sometimes aren't that bright). Was it just a sugar spike when I happened to have labs drawn? I haven't always fasted entirely before labs. Sometimes a little cheat, but not much.

Well, if anyone can answer that question, it'd be great. But I'm not holding out much hope because I'm sure there are others wondering the same...

Thanks again!

David

[fgummett]

When your sugars are out of control it does have an affect on your eyesight that possibly you have adapted to over time... in the same way as your sugars have gone up slowly over time. When I was first diagnosed and began treatment for type 2 D my eyesight became worse as my eyes re-adapted to normal sugars. This was just a transition period and now my eyesight is OK. But even today I can tell if my control is going off as my eyesight suffers and I get eye-strain headaches.

[xMenace]

Welcome David,

Ya, we've seen that condition several times here. Give it a month or so.

[Stacman]

Good to know. Thanks to both of you...

[Bevvie]

Hi there

I have suffered from blurry vision and have normal eyes according to my exam. However, my BGs have been up and down as I have come to terms with what I have to do to work with this condition. My description of this eyesight thing would be that I know my eyes are ok when my reading glasses work as they should do - when my BGs are coming down I experience a temporary deterioration e.g. like looking at your watch through a net curtain or through constant drizzle and I can actually see clearly to watch TV though my reading glasses (which is obviously wrong). When my BGs are near normal my eyesight goes back to normal (and stays there nowdays). In my experience your eyes will be back to normal pretty soon - don't buy any new glasses as they old ones will start working again!:D :cool:

[Janlaton]

After 40 years I can proudly say I do not have any retinopathy.:) God has blessed me that way. I do have problems with blurred vision if I let my sugar go high. Time should help even things out. As stated above our bodies get used to one thing being off and adjust one way. When we try to get it back in control it does take a time for the whole body to readjust. Keep working with your team and stay in close touch with your eye specialist.

Just came back from a meeting with the d educator. My numbers are looking so good. Morning fasting average is 107 for the past month. :D Today it was 83!

[Stacman]

Hi there

I can actually see clearly to watch TV though my reading glasses (which is obviously wrong).

Exactly! The first thing I noticed was that my reading glasses worked for far vision, but not for reading. Weird! I'm afraid to wear them for watching TV though. I don't want my eyes getting too dependent on them when the eyesight returns to normal..

[Stacman]

:D Today it was 83!

Congratulations!

[fgummett]

...like looking...through constant drizzle... How can you tell the difference living in the UK :D Just kidding, I used to live there too :)

[Bevvie]

LOL Fgumet

Net curtains and Drizzle - def UK ;)

[SarahRenee]

I didn't want to start a new thread when others dealing with the same topic already exist (I hope you don't mind SarahRenee).

Not at all! :) ;)

[Moose]

My question after all this (for a first post it had to be something of substance) is had anyone experienced the same thing and had their normal vision return after an extended period (barring any damage)? I can wait it out, but I've been relatively normal for a few weeks now and I'm getting anxious to be able to see clearly again.

I've experienced this twice so far, my vision would continually blur so much that I became more and more short sighted.

So much so that I couldn't see further than a meter away..

I have not yet been to an eye specialist, but one thing which is worrying me now is that my blurred vision is now affecting my ability to read things close to me. (i have to squint to read my computer monitor)

I suppose I should make an appointment with the specialist, but procrastination is one of my worse qualities.

[fgummett]

Hi Moose and Welcome to DF!

Are you testing your blood sugars to see any relationship between high sugars and blurred vision?

[Stacman]

This whole thing about the vision is baffling to me. Obviously, I had had high blood glucose for some time before diagnosis and didn't lower until I started taking oral medications. But my vision seemed to be affected before starting the medication, so if the cause is supposed to be related to a drastic change in blood glucose and the eyes adapting, or not adapting fast enough, why the change while being high in the first place? I've been within relatively normal ranges for almost a month, and I'm still waiting for the eyes to snap back.

I'm seeing the opthamologist for the first time this afternoon. I have no idea if he's an expert in diabetic vision problems, but one can only hope. I'm getting impatient and almost afraid to eat anything that could risk my levels swinging high again and delaying their recovery. All the variables related to diabetes is frustrating at best.

[Staceyy]

My dh went blind for about 30 days when he was first diagnosed with diabetes. We were scared to death as he drives for a living. The eye doctor said a lot of times when you go from high blood sugar levels to low quickly it can take the eyes time to stabalize. Dh went back to 20/20 vision within 30 days and was allowed to return to work.

Stacey
The Diabetic Pastry Chef (http://www.diabeticpastrychef.com)

[HelenM]

Going back to the original question about retinopathy progression and tight control. This article has some info on the mechanism.Retinopathy progression (http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/easdec/retinopathyprogression.htm#s)

Theres a more reassuring graph with this label.
A 3% drop in HbA1c may increase the progression rate for 1-3 years. But after 3-4 years of good control, progression rates drops significantly (lilac line). In the long term, good control causes much less progression