Retinopathy and driving

[NeetK28]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post.
I am due to have pan retina laser surgery this evening and wanted to know from any of you whether having this treatment has affected your ability to drive as I'm aware it can reduce the peripheral vision?

It's really worrying me and would really appreciate any info you might have. Thank you

 

[ConradJ]

Hi @NeetK28

Hopefully, your surgery has gone well and you're not feeling too drained from the experience: I've had thousands of 'hits' in both eyes over the past few years but have not yet suffered any loss of peripheral vision.

It's normal practice for surgeons to laser the extremities first so as not to cause any / much damage to the visual areas of the retina, gradually working their way inwards if required.

Photocoagulation is applied to achieve two key outcomes: 1) 'burn' internal areas of the eye so that they cannot grow new blood vessels; 2) reduce the eyes demand for oxygen. You may need further sessions, but - in view of your recent HbA1c (6.8%) achievement, you may find that you can reduce / prevent further damage occuring.

Well done for achieving the lower HbA1c - that's one step in the right direction! Keep doing all you can to maintain the new lower BGs and then work at reducing it again; BUT take it slowly (i.e. over months, not days or weeks) because trying to do too much too quickly can actually speed up the development of retinopathy.

Best wishes.

 

[NeetK28]

Hi,

Thanks for your post. It wasn't the nicest experience to go through but it's for the greater good

It's a bit achy and light sensitive today but overall not as bad as I thought it might be.

I've been working really hard to bring my HbA1c down and the hard work has paid off, thank goodness.

It's so nice to be able to get advice and learn of experiences from other people so thank you again


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