18 years old, been referred for diabetes test due to deteriorating eyesight, terrified!

[CobaltRose96]

Hi everyone,

I am an 18 (nearly 19) year old female living in the UK who has not yet been diagnosed (and, fingers crossed, may not even have diabetes), but today was referred to my GP for a diabetes test following an eye exam.

Today, I visited an optician because I have been experiencing pain in my right eye for a while. Turns out, the pain is simply eye strain. The back of my eye looks a-okay, so no worries there. My vision has never been perfect, and I wear glasses to read, but I discovered today that my eyesight has deteriorated MASSIVELY since my last eye exam. My last eye exam was in July of 2013. In the two and a bit years since, my vision has deteriorated three fold (or, my prescription has increased three fold). THREE FOLD. Bearing in mind I am only 18, this seems like a massive difference. And, indeed, during the eye exam, when I had to read the letters off the chart, I realised that my distance vision was indeed very poor. Much poorer than I remember it being during my last eye exam. I couldn't even read the big letters off the first chart without squinting!

This deterioration in my eyesight concerned the optometrist so much that he referred me to my GP for a diabetes test. I am terrified. My maternal aunt died from diabetes complications. I don't believe that I have any other symptoms, although I have noticed a slight increase in thirst in recent weeks.

My question is, is this amount of deterioration in eye sight something I should be concerned about? Did any of you have similar problems with your vision?

I am 18 years old, and of a healthy weight. I am somewhat doubtful that I have diabetes, but am still terrified by the possibility. Any advice/reassurance would be greatly appreciated. I will, of course, keep you updated! Fingers crossed all tests come back clear.

Thanks,

Hannah

 

[Trevorden]

Hannah
Came on here to report a glucose meter anomaly but your post caught my eye. Rather older than you - like 70 now ! - and I've been type 2 diabetic for around 4-5 years - and probably before that and didn't know it !
Stop terrifying yourself ! Even if you have diabetes, it is eminently controllable these days once you know you have it. But wait until you know if you have it before assuming you have. The chances are you haven't got it and it's just eye strain as you say.
Get to your GP on Monday and your doctor will almost certainly do a blood test via a simple finger-prick and blood glucose meter.
If there's a diabetes problem, you'll be referred to his diabetic specialist nurse at the health centre or hospital and they'll soon sort out the way to control it. It's not the end of the world.
Trevor

 

[Randburg]

Hi Hannah,
I think being referred to a doctor is the correct thing at the moment, so that you can have further tests done.
Your deteriorating eyesight may be a sign of Diabetes, and the doctor will be able to confirm if so.
You don't have any of the other signs, so I think you need to see what happens.
Remember being a Diabetic is not the end of the world, you may have to be a bit more careful on what you eat, and in controlling sugar, but lots of people have it and still lead happy lives.
Good luck with the Doctors appointment and let us know the results.
Lots of people on this forum will give you a lot of advise if needed, its a good site
.

 

[CobaltRose96]

Thank you to you both for your advice and reassurance. I know diabetes is not the death sentence it once was, but I'm still not thrilled by the prospect that I may have it! I will keep you all updated.

 

[Cheezilla]

When I was 17, I suddenly started having problems focussing and had to get reading glasses. Then, I noticed that a whole bunch of my 6th form colleagues also suddenly needed glasses - both for long and short sight.
Our classrooms were all lit by ordinary lightbulbs. However, the specs epidemic occurred just after we'd taken our mock A-levels when we'd been doing two three-hour exams per day in fluorescent-lit rooms.

So, besides having your blood glucose checked, I'd also do a recce to see if it's eyestrain, caused by fluorescent lights - including the low-energy ones.

 

[donnellysdogs]

When is your appointment?
I would suggest that you go in and ask for a soecimen bottle (for urine). They should just give you abottle without hassle. Take it in with you to the GP and say that you have done a first thing in the morning wee test incase they need it to test or send off.
This would only be a small indicator and not anything to worry about as they would need to arrange blood tests to confirm diabetes.
You come over as very sensible so I'm sure that if you did have a disbetes diagnosis that you would handle it.
You are right it is not a death sentence. Many of us view it as a reason to look after our health more so than non diabetics...
Please let us know how you get on.

 

[Jaylee]

I am 18 years old, and of a healthy weight. I am somewhat doubtful that I have diabetes,

Hi Hannah,

First off? Please stow away any prejudice spawned by misinformation regarding the above quote...
Neither my healthy weighted young for his age T2 father or myself diagnosed T1 as a child had any issues in this department.

That out the way. The above great advice covers one aspect.. Another idea for "eye strain" could be due to degraded anti scratch or glare coating on an existing prescription lense..?
I had this happen to me once... Though the first thing that came to mind was cataracts....
Until you get a result back on all fronts don't panic..

 

[CobaltRose96]

Hi everyone, just a quick update. I haven't had the test yet, but you know how I was saying I wasn't getting any other symptoms? Well, it looks like that's changed.

For the past couple of days, I have been urinating pretty frequently. As in, once every hour at least. This is unusual for me, as I can usually go pretty long without needing the loo. This is despite me not drinking any more than I normally do. I've also occasionally been getting bouts of nausea, although this isn't all the time. Should I be worried?

 

[donnellysdogs]

When is your appointment with GP?

 

[CobaltRose96]

When is your appointment with GP?

Not sure. The optometrist wrote to my GP, and we were supposed to get a call from the surgery, but we haven't had one yet.

 

[azure]

If it was me, I'd phone the surgery to check what was happening and tell them your other symptoms. You could ask to speak to a doctor or for one to call you back if you're worried.

It may not be diabetes, but a doctor could check for you and make sure all's ok. I have Type 1 diabetes and I got a lot worse quite suddenly and had to call the emergency doctor. I too was waiting on an appointment from my surgery. With hindsight, I should have phoned them.

 

[Robinredbreast]

HI what about going to a Pharmacy as they do health checks for diabetes, Lloyds is one,, it may help your situation for the time being. Also my adult son told me of symptoms that he had, thirst, wonky vision, going to the loo so I tested him with my meter, his BS was okay, but told him to visit his GP, he eventually did and had very high cholesterol, 6.5 !! and then had to have immediate blood tests. Try not to worry to much, lots of deep breaths and calming thoughts.
Good luck and all the very best RRB

 

[Enclave]

Yes the pharmacy can do a finger prick test to give you some indication of what's happing with your blood sugars .. Then when you get to the Drs you may have more questions ready to ask.
At this point .. Try not to worry .. If it is diabetes the worry will make your sugars rise, also on the plus side .. If it is diabetes then when you sugars return to normal your vision should return to normal for you.

 

[graj0]

Hi everyone, just a quick update. I haven't had the test yet, but you know how I was saying I wasn't getting any other symptoms? Well, it looks like that's changed.

For the past couple of days, I have been urinating pretty frequently. As in, once every hour at least. This is unusual for me, as I can usually go pretty long without needing the loo. This is despite me not drinking any more than I normally do. I've also occasionally been getting bouts of nausea, although this isn't all the time. Should I be worried?

Not yet, if your eyes have been deteriorating over several months or more, then if D was the cause, you would have expected other symptoms like thirst to have existed as well, probably. There's every likelihood that with type I, you'd have expected weight changes as well. I had terrific thirst for years and wasn't diabetic (I was a blood donor when they didn't accept diabetics).

You might like to find a pharmacy that does BG tests, I know that Lloyds do, although I'm not sure if they can do it straight away. For us lot, it takes a few seconds, I don't see why a pharmacy can't use the same meters as we use.

Urinating more frequently can be any number of things, not just diabetes. Try not to wish it upon yourself, you don't have enough info yet, just bad eyesight. Something else that can be any number of things, I'll not tell you what caused my eyesight problem because you'd worry. The good news is that I'm still here.

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

Hi there. It is so easy to say not to worry when your the one going through this but really it is the best advice.

Wait until you know what the results suggest.

Remember this though, if it is diabetes, you have a massive advantage in reversing any eye damage as you are so young.

Diabetes is a strange illness and we can reverse so many of the "scary" complications just by good diet and medication as soon as diagnosis has been confirmed.

Don't worry get your results and follow medical advice and If it is diabetes you can start reversing your eye complications immediately !

And you've found us and we will support you through this if you stay close to us !

 

[CraigDT]

Hi Hannah,

You mentioned some other symptoms including nausea and urinating a lot. If you are not drinking more then you might be getting dehydrated which is bad for you whatever the reason. Get yourself a doctor's appointment today so you can get a diagnosis. The bit that would worry me is the nausea which can be a sign of DKA which can't be ignored.

If your eyesight is bad because you are an undiagnosed diabetic it is just caused by the high blood glucose altering your eye's shape. It is temporary and will fix itself when your blood glucose comes down.

We aren't doctors on here, mostly, so it is important to go and see one right away to get the facts. If you are heading towards DKA it is really important to get yourself seen.

 

[LucySW]

If your eyesight is bad because you are an undiagnosed diabetic it is just caused by the high blood glucose altering your eye's shape. It is temporary and will fix itself when your blood glucose comes down.

Yes yes YES. If it is diabetes, then the eyesight change will be temporary. It's due to high blood sugar changing how much fluid the lenses in the eyes absorb, and changing shape and therefore focal length slightly as a result. That actually happened to me, massive deterioration in three months. It was responsible of your optician to tell you to check out diabetes (mine didn't), just to be sure.

When I stopped eating carbs my blood sugar fell very quickly and my eyesight took about two months to reverse itself, get better, and stabilise.

So keep calm, and just check it out.

If it is diabetes, its a pain, but it's not that bad.

Lucy

 

[Randburg]

@CobaltRose96
Hi Hannah,
Have you seen the Doctor yet and what were your results ?