Argh! My eyes! (but in a good way)

[LittleGreyCat]

Since the new year I seem to have got on top of my blood glucose. Last HbA1c was 5.8.

However there seems to be an unexpected side effect. My prescription keeps changing. That is, my eyesight keeps improving slightly.

A positive thing. However also expensive as I need varifocals because of poor accommodation. With good quality glass lenses these can be £400 a pop.

I am trying out cheap single vision lenses from a well known high street retailer as a stop gap because you don't need 20/20 to drive safely or make your way generally in the world. I was going to drive with them but I can't read the instruments. Road signs are crystal clear though.

The main reason I bought the single vision lenses was to watch TV in bed because varifocals aren't good for this; you are looking through the wrong part of the lens. Thought I would try them for driving as well but stopped and changed back in the first 100 yards.

One thing learned; it seems you can get multiple free eye tests each year if you are diabetic. This is a good thing because they give your eyes a good going over and could spot any problems before the annual eye screening.

Bootnote:
I am posting this from a new Asus tablet and the predictive text is interesting.

Ketoacidosis is osteoporosis
Varifocals is aboriginals

Makes proof reading a must until I have added the new words to the dictionary.

 

[AndBreathe]

Since the new year I seem to have got on top of my blood glucose. Last HbA1c was 5.8.

However there seems to be an unexpected side effect. My prescription keeps changing. That is, my eyesight keeps improving slightly.

A positive thing. However also expensive as I need varifocals because of poor accommodation. With good quality glass lenses these can be £400 a pop.

I am trying out cheap single vision lenses from a well known high street retailer as a stop gap because you don't need 20/20 to drive safely or make your way generally in the world. I was going to drive with them but I can't read the instruments. Road signs are crystal clear though.

The main reason I bought the single vision lenses was to watch TV in bed because varifocals aren't good for this; you are looking through the wrong part of the lens. Thought I would try them for driving as well but stopped and changed back in the first 100 yards.

One thing learned; it seems you can get multiple free eye tests each year if you are diabetic. This is a good thing because they give your eyes a good going over and could spot any problems before the annual eye screening.

Bootnote:
I am posting this from a new Asus tablet and the predictive text is interesting.

Ketoacidosis is osteoporosis
Varifocals is aboriginals

Makes proof reading a must until I have added the new words to the dictionary.

Littlegreycat, you can have more than one free test a year, if your prescription changes. If you are found not to have a change in your prescription requirements, you are likely to be charged.

 

[Jay-Marc]

General effect with declining blood sugar is for close vision to worsen and distance vision to improve without correction. For most people after blood sugar stabilisation eyesight reverts back more or less back to the original after 6 to 8 weeks. However, a few people do experience a greater permanent change, and longer settling down period.

 

[Mr_Pot]

I sympathise @LittleGreyCat, due to having my eyes tested at the wrong time I now have new varifocals where the close vision is good and old varifocals where the distance is better, which agrees with @Jay-Marc 's comments. I also have some cheap single vision glasses but in my case they are for close work, in particular trimming my beard.

 

[hca]

Hello all, am due an eye test soon, do you just tell the optician your diabetic. Sorry little grey cat to go slightly off topic but still so much to learn, no one told me I could have free sight tests. Xx

 

[type1lozzie]

Hello all, am due an eye test soon, do you just tell the optician your diabetic. Sorry little grey cat to go slightly off topic but still so much to learn, no one told me I could have free sight tests. Xx

Yes because you will get free diabetic eye screening to. We're thay just take pictures of your eyes to check there is nothing elce going on. I had mine done last week. Nothing to it.

 

[hca]

Thank you, had the screening thing done and all came back clear, just didn't know bout routine sight tests.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

General effect with declining blood sugar is for close vision to worsen and distance vision to improve without correction. For most people after blood sugar stabilisation eyesight reverts back more or less back to the original after 6 to 8 weeks. However, a few people do experience a greater permanent change, and longer settling down period.

Just to note that I've been wondering if my eyesight has been changing again, and yes it has.

About 8 weeks ago I had my eyes tested for single vision TV watching glasses and SpecSavers confirmed that the prescription was different from my current Varifocals (from my usual independent optician).

I accepted that the correction on my varifocals was not 100% but didn't want to spend another small fortune on yet another pair.

Back from holiday and it occurred to me that I could do a DIY sight test to check. Simply downloading a standard eye chart and displaying it on my PC monitor and then measuring out the approximate distance (10 feet) away. I did check that the picture on display was roughly A4.

The result seems to be that I have gone back to latest prescription - 1.

I cross checked with my single vision lenses and they seem fine, so it looks as though I had more or less reverted by the time of the eye test.

I can also see about as well with (current - 2) as I can with current.

It looks as though I need to keep a range of glasses and check now and then to see which is currently the best.

One positive thing; the check suggests that the change was before my holiday so perhaps the change of diet when on the road (including no Lidl rolls) was not responsible.

Have to wait for my next HbA1c before I know what my long term BG has been doing.

 

[Chook]

I had a similar change in eyesight when I first started low carbing.

I've needed glasses for driving and watching TV for about 40 years and then, when my T2 was out of control I got incredibly blurry eyesight and was buying those glasses from the Pound shops as my prescription was changing for the worse on a weekly basis. Then I started low carbing and about 4 months in I realised I wasn't using the glasses much any more - and that got less and less until I went for my last optician eye test - and was told I actually don't really need glasses any more for anything at all. My eyes are better now than they were 40 years ago! I didn't get diagnosed with T2 until about 10 years ago - so I have no idea why my eyes are better now than they were 30 years before my diagnosis - but I'm not complaining!

 

[SugarDaddy91]

Since the new year I seem to have got on top of my blood glucose. Last HbA1c was 5.8.

However there seems to be an unexpected side effect. My prescription keeps changing. That is, my eyesight keeps improving slightly.

A positive thing. However also expensive as I need varifocals because of poor accommodation. With good quality glass lenses these can be £400 a pop.

I am trying out cheap single vision lenses from a well known high street retailer as a stop gap because you don't need 20/20 to drive safely or make your way generally in the world. I was going to drive with them but I can't read the instruments. Road signs are crystal clear though.

The main reason I bought the single vision lenses was to watch TV in bed because varifocals aren't good for this; you are looking through the wrong part of the lens. Thought I would try them for driving as well but stopped and changed back in the first 100 yards.

One thing learned; it seems you can get multiple free eye tests each year if you are diabetic. This is a good thing because they give your eyes a good going over and could spot any problems before the annual eye screening.

Bootnote:
I am posting this from a new Asus tablet and the predictive text is interesting.

Ketoacidosis is osteoporosis
Varifocals is aboriginals

Makes proof reading a must until I have added the new words to the dictionary.

Just started working at an eye-policlinic and with my newly discovered diabetes I have learned a few things.
- Your eyesight changes a lot with changing blood sugar levels.
- You can buy real cheap glasses at specsavers. I did this and for about 10£ I tried three different ones before I decided on the one I would like to buy. The 10£ is for the really standard ones with no extra qualities on the glass like scratch resistance etc. So when I found a pair that lasted me for about a week of stable blood sugar I ordered more expensive ones with better glasses and varifocality.
- The check in itself is pretty fast and (should be) free, as it is done to a large degree by a machine which takes about 30 seconds. This one measures the way the light fractures through the lense. Then you get a spherical and cylindrical value that you try while looking at a picture or reading something. Small adjustments could be made until maximum comfort and vision is achieved.
Most commonly when the sugars are high you would get negative values in the lens as it swells. (Usually). Fits well with what you told of the instruments.
Good thing that you are taking care of those eyes!

 

[Jay-Marc]

This is the leaflet produced by the RNIB on eye conditions related to diabetes, covering the general effects on sight as well as other conditions such as cataracts, retinopathy and macular oedema etc.

I was one of those where eyesight change was the first indication of diabetes although I didn't recognise it as such until developing some of the other symptoms.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hello all, am due an eye test soon, do you just tell the optician your diabetic. Sorry little grey cat to go slightly off topic but still so much to learn, no one told me I could have free sight tests. Xx

You are entitled to a free eye sight test if you are diabetic, so yes, you do need to tell the optician. Previously we were entitled to one free test a year. It now seems this has moved to once every 2 years unless there is a problem requiring more frequent tests..

The annual retinal screening is different from an eye sight test and in many areas is performed by the National Screening Service rather than an optician. Some areas allow you to use a qualified optician with all the required machinery to perform them.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Worgle!

My eye sight has gone back to my latest Varifocal prescription; (eyetest - 1) from my previous Varifocal prescription (eye test -2).

I can see adequately with both prescriptions, but the eye chart displayed on my PC screen shows that I only get 20/20 with the better set. My cheap single vision lenses are O.K. but not quite as clear on the bottom line of the chart as my latest Varifocals.

All very confusing.

I'm now starting to confuse myself, so:

1. Have eye test (usual local optician) and eyesight has improved. New Varifocals.
2. Need single vision lenses for watching TV in bed. Have another eye test at SpecSavers because I think my prescription has changed. It has. New cheap single vision glasses.
3. Wonder which way my vision has gone. New Varifocals don't seem quite right so download eye chart from the Internet and test using PC monitor. Single vision lenses fine, new Varifocals not fine, previous pair of Varifocals fine. So vision has reversed recent changes.
4. Vision seems to be changing again. Test with PC again. New Varifocals now fine (again) old Varifocals not as good, single vision glasses not quite right but pretty close.

So my prescription seems to be constantly changing, but not by a massive amount.

One thing; I try and support my local independent optician because they are a dying breed, being driven out by the big franchises such as SpecSavers. However they cannot (or will not) compete at the bottom end of the market for glasses in the £25 a pair range. So I now have two opticians.