Diabetic retinopathy and ocular hypertension

FB1976

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Hi, I am new to this forum, but have a question. I have just been told I have retinopathy in both eyes but I also have ocular hypertension as well, which I know can lead to blindness. Does anyone else have the same conditions? I also had surgery about 15 years ago for cataracts in both my eyes and now have plastic lenses in both eyes.

Not sure what will happen next.
 
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noblehead

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Hi @FB1976 and welcome :)

I've had diabetic retinopathy issues in the past but have been all clear for around 12 years now, not any problems with ocular hypertension but it is something they watch out for.

What happens next, they'll monitor you closely from here on to spot any changes in your retinopthy and will likely start you on drops for the OH, if you take a look at the following it discusses DR & OH in greater detail with advice and information that you should find useful:

http://www.diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/Information_for_patients.html

Best wishes and good luck.
 

DiabeticDadUK

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336
Type of diabetes
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Hi, I am new to this forum, but have a question. I have just been told I have retinopathy in both eyes but I also have ocular hypertension as well, which I know can lead to blindness. Does anyone else have the same conditions? I also had surgery about 15 years ago for cataracts in both my eyes and now have plastic lenses in both eyes.

Not sure what will happen next.


Hi there!

I've been through retinopathy. Currently managing ocular hypertension in one eye (the bad one). What would you like to know / discuss?

For the hypertension you'll probably be prescribed a steroid and anti inflammatory. I take Pred Forte x2 and Azopt x2 daily. If your pressure goes up and the meds can't get things stable they'll likely suggest some laser under a local.. I had pressure of 44 in the left eye in 2014. The pain was something extraordinary. Meds helped it a little but only laser sorted it out. Now running pressure around 12, 13 which I'm told is fine. No problems for the last 3 years in that regard but I'll likely be on the eye drops for the foreseeable (pardon the pun)

For the retinopathy I've had laser and some deep laser in theatre and a vitrectomy in both eyes. A vitrectomy is no walk in the park so hopefully it won't come to that for you. In short, approx 2 hours under general in theatre. A whole host of drops to keep the inflammation and infections at bay. Two weeks with your face down (5-10 min break every hour) to give your retina the best chance to heal and take the pressure off it. After having both eyes done, I've seen an awful lot of blurry carpet. They may insert synthetic oil in your eye to stop it collapsing or a gas bubble. The oil stays put, the gas bubble gets absorbed slowly.

Ohh... retinopathy doesn't always mean vitrectomy. That's just my story in short :)
 

FB1976

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi there!

I've been through retinopathy. Currently managing ocular hypertension in one eye (the bad one). What would you like to know / discuss?

For the hypertension you'll probably be prescribed a steroid and anti inflammatory. I take Pred Forte x2 and Azopt x2 daily. If your pressure goes up and the meds can't get things stable they'll likely suggest some laser under a local.. I had pressure of 44 in the left eye in 2014. The pain was something extraordinary. Meds helped it a little but only laser sorted it out. Now running pressure around 12, 13 which I'm told is fine. No problems for the last 3 years in that regard but I'll likely be on the eye drops for the foreseeable (pardon the pun)

For the retinopathy I've had laser and some deep laser in theatre and a vitrectomy in both eyes. A vitrectomy is no walk in the park so hopefully it won't come to that for you. In short, approx 2 hours under general in theatre. A whole host of drops to keep the inflammation and infections at bay. Two weeks with your face down (5-10 min break every hour) to give your retina the best chance to heal and take the pressure off it. After having both eyes done, I've seen an awful lot of blurry carpet. They may insert synthetic oil in your eye to stop it collapsing or a gas bubble. The oil stays put, the gas bubble gets absorbed slowly.

Ohh... retinopathy doesn't always mean vitrectomy. That's just my story in short :)

Thanks for the reply and the explanation, it's a lot more than any health professional has explained.
 
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DiabeticDadUK

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Thanks for the reply and the explanation, it's a lot more than any health professional has explained.

Glad to be of some use. If you notice a headache around the eye with hypertension and it doesn't go away then hop down to eye casualty before it gets too much. I awaited for 24 hours and wished I'd gone sooner. IV for a few hours lowered the pressure and pain to a manageable level but holy cow it hurt until then.
 

Dark Horse

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1,840
Hi, I am new to this forum, but have a question. I have just been told I have retinopathy in both eyes but I also have ocular hypertension as well, which I know can lead to blindness. Does anyone else have the same conditions? I also had surgery about 15 years ago for cataracts in both my eyes and now have plastic lenses in both eyes.

Not sure what will happen next.
If you were found to have ocular hypertension before you developed retinopathy, the ocular hypertension is likely to be from a different cause than @DiabeticDadUK 's and so the symptoms/treatment would be different. Ocular hypertension could lead to glaucoma so may or may not be treated, depending on the circumstances. There is more information here:- https://patient.info/health/chronic-open-angle-glaucoma

What happens next with retinopathy depends on how advanced the retinopathy is. With background retinopathy, for example, you wouldn't need any treatment and would still be screened annually. There is more information here about the different stages of retinopathy and what treatments may be offered:- https://patient.info/health/diabetic-retinopathy-leaflet