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Cataracts

PaulinaB

PaulinaB

Well-Known Member
Messages
594
Location
London, UK
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all,

Had my first diabetic eye screening on Friday and... it failed! At least that's what the nurse said the letter will say - that there was a "technical failure". But it's not because the machine broke. Apparently I have cataracts in my eyes, so the test could not be done. I'm 24 years old, diagnosed type 1 in Feb. My eyes were perfectly fine until a few weeks ago when they started to get "foggy" and now it seems I developed cataracts in both of them :(
They'll refer me to eye clinic, but first I need to officially get the results of the Friday's test ("couple of weeks") and wait for an appointment at the eye clinic ("few months"). In the meantime, any brighter light makes me half-blind and since I work in IT, looking at the computer screen all day is a nightmare... and it gets worse and worse. And that lovely, sunny weather doesn't help :(

Anyone had similar issues? Does it usually happens so fast? I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to work soon :(
Apparently diabetes is second most common cause for cataracts after age, but I've never really heard about it. Everyone talks about retinopathy, not cataracts!

PS.
Is there a way to change the forum's theme to something black-ish? White background is awful for me now...
 
Hiya! Im Leanne 18 type 1 since 14 i have had cataract in both eyes! Its a straight froward op everythjn is sooo clolurful afterwards! Although i still require glasses!




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oggy2203 said:
Hiya! Im Leanne 18 type 1 since 14 i have had cataract in both eyes! Its a straight froward op everythjn is sooo clolurful afterwards! Although i still require glasses!
Click to expand...

Hi Leanne! Thanks for replying. How long did it took for you to get the diagnosis and the operation afterwards? I want to be able to get back to work as soon as possible, not sure how long I'll have to wait to get everything scheduled and done...
(I'm assuming you're in UK)
 
I had each eye done about 3/5 months appart! It was a bit blurry and itchy but colourful and bright for about 1-2 weeks ish! Then i had amazing vision but now need glasses for reading and distance! It was fine tho! I was back to college 1 day after my ip just very blurry!


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Ah! Thanks for that :) I'm happy I'm not the only one :) Anything else you want to share, please feel free!

Glad you didn't have any complications and it turned out quite well for you!
 
I had one done in my left eye in day surgery, the procedure takes all of 10-15 mins and there's no pain involved. You do have to wear a eye patch afterwards and put drops in (I can't remember how long for) but overall it's well worth getting done, as Oggy says it makes things so much clearer.
 
Hi Paulina, pop along to your GP and ask for an urgent apt, he can speed things up for you esp if your job and or driving licence is at stake.
Wearing sunglasses when out in bright lights help no end
 
I know waiting lists can sometimes be a bit long in some areasm so private may be an option. My mum had hers done and costs were around £150/175 for initial consultation with the operstion costing £2200 per eye. This was about 5 years ago, but if you have work related health care it might be an option for you.

I realky hope things go ok for you and you get your sight sorted. My mum hated having it done, but does not regret doing it.

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Thanks everyone! I bought sunglasses two weeks ago and they've been saving my life since (sometimes quite literally because I can see a car before crossing a street...).

I'll wait for the official result letter with the referral and will probably see my gp then (I'm supposed to see him soon anyway).
Hopefully the waiting list won't be long and I'll be able to get this sorted soon.

Thanks again, it helped a lot to hear from people who have this behind them :) having my eye cut is still scary but I feel much better now!
 
PaulinaB said:
Thanks everyone! I bought sunglasses two weeks ago and they've been saving my life since (sometimes quite literally because I can see a car before crossing a street...).

I'll wait for the official result letter with the referral and will probably see my gp then (I'm supposed to see him soon anyway).
Hopefully the waiting list won't be long and I'll be able to get this sorted soon.

Thanks again, it helped a lot to hear from people who have this behind them :) having my eye cut is still scary but I feel much better now!
Click to expand...
You can have a sedative whilst they do the op or a GA if you prefer :)
 
I have cataracts diagnosed in both eyes and I am waiting for my Hba1c to come down before I have the double op. I'm not so keen on it because my understanding is the lenses of the eye are removed and replaced with plastic which is fixed focus. They do the equivalent of laser surgery while they are at it so they expect I will no longer have to wear glasses which is a bonus. Like you I suffer badly from glare. I developed cataracts early on, in the first couple of years of T1, but it has taken 20 years for them to progress to the point where an operation is needed. They were stable for many years.

I don't know what relationship there is, if any, between poor blood sugar control and cataracts. The weird thing is that DECS don't officially even screen diabetics for cataracts, just for retinopathy, yet apparently cataracts are a common diabetic complication.

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Spiker said:
I have cataracts diagnosed in both eyes and I am waiting for my Hba1c to come down before I have the double op. I'm not so keen on it because my understanding is the lenses of the eye are removed and replaced with plastic which is fixed focus. They do the equivalent of laser surgery while they are at it so they expect I will no longer have to wear glasses which is a bonus. Like you I suffer badly from glare. I developed cataracts early on, in the first couple of years of T1, but it has taken 20 years for them to progress to the point where an operation is needed. They were stable for many years.

I don't know what relationship there is, if any, between poor blood sugar control and cataracts. The weird thing is that DECS don't officially even screen diabetics for cataracts, just for retinopathy, yet apparently cataracts are a common diabetic complication.

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Click to expand...

Your blood sugar will have to be below 9 as well for the surgery to commence at most eye clinics. So be warned on the day.
It's very unusual for an NHS op to include laser surgery to correct your vision as well. You can opt to have different lenses put in that are non NHS and pay for them yourself but that's all my hospital offers.
High blood sugars are one of the many causes of cataracts as is steroid taking :( The idea for removing the cataract and giving you the distance lens is so that there's no problem with driving. I was given a very comprehensive booklet as to what to expect from the surgery. I was also warned that if you have retinopathy then it could be made worse by the surgery so a bit of laser might be required to seal any new vessels. So far touch wood I have no retinopathy and non has developed from the first eye being done.
I thought long and hard about the surgery due to having a lazy eye so if the good eye screwed in surgery I would be classed as visually impaired. Glad I had the lazy eye done first though so at least if anything goes wrong I can then have a bit of vision. Next op due in June :)
 
CarbsRok said:
Your blood sugar will have to be below 9 as well for the surgery to commence at most eye clinics. So be warned on the day.
Click to expand...
Spiker said:
I have cataracts diagnosed in both eyes and I am waiting for my Hba1c to come down before I have the double op.
Click to expand...

Aaahhh :( So if my Hba1c is still high (I'm newly diagnosed) but my daily sugars are "normal" (below 9) - will I have to wait for my Hba1c to come down as well before they decide I can have the surgery?

To be honest my vision can go from half-blind (in day light) to almost perfect (at night, low light) - but that may be, because you don't really expect to see much at night anyway :D

I'm still waiting for the official result letter to come and I'm going to see my GP straight afterwards. Will see what he says... Hopefully the letter will come soon, because this is awful. My vision degraded over a period of weeks(!), but it seems to be "stable" now (or at least it's getting worse much slower) - it doesn't change the fact that I need to take a lot of breaks at work to be able to see anything :(

Also, everyone are making fun of me, because I wear sunglasses all the time... I would wear them in the office as well, but that would be way too weird. Although if it's going to be like that much longer, I might not give a **** and wear them in the office as well :p

PS.
Honestly, there's no dark theme of the forum, is there? This white background is terrible :(
 
On the positive note, my hearing got a lot better (I'm guessing it's the "senses switch", when one sense gets worse, other takes the role or something):D
Though the office is too loud now, so it's hard to focus :( I need to wear headphones just to cut the noise out...
 
Paulina, I have had cataract operations done on both eyes - and long before my diabetes diagnosis. So I do not believe that cataracts are necessarily a 'bi-product' of diabetes. - When they operated new lenses into my eyes, they did in fact compensate slightly for my eye sight (glasses had to be adjusted for lower strength afterwards) - not a bad gain - and long distance I now see like a hawk.

As said above, the operation is painless, and results are wonderful. At the time - having a very active and demanding work life - I chose to go private. The referral time for an appointment with a public free-of-charge felt just too long. And I was back to work in only two days.

And I agree with CarbsRock, that it would be unusual to include laser surgery.

annelise
 
Paulina, have a look on your computer there is a way to change the screen so you can see things better. I think you need to go see your GP before the letter comes so he can get things moving quickly for you, Hospitals do do emergency apts so you can be put in the system.
I'm not sure what the upper limit for an A1c is for surgery, suspect though you will be within limits after a few months.
Ask work to make adjustments for you as well as in different computer screen and daylight bulbs and magnifiers.
Different hospitals have different rules regarding A1c's and blood sugars on the day of surgery. So do not worry about that side of things.
Just noticed your A1c of 50 which = 6.7 in old money so you will be fine on that count :)
 
CarbsRok said:
Paulina, have a look on your computer there is a way to change the screen so you can see things better. I think you need to go see your GP before the letter comes so he can get things moving quickly for you, Hospitals do do emergency apts so you can be put in the system.
I'm not sure what the upper limit for an A1c is for surgery, suspect though you will be within limits after a few months.
Ask work to make adjustments for you as well as in different computer screen and daylight bulbs and magnifiers.
Different hospitals have different rules regarding A1c's and blood sugars on the day of surgery. So do not worry about that side of things.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I did adjusted my screens, etc, because originally I couldn't see a thing :) I don't really want to make a big fuss out of it, since I still manage to work.
 
Well I have cataracts and am waiting to have them done but the eye clinic will not do them until the cataract completely covers the whole of the lens .
I am a pensioner and know that cataracts are common to most elderly people but I do not know if diabetes can be a cause in younger people.
 
AnnieC said:
Well I have cataracts and am waiting to have them done but the eye clinic will not do them until the cataract completely covers the whole of the lens .
I am a pensioner and know that cataracts are common to most elderly people but I do not know if diabetes can be a cause in younger people.
Click to expand...

I received a leaflet saying that diabetes is a second most common cause after age :]
 
Thanks Paulina, for posting about this. Yet again I've learned something I didn't know. I had no idea cataracts were related to diabetes only that retinopathy was :(

I truly hope you get quick appointment and get it sorted out, it must have been scary having this diagnosed so early . Have you told them at work? Maybe they could make adjustments so it is easier for you while waiting for the op ?

Signy
 
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