i am currently on my third prescription from the optician since feb and am scared I’m losing my sight rapidly when I mentioned this to my gp he didn’t seem concerned, I am though.
Advice please
- Thread starter Katescar
- Start Date
I’ve been diagnosed about five years now, I have had numerous conversations with gp/nurse that I feel so unwell even on the medication, I’m on two lots but still feel lousy. I never seem to get s astraigh answer regarding checking blood sugar levels so do I or don’t I as everyone gives me a different answer.
Safi
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It's really important that you do test your sugar levels. I know that many HCP's discourage it but how the heck else will you know if the foods you're eating are increasing your blood sugar to unhealthy levels? Are you getting regular diabetic check ups including A1C, foot checks & retinopathy screenings?
EDIT: Can you also let people know which medications you take & what sort of diet you have? It will help to frame answers
EDIT: Can you also let people know which medications you take & what sort of diet you have? It will help to frame answers
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Hi Katescar, I see you aren’t new to the forum but as this is your first post I’ll tag in @daisy1 incase you haven’t seen her useful info post.
I think the majority of folks here would advise home testing, I certainly would. It’s the only way to know how you’re getting on on a day to day basis.
Can you tell us a little more about yourself if you are comfortable doing so. As @Safi has said some background on your latest HbA1c result, your meds and what you eat in a typical day. That will all help us to try to help you.
I think the majority of folks here would advise home testing, I certainly would. It’s the only way to know how you’re getting on on a day to day basis.
Can you tell us a little more about yourself if you are comfortable doing so. As @Safi has said some background on your latest HbA1c result, your meds and what you eat in a typical day. That will all help us to try to help you.
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It's quite common for people (usually in their fifties) to rapidly lose the ability to see at short distances - my husband went from no prescription to needing +3 in less than a year, and he isn't diabetic. So if it's reading glasses that have changed and you're that sort of age, it's actually not that worrying. Did you ask the optician what was going on?
The “first do no harm” philosophy of medical care makes me laugh. “But don’t bother checking to see if your blood glucose hit twenty after dinner” is perfectly fine. Telling T2 diabetics not to monitor their glucose is incredibly dangerous advice, and it sickens me. If I ever hear another GP tell me this I’m going to get very angry.
That aside, an eye test/exam at an opticians would normally highlight retinopathy. Not sure about macular edema though. If you’re really concerned you should push for a referral to ophthalmology. Above all else, don’t settle for your doctor’s opinion if you’re not happy. Most GP’s are fairly clueless when it comes to diabetes. And it’s not his/her body or fault when it goes wrong. Any issues you have will just be because “it’s a degenerative disease”
That aside, an eye test/exam at an opticians would normally highlight retinopathy. Not sure about macular edema though. If you’re really concerned you should push for a referral to ophthalmology. Above all else, don’t settle for your doctor’s opinion if you’re not happy. Most GP’s are fairly clueless when it comes to diabetes. And it’s not his/her body or fault when it goes wrong. Any issues you have will just be because “it’s a degenerative disease”
daisy1
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@Katescar
Hello Katescar and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask questions when you need to and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.
Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.
Hello Katescar and welcome to the Forum
Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask questions when you need to and someone will be able to help.BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.
Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.
- Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
- Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
HSSS
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If for any reason you recently got better control of your diabetes and your numbers have dropped rapidly I understand that can change vision as your eyes readjust to the lower (better) glucose levels. I’ve seen people on here starting low carb talk about experiencing this.
Boo1979
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I would agree that it may (or may not) be nothing to do with diabetes. - I experienced a period of needing repeated ( & expensive!) changes in my eye prescription in my early 50’s but my prescription has been unchanged now for the last 6 or 7 years - my sugars were stable and low throughout.
https://www.aoa.org/patients-and-pu...ars-of-age/adult-vision-41-to-60-years-of-age
https://www.aoa.org/patients-and-pu...ars-of-age/adult-vision-41-to-60-years-of-age
This mirrors my experience. I was diagnosed diabetic through the discovery of retinopathy by my optician. Initially the retinpothay cleared up slightly, but when my glucose numbers really plummeted it became worse. I had to have laser treatment. As time went on and my control got better and better, I developed macular edema for which I’ve had to have anti-VEGF injections in my eyeballs. It’s all settling down now and I’m nearly back to full visual health, but my point is that my eye health became worse as my metabolic health improved.
I was going to mention that as we “mature”, there is a point when our vision changes fairly rapidly.
When my Mom was at that age, she was sure she was going to die. She had a brain tumor. She must, because she had headaches and blurry vision. She was a bit put out when her doctor told her she was just getting older and needed glasses.
HSSS
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Not quite what I referred to but good to hear it’s all getting sorted now and would likely have got worse I feel not diagnosed at the point it was.
I meant that visual acuity suffers for a while as glucose concentrations adjust rather than actual diabetic complications such as retinopathy or edema.
Yeah sorry, I wasn’t clear. I just meant that improving diabetes control can have a deleterious effect on eyes in the short term. Generally speaking
