Eye sight

[Jane1980]

Good evening.
I hope someone can reply!
My bloods have been pushing 20 for months!
Changed background insulin and melted massively, but eyesight seems blurry? I’m hoping it’s my body adjusting! Anyone else had this

 

[Hertfordshiremum]

Good evening.
I hope someone can reply!
My bloods have been pushing 20 for months!
Changed background insulin and melted massively, but eyesight seems blurry? I’m hoping it’s my body adjusting! Anyone else had this

My eyesight is the first thing that is effected when my blood glucose changes a lot. Should settle down

 

[Jane1980]

That’s reassuring, i have to try really hard to focus sometimes! How quickly did your adjust?

 

[Hertfordshiremum]

That’s reassuring, i have to try really hard to focus sometimes! How quickly did your adjust?

I think it took best part of a week, although even now if I spike blurry vision is the first sign for me that I have a problem.

 

[Jane1980]

I am on a week, will keep going for a few more days then! I’m running an average of 20! So guess will take a while to adjust

 

[Hertfordshiremum]

I am on a week, will keep going for a few more days then! I’m running an average of 20! So guess will take a while to adjust

Has the change of background insulin not helped?

 

[Jane1980]

It’s helping lower my bloods, but eyes are quite blurry

 

[Jane1980]

Has the change of background insulin not helped?

Should I be worried

 

[Seacrow]

Should I be worried

Running an average of 20? Yes, you should be worried.

Spiking to 20 isn't great, but unlikely (IMHO) to do permanent damage. Running at that level is doing damage, and if you don't manage to reduce your blood glucose you will do permanent, irreversible damage.

I ran too high, about the same levels, for nearly two years. I have diabetic neuropathy, double vision, gastroparesis and a nearly permanent frozen shoulder. My vision took a month to get back to as stable as it gets. Please be smarter than I was, and get your blood glucose levels down as soon as you safely can.

 

[Jane1980]

I am trying really hard too, it’s been running high for a long time also, little bit of me being scared to have the right insulin, I am petrified of going low! I’m dealing with this now and with a better background in place things are starting to improve!

 

[Seacrow]

I am trying really hard too, it’s been running high for a long time also, little bit of me being scared to have the right insulin, I am petrified of going low! I’m dealing with this now and with a better background in place things are starting to improve!

That's really good then. If you still have hypo awareness, it might help your fear if you did a supervised hypo. They offered this to me at diagnosis, but I just wanted out of the hospital. If you know what your hypo symptoms are and how low stops you functioning it might not be such a terrifying prospect.

Well done on starting to deal with it though.

 

[EllieM]

I am trying really hard too, it’s been running high for a long time also, little bit of me being scared to have the right insulin, I am petrified of going low! I’m dealing with this now and with a better background in place things are starting to improve!

Great that things are starting to improve but I think it might help you to try and work on your hypo fear. Failing that, talk to your clinic and see if you can get a cgm prescribed so that you get warnings of hypos.

As a T1 for 51 years, I had only a couple of hypos in my childhood pre-glucometer years, but I spent a lot of my teenage years running very high (I was thirsty) and only got control when I was given a glucometer in my early 20s. At that point I got hypos, but was hypo aware, so I just treated them and went on with life. Unless you're driving a car at the time, a hypo is very unlikely to kill you or be more than an inconvenience. So, always carry glucose and do a blood test before you drive. Most T1s get hypos and we learn to live with them.

If you're not hypo aware then push strongly for access to a cgm with alarms, you need them. (And there are ways to regain hypo awareness if you've lost it, speaking from personal experience).

I agree with @Seacrow that running at 20 is dangerous and doing your body no favours. Short term, we all have bad periods when we get ill, something weird happens and we just can't get our bgs right, but long term at 20 you need to ask your diabetic team for help.

Lots of virtual hugs, it's never too late to improve your diabetic control.

 

[Hertfordshiremum]

I am trying really hard too, it’s been running high for a long time also, little bit of me being scared to have the right insulin, I am petrified of going low! I’m dealing with this now and with a better background in place things are starting to improve!

I agree with Ellie definitely try for a Libre 2 with the alarms on prescription to help with a fear of hypos. I go very high when even slightly ill and hypo easily (especially cold weather) Being used to both I definitely feel far worse running at 20 than at 3.5 Now I have the Libre 2 on prescription I don’t think I have had any hypos, my alarm goes off at 4.2, if I going down I have one jelly baby. 15 minutes later Hypo avoided.

If I am at 20 I feel terrible, headache, blurry vision, disorientated and have to wait for my fast acting insulin to work, usually at least an hour I certainly struggle to do anything. Then I start to worry about ketones…. Easier said than done but I am sure you will feel much better if you could get you average down to single figures.

I understand fear is a very real thing do make sure your team are extremely aware. Really push them for some help with a Libre 2. They should be able to refer you to an endocrinologist who can phone you for an assessment. What insulin do you have?

 

[In Response]

A Libre can be a great tool.
But only if you understand it and its limitations. In particular I am thinking about the inaccuracies when in double figures.
If @Jane1980 you are used to running your levels in the 20s and bringing them down to the teens, Libre will not be great.
It will be great if you are in single figures and need an alert if you are close to getting a hypo.

 

[jape]

An occasional 20 might be 'OK' (not really, but it happens...). A consistent 20 is really really really bad. You don't state whether you are T1 or T2. Also, you don't state whether your diet routine is contributing to your high blood sugar level.

For me, after I have sinned by eating too much carb rich foods, the most effective way to get my blood sugar levels down from the mountains is by injecting myself with fast acting insulin, and then closely monitoring my blood sugar levels with my libre (every 15 or 20 minutes), so that I can take corrective action if I have overdosed. An understanding of how one's body respond to insulin is crucial.

Concerning eyesight, I wore prescription glasses for more than 30 years, before diagnosed with diabetes. After diagnosis, i no longer need glasses to see in the distance, but now I cannot read anything without glasses. This reversal has been puzzling to me for more than 13 years now.

 

[Antje77]

It’s helping lower my bloods, but eyes are quite blurry

Try on a pair of cheap reading glasses for the time being, they can be very helpful while your eyes are adjusting to lower numbers.

I am petrified of going low!

Do you know what scares you so much about it? Do you have experience of real horribly hypos? Can you think of ways to work on your fear so it might become easier to handle?
For me, hypo's are annoying, and it's a very yucky feeling, but easily solved as well. And now with the Libre I usually notice I'm heading towards a hypo before I drop too low, so I can just nudge my bg up a little before going hypo.

 

[Ushthetaff]

Have to agree with majority here , running with levels at 20 will eventually cause problems I did it for a long time and now have only one leg , hypos can be scary but can be quite easily dealt with and once you’ve had a few they don’t seem so scary ,a Libre will help even with its reported inaccuracies , as at this time your not looking to keep a tight range just reduce your bs control the Libre will at least assist with the downward trend, once your on the downward trend and bs get below 10 then the inaccuracies of Libre are reduced,