Background Retinopathy

DanniP

Member
Messages
16
Hi Everyone

I am 23, have had T1 for 11 years and recently had my annual eye screening. I have never had any problems with my eyes before and was always asked to come back in 12 months. This time I went to a different opticians to usual, he didnt put drops in my eyes (he said that it wasn't necessary this time and that the pictures of my eye should come out fine), he then checked over them quickly and said "at first glance all it looks like is that you have background retinopathy, but nothing to worry about" he went on to say that he would have a closer look and I'd receive the results in the next 6 weeks.

I AM TERRIFIED. I have never been told I have had background retinopathy before but when I told him this he said that almost all diabetics have it to some degree and that the treatment is to continue taking insulin and managing diet. Is this the case? Is it likely that I would have had background retinopathy previously but it wasn't considered worth mentioning?

I am concerned that this will continue to deteriorate and that I could be left blind. I am looking for reassurance really but also tips as to how I can prevent the background retinopathy getting worse or is a decline inevitable?

Any advice would be much appreciated :)
 

hanadr

Expert
Messages
8,157
Dislikes
soaps on telly and people talking about the characters as if they were real.
Many diabetics have background retinopathy. It's not something to panic over. Most cases don't need any treatment and if you keep your blood glucose and blood pressure under GOOD control, it need not progress to anything more. I was diagnosed with background retinopathy about 9 years ago. It's never developed further and may have improved[ It looks like it to me on the pictures, but they won't comment] with near normal blood sugars and blood pressure
Hana
 

robert72

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,878
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi Danni

If you could aim to reduce your HbA1c down to 7.5 or 7 over the next year that would help - but do it slowly as dramatic improvements can have adverse effects (so they say).
 

DanniP

Member
Messages
16
Yes, that's what I though too. My hbA1c is currently about 8.4, but I am due to start on a pump around the end of the year depending on the waiting list and hopefully this will help me to improve it a lot more.