Advanced retinopathy

Welcome to the forum @Tanny35

It's likely that the blood has settled to the bottom of the eye whilst you've been sleeping and when you wake up and move around it disperses again..............hence your poor vision earlier in the day.

If you have a look at the following it has a wealth of advice and information on diabetic retinopathy, have a good read around the site and pay attention to the advice on bg, bp and cholesterol control:

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

I've had diabetic retinopthy problems myself but have been problem-free for the last 12 years, so don't give up and keep persevering with the treatment for now, if you have any questions or concerns then don't be afraid to mention them to your Ophthalmologist. Best wishes.

Hi @Tanny35 welcome to the forum!

I have had the same problem recently but I'd already had a lot of laser treatment so had progressed onto injections (because I'm still not well controlled, not because the laser doesn't work). So I can't say how the laser will affect it but I would think it would help. If you do have to have injections though, I've had just one so far and it's made a huge difference and they are far, far less scary than they sound!

I suggest asking at your next laser appointment (or sooner if this isn't for a while?) what the treatment plan and expected outcome from the lasering is, and hopefully they'll be able to get things clearer for you (both in your head and your eyes )

Hi Tanny
My husband had proliferative retinopathy when he was diagnosed as T2 and had laser treatment soon after. He had been having bleeds and had blurred vision. I'm not sure that the laser treatment actually improved things, rather it stops things from getting worse, though someone may correct me on that.
However, the good news is that things did improve, not only has nothing got worse over the past three years, but there has been healing. This has happened due to a low carb diet and has been monitored by a consultant, who described it as "amazing". As a type 2, he can, of course, simply cut out most carbs and therefor have normal blood sugar readings. As a T1, I appreciate it is rather more complicated, but if you can work towards normal or near normal blood sugars, via a low carb approach to diet, there is a good chance that your situation will improve too.
Sally

@Tanny35, do try and get your diabetes under control, maybe enquire about doing a DAFNE course if your unsure about carb counting and adjusting your own basal and bolus insulins, but the foundation to good control is getting the basal dose right.

Just be aware though, when retinopathy is active and diabetes is uncontrolled it's important to make improvements slowly, it mentions this on the website that I linked to earlier but you should also talk to your Ophthalmologist and Endo about this before making any drastic changes, the reason being is any sudden improvements in bg control can make diabetic retinopathy worse so it's best to seek advice first.

Tanny35 said:

I know this might sound like a really daft question - and might not be something anyone can answer in which case I will ask the doctor. But is it ok to use eye drops (as in refreshing eye drops or the tired eye ones) with retinopothy?

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I would have thought refreshing eye drops would be OK as that's front of the eye and retinopathy is back of the eye. But I'll tag @Dark Horse who seems to know more about eye stuff.

Tanny35 said:

I know this might sound like a really daft question - and might not be something anyone can answer in which case I will ask the doctor. But is it ok to use eye drops (as in refreshing eye drops or the tired eye ones) with retinopothy?

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I'm unsure of the answer, you may want to ask your Dr or Ophthalmologist before purchasing them @Tanny35

Hi @Tanny35
I have had retinopathy issues over the past 15+ years and My opthalmologist at one point actually apologised for telling me i would require some form of treatment for dry eyes.( separate but relevant issue )
I have used lacri-lube ( which works quite well but is a bit sticky when applying )
I currently use a carbomer eye drop which is quite soothing and lasts for about 4-6 hours

I also had retinopathy in the late 90s, but never any bleeds. I had about 6 laser sessions (3 to each eye) and have been stable for the last 18 years, so it's not necessarily progressive. I also suffer from dry eyes and use similar treatments to those @himtoo uses.

I agree with @robert72 - the drops have their effect at the front of the eye and are unlikely to affect the retina and therefore retinopathy. Dry eyes is not uncommon in diabetes and tear drop preparations are often recommended - this page may be useful:-
http://www.diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/sore_dry_eyes_in_diabetes.html

@Tanny35 - you sound like you have had a vitreous haemorrhage. This can happen when there has been growth of new vessels in the retina (proliferative retinopathy). The new vessels are more fragile than normal blood vessels and can easily bleed into the vitreous which obscures your vision. The laser does not treat the haemorrhage directly, but stops the retina from sending out chemicals telling the new vessels to grow. After laser, the new vessels usually regress which stops the risk of new bleeds.

The existing vitreous haemorrhage is likely to clear of its own accord over a matter of weeks or possibly a few months and if the laser has been successful in preventing fresh bleeds, your vision should improve.

Hi all,
Before talking about my experiences with retinopathy, I would like to say that since finding this forum a few weeks ago I have felt so much less alone. I am always so happy to read of people’s success stories with this hateful disease. I understand your struggles with it and the frustrations and fears it brings to us all and I feel that finally I have found a place where people can understand mine. I think it’s amazing that such a forum exists and that people come here and encourage, give support and information to fellow diabetics in need. I have learnt so much in these past couple of weeks both from the people who post and the books that have been recommended. I have read so many books on diabetes, low carb diet etc. since joining that have confirmed what I have felt since I was diagnosed with type one over thirty years ago as a teenager. Unfortunately, I have all the types of retinopathy that are mentioned in these threads. I have had laser in both eyes many times as well as the Avastin injections. I have extremely poor vision in my right eye, in fact I am registered partially sighted, also no night vision in either. I think you guys explain so much better than the many doctors who treat us. I have only one hope and that is that the “good” eye, it’s very sick too, but luckily I can still see faces and sunsets and I am able to read with a kindle, thank God for the person who invented the ebook.. being a prolific reader I don’t know how I would have coped without it.
As for retinopathy I was told that keeping bloods very low caused it ... the constant hypos.. but to be honest I think it’s the spikes and the lows together... the diabetic rollercoaster of which I suffered until a week ago when I started a low carb diet unfortunately without the approval of my doctor ... my blood glucose results have been the best they’ve ever been since I was a teenager ... I wish I had never left this lifestyle and Perhaps have saved myself the anguish of losing my vision ... I so miss driving too.. as well as all the other complications from following the dafne and carb loads that just never worked for me. Sorry it’s really off topic, I really just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posts... it means so much to share and understand.