advise please on blurred eye vision

[sarah1981]

i have been diabetic now for 9yrs and have always ran my blood sugars slightly high due to having a hectic life style.
i quite often miss my doctors review appointment but i have always attended my retinopathy check ups and had my last one in sept just gone which did state that there was a slight change in my eye sight but better diabetic control was all that was needed and that i was to go back in 12 months time.
over the last 3 weeks i have started to suffer badly with my eye sight to the point that i now cant focus on things that are as little as 6ft away from me. i am really worried now that i might have permanent damage to my eyes (i have booked in to have them tested tomorrow) can diabetic eye complications happen as quickly as that? they are getting worse by the day and i really have no idea what is causing this. has anybody else had any similar problems before?

 

[noblehead]

High bg can make the lens of the eyes swell which in turn leads to blurred vision, however your doing the right thing getting them checked tomorrow and I hope it's nothing too serious.

 

[collectingrocks]

Hi Sarah, how did your eye exam go?

 

[ConradJ]

Hello Sarah,

I don't want to be an alarmist, but... you need to bring your BG's down - and get your HbA1c down to around 6.5 to reduce the development of retinopathy. I've recently met another T1 whose needed two major operations to rectify retinal detachments in both eyes owing to prolific retinopathy and poor glucose control. He can barely see now and all this in less than 18 months.

As you'll see from my signature, I've developed similar conditions, but am working hard to stabilise my BG's and bring them down safely (this is important - if you try to bring your HbA1c down too quickly, you can accelerate retinopathy)...

To achieve this, I see my DSN (Diabetes Specialist Nurse) almost every month. I truly understand your starting point (hectic life, running high, etc.) - I was the same and now I'm paying the price.

So, in addition to seeing your Ophthalmologist at the Retinopathy clinic, and your usual opticians, PLEASE see your diabetes specialist team and get help - it's what they're there for.

BTW, Diabetes UK have just released a short video about Care Planning, which explains what your diabetes review is for and how to go about deciding what you need from your NHS team. http://www.diabetes.org.uk/care-planning

You should also look at their 15 Healthcare Essentials: http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Monitoring/15-healthcare-essentials/ which explains about the sorts of treatment standards every diabetic should receive from their healthcare team.

Diabetes (both T1 and T2) is a subtle and insidious condition that works silently away inside of you; poor control kills or causes such nasty complications that you really need to stop for a moment and realise that taking control of it is really about taking care of yourself.

If I sound a bit dour, please excuse me: I feel quite useless at this moment in time... Earlier this evening, I spoke with the father of a 24 year T1D who died on Monday from severe complications and Gastroparesis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroparesis), which is often brought on by diabetes. This young man was diagnosed T1 at 11 years of age, and - in the words of his father, 'just wouldn't accept that he was diabetic and just wanted to be normal like his friends.'

How I so understood his late son's wishes.