Background retinopathy

I had the same on my screening two years post diagnosis type 1.

Your right it does come as a shock. With me no one could really understand why as A1c's consistently at 6 and no significant spikes so not a lot I could do to improve things

Last three screenings have showed no progression


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Hi CarlyB,

I sometimes have eye screening results with background retinopathy, then the next time I have a clear result. The very small blood vessels can leak at the back of the eye. This small leakage can be reabsorbed therefore showing the clear result. With good blood glucose control this can be halted or reduced, but it can also just happen with diabetes. No treatment is required from the hospital with background retinopathy. Being diabetic, you can also get the same photos taken for free with your optician. Try this in a month to see if it is still there. I know it's worrying but I hope this helps a bit.

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Hi Carly
it is a real shock the first time you are told that you have background retinopathy.
doing your best with BG's and blood pressure are the 2 main keys to keeping it where it is now.

I have been going to opthalmology clinic for the last 28 years and although the retinopathy has progressed some in my left eye the right eye is excellent and left eye is good.
I still drive-----

Yes it is upsetting when you are first told. I had it when first diagnosed with diabetes so it was obvious that I had it for quite some time before diagnosis. I am hoping now I seem to have things under control last hba1c 39 that it will disappear by the next scan but there is no guarantee of that.

CarlyB said:

Who out there has it? Is it as common as they say? And who's retinopathy has progressed?

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Hi @CarlyB

Unfortunately mine progressed but have been clear for around 12 years now, but many some people do get told they have diabetes retinopathy for it to progress no further, keeping bg, bp and cholesterol under control will help reduce the chances of it progressing.

You may have seen the following website before but I'll post it anywayn as it has a wealth of information & advice on DR and is worthy of a read:

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

I, too, have background retinopathy. I think the first thing to say is "Don't Panic" - at least it has been identified at an early stage and you can adopt strategies to prevent it from developing. As has already been said, try to keep your B/S control good, and your blood pressure at normal levels (good for all sorts of reasons, not just retinopathy, but people tend to forget that it can make retinopathy worse just as easily as poor B/S control can).

We are lucky that there are various treatments available nowadays, should the condition develop. Some of them sound toe-curlingly awful but my understanding is that they're more unpleasant in anticipation than in reality, and they sure beat the alternative

noblehead said:

Hi @CarlyB

Unfortunately mine progressed but have been clear for around 12 years now, but many some people do get told they have diabetes retinopathy for it to progress no further, keeping bg, bp and cholesterol under control will help reduce the chances of it progressing.

You may have seen the following website before but I'll post it anywayn as it has a wealth of information & advice on DR and is worthy of a read:

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

Click to expand...

Wow, that website is scary stuff!.................I have had background retinopathy for 4 years. the site suggests that you can get a sudden deterioration if your Hba1c drops quickly, and mine has come down from 10 to 6 in 5 months................I will get my next eye test brought forward, as have noticed a lot more floaters recently.

I had exactly the same thing happen at my screening last month. I was pretty freaked out when I read my letter. I did some research, spoke to my DSN, the eye screening clinic (you can get a call back from the graders for a good explanation of what they found), my GP and I had another 3D eye scan at my opticians to try and get a better look. All were reassuring about what the results meant and I am happy that it is something manageable. But the key things I picked up were that it could disappear/not progress, it could have been a result of my improved control from switching to a pump, and cholesterol has an impact so I'm trying to improve that as well.

Jasperville said:

Wow, that website is scary stuff!.................I have had background retinopathy for 4 years. the site suggests that you can get a sudden deterioration if your Hba1c drops quickly, and mine has come down from 10 to 6 in 5 months................I will get my next eye test brought forward, as have noticed a lot more floaters recently.

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Hi @Jasperville

Yes the website does say this and Ophthalmologist should warn patients who have uncontrolled diabetes not to tighten their bg control up too quickly but do so over a longer period of time, but the website also says that good bg management (together with good bp & cholesterol control) is undoubtedly beneficial in the long term to prevent further problems with retinopathy and to prevent other diabetes related complications.