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Background Retinopathy

Spirit01

Well-Known Member
Messages
201
Location
Essex
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Medical term discussions
I recently had my annual diabetes eye check. For the first time ever I was asked “if we find anything do you prefer Colchester or Broomfield”. Today I get my results letter which tells me that they have discovered background retinopathy. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information, the letter states that no treatment is necessary and yet if I check with Dr Google (NHS) I may have to start treatment. If nothing else type 2 seems to have many different ideas.
 
I know I've now had background retinopathy for somewhere between 5 and 10 years, just background retinopathy they don't do anything about and as long as it doesn't get any worse they don't do anything about it but do make sure you go to your next screening to get it checked again when they call for you.
So far I've not needed any treatment because it hasn't progressed beyond 'background'
 
I’ve had background retinopathy ever since I was diagnosed 11 years ago. It hasn’t progressed.

do your best to control blood sugars and go to the annual checks and hopefully it will all be ok.
 
Bless you for your answers.
 
I see a consultant ophthalmologist for other reasons and asked him about diabetic retinopathy. He said best way to control or prevent it is to keep sugars low.
He and I have struck a deal, he's coping with my other problems with surgery and medication, I'm taking care of my sugars so he does not have to cope with retinopathy too.

It's my main motivation . I just need to remember it!
 
I have been told I had background retinopathy which does not need treating.
That was about 5 years ago.
Since then, I have tightened my diabetes management and my eyes are completely clear.

The lesson is that background retinopathy can be reversed and is not part of a slippery slope.
 

Thank you. All I’ve read tells me it’s not reversible, thank goodness for the support & advice on this site. I’m in remission but not confirmed by DN as apparently my blood has to remain good for a year. My new DN and her assistant are great but unfortunately there’s only 1 Dr at the surgery I trust. There’s one in particular that if I went in with a stubbed toe he’d try to get me on statins . I’m mostly a protein diet but occasionally have a bread roll as a treat but that’s probably once a month. I do very occasionally have a few potatoes but again it would be about once a month. I do like a dessert so I have sugar free jelly or Halo Top ice cream. If I crave crisps it’s quavers. I also intermittently fast. I don’t eat until around 12.30hrs and then again around 18.00hrs. I really am trying but when I got my letter it knocked me a bit & TBH I thought at 67 why am I bothering. Thank you all for your great comments
 
@Spirit01 if you ever fancy an alternative to Quavers to sate your crisp cravings, Skips are also relatively low carb. There are currently some lentil puffs in my local Morrison's that are also less than 10g carbs per bag. And pretty tasty.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
In Response said:
@Spirit01 if you ever fancy an alternative to Quavers to date your crisp cravings, Skips are also relatively low carb. There are currently some lentil puffs in my local Morrison's that are also less than 10g carbs per bag. And pretty tasty.
Click to expand...

I’ll certainly give that a go thank you very much
 

I’ve had it for 2 or 3 years now.. if you control your diabetes then you can halt progression, there is nothing to treat at this point it’s only as it progresses that treatment may be required
 

Dr Google says 'you may'. That's a general bit of advice. But the specific advice for you is no treatment needed.
 
They found some a couple of years ago for me - probably a slight bleed but it already appears to be healing I was told when I called them to ask about it. Nothing showed up a year later.
 
If you are in England, I understand that the scans are reviewed by humans who can make mistakes/assumptions.
A couple of years ago, I asked at my scan what happened to the pictures.

After they are checked briefly at the appointment to ensure the quality of the photos, they are sent to the lab.
Two clinicians independently review the pictures for anomalies (bleeds, etc.)
If they both see nothing of interest, that is it - you receive an "all clear" letter.
If either see a problem or they disagree, a third (senior) person will review them and make the call.

As these guys are looking for very small anomalies they could see something which turns out to be nothing or is easy to heal.


In Scotland, they use a different method - they have a computer program to review the photos.
Whilst they take one photo per eye in Scotland, they take two in England (with the eye looking in different directions). The computer program is unable to align these two pictures so cannot be used.
 

I'm in Scotland and they take two images with me looking in slightly different directions. And I'm lucky - they don't need to use the drops to do my eyes, so no problem driving home afterwards.
 
Well things are now very confusing. As I posted I was told I have “background retinopathy” but no treatment is necessary. I’ve just had my annual optician check, Vision Express, and I was offered the normal free checks or I could pay and have a scan via their new machine that they had received the day before. I had the full scan and the optician checked the results & decided he needed to write to my GP practice. He wrote on the notes “urgent” and when I questioned this he said it was absolutely nothing to worry about he just wanted to ensure the practice read his notes. My NHS check said no treatment (June) and yet now in July due to an optician check I have a hospital appointment with an eye doctor in September. What the heck did the NHS check miss and why bother having them if the optician can give a more thorough check ? I would like to say I’m not concerned but that wouldn’t be truthful
 
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