Background retinopathy

Hopefully your good control will stop it progressing further but there's no guarantees, also keep an eye on your bp and cholesterol levels as these need to be controlled with diabetic retinopathy.

The following website explains all there is to know about the condition and has some excellent advice and information:

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

If you can keep your blood levels in good order the chances are you'll be able to keep it at this level which is just in the background,

My background retionopathy has completely cleared for 3 years now.

Largely due to the pump and having stable blood readings. I think personally that mine diappeared due to having minimal swings in my levels.

Don't get me wrong I have had days of set failures or occlusions etc that have caused major highs, however in the whole pattern of my levels they aren't frequent.

The best thing I have done is to have more fat and this was explained very clearly by Phoenix on a posting to me. Probably only been 8 weeks or a tad more since increasing fat like coconut oil and ground almond / blueberry muffins or lovely crustless quiches etc.. Even though my fluctuations in readings weren't too bad before, they are even better now.


Loving life

I was diagnosed with T2 two years ago and almost immediately found to have background retinopathy in both eyes. I also had a patch of Diabetic Macular Oedema. In the last month I had some treatment for the DMO. My retinopathy has now gone, in fact the consultant after talking about the DMO said 'other than that your eyes are fine'.

So it is possible to recover from retinopathy but it does take good control of three key things (wow their lectures did hit home) those being Blood Sugar, Cholesterol, and Blood Pressure. I managed to do this using a LCHF diet reducing and stabilising all three (plus lots of miles on my bike). The method in achieving them is important its the result which counts. The consultants said it is the only way to control the retinopathy.

A WORD OF WARNING: I have been told and it has been highlighted several times on this forum that a rapid drop in BS can initially increase the retinopathy so take it easy and look for long term reduction and stability.

Hi - ive just been reading through your replies as I have a friend who also suffers from background retinopathy, they are currently using a sleep mask called Noctura 400. So far they are getting on really well with the mask and have been getting great results from their regular eye appointments - thought it was worth sharing with you.

I am using this as well and getting good results

That's great news i think its definitely something worth looking into if you suffer from retinopathy

Hi everyone.
I was interested to read about the "sleep mask" where can I get one?
I am not sure it will will help me as I am in later stages of retinopathy,but anything is worth a try.
My first time on the forum so I just wantef to say its nice to meet you all

Jaclack said:

Hi everyone.
I was interested to read about the "sleep mask" where can I get one?
I am not sure it will will help me as I am in later stages of retinopathy,but anything is worth a try.
My first time on the forum so I just wantef to say its nice to meet you all

Click to expand...

Its not available on the NHS yet as its still undergoing trials I believe, but I'll tag @himtoo as he may be able to help you.

Jaclack said:

Hi everyone.
I was interested to read about the "sleep mask" where can I get one?
I am not sure it will will help me as I am in later stages of retinopathy,but anything is worth a try.
My first time on the forum so I just wantef to say its nice to meet you all

Click to expand...

Hi @Jaclack
welcome to the forum
here is a link to the company www.noctura.com .
If you would like to make an enquiry, please call Kerry on 01740 625 181 -- she is really great and will talk you through all you need to know and the nearest place you can get one ( as long as you are in the UK )

Good Luck !!

hi embem I was diagnosed with this a couple of months ago and was devastated and I am 29 years old so understand completely. All the professional have contrasting information i am finding but that could just be me. However I am controlled to technically at 7.5 my blood pressure has always been low, so they think if i can get to 6.0 it will get better and not get worse. I am thinking of trying to get a CGM to help me. Have you consider this? if you don't already have it

Thanks for info him too,I don't need this at the moment,but,another arrow in the quiver.