Blurred vision

[Georgew]

Hi,

Just being diagnosed with type 2, My eye sight is blurred, at first at long distance now at any distances. I can not even use my glasses that I have for reading.

While in hospital I manged to gain some focus but now it has got worse, my blood sugar level is apprx 10, depending on time and has managed to go a low as 7.

Sounds stupid but I worried sick, I really don't want to stay like this. I know I should have gone to see the Dr when the thirst started but I thought it was another symptom from other Meds.

At present I have brought a pair of reading glasses +3 from the local supermarket which is helping slightly but , things are still tinged with blurryness.

Thanks for any advice in advance

 

[cugila]

Don't despair George. There is hope for your eyesight. Have a read of my post from July 2009.....my story about my eyesight and how it has recovered.

Since January of this year I made a concious decision to reduce my carbohydrate intake drastically down to about 60g carbs per day. This was taken after reading everything I could lay my hands on about carbohydrates and Blood glucose levels. I also read all I could on the Diabetes.co.uk website and information posted by many of the members who are now jetting between one place and another.

Back in 2001 I was told after an eyesight test that I needed glasses for driving as part of my job. So I went off to my local Optician who again tested me and confirmed what I had been told. A prescription was issued and I eventually got myself some glasses.

Since that time after following the 'healthy diet' advice pushed by the NHS etc my eyesight got steadily worse and worse, resulting in new glasses virtually every year. Then something strange happened. I found after 3 months on the reduced carbs my eyesight appeared to have improved quite dramatically ? I found that while driving I no longer needed the glasses, in fact if I put them on my vision was worse ! I thought that this meant I was going to end up with more glasses ?

So, my Retinal Screening and Annual Eyesight Test was due in July so I went along last week to have it all done. I told the Optician about my eyesight and he thought I was mistaken. He checked everything out and we examined the pics of my eyeballs and he stated that there was no problems at all there.
Good news.
Then we came to the result of my eye test. He looked at the results and he checked back through all my results since 2001 and said he couldn't understand it ? My eyesight was almost perfect. My eyes were in better condition now than they were before my eye tests in 2001. He wanted to know what had changed ? So I told him how I had reduced the carbs in my diet and reduced daily Bg levels by half to around 5-6 daily. He seemed quite bemused by this. He told me I didn't need glasses any more for driving - the only downside is that my close vision is not as good so I now need to sometimes wear reading glasses for the small print. I can live with that.

So for those who think reducing your carbs is not a good idea ? Here is proof if needed of another benefit to those of us who do.

Ken.

 

[Synonym]

Hello again George.

On diagnosis my eyesight was also blurry but now that my BG levels are so much better my eyesight is back to normal. I don’t wear glasses at all and never have but I do use pinhole glasses from jdharris.co.uk as a ‘trainer’ for just 15 minutes per day. 8)

It all takes time to get the levels down so don’t panic! :shock:

 

[phoenix]

Blurriness of vision at and soon after diagnosis is normally temporary and very common.
The lens of the eye, is a semi-permeable membrane. (its all to do with osmosis if you remember your school biology)
When the blood glucose level in the lens is high, fluid from surrounding tissues is drawn in to even out the concentration. The lens fills with fluid causing it to swell . This distorts it's shape changing the way the lens refracts light and hence affecting focus.
Sometimes this happens gradually (because glucose levels have risen gradually) and the brain is able to adapt and focus, however quite frequently people are prescribed stronger glasses because of the changes.
When they start to get the blood glucose under control, the fluid levels change again, changing the lens shape again , this time possibly more rapidly, causing blurred focus until the brain readapts. Glasses that were prescribed before may now be too strong.
Sometimes the lens distorts completely the other way. When I went into hospital, my levels went from very high to normal extremely quickly and I became very long sighted . I could see for miles out of the window but couldn't focus on the TV in the room as it was too near. In most cases the blurred vision resolve itself with more stable glucose levels. Mine took a couple of weeks but the time seems to vary .
Nevertheless, especially since you know you have had symptoms for some time, it is important that you get your eyes/retinas checked soon. (and regularly afterwards)