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Can diabetic retinopathy be cured?

A

AbsMens

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Now I force myself to dislike chocolate
I was recently diagnosed with type 2 and I had a eye screening and the result said I had diabetic Retinopathy. I have to have a screening again in 6 months. Can this be reversed or stopped?
 
Sometimes. I've had on again off again retinopathy for years/decades. The more normal you keep your blood sugars the better.
 
AbsMens said:
I was recently diagnosed with type 2 and I had a eye screening and the result said I had diabetic Retinopathy. I have to have a screening again in 6 months. Can this be reversed or stopped?
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I'm going to tag on @Rachox who I think will be able to give you some more info.
 
If you go to the question box upper right of the Forum page and type in ' healed eyes' you will see a thread about this subject. Cautions and results. Best Wishes.
 
Jim Lahey said:
Yes but it sometimes gets worse before it gets better.
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True!
But if one manage to keep normal blood glucose levels, and also have ones lipid metabolism in control, it should be possible to reverse retinopathy, and also other possible problems derived from uncontrolled BSLs...
Taging @Mel dCP , who I know have been through this...
 
mike@work said:
True!
But if one manage to keep normal blood glucose levels, and also have ones lipid metabolism in control, it should be possible to reverse retinopathy, and also other possible problems derived from uncontrolled BSLs...
Taging @Mel dCP , who I know have been through this...
Click to expand...

Yeah for sure. Been there got the pyjamas. Bilateral laser followed by anti-VEGF for macular oedema in one eye. A year later the other eye is developing oedema that will likely need injections soon. I’ve had extremely good glucose control for 18+ months. So for me it’s most certainly been a case of getting worse before it gets better. But then again I had rampant and undiagnosed T2DM for seemingly well over a decade, and no doubt hyperinsulinemia for much longer than that.
 
Jim Lahey said:
Yeah for sure. Been there got the pyjamas. Bilateral laser followed by anti-VEGF for macular oedema in one eye. A year later the other eye is developing oedema that will likely need injections soon. I’ve had extremely good glucose control for 18+ months. So for me it’s most certainly been a case of getting worse before it gets better. But then again I had rampant and undiagnosed T2DM for seemingly well over a decade, and no doubt hyperinsulinemia for much longer than that.
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We'll keep our thumbs up and fingers crossed for you - hope all is starting to go in the right direction soon...
 

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AbsMens said:
I was recently diagnosed with type 2 and I had a eye screening and the result said I had diabetic Retinopathy. I have to have a screening again in 6 months. Can this be reversed or stopped?
Click to expand...
Diabetic retinopathy can improve with good control of blood glucose, lipids and blood pressure. This page talks about lifestyle choices that can help improve retinopathy:- http://diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/pre-proliferative.html

A large, sudden improvement in HbA1c (33 mmol/mol) may result in a temporary worsening of retinopathy in the short-term but with long-term improvement. Some people suggest a more gradual improvement to try and avoid this.
 
AbsMens said:
I was recently diagnosed with type 2 and I had a eye screening and the result said I had diabetic Retinopathy. I have to have a screening again in 6 months. Can this be reversed or stopped?
Click to expand...
Hi AbsMens, I was diagnosed Type 2 in May 17 with an HbA1c of 70. I had my retinal screen very quickly after that and it was normal. I went on to return my HbA1c to non diabetic (36) in four months. My next screen in May 18 showed background retinopathy, I was upset and disappointed as I thought I was doing the right thing getting things under control quickly. However I just had my third scan last month and it was all clear, so I agree with @Jim Lahey things can get worse before they get better.
 
Jim Lahey said:
Yeah for sure. Been there got the pyjamas. Bilateral laser followed by anti-VEGF for macular oedema in one eye. A year later the other eye is developing oedema that will likely need injections soon. I’ve had extremely good glucose control for 18+ months. So for me it’s most certainly been a case of getting worse before it gets better. But then again I had rampant and undiagnosed T2DM for seemingly well over a decade, and no doubt hyperinsulinemia for much longer than that.
Click to expand...
Very similar stuff had happened to me. Over 3 years ago I had one course of injections in my left eye. No problems since - until my last eye exam last week. Macular oedema diagnosed in right eye. So another course of injections started yesterday.

Have been low carb and keto for over 3 years. During December/January this year BS started climbing so I had a lot more 6s and 7s and some 8s. Since February much lower again lots of 4s and 5s and the odd one in the 3s. Was really surprised that the macular oedema started again.

I think I probably had rampant and undiagnosed T2D for maybe 15 or even 20 years with an hba1c of 125 on diagnosis so probably I shouldn't be surprised if things don't go smoothly. And if course there was the 4 years of basing my meals on starchy carbs and injecting insulin.

So as I ate carbs and sugary **** stuff since my 20s (and that is a lot of years) I probably should not be surprised that it may take quite a lot of years of low carb and keto to fully recover.

Edited by mod to delete poorly disguised profanity.
 
Krystyna23040 said:
Very similar stuff had happened to me. Over 3 years ago I had one course of injections in my left eye. No problems since - until my last eye exam last week. Macular oedema diagnosed in right eye. So another course of injections started yesterday.

Have been low carb and keto for over 3 years. During December/January this year BS started climbing so I had a lot more 6s and 7s and some 8s. Since February much lower again lots of 4s and 5s and the odd one in the 3s. Was really surprised that the macular oedema started again.

I think I probably had rampant and undiagnosed T2D for maybe 15 or even 20 years with an hba1c of 125 on diagnosis so probably I shouldn't be surprised if things don't go smoothly. And if course there was the 4 years of basing my meals on starchy carbs and injecting insulin.

So as I ate carbs and sugary **** stuff since my 20s (and that is a lot of years) I probably should not be surprised that it may take quite a lot of years of low carb and keto to fully recover.

Edited by mod to delete poorly disguised profanity.
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A "like" for you, not because of the problems, but because of your good post!
 
AbsMens said:
I was recently diagnosed with type 2 and I had a eye screening and the result said I had diabetic Retinopathy. I have to have a screening again in 6 months. Can this be reversed or stopped?
Click to expand...
No doubt you will see from some of the posts that a low carb/high fat or keto diet will help resolve the diabetes and possibly help with diabetic retinopathy. At the very lease the diet will help end the cause of diabetic retinopathy. On a completely different diet, a Dr. Kempner, a US doctor in the 30's discovered by chance that he could reverse diabetic retinopathy on a rice and fruit only diet. As I understand it, he believed in the short term a rice and fruit diet had extremely beneficial effects on health identical to a strict low carb/high fat or keto diet, but also saw it as a risky long term option and the diet should only be undertaken under medical supervision. I have been on a low carb/moderately high fat diet with daily intermittent fasting and attended my optician for an eye check up to see whether that diet had any beneficial impact on my eyes. There was previously slight signs of diabetic retinopathy. On this occasion my eyes were completely clear of any signs of the disease and my short sightedness improved by 0.25%. A very marginal improvement, but as I have only been dieting for just over 3 months, a small victory.
 
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