Eye Screening Results

Hi

Wait about 6 months JC and then find a large Specsavers near to where you live and book in for a free eye test (for glasses) saying that you are diabetic and enquire whether they have the technology to photograph your eyes, if they have, go and have the eye scan done again and then you will be able to have a one to one conversation with the optician who will show you the photos on their monitor and discuss what is wrong and what can be done about the blood vessel damage. Background retinopathy does affect a lot of people though, I sometimes get it off and on and is usually because I've been running my bg levels a bit higher than ideal because of having too many lows. Usually when my a1c gets down to 6.8 - 7.1% I'm ok again.

Joel,

You could do as iHs suggests or ask the opthamologist to explain the position with your eyes next time you attend your screening appointment, tell them you are concerned and it is causing you distress and hopefully they'll explain things thoroughly to you.

Joel,

When I got my first letter about background retinopathy I panicked. I called the screening Clinic and asked for an appointment to discuss the results. During this appointment they showed me the pictures from my latest screening and highlighted the areas of concern. They also showed me how these compared to the previous year and examples of healthy and very damaged retinas. Might be worth asking if you could do te same? Worst they can say is no!

Emma

My Optition always shows me the picture there and then. She is brilliant She refered me to my GP with concerns I was Diabetic! I went in with very Blurred vision. I will always be grateful to her for her quick thinking and alerting my GP.

iHs said:

Hi

Wait about 6 months JC and then find a large Specsavers near to where you live and book in for a free eye test (for glasses) saying that you are diabetic and enquire whether they have the technology to photograph your eyes, if they have, go and have the eye scan done again and then you will be able to have a one to one conversation with the optician who will show you the photos on their monitor and discuss what is wrong and what can be done about the blood vessel damage. Background retinopathy does affect a lot of people though, I sometimes get it off and on and is usually because I've been running my bg levels a bit higher than ideal because of having too many lows. Usually when my a1c gets down to 6.8 - 7.1% I'm ok again.

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I'd agree with that one. I get a copy of the photo and a copy the letter to the doctor (in French) but the letters formulaic and it's not easy to understand and compare with photos on the net. A couple of times whilst in the UK I've been into an opticians,paid for a screening and the optician has discussed what's actually happening in my eyes. One showed me other photos to compare with my own which helped put things into perspective.

Didn't they show you the photo's and give you a brief talk through?

Before screening my optician used to photograph my eyes' used to have to pay £20 though haven't got a clue what they charge now...

I remember the first time my optician talked me through the photo's (a lot more indepth that the screener's do) gave me a right old fright :shock: because I have an embolism in my left eye, non-diabetic related as it's has sat there the best part of 30 years, long before I was diagnosed with diabetes.. It was huge so I thought, until my optician put it into prospective for me :lol: Surprising how a 20ich monitor and several 1000 magnification can distort your perception :lol:

Try not to worry, they haven't called you into see the eye specialist even when they do, it's normally airing on caution so an over reaction..

When I had my retinopathy screening the Optician uploaded the images to a monitor. All looked fine to me (I had researched what retinopathy looked like on the net). He looked at them and then started pointing out absolutely minute 'bulges' in some of the vessels and said that although it would need to be confirmed, looked like the first stages of retinopathy.

A week or two later I got the official letter confirming this. However I'm not too concerned as the letter stated that no treatment was needed yet and just reminded me to keep up my annual checks.

I look at it as a bit of extra motiviation for keeping the BS under control (it was, and occasionally still is, a bit on the poor side :? ).

Although this doesn't answer your original question I thought it might be useful to anyone who's interested. I had my annual screening not long ago and the chap was very helpful and explained to me what the 'blips' are that show up on scans for people with mild diabetic retinopathy (which I have had on and off for years). He explained that when your blood glucose levels are on the high side the sugar in your blood acts as an abrasive and scratches away at the walls of the blood vessels. If you run too high for too long, or too frequently, the abrasive action breaks through the walls and allows the blood to leak out. These are the spots that are seen on the scans. They come and go because the vessel walls repair themselves over time.

I found it all very interesting!!