Eyesight changes after laser surgery

[strutheroo]

Hello everyone. This is my first time posting but I’ve benefitted from reading others’ posts for a long time. I hope some of you can help me.

I’m 40 years old and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 11, so I’ve had it a long time. My hba1c was 58 I think at my last appointment.

At my latest diabetic retinopathy screening appointment, changes were picked up during the photos that meant I was referred to ophthalmology. The doctor told me it was very minor but that I’d need laser treatment in one eye.

On Friday I had this procedure done. The doctor said I’d probably only need one more session as he was confident he’d dealt with over 90% of the issue in the one session which is great news.

After the appointment, I noticed some changes in my vision like coloured static and some loss in peripheral vision (like a grey shadow round the outside of my vision). The doctor had forewarned me about this but said your brain starts to learn to cope and ignore parts of the vision which is lost. It’s only in the lasered eye obviously, and with both eyes it’s obviously less apparent to me. But nevertheless I can notice it and it’s bothering me.

I wondered if others have had this, and how quickly you noticed an improvement (if any)? I don’t know anyone else who’s been through the procedure so I have no one to talk to. I was considering trying to get an optician’s appointment tomorrow to get some reassurance. My next ophthalmology appointment is not til mid January.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

 

[Old’un]

Hello everyone. This is my first time posting but I’ve benefitted from reading others’ posts for a long time. I hope some of you can help me.

I’m 40 years old and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 11, so I’ve had it a long time. My hba1c was 58 I think at my last appointment.

At my latest diabetic retinopathy screening appointment, changes were picked up during the photos that meant I was referred to ophthalmology. The doctor told me it was very minor but that I’d need laser treatment in one eye.

On Friday I had this procedure done. The doctor said I’d probably only need one more session as he was confident he’d dealt with over 90% of the issue in the one session which is great news.

After the appointment, I noticed some changes in my vision like coloured static and some loss in peripheral vision (like a grey shadow round the outside of my vision). The doctor had forewarned me about this but said your brain starts to learn to cope and ignore parts of the vision which is lost. It’s only in the lasered eye obviously, and with both eyes it’s obviously less apparent to me. But nevertheless I can notice it and it’s bothering me.

I wondered if others have had this, and how quickly you noticed an improvement (if any)? I don’t know anyone else who’s been through the procedure so I have no one to talk to. I was considering trying to get an optician’s appointment tomorrow to get some reassurance. My next ophthalmology appointment is not til mid January.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

I have had laser surgery in the past and I was quite shocked afterwards by the change to my vision. Through my left eye, the one lasered, everything looked as though I was looking through a dirty and rain splattered windscreen. This lasted for several years and now, almost forty years later, things still look distorted and not over clear. The brain does end up doing a fairly good job of inventing what it can’t see but that isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. You learn to quickly scan around with your eyes so the blind areas are not on the same spot all the time. I have managed to avoid any surgery for well over twenty years now and the key is maintaining a very good control of the diabetes. It is easier these days with the continuous glucose monitors and my last hba1c was 44. I generally manage a percentage in range in the low to mid nineties, 98% being my best ever. It is hard to do but worth it for the long term benefits.

I hope you quickly get used to the changes and they don’t cause you too many problems. And I also hope you can control your diabetes well enough to slow down or stop unwanted changes in your body. Best wishes and good luck!

 

[Zoe king]

Hello everyone. This is my first time posting but I’ve benefitted from reading others’ posts for a long time. I hope some of you can help me.

I’m 40 years old and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 11, so I’ve had it a long time. My hba1c was 58 I think at my last appointment.

At my latest diabetic retinopathy screening appointment, changes were picked up during the photos that meant I was referred to ophthalmology. The doctor told me it was very minor but that I’d need laser treatment in one eye.

On Friday I had this procedure done. The doctor said I’d probably only need one more session as he was confident he’d dealt with over 90% of the issue in the one session which is great news.

After the appointment, I noticed some changes in my vision like coloured static and some loss in peripheral vision (like a grey shadow round the outside of my vision). The doctor had forewarned me about this but said your brain starts to learn to cope and ignore parts of the vision which is lost. It’s only in the lasered eye obviously, and with both eyes it’s obviously less apparent to me. But nevertheless I can notice it and it’s bothering me.

I wondered if others have had this, and how quickly you noticed an improvement (if any)? I don’t know anyone else who’s been through the procedure so I have no one to talk to. I was considering trying to get an optician’s appointment tomorrow to get some reassurance. My next ophthalmology appointment is not til mid January.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

Hi I’ve had laser twenty times in my left eye and 7or8 in my right, I’m also type one, I get a lot of blood vessels bursting in the back of my eye which leads to laser treatment, I have one now , went to eye casualty yesterday and was told I’ve got no more room for anymore laser so I’m not sure what will happen to my eyes.
I don’t think I’ve had the grey shadowing you have, if your constantly worrying what I do is drop into eye casualty to see someone to explain it to you, you might have to wait a while in the department it was three and a half hours yesterday, I live in Nottingham hope they can ease your worries.

 

[Old’un]

Hi I’ve had laser twenty times in my left eye and 7or8 in my right, I’m also type one, I get a lot of blood vessels bursting in the back of my eye which leads to laser treatment, I have one now , went to eye casualty yesterday and was told I’ve got no more room for anymore laser so I’m not sure what will happen to my eyes.
I don’t think I’ve had the grey shadowing you have, if your constantly worrying what I do is drop into eye casualty to see someone to explain it to you, you might have to wait a while in the department it was three and a half hours yesterday, I live in Nottingham hope they can ease your worries.

I have found that a good eye health supplement seems to have been of benefit to me. Google searches will bring up products from different suppliers. Not using any names, I currently use a supplier in Peterborough and there is another very good one in Guernsey. Another valuable addition to the diet is garlic. It reduces blood pressure, cholesterol, and makes the blood more fluid too. This should help reduce swelling and rupturing of the blood vessels in your eyes. If you can’t face eating garlic every day (I have it for breakfast!) then a garlic supplement will probably help. And of course as I said before, try to keep your blood sugar levels as close to a normal person’s as possible. Good luck and I hope your eyesight can be preserved. Diabetes can be a very cruel disease and cause a lot of damage but we must persevere and try to do our best in the face of adversity.