had a bleed....

[the_anticarb]

Sorry I haven't been contributing to these boards in a while, I was so upset after having lots of laser treatment for my retinopathy that I just wanted to shut it out for a while whilst the laser took effect. But my eye had other ideas unfortunately! I had a bleed on Monday, not a massive one and I can still do stuff, but seeing swirly things and dots in my eye which is seriously hacking me off, it's like looking through a grubby window pane, guess I'll have to learn to live with it.

Can anyone who has had one of these tell me how long it took to go away, did it just go away by itself or did you need treatment?

I've heard they sometimes do more laser if you have a bleed, I really don't want them to do anymore in that eye.

Is there anything I should/shouldn't do whilst this is happening?

I went to the eye casualty, where they told me I'd had a bleed and that they would book me in to see the consultant, but they weren't ever so informative and I was kind of shocked at the time so didn't ask too many questions.

I believe the bleed may have been caused by the effects of the laser shrinking the new blood vessels, so it's good to know that the laser is working just a shame it had to rupture a vessel in the process.

I'm not at work at the moment as I'm finding this debris in my eye really distracting, but I'm starting a new job in 6 weeks so i'm hoping it will have settled down a little by then, I really don't want to be telling my new employer about my health problems unless I really have to.

Oh the joys.......

 

[Robinredbreast]

Sorry I haven't been contributing to these boards in a while, I was so upset after having lots of laser treatment for my retinopathy that I just wanted to shut it out for a while whilst the laser took effect. But my eye had other ideas unfortunately! I had a bleed on Monday, not a massive one and I can still do stuff, but seeing swirly things and dots in my eye which is seriously hacking me off, it's like looking through a grubby window pane, guess I'll have to learn to live with it.

Can anyone who has had one of these tell me how long it took to go away, did it just go away by itself or did you need treatment?

I've heard they sometimes do more laser if you have a bleed, I really don't want them to do anymore in that eye.

Is there anything I should/shouldn't do whilst this is happening?

I went to the eye casualty, where they told me I'd had a bleed and that they would book me in to see the consultant, but they weren't ever so informative and I was kind of shocked at the time so didn't ask too many questions.

I believe the bleed may have been caused by the effects of the laser shrinking the new blood vessels, so it's good to know that the laser is working just a shame it had to rupture a vessel in the process.

I'm not at work at the moment as I'm finding this debris in my eye really distracting, but I'm starting a new job in 6 weeks so i'm hoping it will have settled down a little by then, I really don't want to be telling my new employer about my health problems unless I really have to.

Oh the joys.......

Sorry about your eye bleeds I too and other people on the forum have had them. My last one was on Sunday 10th June and its still hasn't cleared. I have smaller bleeds, individual dots or a worm shape. I went for an emergency appointment months ago and there nothing they could do until the blood settles down, because with my eye, he said it was murky waters in there. Unfortunately every laser treatment I have had, has resulted in an eye bleed the next or days after. I was told that was the only treatment and its like a vicious circle. My first bleed was in November last year and I had just started a job and I told my boss what the consultant said, and my boss wasn't really interested and said they need someone to work!!!!!!! I felt as though they wanted me to go, but I have stuck it out because its just me and my daughter and I want to work ( but not necessarily there :x )

Try not to get too worried and stressed out( its hard I know) and hopefully your eye will settle down soon. Good luck and best wishes

 

[noblehead]

Sorry about the bleed anticarb. The bleed should disperse into dots and eventually the blood will settle down to the bottom of the eye and disappear altogether in time, how long this can take depends on the individual and the severity of the bleed. Try not to do anything strenuous until you see your consultant and avoid bending down too often, you may also notice when you wake your vision may seem clear then once you get up the blood reappears, this happens and again in time it will disperse providing the source of the bleed has stopped or is treated.

 

[the_anticarb]

Thank you both. I know it will be different for everyone, but how long can I expect it to take to disperse. Weeks? months? I am starting new job 6th August so hope it will be gone or at leat reduced by then. Luckily I can still see enough to use a computer and drive but I want it to go by then so I can focus on my new job.

I just have a few questions, not sure if you can answer.

Is the treatment for it more laser of the pan retinal type where they burn away your peripheral retina? Or the focal laser they use with maculopathy? I am scared of having more peripheral laser as I don't want to lose my peripheral vision and driving license. How does the laser stop the bleeding? I thought the bleed was a result of having laser in the first place as it's shrunk the new vessels.

Sorry if I sound a bit thick here - but I understand one of the new blood vessels has ruptured and is leaking blood into the eye. Does it continue to bleed for a while or close up? If it continues to bleed does this mean the visual effects will get worse? Would more and more blood just pour into my eye? Or will my body repair the leak by clotting it?

Yesterday they took a photo of the bleed and I made the mistake of taking a look, it was a big bright streak of red across the photo, the guy said that he'd seen a lot worse but it looked pretty bad to me.

I guess it takes a while to get used to it, do you get used to the spots and swirls or does it continue to annoy you until it goes?

I'm scared now of having more bleeds, I knew it was possible to get a bleed after laser but didn't think it would happen to me, guess I was wrong, every time I think I have this retinopathy sussed out it creeps up behind me and suprises me.

 

[noblehead]

I would like to think it will have dispersed come August or at least be a lot clearer but really couldn't say for sure, as I said before it can vary from person to person and much will depend upon the severity of the bleed and how soon the treatment works and whether further treatment is necessary.

I've probably give you this link before Anticarb but you'll find a lot of answers to your question on the following site, I really hope your eye clears soon in time for you starting your new job in August.

http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/easdec/

 

[the_anticarb]

Is it true that hypos can make you more likely to have a bleed? I had a bad period a couple of weeks ago, moving house so my normal routine was disrupted, we did not have a fridge for a week so lived on takeaways, I was up and down like a yo yo having a hypo every day at one point and then probably going too high in the aftermath, worried now that that's caused the bleed, back to low carbing now so hopefully not too many hypos, beginning to think the low carb way is the only way for me from now on.

 

[the_anticarb]

Can anyone tell me - is the treatment for a bleed always more laser?
I'm really confused now, went to the emergency clinic again yesterday as the bleed seemed to have worsened.
Saw a consultant there, he was very brusque and not friendly or sympathetic, he said I would need more laser as the first lot had been insufficient. He also said the vessel had bled again and could keep on bleeding intermittently. He's referred me to laser clinic.
This is different to what the consultant on Tuesday said, she said the laser was having an effect and it was pulling on the vessels as it shrunk them which may have caused the bleed.
I am very confused now and also very upset to the point where if I did not have my partner and little boy I think I would be suicidal.
I am supposed to be starting a new job in 6 weeks, this job involves some driving to visit the clients, I will lose my job if I cannot drive. I am worried about losing my visual field if i have more laser.
Anyone help please?

 

[Unbeliever]

I am quite surprised, as you have had private consultations in the past, that noone appears to have mentione the possibilitty
of injections to dry the fluid in the eyes and stop he bleeding -even if only temporaily, so that the laser treatment can work more effectively.
For some people i even sops the problem alogether.
Not every hospital offers this treatment but they can referyou to one that does. The private clinics do offer it I knw because
my consultant works at one you mentioned previously.
It is very expensive of course, but as I say also available on the NHS , if not in every hospital,
Maybe worth asking about. There may be reasons why it is not a suitable treatment for you of course.

 

[the_anticarb]

Thanks Unbeliever. I have an appointment to see my private consultant on 10th July, and will take his advice. I really didn't want them messing around in my eye any more but if I have to have more laser, so be it.
It's terrible when things first start going wrong with your eyes, in a way that actually affects your vision, isn't it.
I don't think anyone who's not been there can truly understand.
I am just hoping that it is temporary and I won't get recurrent bleeds.
Meanwhile I need to make peace with the swirly dots in my left eye and somehow just get on with things.

 

[Unbeliever]

Thanks Unbeliever. I have an appointment to see my private consultant on 10th July, and will take his advice. I really didn't want them messing around in my eye any more but if I have to have more laser, so be it.
It's terrible when things first start going wrong with your eyes, in a way that actually affects your vision, isn't it.
I don't think anyone who's not been there can truly understand.
I am just hoping that it is temporary and I won't get recurrent bleeds.
Meanwhile I need to make peace with the swirly dots in my left eye and somehow just get on with things.

I never actually noticed anything until after my first session with laser , which did a lot of damage while doing no good at all and which was flollowed up by more of the same! It was only after that I was referred to the newly arrived consultant who specialiased in these injections . Too late to reverse the damage already done but the injections are sill keeping blindness at bay.

I understand that laser does not work if there is too much fluid in the eye which is why I always mention it to members here .
had I known about the injecions to befgin wih i would have requsted a referral to the NHS hospital which offered them.
If you do decide to pay privately for them, avastin is considered to be just as effective as lucentis but a darn sight cheaper.

Cheaper sill are the steroid injections which are the only thing that work for me - the drawback here is that the effect is fairly shprt lived.
Good luck wih it all.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Thanks Unbeliever. I have an appointment to see my private consultant on 10th July, and will take his advice. I really didn't want them messing around in my eye any more but if I have to have more laser, so be it.
It's terrible when things first start going wrong with your eyes, in a way that actually affects your vision, isn't it.
I don't think anyone who's not been there can truly understand.
I am just hoping that it is temporary and I won't get recurrent bleeds.
Meanwhile I need to make peace with the swirly dots in my left eye and somehow just get on with things.

Hi good luck with your 10th july appointment. I agree with you, been there, got the T shirt etc

We actually make a good pair, my troublesome eye is the right one. So thinking about it we have perfect eyesight between us :lol:

Have agood weekend and fingers creossed that your eye, will hopefully, settle down :thumbup: With my very best wishes

 

[Leeds Lass]

Hi there,

My boyfriend has bleeds, not a lot but he has them. His longest one to clear up took about 18 months and the shortest just about 6 weeks. We actually swapped hospitals because we weren't happy with there blase attitude towards laser, and we are much happier with the new consultant, she is so calming and honest and really listens to your worrys. Since seeing her he has never had to have more laser.

She basically said on our last visit which was in April that the eye is good but she could see a small vessel (the one which keeps bleeding) but she can leave it if he doesn't want more laser and told him he will have more bleeds but if he can put up with it that's fine or if he gets fed up of them she'll do more laser and possibly surgery if he wants. She said the retina is firmly attached and looks good, if he keeps up the good work with his sugar control and exercise, it shouldn't progress to much worse than it is now.

We swapped consultants because we went for an appointment and was told he needed laser in both eyes, when 3 months earlier his eyes were clear, I know these things can happen quickly but it was just something about the consultant and lack of empathy and the abrupt way we were told that we didn't like. So as soon as we came out, we went to reception and asked for a referral. He didn't have the laser and hasn't needed any since.

 

[SouthernGeneral6512]

The patchy nature of this really is worrying you can go to one consultant and be told one thing and go to another and be told somethign completely different :sick:.

 

[Unbeliever]

The patchy nature of this really is worrying you can go to one consultant and be told one thing and go to another and be told somethign completely different :sick:.

I think it is probably the same with anything. Depends who uou see. It is important to find someone you rust but of course, yrust can take time to develop and in a hospital setting it is not always posssible to see the person you want o see.

I used o have this problem. I see my usual consultant in he laser clinic. There is another consultant there too. I don't think he has a clue and other patients ell me he is very Gung-ho about lasering. I used to ask the nurses if I could see the good one .
They didn't like it but used to put a note on my file saying I would like to see him. After a while the gung -ho man didn't want to see ME either and told any officious nurse trying to push me his way hat I was very much the oher chap's patient.
I think he was afraid any mistakes would be evident o the first guy who can be very intimidating.
As you can imagine ths used to add very much to the stress of my visiis. Eventually Mr gung-ho wouldnt even see me when the other consultant was called away and asked me if I minded coming back in a few weeks. I didnt mind at all!
Now I have no more worries because Mr GH has decidded that he can't see anywhere to laser anyhow. Phew . What a relief!
It is the same when I have my injections whch are done in the operaing theatre . My consultant will always ry to operate on his own patients. Occasionally things happen and he can't /
When his replacement injects me the injections don't work. I have pointed this out. It IS the NHS and not always possible to choose your own doctor /surgeon.
last time I was there a man was elling us of is experience with Mr Gung- Ho. I asked what he would do if GH wanted to perform laser . he said he would refuse. But he didn't . At one time I might not either but these days i defintely would.
I already know hat necause of the initial laser I had which was oo intense and damaged my retina , I will not be able to have a vitrectomy in that eye if necessary . there isn't much room to laser only the "good " consultant would even attempt it.
Unfortunately it is necessary o be very self -protecive in these situations which can be difficult as most people feel intimidated in these situations.
As with everything else there is an element of luck in who you get.They are not all the same and they are no all as good as each other.
There seems to be a strange aitude around at the moment in the hospital that patients only care about getting out asap and dont care who hey see. I keep tellin them I will wait as long as necessary to see the pperson i trust. The consequences of seeing the "wrong person " are oo awful to contemplate.

Leeds lass and her boyfriend were absolutely correct. Its called self -preservation. Even if you don't have much sense of it to begin with you develop it after a while.

 

[the_anticarb]

Well I was back at the eye hospital this evening, as I was out with my little boy this afternoon when I could actually see fresh drops of blood seeping down into my field of vision, it was without a doubt the freakiest, trippiest thing that I've ever experienced and I freaked out, luckily was not too far from home so rushed home and got my mum to take me to the eye hosptial.

They've basically said there's nothing they can do, and I have to wait for the bleeding to stop by itself, then they can do more laser.

Its so frustrating, as it may not be an emergency to them, but it was to me, I think blood leaking out into your vision would tick most laypeople's definition of 'emergency', and you just wish they would take one look at you and whisk you off to theatre to stop it, but no it don't work like that.

Left eye fuzzy now, but I'm kind of coming to terms with it. I have five weeks til I start my new job, that's a while so I'm semi-hopeful that it will at least be cleared enough by then to start my new job, or at least I've got used to it. I'm seeing the private consultant soon and will take his advice re treatment, until then just have to stay calm and try not panic if I see the fresh blood swirls again.

Wish I could go back to my newly diagnosed fifteen year old self, and show her this - a bit like in a christmas carol when scrooge sees the ghost of christmas future, unfortunately I've learned the hard way that life aint a dress rehearsal.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Well I was back at the eye hospital this evening, as I was out with my little boy this afternoon when I could actually see fresh drops of blood seeping down into my field of vision, it was without a doubt the freakiest, trippiest thing that I've ever experienced and I freaked out, luckily was not too far from home so rushed home and got my mum to take me to the eye hosptial.

They've basically said there's nothing they can do, and I have to wait for the bleeding to stop by itself, then they can do more laser.

Its so frustrating, as it may not be an emergency to them, but it was to me, I think blood leaking out into your vision would tick most laypeople's definition of 'emergency', and you just wish they would take one look at you and whisk you off to theatre to stop it, but no it don't work like that.

Left eye fuzzy now, but I'm kind of coming to terms with it. I have five weeks til I start my new job, that's a while so I'm semi-hopeful that it will at least be cleared enough by then to start my new job, or at least I've got used to it. I'm seeing the private consultant soon and will take his advice re treatment, until then just have to stay calm and try not panic if I see the fresh blood swirls again.

Wish I could go back to my newly diagnosed fifteen year old self, and show her this - a bit like in a christmas carol when scrooge sees the ghost of christmas future, unfortunately I've learned the hard way that life aint a dress rehearsal.

OMG it never stops does it and you are going through such hell :cry: I wish I could say or do something for you to make you feel better. Nothing can be done, regarding more lasering, until the blood has settled and the dr can actually see what is going on.
Please dont beat yourself up, there are lots of people with diabetes who get this complication, with good control and or having diabetes for a long time 20+.
This weekend could you do something for me.........to have a lovely carefree fun time with your little boy. It doesn't have to cost anything, just that wonderful joyous pick me up kind of feeling. Your little boy needs his lovely caring mum and I'm sure it would do you the world of good. You are in my thoughts,with lots and lots and lots of good wishes being sent to you x

No one can go back and make a new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending X

 

[the_anticarb]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. Emotionally I am in the bottom of a deep pit right now, and can't see a way out. The blurriness in my left eye is getting worse, to the point where it is interfering with everything including reading and typing this post, and I'm not sure I'm legal to drive any more.
I'm very scared - will the bleeding continue? What if it does not stop?
I am on notice from my current job, supposed to be starting a new job in five weeks, I am the main breadwinner and I was looking forward to starting a new job as this was a new opprortunity for me in my career. Even if the blood in my eye is not permanent, if I cannot start this new job I will fall apart.
Please, anyone who's been here before tell me, can I expect the bleeding to stop and blood to clear? This is torture, my psychological state is rock bottom, I keep bursting into tears and feel like i can't go on like this.

 

[leb]

Hi anticarb
Just want to say i feel exactlt the same. I am experiencinf exactly what you describe and am vusiting the a n e eye unir ebery few dsys because of new bleefs. They have said the same to me. I am nit at wirk eithet at the minute as im signed off but its affectinf everyrhing.
I am experiencing new bleeds 3 to 4 tImes a day and mt vision is worsening. But afain i am told theres nothing more they xan do just got to waut and hope the bleed stops.
Hope it gets better soon

 

[hanadr]

Both my husband and my cousin had vitrectomy surgery for retinal bleeds. Cousin's eye is pretty much 100% better and she can see normally [She lives in Germany ] Husband's surgery was not very successful and he's pretty much lost the sight in that eye. His surgery was done in the UK.
I suggest that anyone who is offered this surgery for retinal bleed, check the record of the surgeon who will perform it and not allow a more junior one to take over as happened in husband's case.
Hana

 

[the_anticarb]

Are they doing anything when you go to A and E Leb? When I went they said it was not an emergency. Well it's a bloody emergency to me. I can't believe in the 21st century there is nothing they can do to stop the vessel bleeding - I'm sure if it was a vessel bleeding in your brain or something they would be able to stop it.
feel like the doctors just fob me off and I am on the dark side of the moon.
My private consultant is away until 10th July.
When I see him then, if there's anything he can do for me privately, then I'll pay whatever it costs.
Leb I sincerely hope you don't bleed any more - when did it start? Did it come on gradually and then get worse and worse?
That's what happened to me, started with a few floaters on tuesday and now is a big fuzzy cloud.
I've tried covering the bad eye and trying to get around with one eye, it's uncomfortable but can't decide which is worse that or the fuzziness.
Just remember if all else fails it is not permanent they can do the vitrectomy.
I am seriously considering getting this done privately if the bleeding continues.
My only consolation in all this is that i've been signed off work now, as I was leaving anyway that hopefully means I will never have to work for my (insert rude word here) boss who's not even asked me how I am since this happened - I think he thinks I'm faking this as I'm on notice.

Good luck Leb