I have retinopathy, now what?

[Anasyx]

I've just received a letter that I have background retinopathy. It said that I don't need treatment and all the stuff. However, on this weeks I noticed on my left eye when it's dark and I'm with the phone when I turn it off I can't barely see anything with it, like I lost some night vision on that eye. And now I am reading a post here about that and I'm very concerned that my retinopathy is causing that. Also I see sometimes something floating in my eyes, it may be floaters but now I am also worried about it.

I've been diabetic type 1 for 28 years and no complications until now even my control is not that good. I've just did the DAFNE course, but my sugar is still have spikes, this morning I had a hypo (2.7) and hours after I am 12. And I really don't know how to manage even with my years of experience...

Oh and also I have dry eyes since May, not sure if it's connected.

 

[Anasyx]

Wow that article is scary about the damage I might have. I have to check with my GP about the grade of my retinopathy. In the letter it says only a background one but I noticed my sight is worse sometimes.

Do you think the stress might cause it? There is so much going on in my life now (all health problems ) and I've been so stressed about it, I wonder if it's one of the causes....

 

[novorapidboi26]

if you can maintain stable sugars and keep BP there is a good chance it will fix itself over time....

 

[noblehead]

I've just received a letter that I have background retinopathy. It said that I don't need treatment and all the stuff. However, on this weeks I noticed on my left eye when it's dark and I'm with the phone when I turn it off I can't barely see anything with it, like I lost some night vision on that eye. And now I am reading a post here about that and I'm very concerned that my retinopathy is causing that. Also I see sometimes something floating in my eyes, it may be floaters but now I am also worried about it.

I'm sure many of people (even those who don't have diabetic retinopathy) experience the same when turning off a very bright light in the dark.

Eye floaters are more common than we think, even my wife experiences floaters even though she doesn't have diabetes and her eyes are fine, NHS Choices has a good article discussing the condition:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/floaters/Pages/Introduction.aspx

But it goes without saying if your still concerned @Anasyx get do your eyes checked, if anything just to give you peace of mind. Good luck.

 

[steve_p6]

I'll give my perspective, which is having spent 38 yrs as T1 teenager and onwards. You can go a heck of a long time with no obvious effects or impact from diabetes but at some point the chickens come home to roost. For me the background retinopathy was a warning I did not appreciate and ended up in bleeds and lots of laser, again I come out of that quite well so still lucky, but my two points are (1) treat the blood vessels in your eyes as fragile - so no bunjee jumping (2) it's time to start taking control seriously. For me that meant getting getting informed here and using freestyle libre to really get a grip.

 

[Dark Horse]

I've just received a letter that I have background retinopathy. It said that I don't need treatment and all the stuff. However, on this weeks I noticed on my left eye when it's dark and I'm with the phone when I turn it off I can't barely see anything with it, like I lost some night vision on that eye. And now I am reading a post here about that and I'm very concerned that my retinopathy is causing that. Also I see sometimes something floating in my eyes, it may be floaters but now I am also worried about it.

I've been diabetic type 1 for 28 years and no complications until now even my control is not that good. I've just did the DAFNE course, but my sugar is still have spikes, this morning I had a hypo (2.7) and hours after I am 12. And I really don't know how to manage even with my years of experience...

Oh and also I have dry eyes since May, not sure if it's connected.

Wow! Congratulations on going 28 years before developing background retinopathy. Here's a quote from http://patient.info/doctor/diabetic-retinopathy-and-diabetic-eye-problems "In type 1 diabetes, microaneurysms start to appear after five years in 25% of cases, affect half of cases at 10 years and nearly all patients after 20 years."

Background retinopathy doesn't affect your eyesight so if you have visual problems, you should visit your optician.

 

[Caesar]

Hi @Anasyx I'm using the Noctura 400 sleep mask. I've been diabetic for 18 years now and, although I don't have signs of retinopathy, I'm using this mask to prevent that to happen. Have a look at www.noctura.com in case you may find any help from using the mask too. I think it's a valid support against retinopathy next to our efforts to keep a good BG control. Unfortunately, it's still a private treatment, which is not supplied by the NHS as many of the new good things out there.