Laser Treatment

[peterb999]

Hi all.

I was diagnosed as having Type 2 diabetes in January 2023 with a reading of 110. Within 4 months I had got it down to 63 and am now down to 49 on my last checkup in December 2024.

When I was first diagnosed, I had eye tests which brought up stage 2. I have been going to the hospital since then every 6 months. Everything was fine until in October 2024 I was told that it had got significantly worse and I needed to keep my blood sugar levels down and excercise. I have done this and run about 4km every day in a gym.

I hoped that my eyesight wouldn't get any worse but I had another checkup in April and was very shocked to be told that it had got worse. There was a new blood vessel on my left eye and lots of little dots. She said my right eye wasn't as bad but she wanted me to be injected with dye which was done last week.

I am now having to go in for laser tomorrow and am absolutely petrified. I haven't slept properly for over a week and I am so scared of eating any food now, and am down to just salads and meat etc.

The doctor I saw, though she was nice, couldn't really answer any of my questions (her english wasn't the best). She's told me I will have my peripheral vision affected by the laser treatment but not to worry too much and to keep on top of my diabetes. Obviously, I really thought that I was on top of it - I was really pleased that I'd got it so far down (the diabetic nurse told me it was down to practically non-diabetic levels.

Can anyone help reassure me about tomorrow?, will my eyesight be badly affected? I'm 52 and up to now my eyesight has genuinely been very good - it used to get a bit blurry but since I was diagnosed and been careful what I eat I think it has got significantly better and I can see fine. I don't have any "floaters" or anything. I am so scared at the moment.

Sadly I split up with my wife after 25 years last year. As you can imagine it's been pretty rough and I have moved to another city and have practically no money but I was starting to get over this and be happy again until all this happened. I have no-one to talk to about it really, it's the sort of thing I'd have talked through with my wife and she was great but that option isn't there anymore. I just feel like everything is starting to go wrong and I'm not in control anymore.

 

[Grant_Vicat]

Hi all.

I was diagnosed as having Type 2 diabetes in January 2023 with a reading of 110. Within 4 months I had got it down to 63 and am now down to 49 on my last checkup in December 2024.

When I was first diagnosed, I had eye tests which brought up stage 2. I have been going to the hospital since then every 6 months. Everything was fine until in October 2024 I was told that it had got significantly worse and I needed to keep my blood sugar levels down and excercise. I have done this and run about 4km every day in a gym.

I hoped that my eyesight wouldn't get any worse but I had another checkup in April and was very shocked to be told that it had got worse. There was a new blood vessel on my left eye and lots of little dots. She said my right eye wasn't as bad but she wanted me to be injected with dye which was done last week.

I am now having to go in for laser tomorrow and am absolutely petrified. I haven't slept properly for over a week and I am so scared of eating any food now, and am down to just salads and meat etc.

The doctor I saw, though she was nice, couldn't really answer any of my questions (her english wasn't the best). She's told me I will have my peripheral vision affected by the laser treatment but not to worry too much and to keep on top of my diabetes. Obviously, I really thought that I was on top of it - I was really pleased that I'd got it so far down (the diabetic nurse told me it was down to practically non-diabetic levels.

Can anyone help reassure me about tomorrow?, will my eyesight be badly affected? I'm 52 and up to now my eyesight has genuinely been very good - it used to get a bit blurry but since I was diagnosed and been careful what I eat I think it has got significantly better and I can see fine. I don't have any "floaters" or anything. I am so scared at the moment.

Sadly I split up with my wife after 25 years last year. As you can imagine it's been pretty rough and I have moved to another city and have practically no money but I was starting to get over this and be happy again until all this happened. I have no-one to talk to about it really, it's the sort of thing I'd have talked through with my wife and she was great but that option isn't there anymore. I just feel like everything is starting to go wrong and I'm not in control anymore.

Hi @peterb999 I'm sorry to read your news. Whilst I cannot guarantee that your experience will match mine, I feel I should tell you of exactly these fears back in 1979, after 20 years of Type1. I had blurred vision on many occasions before 1979, always caused by high glucose levels (unmeasurable in those days!). Then in 1979 I had a haemorrhage in my right eye. My vision was temporarily obliterated in that eye. Thus I had some of the earliest laser treatments done in this country. Between then and 1983 I had both eyes lasered a total of 7 times. Although I am reminded of this when using binoculars against a bright sky, my visual acuity in both eyes is excellent. My right pupil has never fully shut ever since, but I still drive, draw and paint and read and type. I wear reading glasses only. As to the anticipation of pain, all I can say is that it was not how I feared. When the first laser burn made its mark, I was surprised that I wasn’t in agony. It was comparable to somebody moderately flicking their finger-tip against the side of my hand, therefore uncomfortable and irritating.
One thing I would say is that the ophthalmologist at that time told me I should shun aerobic exercise, as blood pressure can cause further bleeding. Also he said that sudden avoidance of carbohydrate, in order to bring blood glucose levels down as quickly as possible, can cause your vision to become blurry. I fully understand your fear, but I hope my experience in the primitive days of photocoagulation might help. I wish you the very best of luck!

 

[peterb999]

Many thanks for your reply, it does help a lot. My diabetic nurse told me to start running as it would really help but it does look like it has made things worse. I never mentioned to the ophthalmologist about me running, I just said that I excercise. She did ask me if I had high blood pressure but I never have. I will mention it to them tomorrow and stop it immediately if it is causing problems. It never even entered into my head that running could cause problems so thanks for mentioning it.