Metformin and a random reddit post

[CrisW]

Hey all.

Quick history before i get into it. Type 2, got diagnosed winter last year so 6 odd months back. My initial Hba1c was like 110 i think. Anyway 3 months go by, i change my diet, do a bunch of exercise and take metformin (4 pills a day - it says 500mg on the box. But its the max i can take however much it is). Anyway. 3 months go by the Hba1c slams down into the 50s. Everyones a winner. Since then everything has been the same any time I have taken my bloods using the home testing kit i have been mostly in the 6's, sometimes in the 7's and once an 8.. but that was im because i forgot id eaten and took it too soon. Also, and pertinent to the question, I had that test they do with your eyes at the hospital to see if high blood sugar has/is causing any issues and that was also a negative.

Right so now to it. I have been having issues with my vision, its just like "2%" blurrier than i should be. Even now with normal blood sugar levels. Had new glasses and took like 5 attempts with the lenses to get them to even vaguely work. So then the other day my wife was on some random reddit sub and she came across someone who mentioned they had 20/20 vision who then had to have reading glasses (diabetic) and their optomotist said this effect was a side effect of metformin. There was something about a donut sorting things out as well but Im not really clear about that. I should also mention that due to a brain tumor a while back my optic nerves arent in as pristine condition as they could be, so i was generally just putting things down to that.

Anyway, Anyone got any ideas if metformin itself would cause mild vision issues? Im going back into the nurse in august so will talk it over with her but be nice to know before hand if possible. Want to cut the dose down anyway and if it was the culprit would give me extra inscentive.

cheers

​

 

[Art Of Flowers]

High blood sugars cause the lenses in your eyes to swell. I had the same problem when I was diagnosed as diabetic with a HBA1C of 99. The solution is to reduce your high blood sugars. The best way to do this if you are type 2 diabetic is to change your diet to eat less carbs and more fat Instead.

 

[CrisW]

Thanks for the response but my blood sugars arent high and they havent been for months.

 

[Melgar]

Hi and welcome CrisW, I must admit I have never heard of Metformin having an adverse effect on the eyes. There are many eye issues that are not related to diabetes which can cause blurry vision. High Blood pressure is one.

Your optometrist can do further tests for other eye issues. I have Fuchs Dystrophy. I went for new glasses. Got my eyes tested, everything was okay. As I was walking out the door I mentioned I had blurry vision and my eyes were painful in the mornings. I was summoned back and the Optometrist went on to do further tests, including a ‘slit test’. They diagnosed Fuchs, which is a relatively rare and serious eye disease. Had I not mentioned the blurry painful morning issues I would have come away with my new glasses thinking everything was great! Just my short story about how you can go to these places for routine eye exams and by chance you mention something at it changes everything. Not that I’m saying you have something like I have, but you really have to be on the ball.

 

[CrisW]

Its not painful so not that one. I will go check my blood pressure though. That has historically been higher than is should be, but would have thought that due to stuff i ve been doing over the last 6 months it would be lower now. I will go check. Thanks for the response.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @CrisW I suspect that the problem you are having may actually be due to having reduced your Blood Glucose so fast. The effect of a changing Blood Glucose works in both directions - distorting the blood vessels in the eyes as BG rises and then again changing them back to how they were as it falls again.

You have just reduced your BG by a heck of a lot and very quickly too, congratulations!
But did nobody warn you that doing it as fat as you did would mean your vision wouldn't have enough time to adjust to the falling BG?
It is a temporary thing, but might take even as much as to 12 weeks for your eyes to adjust (though I have seen one person claim it was permanent in their case).
So, in the mean time try to avoid buying expensive lenses in new specs until it has settled. Cheap ones can be found in Pound Shops and the like.

 

[IanBish]

It could of course be presbyopia - caused by the natural ageing of the eyes, whereby it affects your eye's ability to focus on nearby objects.

 

[CrisW]

Hi @CrisW I suspect that the problem you are having may actually be due to having reduced your Blood Glucose so fast. The effect of a changing Blood Glucose works in both directions - distorting the blood vessels in the eyes as BG rises and then again changing them back to how they were as it falls again.

You have just reduced your BG by a heck of a lot and very quickly too, congratulations!
But did nobody warn you that doing it as fat as you did would mean your vision wouldn't have enough time to adjust to the falling BG?
It is a temporary thing, but might take even as much as to 12 weeks for your eyes to adjust (though I have seen one person claim it was permanent in their case).
So, in the mean time try to avoid buying expensive lenses in new specs until it has settled. Cheap ones can be found in Pound Shops and the like.

Im pretty sure the nurse said it was ok to get some - but its entirely possibly i mis-interpreted what she said. But you would think that after trying 5 or so different lenses at vision express one of them would just work.. even randomly.

@IanBish its not that - i have varifocals for that.

So i had like old lenses. which worked but where just a little bit off. And we just couldnt for the life of us get a new pair to get crispy, even with multiple checking of the prescription. It was very frustrating and annoying.

But.

I guess its NOT the metformin

 

[IanBish]

@IanBish its not that - i have varifocals for that.

Okay. I'd put my money on the lowering of your blood glucose, like @ianf0ster said. If it's that it should settle down once your blood glucose stabilises.