Newly diagnosed, help with blurred vision

Plenty have experienced the same ... get your blood sugars down. Your eyes will correct in tandem

Yes, had the same myself when I was diagnosed. If the optician can't find anything wrong, drink lots of water and give it a bit of time to correct itself.

Hi Mark and welcome to the Forum! I can’t comment on you eyesight issues but I’ll just tag in @daisy1 for the welcome post with loads of useful info in.

When we have high blood glucose, our body tries to get rid of the excess sugar through any means it can find.
This is why weeing a lot is a common symptom.
Dentists have also been the source of a diabetes diagnosis as our saliva gets more sugary leading to tooth decay.
When I was first diagnosed, I was a tad upset ... until I tasted my tears: they were sweet. Tears are another outlet for the excess sugar. The problem with this is that the focal length of salty water is different to the focal length of sugary water. So our eyes struggle to focus. And, if they work out the difference over a long period of time of high BG, they then need to relearn how to focus through untainted salty water again.
As you maintain your lower BG, your eyes will adjust and you should get your eyesight back.

Hi have a look at this recent thread
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/blurred-vision.138260/

Hi. Yes I had blurred vision for a couple of days. Don't rely much on the Metformin as it only helps reduce BS by a little. Do reduce the carbs and buy a meter to monitor your BS. If it stays high or keeps going up then see the GP and come back here for help

helensaramay said:

When we have high blood glucose, our body tries to get rid of the excess sugar through any means it can find.
This is why weeing a lot is a common symptom.
Dentists have also been the source of a diabetes diagnosis as our saliva gets more sugary leading to tooth decay.
When I was first diagnosed, I was a tad upset ... until I tasted my tears: they were sweet. Tears are another outlet for the excess sugar. The problem with this is that the focal length of salty water is different to the focal length of sugary water. So our eyes struggle to focus. And, if they work out the difference over a long period of time of high BG, they then need to relearn how to focus through untainted salty water again.
As you maintain your lower BG, your eyes will adjust and you should get your eyesight back.

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Although the refractive index of the tear film would probably change due to increased glucose concentrations, the tear film is so thin that any contribution to overall refraction is insignificant.

The temporary change in eyesight is thought to be due to a change in the refractive index of the lens due to changes in its structure which are related to glucose levels.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3340779/
http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/6185/3/Refractive_Error_Changes_in_DM_FINAL.pdf

Hi @Mark karsey, I suffered with very blurry vision prior to diagnosis which initially got worse after as my blood sugars dropped.. This is quite common - I found my close up vision changed as well as long distance, ie found it difficult to read road signs and watch telly. Weirdly wearing my reading glass helped with the long distance and to overcome the close up vision I got some really cheap reading glasses which were a lot stronger than my normal ones - these saw me through until my vision returned to normal several weeks later. Hope yours doesn't last too long.

@Mark karsey

Hello Mark and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will come and help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.

Mark karsey said:

Thanks, what you have described seems the same as I am experiencing. My eyes also hurt which I think is them straining to focus. Is this how you felt as well?
Mark

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That sounds very similar to what I was experiencing. I found drinking water helped. Try not to worry it will all settle down very soon, your body is going through a bit of a rollercoaster at the moment while you get things back into balance. I had quite a few headaches and painful eyes at times.

Take care and you will be fine in no time.

Regards,

P

Yes @Mark karsey , found it quite a strain to focus - but better when I found glasses that helped me focus. The good news is that it doesn't last, but it is a real pain keep swapping glasses over for long and short distance!

Anyone out there diagnose with retinopathy