Non Proliferative Retinopathy

[jordanhood]

Hi all, around 18 months ago I was told I had background retinopathy. Up to that point my control had been very average, with my Hba1c always being around 8.

I am 23 now and since then with the addition of the freestyle libre, I manged to improve my control dramatically with my last couple of hba1c's being 6.7 and 6.5. However during this time my retinopathy has progressed to pre (or non) proliferative retinopathy and when I asked my diabetic nurse about why this was happening despite my control being better she said that was exactly the reason why, that I had made such a dramatic change in a short space of time and it accelerated the retinopathy.

I feel scared, disheartened and let down. I was always led to believe that better control would decrease my chances of complications like this. I would like to know if anyone else has this and how they are able to manage it. I am worried about my sight and it feels like everyone I turn to either doesn't know how to help or doesn't want to.

 

[Dark Horse]

It is thought that a large, sudden improvement in diabetic control (such as a drop in HbA1c of 3%) can result in an increase in retinopathy in the short term, but this is outweighed by a decrease in retinopathy in the long term. Your smaller improvement in HbA1c is less likely to have caused worsening and in any case, it may have happened anyway.

Improving your diabetic control is the best thing you can do to minimise the risk of complications in the long term so it's good that you are managing to achieve this at a young age. This page discusses non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy and how to minimise progression:- http://diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/pre-proliferative.html

This page discusses how improved control can sometimes cause temporary worsening of retinopathy:- http://diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/retinopathyprogression.htm

Try not to worry - focus on maintaining good diabetic control in the long term and make sure you attend all your screening appointments.