Should I be worried? Eye screening

You've got battles on a few fronts .... but fight them, especially the hba1c

Hi,
Sorry about your eyes. Don't blame yourself maybe it can be fixed again. I don't know anything about diabetic maculopathy, but I just wanted to say that when I was diagnosed with diabetes my eyes were in a terrible state. It happened over a course of months and in the end it was so bad I could just about make out the giant tv two meters in front of me. My HbA1c was 91 at the time, and after my blood sugar came down again my vision went back to something resembling normal. So things might get better for you. And be careful with Dr Google, it's always bad news.

What about the insulin, are you on fixed doses? You would get better control with a basal-bolus approach if that would be possible.

sadiek1804 said:

Hi everyone. So I’ve just had my eye screening results back and I have signs of diabetic maculopathy. I’ve been told I now need to be further examined and being referred to the surveillance screening pathway.
My diabetes has always been badly controlled so I know it’s my own fault however after seeing my nurse recently and being told iam at high risk, we’ve come up with a plan to try and get my levels down. My most recent hba1c was 92 I think (it was 117) iam type 2 but on insulin twice daily - this could change to 3 times. Currently waiting to see a specialist at the hospital (April 27) to discuss if I may actually be a different type (t1, LADA or MODY, or if I just have resistance etc)
My question is should I be worried? I’ve never heard of maculpathy so googled it... probably shouldn’t of
Thanks for reading x

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Hi,

I had macula edema.. (Hash tag diabetes with it if you wish.) Ironically after I tightened up my A1c..? The treatment was encouraging. But with this it was anti-VEGF injections..

In short, take it slow adjusting your BGs & A1c.. Don't go at it like a "bull at a gate." I thought I got away with it for years then changed my tact for the better..
But too much in the right direction too soon can have an adverse effec just as much as if one never bothered..

I will reiterate regarding some hope. Treatment can be encouraging. I'm personally blown away by my experience..

Tagging in @Dark Horse who may help.?

sadiek1804 said:

My question is should I be worried? I’ve never heard of maculpathy so googled it... probably shouldn’t of
Thanks for reading x

Click to expand...

Maculopathy is yet more insidious decline and robs you of normal lifestyle. Its good to avoid it.

There may be aspects of your health that you cannot control. I'm not sure worrying would help with that.
There may be some that you can. If you think your diet or amount of exercise could be better, you could use this moment to do something about it. Anything you can do to slow down any of the complications is a benefit. I managed to from from HbA1c 96 to 34 in about 18 months by some radical food choice changes. It wasn't easy and temptation is always out there. A change of mindset or paradigm shift is useful. Maybe worry is a good thing if it helps make changes?

The screening service looks for 2 types of processes occurring in the retina which can cause sight-loss. The first, which was not found at your screening, is proliferative diabetic retinopathy (new vessel growth). The second is Diabetic Macular Oedema (DMO or DME).

In DMO, fluid leaks out of the small blood vessels in the macula (the central part of the retina which is responsible for detailed vision). This can damage the photoreceptors responsible for vision but is treatable if caught early.

The good news is that you have been referred to the surveillance arm of the diabetic eye screening service, rather than directly to ophthalmology. It means that there are some changes in the macula (maculopathy) which are often found when there is DMO but these are not currently thought to be sight-threatening. However, it does mean that you are more at risk of developing sight-threatening changes so you need to be monitored more frequently. This means that you can be referred much sooner for further tests in ophthalmology if any more worrying changes occur.

Many people who are monitored in surveillance attend for a few sessions until the changes clear up. They are then returned to annual screening. Some people get progression of the changes and will go to ophthalmology for further tests, many of these people are found not to have DMO and will be returned to surveillance. Some people do develop DMO, in which case treatment is most successful when it is caught early.

The best chance of avoiding progression is to keep working at maintaining good diabetic control and to attend all eye appointments you are given.