Side Effects of Laser Treatment

[40djbrooks]

I attended the hospital last Tuesday for retinopathy laser treatment, since then my sight been ok, but I do see black little specs which does not effect my sight and does not annoy me.

I was wondering what side effects fellow readers here have experienced?
Has anyone still lost their sight regardless of treatment and adjustment of lifestyle.

My sugars is well under control and my consultant thinks my retinopathy got worse from a huge drop in sugars.

 

[noblehead]

The black specs are the laser burns, they do disappear in time. Your consultant is right by the way, improvements to diabetes control should be done slowly, this is especially so if someone already has diabetic retinopathy.

I've had retinopathy problems in the past but have been clear of them for 10 years now, if you want some great advise and information on diabetic retinopathy then look no further than the following:

http://www.diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/Information_for_patients.html

 

[40djbrooks]

yes i have been to that website and it was interesting reading, I think I have been to religious about my sugars and gone head first into the water.

 

[Hooked]

The side effect I wasn't expecting and totally freaked me out was dark blobs in my field of vision at night. Opening my eyes at night and the blobs "moving" as my eyes moved used to have me really jumping awake thinking someone was in the room. I soon got used to it, and it's faded away over time. My night vision is pretty poor though. I don't go out now on dark evenings on my own.
My depth perception was also affected for awhile, lead to me falling/tripping, walking into things, missing things with my hand when I went to grab them. That's not a common side effect though, and has improved over time as well.
Going from dark to light or vice versa leaves me unable to see for a few minutes, this one seems to be sticking with me.
The specs in front of my eyes have mostly faded over time; though now it's like looking through a slightly dusty/dirty camera lens. More noticeable when looking at something bright/light, such as reading this forum with it's white background.

 

[himtoo]

I too have had the little black dots after laser but they do fade in time..........

 

[40djbrooks]

Are you all still able to drive a vehicle or has anyone had their driving licence revoked?

i think my problem at the moment is some glare and my sight is no longer sharp when watching tv or reading.

 

[noblehead]

Are you all still able to drive a vehicle or has anyone had their driving licence revoked?

i think my problem at the moment is some glare and my sight is no longer sharp when watching tv or reading.

Yes I drive and have a 3 year licence, usually they request a Field Vision Test on renewal but last year they issued my licence without requesting this, although they did do some checks which I assume included writing to my HCP's for further information.

The glare is a result of the laser surgery, you can get an ant-glare coating put on your glasses if you wear them for driving, Specsavers do it and it costs around £20 per pair.

 

[40djbrooks]

well i have made an appolntment to see my optician for the morning so praying i will not be stopped from driving, he did say i needed glasses but since my surgery I seem to have glare and mild blurryness. I am driving ok.

 

[40djbrooks]

Over the last few days I was really thinking that my sight was deterioating but today I am able to read pill boxes again.

No Vic I went to the optician and he thinks that my eyes need a chance to get over the laser treatment then he will review if i need glasses.

 

[Jemzor]

This is the problem with diabetes and retinopathy. One day the vision is good and the other it's not as good. The BG levels for me have determined the quality of vision.

 

[Sad Birdie]

Had my yearly eye check and they said i have background retinopthy!
I hate being type 1!

Sent from my GT-I8160 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jack412]

also from the site,
"A sudden improvement of control, perhaps with a 3% HbA1c drops, causes an increase in retinopathy progression for 1-3 years.
After 3-4 years of very good control retinopathy usually stops progressing completely and most patients will never need laser again (our patients are discharged back to the retinopathy screening service)."
http://www.diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/retinopathyprogression.htm

 

[kglan]

I attended the hospital last Tuesday for retinopathy laser treatment, since then my sight been ok, but I do see black little specs which does not effect my sight and does not annoy me.

I was wondering what side effects fellow readers here have experienced?
Has anyone still lost their sight regardless of treatment and adjustment of lifestyle.

My sugars is well under control and my consultant thinks my retinopathy got worse from a huge drop in sugars.

 

[kglan]

I had to attend the local hospital at Christmas where I had to undergo 20 minutes of laser treatment to repair a sudden tear in my retina. When it happened I saw what they call "large floaters" in my line of vision. Still had them when my eyes were rechecked in early January and they are just as bad now. Have got used to them - the eye consultant told me that they should disappear in time. I keep my blood sugars under control, but the diabetes is still damaging my eyes..

 

[40djbrooks]

kglan are you still able to drive with the condition?

I got my sugar levels down to normal now and it is staying that way

I am going back to the hospital in March for a review.

 

[kglan]

Hi, no I gave up driving a while ago (already on a restricted licence from the DVLA). The laser treatment has made my myopia much worse (some days are better than others), have problems judging distances which can make you appear clumsy. I have to be careful when I go shopping at the local supermarket in case I bump into people with my trolley and I have to really watch where I'm going. Have to wait a minimum of 8 weeks before I can have my eyes retested for stronger glasses.
Hope everything goes OK for you in March.