Sudden Vision Change

[shane1492]

I have recently reduced my glucose levels by half or more within a week.
But my vision has now now become impaired.
I am assuming it is because of the sudden dramatic reduction in my glucose levels?
And will stabilize?

 

[copepod]

Do you wear glasses / contact lenses? If so, your prescription may need to be changed as blood glucose levels inside your eyeballs become nearer to normal. In a few weeks, go to optician for eye tests, as any change now will be temporary. Obviously, be responsible about driving etc with current poorly corrected eyesight.

If you don't wear glasses / contact lenses and are worried about eyesight changes, you'll need to ask optician / GP / A&E / NHS Direct for advice / information.

 

[BooJewels]

I too have just had a significant reduction when going on to insulin. My DN said she wanted to bring it down gradually to minimise potential problems, especially with my eyesight. But even so, I've had some days when my sight has been very poor - it looked like I was looking through bubble wrap, this sort of bumpy cloud in front of my vision. But each bout of it was short term and I'd been forewarned, so I wasn't worried.

So hopefully yours is the same phenomenon and will settle down soon as the fluid in your eye stabilises. But please consult a medic if you're uncomfortable about it in any way, your eyes are too important not to. But don't get your eyes tested by an optician just yet, if it's temporary you could end up with expensive and unsuitable correction.

 

[Ian DP]

I reduced BG levels around a year ago and my vision changed. It all levelled out after about 3 months. The key to stable vision is to have stable, low BG level.

 

[KateA]

I was told that it is not advisable to have an eye test and change prescription during the first year following diagnosis. The reason being that your eyesight can change with the changing blood glucose levels.

 

[Winnie53]

Congrats on reducing you blood glucose! I had a similar experience with my vision. It continued to change for a few months.

I chose to have my eyes dialated and examined because I wanted to know if and how much damage the elevated blood glucose levels did to my eyes - (highest BG level was 282 mg/dL (15.7 mmol/L) 3 1/2 months ago). This also provided me a baseline of where I am now that I've changed my diet and am monitoring my blood glucose fasting and 2-hours post meals.

It's not known how long my blood glucose was elevated, but I do know that I crossed over from pre-diabetes to diabetes sometime between 2005 or 2006, but did nothing other than continuing to eat normally. When I was tested again in 2009, I had the same A1C, I believe due to the 20 pounds I'd lost during the in between years.

My report says "no diabetic retinopathy", but I do have "grade II atherosclerosis of the arteries". For me, this was important information because I wouldn't want to have my eyes examined later and not know when this change occurred. By that I mean before or after I lowered my blood glucose levels with the LCHF diet.

I'm in my mid-50's so I also had a A1C, comprehensive metabolic panel; and (lipid panel (cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-C LDL-C), and had those tests repeated last week.

I followed that up with additional testing due to my medical history: vitamin D; iron; Free T4, T3, Total, and TSH; hsCRP (measure of cardio inflammation); and CRP measure of inflammation).

To reverse the atherosclerosis of the arteries, I am now taking vitamin K2 (not K1), with cod liver oil (vitamin A not beta carotene); vitamin D3, and magnesium.

In a year, I'll have my eyes dialated and examined again to report on whether there has been a change in the atherosclerosis.

It's been encouraging to read here that at least a few people with retinopathy have improved their condition by tightly controlling their blood sugar, so if you have retinopathy in the early stages or later stages, there's still hope of at minimum stabilizing it, and possibly partially reversing it. Better to know now than later. But that's just me. Informed in empowered.

 

[jackie_oates_123]

hi when i went on the lchf diet and reduces my bs i couldnt see my mobile phone numbers or read it balanced out over the next few weeks and i see better than i did before, sudden changes in your bs will affect your eyes

 

[Celsus]

I have recently reduced my glucose levels by half or more within a week.
But my vision has now now become impaired.
I am assuming it is because of the sudden dramatic reduction in my glucose levels?
And will stabilize?

Yes & Yes!
It will typically clear up again after a couple of weeks max.

 

[Anaelena]

I have recently reduced my glucose levels by half or more within a week.
But my vision has now now become impaired.
I am assuming it is because of the sudden dramatic reduction in my glucose levels?


This blurred vision is caused by fluid seeping into the lens of the eye and causing the lens to swell, changing its shape and altering its ability to focus properly. Once blood glucose is under control, the lens resumes its normal shape and vision improves. Can be a few weeks until it gets better