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T2 newly - worried about eyes anyone with retinopathy- questions

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flashgordon12345

Member
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7
HI,
I'm 32, always been 11 stone, do exercise regularly. Accidentally found I was diabetic about 4 months ago. The reading was 75, an 11 when getting tested. I don't know what that mean, they said it was high. They also said they is extremely strange why I have diabetes as I don't fit into the typical patient.

I'm on metformin 2 pills twice a day.

They said I shouldn't have a blood meter.

I take meformin morning and at night before I go to bed with food.
The doctor said to take it with evening meal so I presume having something before bed so I have it in my body most of the time is the best. Yet other doctors say I should take it at 4-5 oclock to it helps with my evening large meal, there seems to be no right answer.

I've don't eat any chocolate, changed all food to brown, instead of chips i have jacket potatoes an salad. Instead of hot chocolate I have coffee.

I went for my eye test and got a letter saying I have signs of retinopathy, since I got the letter i've been more worried and panicky about my eyes, I now notice they have noise on them which I can see at night more then day.

?Question to anyone with retinopathy - I was told your eyes over time blur? is that current? or is what you see hard to describe but best described as noise?
I don't know if my eyes have got slightly worse and to go to the doctors ago or maybe its something different than retinopathy.
 

Hi

I had my first retinopathy exam yesterday. (I have only been diagnosed six weeks) they detected a slight abnormality in my left eye., The optician said if I notice any changes even in the slightest to go back to see her.

Could you possibly revisit your optician and voice your concerns?. I am sure they would be more than willing to help and put your mind at ease.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
I will tag @daisy1 who will post a lot of information for newcomers. Do ask questions and people will try and help.

Did the letter say "background retinopathy"?
I had a letter saying that and they will retest in 12 months. If it is anything more serious I think that you would be sent for a follow up appointment. If you are concerned it might be a good idea to ask your doctor as he/she should also have been informed.
 
I was diagnosed T2 on 1st September and I have already got 'moderate' retinopathy in both eyes. I saw the consultant in October who said to come back in three months once I'd given my eyes a chance to react to medication and changes to diet. I do have lots of blurring especially at night and my night vision and depth perception is a bit dodgy. My gp says to give my eyes a chance to adjust and even if there is some damage, there is a long way to go before laser treatment. Try not to worry - you are going through a lot of changes and your eyes may take a while to settle.
 
Most people with diabetes will get background retinopathy at some stage. Background retinopathy does not affect your eyesight and the chance of your eyesight being affected before your next screening test is small. The aim of screening is to detect any potentially sight-threatening changes before eyesight has been affected as treatment is much more successful at this stage. In the unlikely event that you did get any worrying changes in your eyesight between screenings, you should see an optician or GP as soon as possible and not wait until your next screening.
 
I took part in a discussion group for RNIB and the charity is aiming to launch a helpline for people with diabetes who either have eye problems or who want more info, in January 2016. In the meantime you can call the existing RNIB helpline or get info from the website.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
If you have some background retinopathy, I am surprised they have not asked you to attend another appointment. There are plenty of of investigations tobe done, unless you had them at your initial appointment- photographs, retinal angiography etc.
Background retinopathy does affect your vision, you may notice your night vision is not as good, lights become very glaring, and dazzle you, often there is a change in depth perception. Not sure what you mean by "noise".
I am legally blind from diabetic retinopathy, been there, had multiple surgerys, my retinas cannot possibly fit anymore laser on them. Feel free to ask anything, however I am Australian, so have no experience with NHS protocols.
 
@flashgordon12345

Hello and welcome to the forum It can help your eyes to keep your levels down by reducing the carbs you eat. Here is the information we give to new members which should help you to do this. Ask more questions and someone will be able to 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 over 150,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

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

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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 bloodglucose 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.
 
Sucre bleu, changes to night vision and peripheral vision are possible side effects of laser treatment for proliferative retinopathy. If screening by retinal photography detected proliferative retinopathy, the patient would be referred to the hospital eye clinic for further tests, possibly angiography, as you describe. Background retinopathy does not affect vision and does not need treatment but patients should ensure good control of blood glucose and blood pressure to minimize the risk of progression. Patients should also make sure they attend their next retinal screening so that if any sight-threatening changes occur they can be referred to hospital promptly.

There is some information here:-https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=we...dRBl_ZQPANYOeSe3A&sig2=qCy_SxwuOwY7CpCXMJMGXQ
 
Had type 2 for 1 year 7 months just had an eye test everything fine just normal wear and tear it is the main thing that scares me too .
 
I think we are going to disagree on this, I certainly do not want to scare anyone, but even with background retinopathy you can develop macular oedema resulting in the symptoms I mentioned, yes they will certainly occur following extensive laser therapy, note the word EXTENSIVE, I know I have read on here people who have had limited laser treatments and gone on to have basically no visual defects, more power to them
Having been through the most dire complications personally, I can only encourage people right from the very start to be informed about what tests can be offered, vigilant about changing symptoms, even something as simple as light affecting your eyes more than it did before is worth mentioning , Read, learn and keep ahead of the game, your eyes will thank you
 
Background retinopathy does not affect your sight and does not need any further investigation, other than follow-up screenings which are currently annual in the UK.

You are right that background retinopathy can progress to sight-threatening retinopathy (maculopathy, pre-proliferative retinopathy or proliferative retinopathy) but the screening interval is chosen so that the chance of developing syptomatic sight-threatening retinopathy between screenings is very small.

If someone begins to develop sight-threatening retinopathy, that will usually be picked up at screening BEFORE any symptoms develop which is the most effective time to treat. In the rare event that someone develops symptoms of macular oedema (e.g. blurred or wavy central vision, colours washed out) or proliferative retinopathy (e.g. black spots or flashing lights or loss of vision) between screenings, they should get checked immediately and should not wait for their next screening appointment.

In summary, I agree that symptoms affecting vision should be followed up promptly but I disagree that background retinopathy (which is symptomless) needs investigating. Background retinopathy does not need treating so should not be investigated using invasive procedures such as angiography.
 
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