Eyesight

[Guest guest]

Permanent? Maybe, maybe not. Whatever treatment you're on, whether

meds or insulin has reduced the pressure behind your eyes, so you will

experience some improvement, but changes usually take place down the

road. General advice is not to spend a bunch of money on new glasses

for at least six months. My vision is still at the 20/400 area, but the

sensitivity to flourescent light and computer screens has lessened

considerably. Before dx I was completely disabled by eye problems and

couldn't work or even go into most stores and computer time was limited

to ten minutes at a time.

CarolR

vgray777 wrote:

> I was told on Nov. 5th that I have diabetes. My fasting blood glucose

> was 284. I have had bad eyesight for the last 40 years, since I was

> 9. For the past 30 to 45 days my eyesight has improved so much that

> I can not wear my glasses. My right eye went from 20/400 to 20/40.

[Guest guest]

vgray777 wrote:

>I was told on Nov. 5th that I have diabetes.

>

Sorry about the diagnosis. Welcome to the group.

>My fasting blood glucose was 284.

>

That's fairly high, but many people are diagnosed with much

higher To glucose levels.

>I have had bad eyesight for the last 40 years, since I was

>9. For the past 30 to 45 days my eyesight has improved so much that

>I can not wear my glasses. My right eye went from 20/400 to 20/40.

>With my left eye I could not see the top letter on an eye chart, now

>I can read the top 2. My sight is better than it has been in the past

>30 years. Has anyone else had his or her eyesight improve? If so is

>the improvement permanent?

>

>

Criminie! That much improvement in vision is amazing.

Your right eye went from beyond legally blind to not-all-that-bad

vision. That much improvement is unusual, I would have to say.

However, it's common for a newly diagnosed diabetic to experience an

improvement in vision. The way it works is that you start off as a

nondiabetic with normal vision. And then you begin developing diabetes

which is undiagnosed for a while. The high glucose levels change the

optical density of your eye which makes you more nearsighted. Then you

get diagnosed and treated. The optical density of your eye returns to

normal. And with it, your vision returns to normal. So untreated

diabetics tend to be more nearsighted, and that nearsightedness is a

temporary condition which lasts only as long as your glucose levels are

high.

But as I say, the amount of improvement that you're experiencing is

much more than I generally see mentioned. And if were you, I would

certainly talk to my own ophthalmologist or optometrist for better

explanation of your particular circumstance.

Edd

[Guest guest]

You are not the only one this happen too..when my bloodsugar was high l was near

sigted l coul barely se my puter screen...then my blood sugar came down,,,

yepppyy and now l have no trouble seeing the puter screen again...so this is

another reason to realy watch my sugar level...my sugar now is between 120 and

150...but somtimes when l am realy good it goes down to 100...Rita

Edd wrote:vgray777 wrote:

>I was told on Nov. 5th that I have diabetes.

>

Sorry about the diagnosis. Welcome to the group.

>My fasting blood glucose was 284.

>

That's fairly high, but many people are diagnosed with much

higher To glucose levels.

>I have had bad eyesight for the last 40 years, since I was

>9. For the past 30 to 45 days my eyesight has improved so much that

>I can not wear my glasses. My right eye went from 20/400 to 20/40.

>With my left eye I could not see the top letter on an eye chart, now

>I can read the top 2. My sight is better than it has been in the past

>30 years. Has anyone else had his or her eyesight improve? If so is

>the improvement permanent?

>

>

Criminie! That much improvement in vision is amazing.

Your right eye went from beyond legally blind to not-all-that-bad

vision. That much improvement is unusual, I would have to say.

However, it's common for a newly diagnosed diabetic to experience an

improvement in vision. The way it works is that you start off as a

nondiabetic with normal vision. And then you begin developing diabetes

which is undiagnosed for a while. The high glucose levels change the

optical density of your eye which makes you more nearsighted. Then you

get diagnosed and treated. The optical density of your eye returns to

normal. And with it, your vision returns to normal. So untreated

diabetics tend to be more nearsighted, and that nearsightedness is a

temporary condition which lasts only as long as your glucose levels are

high.

But as I say, the amount of improvement that you're experiencing is

much more than I generally see mentioned. And if were you, I would

certainly talk to my own ophthalmologist or optometrist for better

explanation of your particular circumstance.

Edd

[Guest guest]

What is really strange is that I know I did not have diabetes a year

ago. I was being treated for high cholesterol and high blood

pressure and was tested for diabetes several times. I have a family

history of diabetes so I knew there was a good chance I would get

it. Like I stated my eyesight has been bad all my life, almost 50

years and started getting better just in the past couple of months.

The diabetes did not cause the bad eyesight it caused the improvement.

[Guest guest]

<< I have had bad eyesight for the last 40 years, since I was 9. >>

Here's an interesting factoid. Elevated glucose levels make one's

eyes grow long, which is what makes us near-sighted. Many of us were

diabetic for years and years before diagnosis. I have been wearing

glasses since I was eight, and I should have worn them earlier, but

we were moving and it took awhile for a teacher to discover that my

vision was so poor I couldn't read the blackboard except from the

front row. (My mom worked full-time, volunteered for the church, took

in relatives, and I had five sisters. When I finally got glasses, my

mom blamed my poor vision on my having a bad case of German measles.)

Susie

[Guest guest]

Just a note to let you know that there are places, Lenscrafters, I think is

one, that will change your prescription free for the first six months in case

you want to get new glasses now. Don't know if there is a catch to this offer

but you might want to look into it.

Janet

*************

> Eyesight

>

> What is really strange is that I know I did not have diabetes a year

> ago. I was being treated for high cholesterol and high blood

> pressure and was tested for diabetes several times. I have a family

> history of diabetes so I knew there was a good chance I would get

> it. Like I stated my eyesight has been bad all my life, almost 50

> years and started getting better just in the past couple of months.

> The diabetes did not cause the bad eyesight it caused the improvement.

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/22/03 11:21:54 AM Pacific Standard Time,

vgray777@... writes:

What is really strange is that I know I did not have diabetes a year

ago. I was being treated for high cholesterol and high blood

pressure and was tested for diabetes several times. I have a family

history of diabetes so I knew there was a good chance I would get

it. Like I stated my eyesight has been bad all my life, almost 50

years and started getting better just in the past couple of months.

The diabetes did not cause the bad eyesight it caused the improvement.

Depending on whether you are normally near-sighted or farsighted, eyesight

can go either way with the high bg's caused by diabetes. The point is that

vision change is normal with diabetes, caused high bg's, and if you were to get

" really good " control of your bg's down into the " normal non-diabetic " ranges,

your vision would likely go back to your " pre-diabetic " level. This change

doesn't happen overnight, but usually a period of a few months.

I can appreciate that you are enjoying your new-found vision improvement, but

at the price of having high bg's, it certainly not worth the risk for all the

other horrendous complications that can befall the diabetic with high bg's

(above normal). Glasses are certainly cheaper and less traumatic than dealing

with the consequences of high bg's.

I may have missed you saying what your bg's and/or HbA1c are. I'm curious as

it can relate to the changes you are experiencing and help us understand your

situation more thoroughly.

Prior to my diagnosis (bg 350mg/dl & HbA1c 15.5%), I had lost a lot of

weight, which, in retrospect was caused by my high bg's, and a red-flag to my

dr. I

was happy about the weight-loss, but not the reason that caused it.

, T2, dx'ed 4/98, controlling with LC, average bg 100mg/dl, last HbA1c

5.6%

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/22/03 9:02:03 AM Pacific Standard Time,

sandypaws5@... writes:

,

Yes, and no... my change to really bad vision was temporary, thank

goodness. I couldn't read large print books with a magnifying glass. My

eyesight has been fine since my blood sugar settled down.

Sandy H.

Sandy,

Glad to hear your vision is good now. Congratulations.

Mine did take about 3 months to settle down after getting my bg's down into

the " normal non-diabetic " range, and as I understand it, I expect it to stay

that way as long as the bg's are controlled to that level.

, T2, dx'ed 4/98, controlling with LC, average bg 100mg/dl, last HbA1c

5.6%

[Guest guest]

HI ALL

I CHANGED TO INSULIN EARLY THIS YEAR AND WHEN I HAD MY ANNUAL EYESIGHT CHECK

DONE I WAS TOLD MY SIGHT HAD IMPROVED ANDI COULD USE LOWER LENS STRENGTH GLASSES

FOR READING IF I WISHED.I ALSO HAD NOTICED THIS MYSELF AND THE IMPROVEMENT WILL

LAST WHILST GOOD BLOOD GLUCOSE CONTROL IS MAINTAINED

WILLIAM FENTON

Sandy wrote:

Has anyone else had his or her eyesight improve? If so is

the improvement permanent?

,

Yes, and no... my change to really bad vision was temporary, thank

goodness. I couldn't read large print books with a magnifying glass. My

eyesight has been fine since my blood sugar settled down.

Sandy H.

[Guest guest]

Mine did take about 3 months to settle down after getting my bg's down

into

the " normal non-diabetic " range, and as I understand it, I expect it to

stay

that way as long as the bg's are controlled to that level.

, T2, dx'ed 4/98, controlling with LC, average bg 100mg/dl, last

HbA1c

5.6%

My blood sugar has never been that low, but my eyesight hasn't gotten bad

again... I shudder to think how high it must have been to cause my eye

problems. My fasting was 399 when I was diagnosed, but I'm sure it must

have been much higher for months before that. I was just out of it...

couldn't concentrate, and what's worse, I was in a musical and had to

memorize lines. Somehow, I got through it :-)

Sandy

[Guest guest]

I can appreciate that you are enjoying your new-found vision improvement,

but

at the price of having high bg's, it certainly not worth the risk for all

the

other horrendous complications that can befall the diabetic with high bg's

(above normal). Glasses are certainly cheaper and less traumatic than

dealing

with the consequences of high bg's.

Actually, my eyesight problems only cleared up when I got my blood sugar

under control. My eye problems were because of high blood sugar.

Sandy