1 week into Type 2 diagnosis and I have blurred vision

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Timay

Timay

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I've just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I've been prescribed 500mg of Sukkarto to start with, and I have been booked in with the Diabetic nurse next week. So, I've had no advice yet on dieting. I've automatically cut all sweet treats and limited simple carbs in anticipation for what I'll be advised. My old diet included a mixture of healthy main meals, but then lots of sweet foods like cake, chocolate etc. A few days into the meds and new diet regime and I'm getting blurred vision and struggling to read up close on my work monitor and phone messages and find myself having to try hard to refocus on text.

I wasn't too concerned with the diagnosis to begin with, as I was confident I could control it with diet and meds, but loss of vision is concerning. Could it just be withdrawal from a sugar loaded diet or something more concerning?
 
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This is a common reaction when you quickly lower your blood sugars. The eye had previously adjusted to being bathed in glucose. Now it has to readjust the other way back to normal. It usually settles with a few weeks. By all means consult an optician/dr to be sure but don’t be tempted to spend lots of money on new glasses just yet. Buy some cheap reading glasses from the pound shop and wait a couple of weeks.
 
AS explained above, it should be a temporary issue due to your dietary changes having an impact on your Blood Glucose levels and ready reader glasses from the pound shop etc are the simple solution.
I do find it quite funny though that you have used a small font for your post so that we are all squinting to read it! If you can't beat them make them join you!! As a result, I had to rake around for my ready reader glasses to read your post :rofl:
 
rebrascora said:
AS explained above, it should be a temporary issue due to your dietary changes having an impact on your Blood Glucose levels and ready reader glasses from the pound shop etc are the simple solution.
I do find it quite funny though that you have used a small font for your post so that we are all squinting to read it! If you can't beat them make them join you!! As a result, I had to rake around for my ready reader glasses to read your post :rofl:
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I was at work and have nosey staff haha. Thanks for your reply 🙂
 
HSSS said:
This is a common reaction when you quickly lower your blood sugars. The eye had previously adjusted to being bathed in glucose. Now it has to readjust the other way back to normal. It usually settles with a few weeks. By all means consult an optician/dr to be sure but don’t be tempted to spend lots of money on new glasses just yet. Buy some cheap reading glasses from the pound shop and wait a couple of weeks.
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Thank you, that's reassuring. I hindsight, I think I should have taken a slower approach to the changes in my diet.
 
Hi @Timay and welcome

Blurred sight is a common symptom of diabetes around the time of diagnosis. High levels of circulating glucose affect the lenses in the eyes and cause them to change in shape - something to do with osmosis - the change in lens shape affects the ability to focus as normal so you get blurred vision. It does settle down and your sight should return to how it was pre diagnosis once glucose levels are back in target range. As above its better to reduce your glucose slowly and steadily to be kinder on the body.

Here's a list of common symptoms of diabetes from the Diabetes UK site it covers all types of diabetes so some symptoms are specific to eg Type 1 but blurred eyesight is a common symptom.

Diabetes symptoms​

  • Toilet - going for a wee a lot, especially at night.
  • Thirsty - being really thirsty.
  • Tired - feeling more tired than usual.
  • Thinner - losing weight without trying to.
  • Genital itching or thrush.
  • Cuts and wounds take longer to heal.
  • Blurred eyesight
  • Increased hunger.
 
I had exactly that, distance was fine but near vision was hopeless and I didn't even start with a particularly high HbA1C and it didn't happen straight away but unfortunately took several months to improve. I think it affected each eye differently because it felt as if my eyes were in different heads, I wear varifocals so didn't want to be forking out for new glasses and the cheap reading glasses didn't help me, it made it worse.
It is suggested you reduce your carbs gradually over a few weeks, so keeping a food diary so you know how many carbs you are having, info on packets, tins, internet and then cut down by a third for a couple of weeks, then another third and so on until you get to where you need to be. A good starting point is no more than 130g per day total carbs,
 
Timay said:
I was at work and have nosey staff haha. Thanks for your reply 🙂
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Hehe! I’ve reset your post to the standard size, now that it’s the weekend - just so that members with limited vision can access it more easily 🙂

Hope your eyeballs bounce back to their proper shape over the next few weeks - it can be quite disconcerting especially with diabetes reputation for affecting eyes, but usually it’s fairly short lived following a new diagnosis.
 
Timay said:
I was at work and have nosey staff haha. Thanks for your reply 🙂
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You may want to change your photo if that’s you and you’re concerned about colleagues seeing your post. Diabetes is fairly common and they may see this anyway.
 
I agree with the preceding posters that it is probably due to fluctuations in your BG levels. However, it is probably best to get your eyes tested. In my case, with an initial hba1c of over 135 mmol/mol, my eyesight had really gone to hell. As stated above, everyone assumed, including my optician, that Diabetes was the culprit. It took two eye test in six months before they realised I had both glaucoma and cataracts. One year on, I have noticeably limited vision over my left shoulder due to the glaucoma in my left eye and a cataract the size of a fist in my right eye.

Like I say, it is almost certainly due to fluctuations in your BG levels, but, just to be sure, I strongly recommend getting a full eye test.
 
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