Advice needed regarding retinopathy

[emma graham]

hi everybody,

I am a type 1 diabetic, I was diagnosed 16 years ago, I believe I have looked after myself well, I have had two successful pregnancies and always thought I was doing well. My last hba1c was 47 (Jan 2017), yes I do have hypos and sugar spikes but never anything that I can't handle. Anyway I had my retinopathy screening last Friday, and my results confirm that I have retinopathy! I am so confused and obviously upset as I always thought hba1c was a good indicator of problems that my occur so I always thought I was in the clear and doing well.

I would greatly appreciate a reply from Anyone that might have soon insight into this.

Thank you

Emma

 

[grovesy]

Welcome.

 

[Copepod]

Welcome to the forum Emma Graham. If your letter said background retinopathy and next screening in one year, then there is a good chance that there is no need to worry. It may not be visible next year.
Personally, background retinopathy showed in my eyes after 18 years of type 1 diabetes, disappeared the next year, and has showed in each of the following 3 years of hospital screening. However, optician had a look a few weeks ago and couldn't find any retinopathy.

 

[emma graham]

Thank you for your reply, My letter was very brief and simply stated that I have retinopathy and that I will be screened again in 12 months. I was going to contact my optician this week to get them to have a wee look. hopefully I will be similar to you and there won't be much to detect.

Thank you again.

Emma

 

[Northerner]

Thank you for your reply, My letter was very brief and simply stated that I have retinopathy and that I will be screened again in 12 months. I was going to contact my optician this week to get them to have a wee look. hopefully I will be similar to you and there won't be much to detect.

Thank you again.

Emma

Hi Emma, welcome to the forum 🙂 I wouldn't worry about it in that case - anything that needed attention would mean an earlier appointment, not 12 months. As @Copepod says, there is every possibility that it won't be there when you have your next scan. There are many, many stages you would need to progress to before it became troublesome, and since it is being monitored on your regular scans it's unlikely to progress if you keep up your good control 🙂

 

[trophywench]

Hear hear!

Mine was first spotted - in one eye only at the time - in approx. 1995. Since then the other eye has joined in. However - as yet - none of it has ever been bad enough or near enough the retina - to require anything other than another ordinary retinal photo in another 12 months. Meanwhile I've had one cataract operated on - the other isn't bad enough yet to require operating on. No difference - still only background retinopathy.

 

[mikeyB]

Retinopathy is the one diabetic complication that is not directly related to diabetic control. Though lack of control makes it more likely, it can develop in folk who have had pristine control. Nobody really knows why this should be so, but like you Emma feel a bit peeved, to say the least, when their persistently good HbA1c results throw this up. As the others have said, it isn't anything to worry about if the review is 12 months, the chances are nothing significant will have changed. Just keep the numbers under control, and this may be the worst you will get for years, if not decades.