Advice on Blurred Vision

[Hazel/lottie]

Hi could some of you give me some advice please, my 11yr old daughter was diagonosed type 1 in May of this year, we are managing and hope for her to go on a pump in the new year. She has had two HBA1c tests and they were 7.9 and then 7.2. However recently she caught a cold and her numbers rocketed,the highest she hit was 33. We are gradually getting more stable numbers but could still hit a 20 each day. Lately she has also had hypo unawareness and reached 2.3 while feeling fine. She has started to complain about blurry vision, it doesnt happen all the time just every now and again. It happened yesterday and i asked her to do a test she was 11. We were shopping so decided to call into Vision Express, the front of house staff couldnt be more helpful suggesting she had a test as it was free and they wernt busy. However the optician passed the message through that until my daughters blood sugars became stable it wasnt worth looking into, i questioned what they condiser stable they had no idea and asked what her blood sugars should be, when i told them 4-7 they said come back when shes between those numbers regularly. I was not impressed and did voice my opinion, but it fell on deaf ears, were seeing our diabetic nurse next week but would like some thoughts on the subject, your comments are much appreciated, thankyou.

 

[diagonall]

Hi Hazel, I suspect from what you are saying it is the high numbers causing your daughters problems. Admititedly it wouldn't have hurt the optition sp* to look into her eyes to make sure there was nothing else wrong and to reassure you both.
But he is right in that he can not do a test with high blood sugars as you will get a completely false reading.
I doubt your daughter is losing her hypo awareness after less than a year of diabetes. It does happen on the odd occassion that we don't notice a low due to certain circumstances. IE to busy doing something else. Or a very sudden quick drop can cause this. So please do not panic.
Wow to a pump so soon too 🙂 How did you manage that one then?
Your daughter is now coming to the age when hormones will kick in so control will be very hard work for the next few years. Teenage years are awful for people with diabetes.

 

[Hazel/lottie]

Thanks Sue, i have been warned re teenage hormones, not looking forward to that one. Re her eye sight how does she get around this problem or is this something she just has to live with. Havent quite got the pump yet, but have been given the date to attend the information afternoon. Charlotte is on 4 injections a day, however she lost her insulin pen at school so the school have refused for her to carry her insulin with her, meaning she has to visit the school first aider (a right old dragon and another story) to have her lunch time injection each day. Hence the request for a pump.

 

[kojack]

I had this eye/vision prob quite a few months before diabetes was diagnosed. I spent a lot of money having two new pairs of distance specs and a prescription pair of polaroids.
Within two weeks of diagnosis, I was back to my old specs. High bs increases pressures and changes the shape of the lens or cornea.
The high street optician agreed to reassess the lenses needed once my bs had stabilised.
He even offered to do digital pics if the diabetic team didn't ( i had a call up and they were done at the hospital very quickly)
The new lenses are excellent and 'blurred' vision is a thing of the past but a good indicator of off target bs.

 

[diagonall]

Thanks Sue, i have been warned re teenage hormones, not looking forward to that one. Re her eye sight how does she get around this problem or is this something she just has to live with. Havent quite got the pump yet, but have been given the date to attend the information afternoon. Charlotte is on 4 injections a day, however she lost her insulin pen at school so the school have refused for her to carry her insulin with her, meaning she has to visit the school first aider (a right old dragon and another story) to have her lunch time injection each day. Hence the request for a pump.

Hi Hazel,
Your daughters eyes will settle down as soon as her numbers are more stable. So please do not worry. They do not have to be in the magic 4-7 range either. Just as long as not permantly high.
Ah I can see the schools point regarding carrying insulin about if Charlotte was daft enough to lose the pen. (Typical youngster by the sounds of it) 🙂
If Charlotte does have the chance of pumping all I can say is fantastic. It makes one heck of a dif to life. Are you both carb counting now? If not start to learn now and treat yourself to the book pumping insulin by John Walsh. It's the pumpers bible.
Sue

 

[emma1972]

Hi, there just to say don't worry this is very common. I am recently diagnosed too and I had been running high for months and my vision was often blurred quite badly. The consultant explained that your eye lens changes shape due to the high sugar levels in the blood (can't remember if it shrinks or swells) and that once the diabetes becomes more controlled and the levels drop the vision will return to normal. Be warned though it can get slightly worse before it disappears but this is the lens shape correcting itself. My eyesight is back to normal after about 3 weeks of reasonable levels.
Hope that helps

Emma

 

[rhall92380]

Hi, make sure you go to a proper Optmetrist. Heres a website with more information about them:
http://www.college-optometrists.org....Public_Related_Links.What_is_an_Optometrist/

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Caroline Wilson]

Once the sugar levels are settled, the eys will be better. Agree in seeing good optemetrist, but may also be worth talking to diabetic care team too.

I sympathise as I have had a cold and cough all over Christmas with sugar levels up and down. I am waiting for docs to open and get an appointment see if I can get something to get rid of cough and sore throat...

 

[Hazel/lottie]

Thank you all for your comments they are a great help, things are improving for us and yes we have been carbo counting since August, but will look into getting the book. What a fab website!!