Background retinopathy has gotten worse despite good HBA1C? Help!

[Purple_Panda]

Just went for a retinal imaging this morning done privately and the pictures appear to have shown the background retinopathy having gotten worse from the last time I had the picture taken at the same optometrist in December. I had also had an NHS diabetic eye screening done in February but haven't seen those images.

But since December I have lost a lot of weight, I've recently been taking Ramipril for my blood pressure due to proteinuria and a high ACR and as I said my last two HBA1C readings were 37 and 38. What have I been doing wrong?

Maybe is it because I've been bingeing on the berries and the "no added sugar" stuffs? What exactly do we consider a BG spike? I mentioned yesterday about the wafers taking me to a 10.9 spike but going down to 6.3 a couple of hours later.

I was told initially that background retinopathy could be reversible but it looks like it's getting worse. It's still background retinopathy though.

Please help me I can't bear to lose my vision. What do I need to do? Start exercising? Eat less berries? Skip the no added sugar chocolates and biscuits?

Please help.

 

[Inka]

Just went for a retinal imaging this morning done privately and the pictures appear to have shown the background retinopathy having gotten worse from the last time I had the picture taken at the same optometrist in December. I had also had an NHS diabetic eye screening done in February but haven't seen those images.

It’s always gut-wrenching to not get a 100% perfect eye screen. I understand your fear. So, what I would do is focus on exactly what the private optometrist says about your eyes. You haven’t mentioned that in your paragraph above. And, although you didn’t see the NHS photos, did you not get a letter giving you the result? What did that letter say and how long did that letter say you needed to leave it until your next scan? Did it say the normal 12 months?

Edited to add another question - why did you have this recent private scan?

 

[grovesy]

Have you had a quick drop in your HBA1C? As some report worsen following a quick drop.
Did you ask the practioner who did the screening.

 

[Purple_Panda]

Have you had a quick drop in your HBA1C? As some report worsen following a quick drop.
Did you ask the practioner who did the screening.

What do you define as a quick drop? From It was 112 in September to 38 most recently. However I had no retinopathy whatsoever in May 2020, some in December 2020 but that seems to have gotten worse.

 

[grovesy]

That is under a year, that is quite a big drop. Some people appear to get temporary changes,that settle down when they have more stable HBA1C.
Whet did your Optometrist say?b

 

[Purple_Panda]

Optometrist has referred me onto a specialist but I'm just confused. I thought I had made significant progress and with the HBA1C but this has thrown me completely.

 

[grovesy]

You need to ask the specialist, when you see them.

 

[Inka]

Optometrist has referred me onto a specialist but I'm just confused. I thought I had made significant progress and with the HBA1C but this has thrown me completely.

What did your NHS letter say previously? Why did you have the private eye exam?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope you get some reassurance from the specialist @Purple_Panda

Don’t be disheartened. Keep working at trying to maintain as even BGs as you can (I certainly dont consider your spikes to be particularly extreme, but binging on foods doesn’t suggest a healthy relationship to food), and hopefully this will just be a temporary blip of retinopathy after your HbA1c improvement which will resolve itself and clear up in time.

I’ve had a few ‘background’ letters over the years, but I am currently ‘all clear’ 🙂