Laser treatment for retinopathy.

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Stephyr77

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Hi everyone,
I’m due to have some laser treatment imminently and was wondering about people’s experiences of it.
I’m not at all concerned about the actual procedure, but the possible side effects are a little worrying. Has anyone suffered any?

Thanks in advance for any help/info
Steph
 
Hello @Stephyr77 ,

Thank you so much for joining our support forum. I have added a link below on how retinopathy is treated and possible side effects that may help you.

Managing eye problems when you have diabetes

You can prevent your eye disease getting worse – but you need to act now. Diabetic eye screening is so important because you may not realise you have a problem with your eyes, and if a problem with your eyes is picked up early, taking the right steps can stop it getting worse.
www.diabetes.org.uk www.diabetes.org.uk
 
Welcome to the forum @Stephyr77

We have a few members who have had laser treatment who might have experiences to share - @Northerner @Flower @Kaylz @Greymouser

Have you discussed your worries with your clinic?

What sort of potential side effects have you hear about that worry you?
 
Hi there and welcome 🙂

I wasn't advised this before attending my lasering session but the doctor pretty much forced me to take paracetamol before doing the procedure so I suggest you do that

What is it that your worried about? I didn't really suffer any ill effects afterwards, bloodshot eyes and they felt a little on the dry side for a day or so but nothing I couldn't cope with
xx
 
I’ve had laser surgery for my eyes in the past.

I too never suffered any side effects apart from bloodshot eyes and they felt a bit gritty.

I have a huge phobia of people touching my eyes, just getting a basis eye check is awful, and I let them do it to me without much fuss, although they did do it in stages for me.
 
Hello @Stephyr77 and welcome.

I've had a lot of laser in both eyes and the main effects were very light sensitive eyes for a few days - sunglasses are a must whatever the weather forecast - slightly uncomfortable, achy, gritty eyes and some blurring for the first 24 hours, these effects did wear off and my sight settled down.

What have you read about the side effects that is concerning you most? The clinic I went to talked me through what was going to happen and how things should settle down afterwards and I was given a number to contact them if I was worried about anything.

I find this site really informative on all things retinopathy http://www.diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/laserdiabetic_retinopathy.html
if you scroll down there are some points about 'after the laser'. The main thing to do if you are worried about anything post laser treatment is to contact the clinic and ask for advice.

I wish you well, I found it less frightening in reality than all the thoughts I'd had swirling around in my head.
 
Thank you all so much for your replies,

Ive found it really reassuring that thankfully you don’t seem to have suffered any long lasting ill effects of the treatment.
I was mainly concerned about seeing floaters for months or losing peripheral vision but fingers crossed that won’t be the case.

my treatment is later this morning so I’m sure I will soon find out!

Thanks for the info and advice
 
I hope your treatment goes/went well 🙂 I only had some very minor laser treatment - about 20 zaps - and although it was a little uncomfortable I didn't suffer any side effects 🙂 Unfortunately, in my case though, I later developed maculopathy, which is where the changes are too close to the macular (the part of the eye responsible for central vision) and it has been too risky to perform further laser in that region. However, that was 7 years ago now, and although it is still there it has been more or less stable. There has been a question whether the laser I had was ill-advised, but no-one can say for sure. It has had only a slight impact on my vision, a sort of 'kink' when looking at a straight line 🙂
 
Hope it went well today @Stephyr77

Let us know how you got on once you’ve found your feet.
 
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