Pregnancy planning

[Catey]

Hi, I'm hoping that someone may be able to help me. I've had type 1 for 14 years. I recently had a baby and was looking forward to expanding our family over the next few years. I then received a letter from the screening service to say that I had early changes in my left eye I had a screening 2 months before falling pregnant and everything was clear and then 3 months after pregnancy I receive the 'early changes' letter. I can only assume it is pregnancy related, is this possible? Can it regress? I visited my optician who had a look and could see one micro aneurysm but said other than that it looked perfectly healthy and that he wouldn't have graded it as R1. I've been so upset with receiving this letter and now am worried that another pregnancy would only progress things. I guess I'm wondering whether anyone has been through this and went on to have another pregnancy without their eyes progressing? Thanks

 

[Northerner]

Hi Catey, welcome to the forum 🙂 Please don't worry about the 'early changes' letter - this causes so many people alarm! This can happen to anyone with diabetes, it's very minor, won't affect your sight, and can resolve itself with good blood sugar and blood pressure control, so your next one may be clear. As your optician says they wouldn't have even rated it R1 then it was probably marginal anyway. It may have been caused by the pregnancy and the ups and downs with blood sugar that that can cause.

I would talk to your DSN about your concerns, to set your mind at ease 🙂

 

[Catey]

Thanks Northerner! What got me was that my hba1c before preg was in the 5% and during was in the 4%. There were spikes of course but not many. I did have lows throughout preg so I don't know if that may have been a factor although I always thought it was persistent high readings that would cause it hence my confusion. I called the screening service but the person I spoke to was quite flippant about it all. I'm worried that developing this even with very good control means that laser and sight loss is inevitable and also worried another pregnancy would see it get worse I've also developed floaters since which optician checked out too but it's just all happened at once and makes you fear the worst! Sorry for the rant! I have an appt with my Consultant soon so will put him over this and hope he can reassure me too! Thanks again Northerner!

 

[Northerner]

Thanks Northerner! What got me was that my hba1c before preg was in the 5% and during was in the 4%. There were spikes of course but not many. I did have lows throughout preg so I don't know if that may have been a factor although I always thought it was persistent high readings that would cause it hence my confusion. I called the screening service but the person I spoke to was quite flippant about it all. I'm worried that developing this even with very good control means that laser and sight loss is inevitable and also worried another pregnancy would see it get worse I've also developed floaters since which optician checked out too but it's just all happened at once and makes you fear the worst! Sorry for the rant! I have an appt with my Consultant soon so will put him over this and hope he can reassure me too! Thanks again Northerner!

Wow, that was excellent control before and during your pregnancy! 🙂 I'm a bloke, so obviously have no pregnancy experience, but from what I have read here from others the problem is really when your eye problems are much further advanced. Background retinopathy can come and go, or it can stay around for decades and never get any worse. My HbA1c has always been in the 5% range, but I have suffered from it, so to someextent it is the luck of the draw. Hopefully, the consultant will be able to calm your fears - it's a shame that the person you rang about it was flippant about it, maybe they wouldn't be so flippant if it was something they had just been told about for the first time

Please let us know how you get on, and good luck with everything! 🙂

 

[Catey]

Maybe it is just a case of bad luck! I felt like asking the op I spoke to at screening service whether she would be so flippant if it were her in that position!! Good to hear that it's not unheard of that it could possibly regress also. Hopefully my consultant can shed some light. Really appreciate you taking the time to try and reassure me 🙂 hope that things stay stable for you also!

 

[grainger]

Hi Catey,
My first screening after pregnancy I was told I had slight changes to one eye. A year after I had another screening and it's all been back to being perfectly fine. My consultant has told me pregnancy can affect so many things and it can take some time for bodies to adjust so please try not to worry. Speak with your consultant and I hope they'll be able to give you some peace of mind.

 

[Catey]

Hi Grainger! Thanks so much for your reply! I'm glad to hear that things returned to normal for you!! I hope the same for me. I did speak to my consultant and he reassured me in that he believes that the change to my eye is due to the pressure put on it during pregnancy. It was the only thing that made sense to me so I'm glad that he didn't disagree that that was potentially what happened. I just hope now that it can resolve itself although he did say these things tend to remain but I have read that it can go back to pre pregnancy and seems that's what happened with you too so it is possible but time will tell whether I'll see the same! Thanks again for your reply, it helps to know that you aren't alone in these things!