Proliferative diabetic retinopathy both eyes anyone hete who has had prp laser?

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sugary123

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Hi I've been informed I have bilateral proliferative retinopathy and urgently need extensive prp laser in both eyes ... anyone else here in the same situation? How did your laser treatment go and any vision loss from the laser ie ate you still driving ?

Also my drs are all very confused as my retinopathy is not in the usual place for diabetics it's right at the back I'm the periphery and oy seen on flourescin angiography .... anyone else had an unusual presentation of their retinopathy?

Very upset worried and scared
Thanks
 
Hope you are able to get effective treatment @sugary123

How are your BG levels and blood pressure doing?

We’ve had a few members who have had various successful laser treatments.

Hope things work out well for you 🙂
 
Bgs and bp are up and down due to stress
But usually OK and within range
My hba1c is usually around 5.3 ish but glycemic variability is an issue
 
Hi @sugary123 I've had diabetes for 52 years and had to have extensive PRP laser in my left eye several years ago. However this was not due to diabetes but the effects of a hemi retinal vein occlusion that I'd previously had. I've been told by Moorfields Eye Hospital that all of my left eye is now fully lasered. I'd stopped driving before this due to other problems but I know that if you still have one "good" eye AND it meets DVLA standards you should be able to still drive - however not sure when you're having two eyes lasered.
What is important is that without laser you will lose further sight so please don't try to balance up whether it is worth it or not having the laser. Also my understanding is that you have to inform DVLA - I'm not sure, but I would think that is probably before you actually have the laser otherwise your driving insurance would be invalid and there could be other more severe penalties for not notifying them.
The reason I didn't post earlier than this was that I knew that my post was going to be fairly negative but you could find that the effects of the laser is not bad enough to affect your ability to meet DVLA standards. When are you due to have the laser?
 
sugary123 said:
Hi I've been informed I have bilateral proliferative retinopathy and urgently need extensive prp laser in both eyes ... anyone else here in the same situation? How did your laser treatment go and any vision loss from the laser ie ate you still driving ?

Also my drs are all very confused as my retinopathy is not in the usual place for diabetics it's right at the back I'm the periphery and oy seen on flourescin angiography .... anyone else had an unusual presentation of their retinopathy?

Very upset worried and scared
Thanks
Click to expand...
Hi there, Dont worry it is virtually painless and usually very effective. I have had about 4 sessions of Laser treatment. If it does hurt a bit ask the operator if he can turn it down a bit? They are blocking off the tiny blood vessels that grow becuase of your diabetes. They will probably do one eye at a time and your eyes vision will be affected straight afterwards so dont drive there. Nothing to be scared about.
After the first one you will breeze in with not a care for the seond one.
 
Hi @Merryterry and @AJLang @Kaylz @everydayupsanddowns

Thanks for replying To my various questsions and posts
So I'll share everything as may help others

I've been T1D for 27 years
I've been very well controlled except last year when.i had to have hormonal therapy for a different issue
this has caused insulin resistance and also led to some issue with my BP

Last year I noticed a v tiny floater in my eye and hospital didn't think anything was wrong as all other tests were no normsl snd my eye images were all clear

Fast forward to this year I started feeling a little off in the same eye went again and was told again nothing of concern

A FA test was done ... this much to everyone's shock revealed extensive proliferative retinopathy right in the very far back in both eyes but the standard retinpathy screeming pics show nothing

FA show iscahemia and neovascularisation

After several consultations they advised both eyes get extensive laser ... had one eye done and it went OK .. other than headaches
2nd eye is due in a few weeks
What I don't understand is
1. If they can't see it in normal tests how will these be monitored
2. What is the risk for eyesight loss as its so far back
3. Will my journey be different to everyone here ??
4. And how long after laser do you know if its caused any eyesight loss ?
5. One eye has had a bleed ... how long does it normally take for blood to clear up?

Aside from driving ... how are you all doing with other aspects of life ie working reading using laptops watching TV... how extensive is peripheral vision loss? Have you had any anti VEGF injections ? Have they helped? Has anyone had lucentis instead of laser or after laser ... has it helped

How long have you all had PDR ?

Sorry for.the million questions
 
I think those 1-5 ones are questions best directed at your eye clinic, and the eye specialists who are looking after you?

Hopefully anyone who has had anti VEGF or laser will be able to share (or may have already shared) their experiences.
 
Thanks @everydayupsanddowns
Reason I've asked all qs here is my doctors don't actually know as have never ever seen PDR present like this before
Was hoping someone may have had some insight on atypical pdr
My case has been discussed extensively even the Dr doing laser said she had in 30 years never seen anything like mine
 
AJLang said:
Hi @sugary123 I've had diabetes for 52 years and had to have extensive PRP laser in my left eye several years ago. However this was not due to diabetes but the effects of a hemi retinal vein occlusion that I'd previously had. I've been told by Moorfields Eye Hospital that all of my left eye is now fully lasered. I'd stopped driving before this due to other problems but I know that if you still have one "good" eye AND it meets DVLA standards you should be able to still drive - however not sure when you're having two eyes lasered.
What is important is that without laser you will lose further sight so please don't try to balance up whether it is worth it or not having the laser. Also my understanding is that you have to inform DVLA - I'm not sure, but I would think that is probably before you actually have the laser otherwise your driving insurance would be invalid and there could be other more severe penalties for not notifying them.
The reason I didn't post earlier than this was that I knew that my post was going to be fairly negative but you could find that the effects of the laser is not bad enough to affect your ability to meet DVLA standards. When are you due to have the laser?
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing
Was the retinal vein occlusion a cause of diabetes ? I understand this can be the case ... what tests did they do confirm this as the cause of your PDR? Reason I ask is ive been blood tested for over 10 different diseases all are negative .. but have been wondering If there are other eye tests that would reveal what's going further back than the usual screening tests
 
AJLang said:
Hi @sugary123 I've had diabetes for 52 years and had to have extensive PRP laser in my left eye several years ago. However this was not due to diabetes but the effects of a hemi retinal vein occlusion that I'd previously had. I've been told by Moorfields Eye Hospital that all of my left eye is now fully lasered. I'd stopped driving before this due to other problems but I know that if you still have one "good" eye AND it meets DVLA standards you should be able to still drive - however not sure when you're having two eyes lasered.
What is important is that without laser you will lose further sight so please don't try to balance up whether it is worth it or not having the laser. Also my understanding is that you have to inform DVLA - I'm not sure, but I would think that is probably before you actually have the laser otherwise your driving insurance would be invalid and there could be other more severe penalties for not notifying them.
The reason I didn't post earlier than this was that I knew that my post was going to be fairly negative but you could find that the effects of the laser is not bad enough to affect your ability to meet DVLA standards. When are you due to have the laser?
Click to expand...
Forgot to say Moorfields is a leading clinic for ophthalmology I think under Mr P... so your in very good hands there
 
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Merryterry said:
Hi there, Dont worry it is virtually painless and usually very effective. I have had about 4 sessions of Laser treatment. If it does hurt a bit ask the operator if he can turn it down a bit? They are blocking off the tiny blood vessels that grow becuase of your diabetes. They will probably do one eye at a time and your eyes vision will be affected straight afterwards so dont drive there. Nothing to be scared about.
After the first one you will breeze in with not a care for the seond one.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reassurance... session felt like it went on forever but probably was about 30 minutes... laser was ok but did get painful ... Dr explained as my retinopathy was so far back hitting nerves was more likely and then more painful
Can I ask when you see your images of your eye what do you see with proliferative retinopathy? My eyes look completely normal but this is the mystery as my retinopathy is so so far back on outside of eye
 
I can answer question 5 of your post. How long it takes for blood to clear from the eye is a 'How long is a peice of string' scenario. We left mine for 6 months and it didnt clear so had to have Victrectomy. Happened to both eyes. They did really lengthy Laser at the time and used Lantis. My eyes are now well withing DVLA limits
 
Merryterry said:
Hi thanks for sharing

I've been very upset I had full on Laser to both eyes .. right eye done in one session left done over 2 sessions. So before v first Laser app I had a vitreous haemorrhage / bleed in the right
Click to expand...

Hi thanks
 
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So I'm desperately looking for some advice or anyone who may be in the same boat as me ... as I posted previously I've had extensive proliferative retinopathy identified howvert all usually screening tests were clear the damage has only been visible via flourescein angiography ... after much discussion the drs advised I have laser in both eyes which i did in jan and then again in Feb... however on repeat angiography images clearly show nothing has changed since they first identified it ... they don't know what to do with me .. and I'm so scared I will inevitably lose my vision

Can anyone relate or advise ? The damage is so so far back in my blood vessels ie retinal vascular disease ... I heard of a clinic in Paris that actually pushes the eye forward to target laser at the back .. has anyone come across this ??
 
I should add I've had 3 bleeds in the same eye in space of 4 months I am aware that repeated bleeds or big bleeds can cause blindness
 
I can't help with your main query but if you are in the UK, how about asking to be reffered to Moorfieldds in London, which is a specialist Eye Hospital!
 
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