Rapid eye deterioration - in hours!

[hyper-Suze]

Hi all,
Been a while since I've been posting in this section...I've been a bit busy posting away in the pregnancy one with lots of pregnancy/diabetes queries...I'm sure the ladies are sick of me there, or maybe just sick from the morning sickness!

My eye has gone really funny in the last 4hours. right is fine, left is hazy and I keep catching a glimpse of a black splodge in the corner(like mascara gloop, but I'm not wearing any!)

Hope its nothing to worry about, but I'm worrying regardless! Rang my local oncall doctor and I think there is a 24hr eye dept in my hosptial!

Annoyed though as this could have been avoided. Supposed to be seen every trimester and i had my check up cancelled 5wks ago and I've not had a followup app. I swear, if anything happens to my sight because they couldn't pull their finger out in time to see me! GRRRR I've already put a complaint in about the eye clinics secretary being snotty and questioning my need for an appointment...its stated plain and clear in the NICE guidelines!!

Has anyone else had rapid and severe eye deterioriation and it been serious? I'm hoping its not a burst blood vessel following my laser surgery! 😱(
ANGRY=ANGRY=ANGRY

 

[Northerner]

Suze, I can't answer your question but am hoping that things turn out OK and that it's nothing to worry about too much - although obviously you will worry until you get it examined - hope someone pulls their finger out soon. Receptionists should not be making judgements about when you need to be seen when considering something as important as a person's eyesight

Take care 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope you get an appointment soon, and that it turns out fine Suze

 

[AJLang]

Hi Suze I hope it is nothing to worry about but please get it checked urgently just to make sure that it isn't something serious such as a retinal detachment x

 

[Twitchy]

Hi Suze... What you are describing sounds very like a bit of a bleed to me - when my left eye was bleeding off & on for over a year I'd get black blobs / spots which would thdn slowly (often not fast enough to see this happen) dissipate as the blood dissipated into the jelly, leaving a blurry 'vaseline smeared lens effect' if you get me... Mine was due to old scarring but as you're currently pregnant I suspect yours is much likelier down to the retinopathy being nudged on by the pregnancy (as mine was initially). If you have a good eye casualty near you i'd pop in there tomorrow - you might just get told not to worry but you might need lasering - if nothing else it might speed up your next appt...but I do think you need to see someone.

Off the top of my head I can't remember where you are but if you're in the midlands Birmingham Midland Eye Centre are brilliant, but I'd give a certain infirmary in Gary Lineker's home city a wide berth (hope that advice doesn't break forum rules!!)

Now for the reassurance bit - I had loads of bleeds & lasering after my first & throughout my 2nd preg - needed a vitrectomy for the old scar tissue in the end but my eyes are now fine & I still hold my driving licence - so try not to get too stressed about this (very easy for me to say!!).

Let us know how you get on? Xx
Ps don't let anyone make you feel bad about this - it's well proven that despite excellent control being preggers can just kick retinopathy off like this - it's not your fault. Xxx

 

[Twitchy]

Correction - my initial bleeds post baby number 1 & during preg 2 were 'pure' proliferative retinopathy, had lots of lasering over a fews yrs which caused scarring, this then snagged a blood vessel & as the scarring contracted it tore from time to time causing thd bleeds. The old hospital just assumed it was mire retinopathy, but the Bmec doctor took the time to actually figure out what was happening, spotted it & it got sorted by vitrectomy, no probs since. I don't think the lasering would cause a bleed directly but i might be wrong. Best of luck. Xx

 

[hyper-Suze]

Aw thanks everyone, and to Amanda and Twitchy as you both know and understand the emotions and stress that comes with eye problems.

My doc got me an acute appointment at the eye hospital this morning. I was terrified to go to bed incase I woke up blind in one eye. Was tempted to stay up all night! LOL

Yes, I have a new vessel that has burst and bleeding. I was hoping that they may zap there and then (but deep down knew they wouldn't!), she says my vision is fine to still drive and that my retina looks healthy so now need to wait for app within next 2 weeks.

I am just concerned now though, the vision that is blurry/spotty is damage already done and will never go away, along with the fear that I am doing more damage each day I'm waiting. My Bg/HBA are almost perfect so bit annoyed but I;m guessing your right Twitchy, its just luck of the pregnancy draw! LOL

Anyway, I've decided to put in a formal complaint about my eye team. And will of course Northie, mention the secretary sticking her nose in!
funny thing is I got back home from hospital to letter on the mat for an app on Thurs! Obviously this will only be for a check up so I'm looking to ring up on the Mon and insist this is changed to getting the laser treatment done then!

 

[hyper-Suze]

Off the top of my head I can't remember where you are but if you're in the midlands Birmingham Midland Eye Centre are brilliant, but I'd give a certain infirmary in Gary Lineker's home city a wide berth (hope that advice doesn't break forum rules!!)

Ha ha, don't think Gary L is from Telford!
Our most celebrity-esque sports personality is boxer Richie Woodall!

Thanks again Twitchy, your reassurance has really really helped me, worth more than gold!

 

[Twitchy]

Glad you've got it checked - at least if they felt it was urgent they'd have presumably zapped you today. 🙂 Try not to stress about the current effect on your vision - that's down to the blood (from my experience anyway) & your vision will clear when the blood does...be aware that may not be until the eye settles down after the next laser session, as presumably the eye will keep bleeding off & on til then. I'd suggest trying to avoid heavy lifting, stress etc - anything that might elevate your bp as that can provoke bleeds in my experience. Be careful driving - i got to the point where i would only drive very locally where I knew i could safely stop immediately in case the eye had a bad bleed - you don't need to suddenly lose the ability to judge distances safely on the motorway for example! 😱

You might find a light blocking eye patch useful while waiting for your next appt - you can't drive with it on but it might help using vdu's, reading etc.

Big hugs ((((())))) ...this sucks but it can be fixed - hold onto that thought!! Xxx