As I mentioned in a post earlier, my husband was diagnosed 3 weeks back with diabetes Oman’s he is on met form in and gliclazide now. He is on strict diet control and there was improvement in BM values. One of his symptom before diagnosis was blurred vision( mainly for far vision) but now for the past week he is been having trouble with near vision( unable to see monitors, mobile etc) and he is off sick from work. We went to the optician and according to them the retina looks ok . But power has changed. I read that fluctuating blood sugar levels could cause this but it’s temporary.Has anyone experienced this? His diabetic nurse seems concerned and is consulting if he should go on to insulin!so obviously very worried.
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Vision problems
- Thread starter SRath
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Midnightcatpatrol
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I had this after starting insulin.
When hyperglycaemia the lens of the eye swells over time which changes the focal length of the eye. The brain adjusts because this is slow usually although some rapid progressive T1s can get blurred vision before diagnosis.
Once on meds to reduce the blood glucose, the lens then shrinks again it does this rapidly and the brain can't keep up giving the blurred vision, usually near sight. This can last a few weeks, in my case about 6 although it peaked at two where I was unable to read at all.
It should pass.
When hyperglycaemia the lens of the eye swells over time which changes the focal length of the eye. The brain adjusts because this is slow usually although some rapid progressive T1s can get blurred vision before diagnosis.
Once on meds to reduce the blood glucose, the lens then shrinks again it does this rapidly and the brain can't keep up giving the blurred vision, usually near sight. This can last a few weeks, in my case about 6 although it peaked at two where I was unable to read at all.
It should pass.
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
With a change in the usual blood glucose levels vision can be affected temporarily. It is often recommended to try some cheap reading glasses to see if that will help, at a cost of a few pounds for a range of strengths to try out and use as things adjust.
It is nothing sinister, but to be expected, and can indicate progress.
It is nothing sinister, but to be expected, and can indicate progress.
Ljc
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- Type 1.5 LADA
It happened to me too when I went into insulin. it took around 4 weeks for my sight to improve and boy did it improve,so much so that I now only need reading glasses.
Don’t be persuaded buying expensive glasses, instead try some cheapos .
If you are worried which is perfectly normal , get his eyes check out at the hospital, his nurse or Gp should be able t arrange this.
Don’t be persuaded buying expensive glasses, instead try some cheapos .
If you are worried which is perfectly normal , get his eyes check out at the hospital, his nurse or Gp should be able t arrange this.
It is caused by excess glucose in the blood.
This happened to me as well.
It took about 4 weeks before my eyes recovered.
I would recommend you hold off replacing his prescription. I got impatient and ended up forking out for new lenses and by the time they had arrived a week later my eyes had returned to their old prescription.
For near vision, go to Poundland and find some non-prescription glasses for £1. They were a life saver for a couple of weeks for me.
Driving is almost certainly going to be a problem for the next few weeks so he should take care that he can genuinely see number plates properly from 20m. I got lucky- my close reading glasses suddenly became perfect for driving. It was very odd.
Don't be too concerned about the eyesight or taking insulin. Insulin will get his blood sugars down and stabilised very quickly and the eyesight should recover quickly after that.
trophywench
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Thing is, once his treatment starts to bring his blood glucose down on an ongoing basis, his eyes will change shape back to what they're sposed to be naturally again hence if you were to spend X on new spectacles now, you'd be wasting your money and any optician worth his salt, providing he has been told about the new diagnosis and treatment, should refuse to prescribe new specs right now.
Thing is as diabetes starts to manifest itself, the eye changes are gradual and we don't notice them partic, or when you wear glasses anyway just think Blimey - must get my eyes tested again - assuming it's a 'real' progression of deterioration of sight, just happening a bit quicker than it used to. It isn't usually - but once the BG has been normalised and is stable again, it's as well to get the eyes re- tested to make 100% sure your existing glasses are still adequate just in case the glitch was a combination of both the things.
Thing is as diabetes starts to manifest itself, the eye changes are gradual and we don't notice them partic, or when you wear glasses anyway just think Blimey - must get my eyes tested again - assuming it's a 'real' progression of deterioration of sight, just happening a bit quicker than it used to. It isn't usually - but once the BG has been normalised and is stable again, it's as well to get the eyes re- tested to make 100% sure your existing glasses are still adequate just in case the glitch was a combination of both the things.
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That’s reassuring. Many thanks
Many thanks. That’s very reassuring.
ColinUK
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- Type 2
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- He/Him
My vision was atrocious when I was at my heaviest and my BG sky high.
Now I’ve lost weight and BG is much better, and perhaps more importantly that it’s also reasonably stable, my vision has returned to what it was previously.
Now I’ve lost weight and BG is much better, and perhaps more importantly that it’s also reasonably stable, my vision has returned to what it was previously.
Loobyloo
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- In remission from Type 2
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- She/Her
This was what first alerted me to go get my sugars checked. My far vision was so bad i was unable to see much further than 6ft in front of me clearly. I went to specsavers and got some specs made up but by the time i went to collect them they no longer were correct for me as my eyesight was changing daily. After being diagnosed and going on a low carb diet my far vision returned better than it had been for years and my near vision went blurry. It is now stabilising back to normal but has been almost 4 months. I have been wearing cheap reading glasses until i feel confident enough my eyesight has stabilised to go and have another eye test to see if i need specs at all now my sugar levels are down.
Loobyloo
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- In remission from Type 2
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Yes all my eye checks came back healthy and like i said slowly returning to normal sight now so just a matter of time hopefullyI have just got my letter back from my diabetes eye review and they say everything is fine, but I'm still blurry. Hate it.I presume it will improve as I get healthier. I'm sticking to the low carb now.
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