My vision is normally good, but upon awakening through the night I noticed the clock looked a little cloudy looking. It was still that way upon awakening and it still still there now four hours later. I hope there is nothing seriously wrong. I am going to call my eye doctor this morning and see if I can get in. When I did a search the main reason for cloudy vision was cataracts. I get regular I eye exams. I have never had anything like this before.
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Hi Dee,
Sorry to hear of your scary eye problem. Yuck. Diabetes is mean. Keep us posted.
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Cataracts don’t appear fast like that, it comes slowly over time. It sort of like dim, as if in low light.
You could have conjunctivitis, let’s go with that because it’s the least severe and easily treated
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I like the sound of your optimism. The eye does feel like there is something in it. I used some refresh tears and it didn’t clear. For something to come on so suddenly scares me. I had it at 4am this morning when I looked at the clock. I blinked a few times and thought it would clear by morning. I had conjunctivitis before but no with cloudy vision. Whatever it is I hope it can be fixed easily.
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I hate to be the pessimist here, but given you’re diabetic, I would think it’s most likely diabetic retinopathy. I certainly hope I’m wrong, but the odds are there.
If you got a bleed in your eye, the blood will basically dissipate into the vitreous (interior eye “jelly”), and it looks like you’re looking out through a cloud of smoke. The bigger the bleed, the bigger the obscurance. The good news is that it sounds like a small bleed that’s stopped already. If this is what it is, your vision will restore as soon as all the blood breaks down.
You’re doing the best thing you can by not ignoring it and setting up an appointment, so you can stop it in its tracks.
This seems to be a common topic of conversation lately, including my own, since I’m dealing with the same thing. I keep hearing “average” is 20-25 years for diabetic retinopathy to pop up. I lasted 32 years without this particular complication myself.
Treatment is really promising, though, especially if they catch it early. Sometimes they can reverse the damage altogether, and they can stop it from progressing and continuing to bleed by zapping the troublesome blood vessels with lasers.
I actually had a really bad bleed about a month ago. So bad that they weren’t able to clearly image the eye, so couldn’t decide on a treatment yet. I had to wait 3 weeks for some of the blood to dissipate before they could continue. I went back last Thursday, and was worried it still wouldn’t be clear enough, since my vision was still obscured. I was surprised when he told me how great I was doing and that it was actually clearing really fast and he was able to see all he needed. He said these can take months to clear sometimes, but my experience with really small bleeds is that it just takes a few days.
I got an injection of Avastin in each eye. It’s a off-label use of a cancer medication that shrinks inflammation, shrinks blood vessels, and stops new ones from forming. That sounds way scarier than it really is. It was actually painless, just a little (okay, a lot) freaky. I’m scheduled to get a repeat again in about a month, and then after that they can finally do the lasering.
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I will find out. I go in at 145pm today. It does feel like there is something in the eye but I can’t see it. When it comes to my eyes I don’t fool around.
D’Etta Meloche
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So, I saw the eye doctor and they dilated my pupils and looked in both eyes especially my left eye that was bothering me. He said I had a dry area where the eye closes and some mucous had adhered to the surface. He numbed the ball and was able to take out the mucous. This is an easy fix it will just take time. I must lubricate my eye more often especially today and then I can get by with twice a day. Whew! That really scared me. I am going to be okay​:blush:
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Yahooo! Dee, in Missouri where it’s often humid and hot or very cold, we use AC and heating a lot. I treat my eyes to a humidifier by my bed just about year round. It makes a big difference in my life with dry eyes. I also use artificial tears and ointment drops as needed. I otherwise get “spontaneous corrosion” in either eye and that hurts.
Hopefully this one incident will be your last, though now you have a trick in your back pocket if needed.
Congrats!
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The weird thing is is that I had no eye pain. I had really dry eyes quite a while ago and I haven’t had any pain. I guess I have to keep up with the liquidgel eye drops. Just hearing that it was only dry eye I was very relieved. I might look into getting a humidifier for my room. I am sure my husband won"t mind.
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He already puts up with your insulin and your hypos, and your cgm and test strips all over the place, so this is probably a non issue.
I admit I made some assumptions, but I kinda know what it’s like living w a t1
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I woke up this morning in alot better mood. I am on my way to lubricating my eyes more often for at least until the end of the week. The doctor said I can cut back after this time at use it at various intervals throughout the day. I might even pull out my eyemask again as it has been a while since I have used it. I even believe my digestion system is working better as I was delaying my bolus for about 10- 15 minutes after eating but I was running a bit high within the hour of eating.
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Excellent news! I’m so happy to have been wrong.
In med school, they teach you that if it looks like a horse, don’t go looking for zebras (which is honestly the basis of a lot of crappy care)… But you actually caught a zebra!
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Yes, this was very good news. When I had dry eye symptoms they didn’t quite feel what I had. I guess the doctor could see the area where it was dry. Right across the cornea where the lid closes. Liquidgel eye drops are the solution.
D’Etta Meloche
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It sounds like what I had several years ago-- a virus in your eye and it absolutely does need to be treated. They could ever figure out if mine was from herpes, which apparently lives in your body even if you’ve never had a cold sore in your life, or a version of “silent” shingles, which can also affect the eye. If that’s the case, it’s nothing to do with diabetes. They give you steroid eye drops, as well as antiviral eye drops. They also gave me antiviral drugs eventually, and if that’s what you have, watch out for those things. They can cause kidney damage if you don’t drink tons of water with them. However, the good news is that most people respond really well to the drugs and get over it fast. I was an anomaly. Good luck!
Read the New York Times article in the Sunday Magazine about the problem with eye drops. The bottles with multiple doses have to have a preservative that can cause problems that go away when you use single dose bottles.
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I have what sounds like the same experience. Left eye, as well. It’s been going on for a few years. I get regular eye exams and have seen several different doctors due to moving. No sign of retinopathy, cataracts are still small. I have to push them for a reason and all they can relate it to is dry eye. Said that sleeping under a ceiling fan could exacerbate it. My doc recommended drops only to appease me, it seemed.
My eye is all healed. My eye doctor suggested to put in eyedrops the first few days every hour and then use nightly. I use liquidgel eyedrops. They work great.
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Glad your problem has cleared up. I’ll try the Liquidgel.
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