My Doc told me that if they catch it early on, that is VERY desirable because it can be managed or sometimes reversed. It lasts a month?!?!?! What a pain! At least you caught it and it will go away. Good job, @Marilyn6. Its been very easy to let some of these appointments slide this year. You went in at just the right time.
There’s some blood pressure meds that provide protective effects for kidneys.
I had been to the ophthalmologist 5 months ago. This came on very suddenly.
My blood pressure med supposedly protects the kidneys.
It takes a long time for the blood to absorb, so I will be seeing blood for quite some time.
Marilyn, I so understand your frustration! And please feel free to vent with us all day long or whenever you need! Diabetes just doesn’t play fair!
This is a reason doctors have such a hard time getting people to understand how important trying to manage their diabetes as best they can. They say, why people who do everything right still have problems. And while we all know people that this is true, the greater portion of people who do a good job have no major problems.
I have always felt it was just a matter of time. And every year I sit in that chair and wait for my eye doctor to say just what you heard. I am not a defeatist but I have come to realize there are just some things I can control. I do the best I can with the tools I have and hope for the best.
I know I would be just like you and very frustrated and angry that all your hard work was for nothing. But thinking big picture after I got over the anger, I would realize that I have had a great life and so many more years than we were told I would ever have.
And just the “joys” of getting old that have nothing to do with diabetes, it is a double whammy. I just keep thinking of all the seniors I see that at the age of 85, still out and about doing their thing. Yes, they are moving slower but still out there.
You seem to be that type. The type that will shake this off and make it work. How they treated retinopathy in the old days and how they deal with it now are completely different.
So please vent, cry, get angry, feel sorry for yourself and in a few days when your ready, let us know you, the strong fighter that you are, are ready to get back to it.
Hang in there sweetheart! We are here for you whenever you need us.
I’m sorry, this sucks and must indeed be a surprise since there isn’t much else you could possibly have done. Further proof that luck plays a large part in all of our lives, though we rarely notice that.
Can I ask what your appointment 5 months ago found? Did you have any signs of anything? Do you have residual scarring or anything else from all those years ago? I will be really surprised and saddened to find out this could occur so suddenly and without any warning.
What a lovely post Sally. I do know that I will get past this. I was doing yard work this morning and a neighbor stopped by, and when I told him what happened with my eye, he said that I looked like I was ready to run a marathon and he couldn’t believe that I just had my eye cauterized. A doctor I saw a couple of weeks ago told me I was the healthiest looking and oldest type 1 she had ever met. I know overall I am doing well.
This was just a shock and you are perfectly right, I will get over this. Bad health news always gets me down, but then I learn to deal with it, count my blessings and remember that my husband and I so far have been able continue to live our happy lives.
Everybody has their own burdens, thanks for letting me share mine.
Marilyn
Jag1, my retinopathy of 40 yrs ago was very, very minor. All I did to eliminate it was lower my A1c down from 10 to about 6.5.
Ophthalmologists have always been amazed that I have diabetes. About 3 yrs ago my eyes started showing that they contained drusen. This is something that people over 60 can get. My husbands eyes have it too. Mine is all located in the outer areas of my eyes. It is possible that they could have hid any developing retinopathy. My ophthalmologist saw no retinopathy 5 months ago.
Once the blood clears up, my vision should return to normal. Hopefully this will be the end to my dealings with retinopathy, but one never knows.
Thank you for sharing Marilyn! Even though I’ve only been at this a few years, I have some similar frustrations.
I’ve been diabetic for only six years, have only had two A1cs over 6.0% since diagnosis and rest between 4.6%-5.2%. I did low carb, plant based, keto, etc. Worked out, did all the right things, tested like crazy, started biking/hiking/skiing around town exclusively.
Dropped my body fat to TWELVE PERCENT! at one point while having my A1c at 4.8%. No significant lows in that year (kind of hit this magic combination of diet, exercise, and insulin). I felt like a champion 
And within one year of that, I had a minor bleed in one eye, severe neuropathy in my feet and hands, and a whole bunch of other stuff as well. Turns out I have at least two other autoimmune diseases affecting me in very serious ways, but… I was super disappointed to find out that the retinal bleed(s now) and peripheral neuropathy are almost certainly related to my diabetes.
My neurologist, my ophthalmologist, and endocrinologist all agree that: my diabetes is in great control and has been since diagnosis; and that I have complications anyways (within five-six years). Why? They don’t know, except that some people seem to get complications regardless of control, length of time, etc. They don’t know, and I don’t know either. But they all agree it wasn’t something I did or didn’t do to myself.
So… I still feel like I did something wrong somewhere, and it still feels unfair, and I totally don’t understand it. And I have a PhD in biology and I don’t get it. I do know that I have to keep plugging along, staying in control as best I can, and let my doctors help me as best they can. I’m sorry, and and am sure your vision will clear back up! You are maximizing your chances to live well with this disease, and that’s all any of us can do.
Edit: also, thanks for the reminder: I really need to make an appointment with my ophthalmologist, who I haven’t seen in too long thanks to COVID.
Thank you for sharing David. I can’t tell you how sorry I am to hear that you have struggled with neuropathy and retinopathy so soon after diagnosis.
It sounds like you have done absolutely everything you can do to keep complications at bay, but you still got hit. Diabetes certainly can be a very unfair illness.
I wish you much better luck in the years ahead.
God Bless you.
Just checking in and wondering how you are doing? I want to remind you that you can let things fly here when you need to. I am sure you are very angry right not! I am hoping you are not stewing in it. Please let it out! I am a big believer in letting it out. I kept mine anger locked up inside for way too long and I and my family suffered. So please, if you need to scream, I am here for you.
I am hoping you are finding those little things to be grateful for each day. Just sitting out in the warm sunshine can be a great way to zone out.
I discovered quiet on my walk the other day. I left my headphones at work so I went 2 days with no headphones. My walk was a much nicer walk with no “noise” in my ears. (I listen to political podcasts. Sigh!) But I did my long morning walk with just nature and people. It was very nice. So when that anger & frustration hits you, go out & listen to the birds or dogs or trains- whatever is in your neighborhood!
Hang in there! You’ve got this and we are all here when you need us.
Thanks for checking in with me Sally 7. I am ok, I have had quite a few blows in my life, and if I wasn’t able to recover, I would be in sad shape. At 70, I have realized that hard blows are just part of life and if you aren’t careful they can really drag you down. I usually get very upset for a period of time, but soon learn to live with it. I have learned to roll with the punches for the most part. I also have a incredible about of good in my life too, so they balance out fairly well.
My eye is fine, except for having to look through the blood that remains. Hopefully my vision will return to normal. The eye is the one I use for distance and my vision is still excellent except for the black squiggles that I am now looking through.
What is more frustrating to me at the moment is my statin induced neuropathy. I feel sorry for anyone who has to deal with this and I realize that mine isn’t that bad. The burning is hard to control though and that is frustrating. I never thought I would have to deal with neuropathy or retinopathy and it is frustrating, but it is what it is, and I just have to deal with it and be thankful that is isn’t worse. I have read horror stories about neuropathy on the neuropathy site I joined. About half of the members developed it because of diabetes, and the rest of us got it from medications, chemo, surgery, back problems etc. It can be devastating.
Thanks for reaching out Sally. I appreciate it very much. Take care.
Marilyn
Edit. I try to stay in the moment as much as I can. Using some of the ideas that you mentioned does help me very much!
Marilyn just read your post so sorry you got the eye thing going on but I want you to know that I had a spontaneous hemorrhage three or four months ago and cannot see anything for sometime and it has slowly absorbed
It seems to take forever but these things absorb over time and we move on
I truly believe there’s not much more we can do to avoid them it’s just all part of the T1 plan
Be sure that you are doing everything that you can do to navigate our disease
Sending healing positive vibes Bhakti
Thanks Bhakti. Did you have laser work done on your eye? So glad that your sight has returned for your sake and mine.
I always do everything I can to navigate this disease well, as it is my main focus in life.
Forgive me if it’s been mentioned as I confess I haven’t read every reply in detail. I see no mention of the importance of high blood pressure which is a significant factor in both retinopathy and kidney disease. Diabetes of course contributes to high blood pressure. A great A1c that you have maintained will definitely help avoid complications but high blood pressure will have an equal risk of damaging eyes and kidneys. Maintaining blood sugar plus blood pressure is all we can do to keep the risk of complications to a minimum. Little known but not the case for you is rapid drop in A1c can also cause retinopathy.
My average blood pressure is 120/70 so I am ok when it comes to blood pressure. I do take a medication to keep it down. I also exercise every day for an hour. High blood pressure can certainly cause aneurisms.
40 yrs ago I quickly brought my A1c down from 10 to about 6.5. Luckily it didn’t hurt my eyes.
Marilyn I’ve had lasers on and off and after this last issue I just can’t believe how well I can see again
I got a few shots for DME , diabetic macular Edema .
Truly grateful that things are coming back and amazed
Just a reminder that all the hard work that we do 24 hours a day is worth the effort
Marlyn, I have had Type 1 for almost 60 years and this year had my first vitreous bleed in my right eye! I was shocked too because I had also had a good checkup at the eye doctor just a few months before. I have had background retinopathy for awhile but it was very mild and had improved and then stayed stable for almost 40 years. My control has been good for a long time, but I was identified in 1961 before we knew all we know now about caring for ourselves. For my retinopathy i was given injections 3 times without much help but I had another condition going on in my eye at the same time which caused a corneal abrasion after each injection. I ended up having a vitrectomy and laser. Blood cleared up and I can see very well with a little night vision change. Good luck to you and yes we must keep on taking care of ourselves and be thankful that we have tried our hardest!
I am so glad that your eyesight is still very good! I think the children who are being diagnosed now or even back in the 80’s have a much better chance of living long lives without much in the way of complications.
We both have done well though!
Feel your pain. Have not walked down that road yet. I think it’s having a disease, nothing you’ve done. You are my older sister in diabetes by 10 years. So far 51 years with T1D, no major retinopathy yet. If I go there, it won’t be because I did something wrong, it’s because I have a disease. Still hurts and still scary, but it sounds like you have done a great job managing your disease.
Thank you ame_e.