So before I was T1, my only health problem under the sun was being ridiculously nearsighted. We’re talking just crazy levels of nearsightedness. Since the age of 10, I haven’t able to function without glasses or contacts, and while I’ve responded very well to contacts and now wear them ALL the time, I’ve always been interested in LASIK.
I just returned from my initial consultation appointment, and it turns out I’m an excellent candidate for custom LASIK. Of course, this is the more expensive procedure, but they are my eyes and all. With my good A1C (which the eye doctor actually knew to ask about, 1 point for the eye doctor), my switch to the pump, and my relatively short time since diagnosis, they weren’t concerned about my diabetes as a factor either.
Has anyone out there had LASIK? I’d love to hear some feedback, positive or negative. Anything I should watch out for, questions to ask, general warnings or concerns are very welcome!
I’ve been wearing glasses for 58 years–since I was 18 months old.
Personally, I would not take risks with my vision. Especially not when diabetes already may compromise healing a bit. Lasix can leave you with a tendency to see rays when you are around bright lights. It can also not quite fix your vision. The people who sell it promote it very heavily as it is a money maker for them. In reality, it is like plastic surgery. Some people do great, some people end up mutilated. You can’t really know which group you fall into.
Plus, you don’t realize it now because you are young, but every time your blood sugar fluctuates by as little as 40 mg/dl your vision changes. Your young lenses adapt. This stops when you are in your 40s and you can go from seeing very clearly at one prescription to being unable to read signs on the highway with the same glasses just because you ate lunch. Happens to me much too often and I keep VERY tight control and always measure my blood sugar before I get a new prescription…
Hey! I’ve had T1 since the age of 17 (I’m now 25) and also started needing glasses (and contacts) at the age of 10. I actually had eye surgery in 2006, but the guy I went to suggested Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) instead of Lasik. He said this is a better procedure for diabetics, but not all people are eligible (depends on your cornea size I think). The recovery was very uncomfortable, but I didn’t have any problems associated with the diabetes. Unfortunately, I was slightly undercorrected and am still wearing glasses and contacts! I am still glad I did the surgery because I was so terribly nearsighted before I couldn’t see anything without corrective lenses. Now I can get around without them reasonably well… and when it works in to my schedule I am considering having “touch up” surgery to get my eyes fully corrected.
I had LASIK when I was 23, which is 8 yrs after I found out that I had diabetes. I had great results and really love it. But there is a lot to consider when your are a diabetic. I tried to have good blood sugars before having LASIK done.
On a side not my husband had LASIK too but he sees halos at night which can be a side effect of LASIK. Since his night vision is bad and he sees halos I have to do most of the night driving. Even with the halos he would do it again.
(1) Which system will you use? Ask this because the newest ones, using fancy “3rd order mathematical curve calculations”, cost a lot more than the older ones-- and most of those older systems are still in use, having been re-sold to budget-basement joints.
(2) How many procedures/patients have your PERSONALLY corrected using this system? Ask this because more than anything else, the risk of unsatisfactory results varies according to the number of procedures which the Doctor has done. (I’d Pay $$$$ for the best experience, even if it required flying to an out-of-town Medical School and paying for a hotel stay to get it.)
PRK is preferred by the Air Force (for pilot and trainees whose vision falls off in a correctable way AFTER the Air Force has already spent $$$ training them.) But their preference is because of high G-forces, and I know a Lasik guy went mostly “blind”, temporarily, while climbing Mt Everest because of the extremely low air pressure. I don’t know why one or the other would be better for diabetics.
When I had PRK done the doctor briefly explained why he prefers that over Lasik for diabetes. With Lasik a flap is made and the surgery done underneath it. During the healing process extra cells can grow under the flap where they are not supposed to. I don’t remember the chances of this happening (probably pretty low) but the surgeon said the risk is slightly higher in diabetics than non-diabetics, so PRK (which actually shaves off the top layer of the cornea) was a better way to go.
