I woke up this morning my blood sugar was 70. Low for me. I went to test my blood sugar, pricked my finder,got the strip. I could not see my finger. It was bright white in the center of my vision. Maybe 10 seconds and it was gone. I am blind in my other eye. Have not seen it again. I will check with my doctor next week I am babysitting away from home. I am worried.any ideas? Thanks,Nancy50
When I am low, I get bright lights behind my eyelids when I blink. I’ll get opaque flashes of either white, or other colors. It’s one of the symptoms I know for me is that I need to get a hypo treatment sooner versus dawdling before I do.
First of all don’t worry as it is very likely nothing bad going on with your eyes. I tried to calm a neighbor down one time when she freaked out about zig-zag lines in her vision. I told her that is a migraine. I don’t get the headache–just the visual disturbance. It’s quite common but can be scary the first time (I freaked also!). She went to the doctor and…wait for it…they told her it’s related to migraine. 
When I get too low I get central vision blindness for a short time (less than a couple of minutes). Other than that I have great vision–it is just a side-effect of very low bg for me.
If mine gets really low I will have light spot in my eyes. Did they go away after you treated your low?
They did go away. I am alarmed that my finger was missing. I could not see blood either. Thank you for your comments. Nancy50
1 Like
When really low, I get the same white in the center of my vision. When I treat the low, it goes away. I don’t think anything to worry about.
When I get really low, I also get distortions in my vision and can’t see. For me, it means I’m very low and close to passing out.
Since you also have retinal problems, I’d mention it to your ophthalmologist just to be safe. I know we have the same eye condition unrelated to diabetes. Years ago I reported seeing a large black spot in my vision and it turned out to be a weak spot in my retina that needed treatment.
It’s likely nothing, but always better to check with a doctor than to assume.
2 Likes
Thanks, I don’t consider 70 real low. I run in 90 in am. I am aware of being low, had no symptoms of being low. Will call Monday. Thank you. Nancy50
She could have gotten the same answer you gave her off the net in 10 seconds or less
I get them about every 3 months - for about 15 mins
It was before people did a lot on the 'net.
Definitely get to your eye doc for a check up, don’t assume it was just the low. When I am In the high 30’s I see some strange white lights but I can still see and had the same in dka, much worse then with bright flashing lights.
Doctor said it was from a low. He did not want to see me. Good news is I am due for a check up in May. Unless so,thing else happens it is ok. Nancy50
1 Like
I just had a discussion about this with my ophthalmologist. I had this happen (loss of vision in the center) last Friday. It has happened before when my BG was really low (50-ish). But what struck me this time was that my G5 said my BG was 95. I didn’t believe it, so I did a finger stick. BG was 96. I’ve never had this happen when my BG was that high. It went away in about 20 minutes after I had some orange juice.
I was told it was “probably” an ocular migraine. As I expected. But the doc added some more info to it. If it lasts more than 2-3 hours, get to an ER. There is a chance that it could be a TIA or even a full-blown stroke. Doc said there are some self-checks you should do any time this happens, even if you’re sure it’s just low BG.
- move your eyes right/left and up/down to the full range of movement.
- move your arms from straight out to your side to being in front of you
- talk to someone to make sure you’re not talking jibberish.
If any of these don’t work tight, get to an ER immediately, as it’s likely a stroke.
I thought this was some really good advice, and the tests are free!
This past Fall, I suddenly didn’t know what an insulin pen was, and started talking gibberish. Then I saw zig zaggy lines like with an ocular migraine. Then the migraine set in and we called an ambulance.
Since I was 68 the emergency crew figured that I had had a stroke. I had an MRI of my brain and it was fine. It was decided that the whole episode was caused by the ocular migraine.
Rob ,very informative. Still seeing as good as I do in my one eye. Thank you
Nancy Matulis
Yes, blind spot in the middle of my vision is something I have had during low blood sugar.
I see white lights and tunnel vision and double vision from low sugars. Luckily it goes away, but sometimes surprising. Now on a cgm it pretty much never happens
When low I often lose my central vision, it reminds me of having looked at the sun for to long.
1 Like
Luckily I have had no other symptoms. Thanks Nancy50