So I just got my first eye exam as a diabetic and I am happy to say I only have the beginning of cataracts and am developing nearsightedness again( I had lasix surgery 10 years ago). I was really worried because I had recently developed some "floaters" in my right eye. They seem to be clustered and have a black dot in the middle. I was petrified that this was the beginning of diabetic retinopathy, etc. I had some off numbers over the holidays. I was sick with the flu after Thanksgiving, overate somewhat, and drank wine almost nightly at lots of holiday parties and it was my birthday….Not to mention the 2 year anniversary of being diagnosed… My old insurance didn't cover my sensors so I was without my CGM to help me stay on track. I was testing less trying to get to January 1st without refilling my test strips and dealing with the stupid 5 thousand phone calls it takes to get the insurance to cover them. (New insurance and new deductible as of January first) I was pushing it. The good news is I don't have diabetic eye changes and I am so relieved. I go to the endo the 28th and will see what my A1C is. I am guessing not as good as the 5.7 I had previously, but I'm okay with that now that I know I haven't hurt my eyes. How are your eyes? Do you have complications? Have you had floaters? Do they bug you? Do they go away? As my Eye doc said they are protein chains that float in the vitreous fluid in the eye. Any chance they are related to high protein and a low carb diet?
Interesting… I also had LASIK 10 years ago and have recently developed floaters in my right eye. My right eye has been prone to fatigue/ eye strain or several years. I have an eye exam every year and they say everything is ok but I am irritated by the floaters. What did your eye doc say about yours?
I had just finished a 1200 page book on my older model iPad and this was causing eye fatigue and the back ground of the screen was making the floaters more noticeable. the black spot especially scared me. The doctor says the floaters are normal, they may or may not go away, and over time I’ll just get used to them. They really bug me when I’m reading and driving too. They travel across my field of vision often. he said to get back in there if I notice a sudden onset of more of them or if I notice a cobweb like effect of them. I should’ve asked him what that could imply. I read that having diabetes can accelerate cataract formation, but he made it sound like it was just the normal aging process of being over 45.
I have had eye fatigue issues for quite some time in that eye like I mentioned. First noticed the floaters when drinking water out of a white paper cup… I thought there was something floating around in my water. Spent several minutes trying to get it out of my water hen finally realized it was in my eye-- been driving me crazy ever since… Especially when reading and I get to watch a black dot float back and forth a cross the page
My opthalmologist told me that floaters are normal with age (same old 'blame it on age')! I had two last year and have since developed several more. Mine are tiny black specks. He told me I do not have retinopathy. Or at least nothing significant. Have had type 1 since early 1982.
I've had floaters I'm guessing about 7 years now. I was told that they are caused when the vitreous gel hardens with age and small pieces break off or similar and float around. Mine normally go away but if I am on the computer too much, reading too much, etc., I get them back. They don't bother me as much but it would be great without them. I recently have been getting a tiny black dot that bounces around a while near the middle of my eye then disappears. I forgot to ask him about that.
That's a surprise that you have cataracts starting Molly. I had mine removed in 2006 but I've been on steroids for many years which causes them plus long term Diabetes also.
After 22 years of Diabetes, I gained Retinopathy in my left eye. Laser surgery repaired my left eye thankfully. That was 29 years ago. I had my Ophthalmalogist appt on Thursday with good news. My eyes are still stable as before. No new vessels or swelling and the pressure is good. So I was relieved to hear that.
My Cousin was telling me last year that she had to start wearing glasses again since the astigmatism came back after having Lasix 8 years before. She does not have Diabetes. I thought Lasix was a permanant fix. Did the Dr. tell you that?
It permanently corrects whatever was wrong with your eyes the day the procedure was done, but just like everyone else your eyes still continue to change over the years.
I had lasik 15 years ago or so. About 5 years ago I was back in glasses due to the fact that my eyes never stopped getting worse.
At 48, I have very dry eyes. My dr. just put me on Restasis which is helping a bit. She doesn't think it is diabetes related but hormone/age related.
I have had floaters for years. They are annoying. I have been told by several doctors they are not related to diabetes. I know a lot of non-diabetics who have them. As I have increased my protein intake they haven't changed.
Make sure you keep up with your eye appointments. I go every year. At one point 10 or 12 years ago I had some damage but it has repaired itself with better bg control.
Yeah, floaters are an age related issue as everybody has said, and not something to be worried about particularly if you are not diabetic.
As diabetics, however, we have the additional concern that floaters could be due to bleeding from microaneurysms in the capillaries of the retina. If you're getting your eyes checked regularly by a retinal specialist and you're having no other diabetes related issues with your eyes then I'd just chalk it up to aging as others have said.
Most of my floaters settle out eventually. They don't go away, necessarily, but they just drop below my field of vision.
That was my main concern as well and you never know where the tipping point for complications occurs. I was also worried, as my A1C at diagnosis was 14, and I may have been LADA, just not aware of it, and my blood sugars may have been high or in flux for quite some time. I'll never know. The good news is I now have a baseline for my eyes. Also, after giving it some thought today I realize the new nearsightedness and slight astigmatism in my right eye were what I was noticing and worrying me, not just the floaters. This can be corrected with glasses at some point. Thanks for the replies!!
Yeah, luckily when it comes to eyes, a thorough retinal exam reveals a lot. Regardless of how your management has been, if you've had a thorough examination of your retinas, a specialist can give you a pretty good rundown of whether or not you have retinopathy and whether or not you have bleeding from your retinal capillaries. If you're clear, you're clear and you can rest easier knowing that your excursions haven't lead to eye damage.
When I was in dka, I was seeing flashing lights and then my vision went totally blurry when they put me on insulin and and my bg started to normalize. So far nothing has shown up in eye exams in the retina, although it took about 3 months for my vision to improve and I continue to have blurriness. Before dka I could use reading glasses, 1.25, for reading only. Now I need stronger reading glasses for all close vision and sometimes mild reading glasses for distance. My bg fluctuates with bg levels. 1 month prior to dka I had blurry distance vision and just prior I needed no reading glasses, so the lenses were clearly changing with the bg levels. I recently went to a good retinologist who finally photographed my eyes etc. Everything looks good and I will go back in June. So far though no one can give me a real explanation of the continued blurry vision, but clearly dka damaged my vision somehow, fortunately not severely. I don't know about your diet, I doubt that would cause floaters though. I know someone who had floaters in her 30' and then another condition with flashing lights, I've forgotten the name of it now. I also had bad dry eye and ocular rosacea before D so I was using moisture drops(fresh note), a humidifier and tranquil eyes at night with moisture drops, fish oil, water, motorcycle goggles and so on and I still do for that.
I have had very small floaters, barely noticeable, since I was in my 20's. They have not gotten worse and my opthamologist, who examines me every year, reports that I have great eyes no retinopathy nor diabetic eye disease, says not to worry about them. He too says they are normal in non-diabetic eyes as well.
I started noticing floaters around 35. We bought a new house with a nice view and I noticed what I thought was a hair in front of my eye while looking at the sky. I went to my doc and I was diagnosed with floaters. The eventually settle to the bottom of my eye and eventually out of site. I always get new ones though. They don’t cause me any problems. They just make me worry that it is something worse. I’m also having vision problems with becoming near sighted. I never had glasses till 2 years ago when I turned 45. Now I am dependant on them for sure. I hope some one comes up with a way to replace the vitrious fluid and clear things up.
I first noticed floaters when I was about 10 years old, years before I developed diabetes. I still have them, though I only notice them in bright outdoor light. They don't bother me (I've had them too long) and they don't hurt my vision (20/12 at last check). No vision problems after 39 years of T1 (fingers crossed).
