My first symptoms of diabetic retinopathy was blurry/fuzzy morning vision, almost pixelated. I did not see my doc right away. I wish I had. I may not have had to get as many injections if it had been caught earlier, or maybe I could have turned it around with just diet. I received Avastin injections and then Eylea injections. With injections and following the Mastering Diabetes plan, my retinopathy has reversed after one year. I hope the same happens for you.
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So, pstud123 speaks the truth grasshopper. You should get an eye exam once a year by a retinologist, and even if you have no symptoms you would have established a relationship for when things go wrong. Your PCP should also be looking in your eye, but for a good look dilation is needed. The technology has vastly improved from when I developed PPDR in the late 70’s.
The first sign may be blurry vision in one part of an eye, or the whole eye. This is due to leakage of serum into the eye. The other symptom is when you close your eyes you see flashes of light; often star shaped, or lightning or even in a pattern. This is due to damage of the retinal cells.
If you have a bleed and you cannot contact you retinal specialist, go to the ER. They will have one on call. If you have a bleed sleep with your head elevated and let gravity settle the clots to the bottom of your eye. It can take weeks or months for them to settle.
One last piece of advice, don’t do activities that will cause you BP to rise, of go jogging.
Mike
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My Doc told me, in no uncertain terms, that eye exams are one of the most valuable things a diabetic can do because retinopathy can be reversed if caught early.
That being said, I had this happen to me the other week. I walked into a store and while walking around started to have a lot of difficulty seeing things because of a flashbulb-like effect similar to what you describe. It went away after an hour or so. I’m pretty sure this has happened to me, from time to time, throughout my whole life. I have no idea what it is. I have always chalked it up to being a really minor partial seizure effecting vision (from lower left lobe epilepsy). But, I don’t actually know what it is.
I have no history of retinopathy.
If it’s new for you, go on in.