Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Debi Henson on January 31, 2011 at 5:41pm

I was diagnosed at age 5. At 9 it was discovered that I needed glasses. I received 2 pair, 2 different prescriptions, depending on my blood sugar. Pair 1 for high, pair 2 for low. What a crock! As an adult (now age 51), I still have variations in my eyesight, but for the most part one prescription works the majority of the time. You don't mention how much your blood sugar is fluctuating. If it's not by much, it may be something you have to live with. Maybe contacts? If the fluctuation is large, the key will be to narrow the gaps. Feel free to write me.

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Permalink Reply by Karen on January 31, 2011 at 5:45pm

I have always worn glasses/contacts and now lovely bifocal contacts, but the visual changes are sooo noticeable now, when I am just a little off bloodsugar wise, very annoying

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Permalink Reply by Kathy on January 31, 2011 at 5:41pm

Absolutely. There is a sort of blurriness when control goes from good to bad over several days.
And then sometimes when I'm hypo I get blotches in my visual field. If I see them in the middle of the night when I look toward the window, I don't even test - just treat the hypo.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on January 31, 2011 at 6:08pm

I have a hard time reading when my BG gets lower. I don't let myself run high very often but it doesn't phase me as much visualwise. I wore hard contacts for a while and stopped but have picked them up again? My mom said that they are supposed to keep your eyes' shapes from changing? I dunno if that's true or not.

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Permalink Reply by Gary on January 31, 2011 at 6:33pm

When I was a teen I remember while in Gym class and concerts I noticed under certain lighting my vision was out of focus if I squinted. I figured it was the diabetes and it certainly worried me. For years and years I haven't really noticed it anymore even if my sugars are off. I got to say considering I've only been on MDI since 99 I am real fortunate I haven't developed any secondary comps as of yet other then a diminished sex drive. Though that in itself is pretty depressing without a partner Its not that big of a deal. I spent nearly the 1st 25 years being diabetic on 2 shots of NPN only. These days the sugar swings make me psychotic. I dropped low watching a movie yesterday and was an emotional wreck.

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Permalink Reply by rossm on January 31, 2011 at 6:37pm

I am recently diagnosed LADA and have not needed my glasses since beginning insulin. My distance vision is almost corrected and my reading vision is unfocused. The endo office has said it will eventually go away and my vision will return to needing distance glasses. Now that I read this original post I am wondering if will ever go away. Has this happened to anyone else? How long can I expect "eventually" to last?

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Permalink Reply by Michael Hutch on January 31, 2011 at 6:52pm

In this podcast on Diabetes Powershow, I remember the doctor saying some of his patients use different eye glasses, depending on how high their blod glucose is .... as this affects vision

http://www.diabetespowershow.com/DiabetesPowerShow___5.html

About the speaker
....Dr. Jayne is the founding director of the Retina Center at Las Vegas (RCLV). He is board certified by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and has subspecialty training in all aspects of vitroretinal surgery.
He is committed to helping people with diabetes, macular degeneration, and other retinal diseases, to preserving their vision with the latest technology available, and maximizing the quality of life for his patients.

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on February 1, 2011 at 1:39am

Rossm,

Your vision will go back to where it was when your BG is more level. My vision changed dramatically when I was diagnosed. I could read the smallest print without problem & distance vision was blurry (opposite of yours). Once BG improved, I needed my reading glasses again & distance vision was fine. It took 2-3 weeks for my former vision to return.

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Permalink Reply by Jen on January 31, 2011 at 6:45pm

Blood sugar fluctuations cause the fluid within your lens to change balance, thus altering the shape of your lens and effectively making your eye out of focus.

I have a severe visual impairment so my vision is horrible regardless, but I definitely notice blurry vision when my blood sugar is bouncing all over the place compared to when it's more stable. "Bouncing" for me is very wide swings and "stable" is still swings but less dramatic. For me, it can make the difference between being able to read large print or not, or being able to see steps or not, which is my theory about why I find it so noticeable.

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Permalink Reply by Bug74 on January 31, 2011 at 10:10pm

I'm with you Karen!! When my bg is in the "sweet spot" (no pun intended) of less than 120 I'm always amazed how clear my vision is. It doesn't take much of a rise for it to get blurry.

Not sure why, but I seem to notice this now that I'm a "little older". Or maybe it doesn't take much to entertain me these days.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Jane on January 31, 2011 at 11:18pm

Mostly I have problems driving at night when my blood sugars are high. It's harder to see and concentrate with bright lights, and harder to follow the lines on the roads. It scares me a lot.

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Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on February 1, 2011 at 12:34am

I noticed the eye changes before I was diagnosed! If my sugars are too high, I am really afraid when driving after dark as I get double vision and all the lights tend to blend together into blurry star patterns in the distance. It's very dangerous so I try to never drive after dark, but in the winter it gets dark at 4:30 here in Seattle, so that's a huge drag.

If my sugars are close to normal for a few days, my vision gets MUCH better -- almost normal again -- which is very sweet.

I have other things wrong with my eyes (amblyopia, presbyopia, dry eyes...) that make vision challenging and I wear progressive bifocals. But when my sugar is fluctuating, it's much worse.

What's truly weird -- as others have mentioned -- is that sometimes my eyes fluctuate so much that it's safer to drive WITHOUT my glasses and other times I can only drive WITH my glasses. It's maddening, really. I keep flipping them up and down until I figure out if this is a "with glasses" or a "without glasses" day. Gah.

I'm praying and hoping that my next job I'll be able to commute by Metro and not have to take the risk of driving after dark if I need to work late.

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