How is eye sight with diabetes?

Elevated glucose does two things to eyesight.

!) a harmless shift in your eyeglass prescription, sometimes the trigger that gets you diagnosed. This phenomenon is reversible.. when you get control, your prescription recovers back towayrd your non-diabetic value.

2. NOT harmless: after a few years of poor control, your blood vessels (eye, kidney, elsewhere) send out a signal they're not getting enough oxygen and you grow new, tiny vessels called neovascularization. New vessels might help for a while but they break and bleed and scar, leaving parts of your vision blind, eventually all of it if you let it go.

Depends on how long you've had high sugar counts.

I went undiagnosed for about a year, maybe more, but thankfully my tests for diabetic retinopathy (over the span of three years) came back negative.

It really does depend on the person with it and how they manage their glucose levels. I'm T1, 42 and had it since I was 15 years old with middling control at points. My eye sight is still good, I have evidence of background Retinopathy, but nothing serious.

I can always tell when my # is high because my vision is noticeably blurry.

Diabetes that is being treated or uncontrolled blood sugar?

I've literally had to get injections directly in my eye to restore my vision. Have fun with that.

My eye sight has decreased, especially when trying to read up close. But I’m in my early 50s, so not sure if my eyesight is because of diabetes or getting old. After tests from the eye doctor, my eyes look normal and healthy, so no worry there.

51M and have had T1 about 17yrs now. No eyesight issues or changes. I am well controlled with A1C around 6 the entire time. Last year I had some blood vessels 'leak' in one eye. Turns out they fixed themselves and the doctor told me it could not be related to Diabetes, and I was unlucky. No issues, but I get them checked regularly and no change in my prescription.

As far as I know, as long as your diabetes is under control it shouldn't lead to vision problems.

My eyes are relatively healthy apart from me being nearsighted, but I've had that problem since childhood, long before I was diagnosed.

Mines 15/20 perfect with nothing in the front or back. A little farsighted but I’ve always been that way. Been t1d since 2021

I found out I was diabetic when my new glasses started not correcting my vision

I (51m) don't have retinopathy but my father lost sight in one eye and I have tons of eye floaters, which I think are caused by little bleeds in the eye.

Uncontrolled can cause your eyesight to:

1- change with your blood sugar. My vision varied.

2- long term damage to the retina. (Diabetic retinopathy).

Control your diabetes ! Keep moving ! Careful and aggressive control and you’ll be just fine. My grandfather (Type 2 starting at age 50) lived to be 94.

I wore glasses for a few years. I was diagnosed at 14.1 a1c, 735 mg. After hopital, i changed eating a bit, started on metformin.

Bs impacts vision.

2 weeks later, i was driving took off glasses and ision restored to 20/20 in both eyes. I topped wearing glasses

It is possible that my diabetes was undiagnosed and vision was failing.

Diabetes has a cumulative effect on your eyesight…keep your A1c in range and your eyes will be no worse than the average Joe.

Keep an eye (lol) on it, especially if you have high blood sugar, but that’s with everything with diabetes, not just our eyes

I have a very minimal perscription on my glasses like +0,25 on both of my eyes and correction for astigmatism. I do not wear/have to wear glasses in my day to day, only if im staring at screens for a long time. ive been diagnosed 15 yrs and had some neglect with my diabetes but thankfully no complications, i check every year :)

T1D for over 20 years. While I was a kid my diabetes didn't affect my vision at all. When I was about 21 I decided to take care of my diabetes again after years of poor control and care. My HBA1C dropped very rapidly and damaged my right retina as a result. I've now had retina reattachment surgery in that eye and need to have injections in both eyes to prevent further damage and anymore surgery.

I've had T2 diabetes at least ten years. Most of that time not well controlled, currently "ok" not great. I'm waiting on my last A1C and guessing it will probably be right around 7 and I can live with that (3 months ago it was 7.8, 6 months ago 7.4). Two years ago I had an A1C of 12.8! I have the beginnings of retinopathy in my right eye and see my eye doctor every six months. Last exam, he sent me to a retina specialist for slight macular edema in the right eye. No treatment needed but go back to check that in two months. Both eye specialists said to keep blood sugar low to avoid vision loss or require treatment (the shot in the eye). I'm trying. I wish I had taken this more seriously or not been in denial for so much of that time. It's real.

I’ve been diabetic since I was 4 I am now 21. I started noticing my eyesight getting worse when I was about 12/13. I was in denial until I was 15/16 and then I finally got glasses. My vision hasn’t got worse since…YAY

If you dont keep it under control, and go into DKA, blindness follows.

I was going into DKA when i was diagnosed and hospitalised, and went full zero focus blind for about a week, but my eyesight came back.

Your organs absorb water which changes your lenses working when in DKA. And then of course unmaintained blood sugars leads to organ damage where kidneys, and eyes, to mention two but ofcourse more things, will degrade over time if not looked after.

T1D for 30 years this month. 2 years ago went for a routine diabetic eye exam and was told I had stage 2 retinopathy in both eyes. I didn't take good care of my diabetes the first 10 years. I received injections in my eyes every month for a year, and now there are no signs of retinopathy. Diabetes can cause many other health problems, keeping up with doctor visits can help prevent further complications. This was just my experience, every diabetic is different. Hope all is well with you.

My right eye has a cataract. My left eye has a broken macular. Neither are due to diabetes. In fact, the doctor says I don’t have any issues due to diabetes.

I do go every six months.

I discovered diabetes because of polyneuropathy on legs and when tested at the hospital my eyes got really cloudy and I couldn't read for 11 months, I had developed cataract, had surgery and now everything is ok.

Eyesight and everything on your body will be okay as long as you keep your sugar under control.