High Blood Sugar Can Cause Blurry Vision
After light enters the front of the eye, known as the cornea, it passes through to the lens. Both the cornea and lens work together to focus the rays of light onto the retina, which is a thin tissue located at the back of the eye. Retina cells then absorb that light and convert it into electrochemical impulses. They are then sent along the optic nerve and to the brain, where they are translated into the image you see.
Sudden high blood sugar following a meal can lead to blurry vision because the rapid increase in blood glucose causes an integral part of the eye, the lens, to swell. The swelling is caused by fluid moving in and out of the eye, and leads to changes in the shape of the lens and therefore changes in eyesight. When blood sugar levels return to normal, the lens returns to its original shape, and regular vision is restored. However, the effects can last for a couple of days.
High blood sugar following a meal is known as postprandial hyperglycemia. It has been shown that high carbohydrate intake is associated with the sudden increase in blood sugar levels following a meal.
How Can Diabetes Affect Your Eyes
Diabetes occurs when your body does not properly process food as energy. When you have diabetes, your body either does not respond to or does not produce insulin, which is a hormone that delivers glucose to the cells in your body. Having too much glucose in the bloodstream, outside the cells where it belongs, can lead to damage of the blood vessels and nerves that run throughout your body, including to the eyes.
What Are The Symptoms Of Diabetic Eye Disease
Often there are no early symptoms of diabetic eye disease. You may have no pain and no change in your vision as damage begins to grow inside your eyes, particularly with diabetic retinopathy.
When symptoms do occur, they may include
- blurry or wavy vision
- frequently changing visionsometimes from day to day
- dark areas or vision loss
- poor color vision
- spots or dark strings
- flashes of light
Talk with your eye doctor if you have any of these symptoms.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Diabetic Retinopathy
The early stages of diabetic retinopathy usually dont have any symptoms. Some people notice changes in their vision, like trouble reading or seeing faraway objects. These changes may come and go.
In later stages of the disease, blood vessels in the retina start to bleed into the vitreous . If this happens, you may see dark, floating spots or streaks that look like cobwebs. Sometimes, the spots clear up on their own but its important to get treatment right away. Without treatment, the bleeding can happen again, get worse, or cause scarring.
Tingling Sensation Around The Mouth
If your mouth or lips are tingling, you might be experiencing hypoglycemia, according to Harvard Health. You might also feel tongue numbness or metallic taste in the mouth. It’s not entirely clear why this happens, but Cedars Sinai Hospital notes it’s possible that the nerves in the mouth and tongue react poorly to low blood sugar.
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Am I At Risk For Diabetic Retinopathy
Anyone with any kind of diabetes can get diabetic retinopathy including people with type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes .
Your risk increases the longer you have diabetes. Over time, more than half of people with diabetes will develop diabetic retinopathy. The good news is that you can lower your risk of developing diabetic retinopathy by controlling your diabetes.
Women with diabetes who become pregnant or women who develop gestational diabetes are at high risk for getting diabetic retinopathy. If you have diabetes and are pregnant, have a comprehensive dilated eye exam as soon as possible. Ask your doctor if youll need additional eye exams during your pregnancy.
Progression Of Diabetic Retinopathy
Retinopathy can worsen over time. Broadly, there are two stages.
Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy
Also known as background retinopathy, this is the early stage, with mild or no symptoms.
At this stage, the retinas tiny blood vessels may become weak and blocked. There may be bulges in them, or fluid can leak out. This can cause swelling in the central part of the retina.
NPDR can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on how serious the blood vessel problem is.
Swelling in the retinaor macula edemacan cause vision problems. This is because it is the central part in the back of the eye that allows people to see fine details clearly.
Proliferative diabetic retinopathy
This is an advanced stage of eye complications. Blood vessels cannot deliver blood to the retina effectively, because they have closed up. New vessels start to grow to compensate for this. This stage only develops in some people with diabetes. It takes several years to develop.
The growth of new blood vessels does not provide normal blood flow to the retina, however, and it can lead to scarring and wrinkling. In severe cases, it can distort a persons vision. The retina can even become detached, causing a loss of vision.
The fragile new vessels can also bleed out. Symptoms include floating spots in the vision. If a bleed from the retina into the central fluid of the eye is big, a person can sometimes lose sight in that eye. After this, they will only be able to tell light from dark.
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How Do I Know If I Am Hypoglycemic
If your blood sugar levels fall too low, you may experience any of the following symptoms:
- Irregular or fast heartbeat
- Pale skin
- Tingling or numbness of cheek, tongue, or lips
Hypoglycemia can become a medical emergency if your body does not respond to treatment aimed at raising blood sugar levels quickly such as drinking juice or soda, eating a sugary snack or candy, or taking glucose tablets.
If hypoglycemia isnt treated right away, you may experience more severe symptoms that require immediate medical attention, such as:
- Confusion
- Blurred vision or other visual disturbances
- Seizures
- Loss of consciousness
If you have diabetes, contact an eye doctor near you, who can diagnose and discuss the best treatment options.
Other Causes Of Blurry Vision
High blood pressure can also cause vision problems by damaging the optic nerve or through brain damage resulting from stroke. High blood pressure is very common in diabetes, so its important to keep blood pressure close to normal range as well.
Other eye problems can cause blurriness and blindness. These include age-related macular degeneration . In AMD, the retina gradually stops working for no clear reason, though some studies have found people with diabetes are more likely to have AMD. According to AMD.org, eating more green vegetables is one way to try to prevent AMD.
Cataracts are strongly associated with diabetes. They are a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. It is thought that proteins in the eye fluid clump up for some reason and cloud the lens. Cataracts are more common in people with diabetes and in smokers. The National Eye Institute says that eating leafy green vegetable and keeping direct sun out of your eyes are good prevention measures.
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How Does Hyperglycemia Affect The Eyes
If your blood glucose stays high over time, it can damage the tiny blood vessels in the back of your eyes. This damage can begin during prediabetes, when blood glucose is higher than normal, but not high enough for you to be diagnosed with diabetes. Damaged blood vessels may leak fluid and cause swelling.
What Should I Do If I Experience Blurred Vision
If you experience blurred vision and you have not been diagnosed with diabetes, you should see your doctor and discuss your symptoms. Your doctor will evaluate you and identify the cause of the symptom. As part of this evaluation, your doctor will measure your blood glucose to determine if it is high and whether you may have diabetes.
If you have already been diagnosed with diabetes, blurred vision is a sign that your blood glucose is out of control. You should work with your doctor on steps to help control your blood glucose.1,3
Do not get new glasses or contacts while you are working to get your blood glucose levels under control. Wait until after your levels are under control and the swelling in your eyes is gone so that your prescription is correct for your normal vision.1,3
No matter how often you experience blurred vision, you should always see your doctor since it could be a sign of another more serious eye problem.1,2
When high levels of blood sugar are left untreated for a long period of time, it can cause serious and sometimes permanent damage to 1 or both eyes. Long-term complications of diabetes that affect vision include:3
- Cataracts
- Retinopathy
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For Diabetics Blurry Vision Is Cause For Concern
There are many things that can cause eye strain and blurry vision, such as spending a lot of time in front of a screen. But blurry vision is also a common warning sign for diabetes. If not caught early or properly managed, diabetes can damage the small blood vessels in the retina a layer of light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye that sends visual signals to the brain. This condition, called retinopathy, can result in blindness.
Diabetes is a complex disease that occurs when your body does not produce insulin normally. Insulin is a hormone that allows the body to break down sugars that our cells use for energy. Increased blood sugar can cause the lenses of your eyes to swell with fluid, causing distorted vision or blurriness. If not managed, unhealthy sugar levels can progress to diabetic retinopathy.
Preventing diabetic retinopathy
In order to prevent permanent damage to the retina, doctors recommend a yearly eye exam with dilation. Dilation involves using drops that open the pupil and allow doctors to examine the retina for damage. In addition to regular eye exams, these steps can lower the likelihood or severity of diabetic retinopathy:
Pay attention to warning signs
As diabetes progresses, blood vessels in the retina may be permanently damaged. The longer youve had diabetes, the higher your chance of developing some level of retinopathy, particularly if you havent taken preventive steps.
Treating diabetic eye problems
Diabetic Eye Disease Prevention
The best way to prevent diabetes-related eye problems is to manage your blood sugar levels, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.Ways you can help prevent eye problems caused by diabetes include:
- Control your blood sugar. Your doctor can provide direction on how to keep your blood sugar normal and avoid fluctuations that can lead to diabetic eye diseases. In addition to getting your eyes checked, its also very important to keep the blood sugars under control, says Cai. This is not only good for you overall, but also good for your eyes.
- Lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. Get recommendations from your doctor on ways you can combat high blood pressure and cholesterol, because these can worsen diabetic eye disease.
- Stop smoking. Smoking can cause further damage to your blood vessels, including the ones in your eyes, so its very important to stop smoking.
- Avoid harmful rays. Protect yourself from the suns harmful ultraviolet rays by wearing sunglasses. Exposure to these rays can speed up the progression of cataracts.
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The 3 Stages Of Diabetic Retinopathy
1. Background Neuropathy
Background retinopathy is said to occur if you have developed microaneurysms on your retina. Microaneurysms are when there is a swelling of the capillaries that feed into the retina. The presence of relatively small numbers of microaneurysms will not usually cause problems with vision.
If the extent of retinopathy is able to grow more significantly, however, this is more likely to present a risk to your vision. Retinopathy can be treated, so it is important that you attend retinopathy screening appointments.
2. Maculopathy
Diabetic maculopathy is a condition that can result from retinopathy. Maculopathy is damage to the macula, the part of the eye which provides us with our central vision. A common from of damage is from diabetic macular oedema in which fluid builds up on the macula. Diabetic maculopathy is often treated by laser surgery.
3. Proliferative Retinopathy
How Can I Protect My Vision If I Have Diabetes
Keeping your blood sugar levels under control and getting regular eye exams are the best things you can do to protect your vision.
Whether you have been living with type 2 diabetes for years or if you were recently diagnosed, your care team should include an ophthalmologist who has experience providing eye care for people with diabetes. Your primary care doctor may be able to screen you in their office. If your results are abnormal, they can refer you to an ophthalmologist.1
It is important to have your eyes checked at least once a year, even if your vision has not changed. If you have diabetes, the key to protecting your eyes is catching complications early. When caught early, treatment for even some of the more serious vision complications of diabetes can be very effective.1
Have you experienced blurred vision?
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Blurring After Exercise Or A Hot Bath
Sometimes blurred vision can occur after exercising or after a hot bath, because of a condition known as optic neuritis.
Other symptoms of this condition include:
- dim vision
- dulled or fading perception of color
- pain behind the eye when moving the eyes
Anyone who experiences these symptoms should see a doctor.
Other possible reasons include low blood sugar, low blood pressure, running in the wind or cold, or the effect of sun or sunscreen.
Optic neuritis is a rare condition that may, in some cases, have links with type 1 diabetes, according to research published in 2018. The investigators were reporting on a small case study.
Can Hyperglycemia Cause Blurred Vision
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Similarly, does blurry vision from diabetes go away?
Blurry vision can result from both short-term and long-term complications of diabetes. These complications are not temporary, but treatment can slow their progression. Short-term blurriness, due to high or low blood sugar levels, is temporary and will resolve when blood sugar levels return to normal.
One may also ask, how can you tell if diabetes is affecting your eyes? As the condition progresses, diabetic retinopathy symptoms may include:
- Spots or dark strings floating in your vision
- Blurred vision.
- Dark or empty areas in your vision.
- Vision loss.
Furthermore, can high blood sugar affect vision?
High blood sugar causes the lens of the eye to swell, which changes your ability to see. To correct this kind of blurred vision, you need to get your blood sugar back into the target range. Blurred vision can also be a symptom of more serious eye problems. If your vision is blurred, contact your doctor.
Why has my eyesight suddenly gone blurry?
The main causes of blurred vision are nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia. Blurry vision can also be caused by dry eyes, pregnancy, migraines, floaters, LASIK, eye drops and keeping your contact lenses in for too long.
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Fluctuating Blood Sugar Levels
Blood sugar levels that fluctuate throughout the day or from time to time, can cause occasional blurry vision.
It is highly recommended to speak with your doctor about ways to regulate your blood sugar levels, as a constant fluctuation can cause many uncomfortable symptoms and can be harmful to your body.
Dry Eyes And Screen Use
Dry eyes are a common cause of blurriness. One cause of dry eyes is when blinking is reduced over long periods of looking at a screen. Computer workers may notice blurred vision due to dry eyes.
To prevent dry eyes, try the following:
- changing the lighting
- taking breaks away from the screen
It is important to get an eyesight check from an optometrist, too.
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When To See A Doctor
A range of medical conditions can cause blurry vision, and diabetes is just one.
Most people who start to have blurry vision simply need eyesight correction with the help of an optometrist.
However, anyone who develops blurry visionwhether or not they have diabetesshould see a doctor, especially if:
- a problem appears suddenly
- the problem gets worse
Eye problems can stem from new cases of diabetes or a complication of an existing condition.
Anyone who already has a diabetes diagnosis should go for a routine eye examination at least once a year. Regular tests can detect any problems while they are still minor.
Blurred Vision Associated With Head Or Body Movements
Patients that develop an injury to their inner, or vestibular system, can develop blurred vision. The vestibular system is critical in maintaining balance, but particularly of the eyes when the head moves. A reflex, called the vestibulo-ocular reflex, or VOR, is designed to dampen head movement as fine as reading a book to as significant as being ona bouncing boat in a choppy sea. When the VOR becomes dysfunction, a phenomenon occurs called oscillopsia.
In laymans terms, think of an oscillating fan and trying to see the fan blades moving. This is the same phenomenon people experience with oscillopsia and a VOR weakness.
Patients will often go to their optometrist or an ophthalmologist thinking that there is something wrong with their eyes. The oscillopsia can make you feel dizziness symptoms like nausea and a sense of being off balance. The actual origin comes from the dysfunction of the inner ears not being able to keep up with the movement of your leading to to strange sensation.
The grest thing about most forms of oscillopsia is that it is treatable by the physical therapists at FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers. The therapist can objectively measure the VOR dysfunction using a special test called a Dynamic Visual Acuity test or DVA. With the information from the DVA, the therapist can prescribe specific exercises to help the brain recognize the oscillopsia and stabilize your vision.
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