Good blood sugar levels = bad vision for me!
We've thought for years that I might have Type-2 diabetes - nearly everyone in my Mom's family dealt with either Type-1 or Type-2 diabetes, and my younger brother, my only sibling, had also been diagnosed with Type-2. The reason I thought I might have it is because I was about 220 lbs when I should be around 190 lbs, and although it wasn't every day or every meal, every once in a while if I ate too many carbs I'd literally pass out, after feeling hot, sweaty, head spinning, etc...then wake up some few hours later feeling like I had been hit by a run-away bus.
I've been working as a computer programmer since essentially 1981, so about 30 years - not one issue with my vision. Also, been in graduate school the past few years, lots of reading, again - no issues.
So in July 2009, I went to the Dr, had full bloodwork done, and it was found that my instantaneous BS reading was about 156 and my A1C was 7.7 on a scale that indicated normal is 4.8 - 5.9, and diabetic adult is <7.0 - the Dr indicated thatit looked like I had a "mild case of Type-2 diabetes". So he put me on Metformin 500mg twice a day and gave me a meter. I checked my sugar every morning before breakfast, and if I had another carb overload situation. Prior to beginning taking the Metformin the readins would be in the 200-220 range. After beginning the Metformin, it would be around 180. This went on for a few months I guess it was and I went back to the Dr and he was concerned that the BS had not dropped all that much, if at all really, so he determined that perhaps my pancreas wasn't producing enough insulin, so he added Glimepiride 1mg once per day and almost immediately I started getting morning fasting BS readings around 100...in fact I clearly remember one day around lunch time I was preparing lunch for the kids and me, was carrying it into the living room to sit down and eat, and I began shaking so bad and felt so week I warned the kids and told them what to do if I lost consciousness. I began eating anyway, and almost immediately felt better and had the kids bring me the meter - my BS was 81. So I thought it was ironic that for the first time in perhaps years my BS was right where it needed to be, and I almost couldn't function and felt like I would faint.
So I continued on with the Metformin 500mg 2x and the Glimepiride 1mg 1x per day, but over the period of a few weeks I began to notice that I needed to bring out the magnifying glass in order to read small print like on the back of some packages of food, and it became difficult to read words on my computer. So about 29 years of working all day almost every day with my computer, never a vision issue, but then I couldn't read it because it was becoming more and more blurry. Also, I could NOT read the textbooks I had been reading because it was all a blur. Now, things at a distance, I could see those pretty well, however, I also began to notice that when driving at night that the light from an oncoming car, even if their headlights were not on bright, would blind me and I literally had to guess to keep the car on the road at the moment of meeting the oncoming cars. By this time it was about time for my 6-month checkup and bloodwork, went to the lab, then later went to the Dr and he said my A1C was 6.5 if I remember correctly, and the instant reading was great, and we both felt good about the handling of the diabetes. So I told him about the vision issue, and he strongly recommended I go to an eye doctor and get an eye exam because he was concerned there may be some damage caused by the diabetes, and of course, that is one of the major concerns of the disease.
So I went to the eye doctor, got the exam, and he said that was absolutely NO damage related to diabetes or otherwise, and that the issue was that my left eye was very slightly weaker than the right eye, and that was causing me to have difficulty with things up close. I ordered some glasses, and he suggested I might try some reading glasses in the meantime. So I went to the little eye-test station at the reading glasses counter and ended up getting some +2.50 reading glasses and I was then able to see things on the computer and read my textbooks again. When I got the glasses (bifocals) I basically couldn't use them because the up-close part was too small for a computer display...so I continued with the cheap reading glasses.
I went back to the Dr for another 6 month checkup (probably had another or 2 beetween the above story and current day) about 2 weeks or so ago. A1C, etc, etc was good again, even better. I told him again about my eyes, about the eye Dr saying there was no damage, etc and asked if it could be either related to the Glimepiride or perhaps the fact that now that my BS was in the normal range on a daily basis, could it have an adverse affect on my vision? He suggested it might be due to moisture levels in the eyes, and so on, didn't think it would be the Glimepiride, but also said he was confused as to why we went from Metformin 500mg 2x to instead using Metformin 500mg 2x and the Glimepiride 1mg 1x per day. He said the second attempt is that he usually just doubles the Metformin before adding anything else. So he said I could drop the Glimepiride, go to Metformin 1000mg 2x per day, and see what happens. Well guess what...I've typed this entire email with NO glasses of any kind. I can read even the smallest print on the food packages, and I can read the textbooks again. It's a little blurry at times, but seems to be getting gradually better, although I could already tell a different perhaps 2 days after changing the meds. Another difference: my fasting BS is back up in the 180 range. And a couple times, maybe 3, over the past couple weeks, I've had those "hit by a bus" crashes. The increased dosage of Metformin also seems to be really negatively affecting my stomach and GI tract - lots of flatulence, bloating, gas, gurgling in the intestines, tenderness - you name it...what one can sometimes expect from Metformin.
This morning for example, I got up at 6am and felt fine in terms of energy, my stomach wasn't messed up, etc. Got the kids ready and off to school. Around 715am my stomach started hurting a little, checked my BS it was 137. So I ate breakfast: 2 pieces of toast (Hartford Farms Wheat Berry bread, 22g carbs each), 2 Morningstar Farms Chik Patties (by the way, I've been ovo-lacto vegetarian since 1990) at 16g carbs each, a couple pieces of low-fat cheese (one provolone, one colby jack), and water. Within 30 minutes I was "out like a light" so to speak, and slept until 1230pm, and am just now (130pm) getting over the feeling of having been run over by a train. Keep in mind, that in the year or so of taking Metformin 500mg 2x and the Glimepiride 1mg 1x per day I NEVER had a crash...maybe a few bouts of my BS slipping too low and having to pop a glucose tablet, but no carb-induced stupors. But again, I'm typing this email at the exact same font size (Arial 10) that I've used for decades w/o reading glasses.
So the questions are, because even though I like my Dr a lot I feel like he may be just trying things at this point and seeing what happens and so now I'm looking for answers elsewhere:
(1) Does this make sense? Does it make sense I can see perfectly well all my life and then as soon as I start to get my sugar under control I literally can't read anything up close without reading glasses, and then eliminate some meds, let the BS rise back up, and I can read just fine again?
(2) If my story does make sense, what can I take in terms of meds that will help keep the diabetes under control AND also allow my eyes to keep working as they have in the past? I realize ultimately I need to drop those 30 lbs, but at age 48, working at a computer 8-10 hours per day and grad school in the evenings, two very active kids in middle and high school that need to be driven around, etc, etc - well it's very, very difficult to do. I did do it about 10 years ago...lost 38 pounds over the course of 3 years got down to 175 (briefly) then stabilized at about 185 lbs - but I was coaching 3 child soccer teams, playing on 2 - 3 adult old guy soccer teams 2 or 3 games per week, and so on...but a torn ACL in both knees, bad back, not much spare time, etc brought that to a halt and eventually I stabilized again at about 220 lbs - and this return to 220 lbs was prior to all these visits to the Dr to get started on diabetes meds so since Jul 2009, when this diabetes stuff started, I was already back to 220...but my eyes worked like a charm! LOL
Any help or advice you can give will be greatly appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to read my story and consider my questions
