Symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy

General information about symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy: The symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy. This symptom information has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy. Furthermore, symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of symptoms and whether they are indeed symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy.

List of symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy: The list of symptoms mentioned in various sources for Diabetic Retinopathy includes:

• Blurred vision
• Flashes
• Floaters
• Retinal bleeding
• Vision impairment

Symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy: You may not get any signs of diabetes retina damage or you may get one or more signs:

• Blurry or double vision
  
  
• Rings, flashing lights, or blank spots
  
  
• Dark or floating spots
  
  
• Pain or pressure in one or both of your eyes
  
  
• Trouble seeing things out of the corners of your eyes.

Often there are none in the early stages of the disease. Vision may not change until the disease becomes severe. Nor is there any pain.

Blurred vision may occur when the macula--the part of the retina that provides sharp, central vision--swells from the leaking fluid. This condition is called macular edema. If new vessels have grown on the surface of the retina, they can bleed into the eye, blocking vision. But, even in more advanced cases, the disease may progress a long way without symptoms. That is why regular eye examinations for people with diabetes are so important.²

Diabetic retinopathy often has no early warning signs. At some point, though, you may have macular edema. It blurs vision, making it hard to do things like read and drive. In some cases, your vision will get better or worse during the day.³

As new blood vessels form at the back of the eye, they can bleed (hemorrhage) and blur vision. The first time this happens it may not be very severe. In most cases, it will leave just a few specks of blood, or spots, floating in your vision. They often go away after a few hours.

These spots are often followed within a few days or weeks by a much greater leakage of blood. The blood will blur your vision. In extreme cases, a person will only be able to tell light from dark in that eye. It may take the blood anywhere from a few days to months or even years to clear from the inside of your eye. In some cases, the blood will not clear. You should be aware that large hemorrhages tend to happen more than once, often during sleep. ³

More symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy: In addition to the above information, to get a full picture of the possible symptoms of this condition and its related conditions, it may be necessary to examine symptoms that may be caused by complications of Diabetic Retinopathy, underlying causes of Diabetic Retinopathy, associated conditions for Diabetic Retinopathy, risk factors for Diabetic Retinopathy, or other related conditions.

Medical articles on symptoms: These general reference articles may be of interest:

• Symptoms of the Silent Killer Diseases
• Symptoms and Medical Malpractice