All the symptoms but doctors say not diabetes

[Oliver]

Hi all

I have joined to ask for some help/opinions.
I have the following symptoms:
Always thirsty, peeing at least once an hour, always hungry, random headaches, pain/tingling in my hands, constantly tired, feeling of being dehydrated, blurred vision and constant dizziness.

GP said that I probably have Labyrinthitis, which I have had before and is nothing like this but ok. He also sent me for a blood test which came back fine, although my liver readings and kidney readings are above "normal" range they didn't think this was anything to worry about.

So I have been taking the medication for dizziness, then on Tuesday I went to the cinema, sat through the film munching sweets and chocolates (things I hardly ever eat).
About an hour after the film had ended I felt like I was going to pass out, felt sick and my heart was racing. I had to sit down before I fell down. It was scary as hell.

So back to the doctors who says, blood test says no diabetes so it's not that, he does a prostate exam and a urine test for infection, both fine.

My brother is a Type1 and has been for over 20 years, he lends me a glucose meter yesterday which I try and get a result of 1.4. Now I have no idea what that means so leave it until the next day and take a fasting reading which comes up as 0.7.
From what I understand that is very low indeed. Got my partner to do a test and results were normal so machine seems to be ok.

So I eat some food, have some juice and take another reading a bit later on, this time is it 12.4, too high??

Later on I nearly collapsed again, all I wanted to do was sleep. I sat on the kitchen floor before I fell over.

So the doctors insist it is not diabetes but my symptoms and the blood tests I have done at home indicate something is wrong. My brother, grandmother and aunt all have/had diabetes as well as several cousins.

What should I do???

Many thanks

Oliver

 

[Copepod]

Welcome to the forum, Oliver.
12.4mol/l is higher than would be expected in someone who doesn't have diabetes, but it could be due to contamination of juice andor sugary food on skin. Similarly, very low levels, such as 0.7 or 1.4mmol/l are very unlikely in someone with diabetes, as such levels usually only occur if a person hs injected too much insulin for food taken / too little food, delayed meal, unexpected exercise, unexpected hot or cold weather etc. However, such levels can also occur if fingers are wet when blood is taken from finger prick, as water dilutes blood.
I suggest returning to GP, with records of what lead up to the home meter readings, so that other possible reasons can be investigated. It is possible to have diabetes and another problem appearing at the same time, for example. Infection is a common cause of increased blood glucose levels, and excessive peeing can be caused by a UTI (urinary tract infection) or enlarged prostate (males only, obviously), for example, so GP was wise to check for those.

 

[Robin]

Definitely discuss your home meter readings with your GP. If the blood test the GP did (which he said ruled out diabetes) was the HbA1c, it gives a three monthly average, with the emphasis on average, not normal. It is perfectly possible to be plumb in the middle of average when your levels have teetered between very high and very low, which is not normal.
Has your GP considered reactive Hypoglycaemia? This is where your pancreas puts out too much insulin in response to sugar intake, so you end up too low several hours later.

 

[bilbie]

If those numbers are correct, you need to get to A&E. It has nothing to do with diabetes. (edit, I missed that you had a 12, this could be short term to this period and may still not be diabetes, as per your last blood test, it does indicate that there is a very big swing)
You are very low and may be having a hypoglycemic event. (under 3) The numbers you have can result in a coma and be life threatening, I would think you need a proper medical assessment.

 

[Oliver]

Thanks for the replies.

I will deffo be trying to get in to see a doctor tomorrow. I will take a fasting reading again at home before I go to see what the result it the same time under the same circumstances. I'm hoping a different doctor might come up with some more suggestions.

bilbie, I must admit I thought they were crazy low numbers, didn't realise they were that dangerous though 😱

I have just taken another reading and currently sitting at 4.7 so back to normal again. Weird!

 

[bilbie]

That's a lot better, 4.7 is normal range.
A normal person would never see these numbers. Anytime a person who isn't on hypo inducing medication sees under 3, (2.8 is a medical hypo) they need to seek medical advice. Reactive hypo is normally within a few hours after a meal.
Personally I wouldn't wait till tomorrow. I would ring for medical advice on whether to go to A&E to rule out some serious reasons. As you said, your liver and kidney levels were out.

 

[HOBIE]

Welcome Oliver. Keep checking which I am sure you will. Wright all readings down & make a diary of what you have eaten.🙂

 

[Northerner]

Thanks for the replies.

I will deffo be trying to get in to see a doctor tomorrow. I will take a fasting reading again at home before I go to see what the result it the same time under the same circumstances. I'm hoping a different doctor might come up with some more suggestions.

bilbie, I must admit I thought they were crazy low numbers, didn't realise they were that dangerous though 😱

I have just taken another reading and currently sitting at 4.7 so back to normal again. Weird!

I'm a bit suspicious about those earlier, extremely low numbers Oliver. The only time I have read of levels that low in someone who is not injecting insulin was Sir Ranulph Fiennes during one of his Antarctic expeditions (as part of the expedition he and his colleague Dr Mike Stroud tested regularly). I'm guessing you are not sleepwalking through Antarctic expeditions! 😱 😉 They put the readings down to meter error, as it's highly unlikely you would have no symptoms of low blood sugar at those levels, your brain could not function properly.

The 4.7 and 12.4 look like valid results - as mentioned, the 12.4 is high for a person without diabetes. I would ask your GP to do a fingerprick test when you see him. How long have you had the symptoms, did they come on suddenly or gradually, do you think?

 

[Oliver]

Hey all.
Well I have been keeping up with the testing and the readings seem to have normalised over the course of last night and today with the readings being 6.8, 6.8 and 4.6.

I went to the doctor today and he is sending me for more tests, his thoughts are diabetes insipidus, which has nothing to do with my blood levels so I asked him about the odd ones. He was perplexed as to what could cause the 12.4 but simply passed the low ones off as "you probably just needed more sugar"!!! 😱

The symptoms have been coming on slowly, I originally went to the docs regarding my hand going numb when sleeping, they did tests for everything and eventually decided the hand thing was a trapped nerve or something, however physio has made no difference to that.

Tomorrow I am having my ears syringed on the advice of the doc and I am having the following tests:

Na, K, Creat, Urea
Glucose
HbA1c
Urine Sodium and Osmolality

He didn't say anything about fasting so I assume I don;t need to but that seems a bit odd to me, isn't it normal to fast before these tests?

Cheers for all the support guys.

 

[Martin Canty]

Tomorrow I am having my ears syringed on the advice of the doc and I am having the following tests:

Na, K, Creat, Urea
Glucose
HbA1c
Urine Sodium and Osmolality

He didn't say anything about fasting so I assume I don;t need to but that seems a bit odd to me, isn't it normal to fast before these tests?

Cheers for all the support guys.

Hi Oliver, you will need to fast for the Glucose test otherwise it will skew the results.... Fortunately for me Black Coffee is OK (no sugar)

 

[Oliver]

Hi Martin,

Thanks for that, I have made sure I am not eating/drinking anything this morning until after the test.

Oliver

Hi Oliver, you will need to fast for the Glucose test otherwise it will skew the results.... Fortunately for me Black Coffee is OK (no sugar)

 

[Abella]

Hi. I know this is like a year on, but could I just ask if you resolved the problem?

I have almost exactly the same symptoms and backstory as you, and I don't know what to do.

I hope you are feeling better. 🙂

 

[Copepod]

Unexpectedly low blood glucose levels can happen if fingers are wet when blood is pricked, as water dilutes blood. Similarly, residue of things like fruit juice, jam, honey etc can give inaccurately high readings.