A little help and guidance please

[Pinksugar90]

Hello

First post here so here goes....

I have just come back from seeing my GP. In August, I was feeling very unwell so I went to the doctors and had a fasting glucose test. This came back at 7.4. This was them repeated and came back at 6.5. As my second result was borderline I was asked to complete an oral glucose tolerance test. The results from this came back as pre diabetes. I was told to follow a healthy diet and get regular exercise which I did, but I was still feeling unwell.

After being diagnosed with pre diabetes I brought myself a meter and started testing every morning and after meals. My morning results were always between 6 and 9. After meals my results were between 8 and up to 17 on a few occasions.

I have recently been feeling even worse so I made an appointment with my GP. After seeing her today, and explaining all of the above she wants me to have another fasting test. I can't help but feel I am going round in circles. I have researched on the internet and my results from my meter suggest I am diabetic not pre diabetic.

It's ruining my life. I can't go out and enjoy my life because I feel so terrible. I have all the symptoms, extreme thirst, tiredness, itching skin. I don't feel myself. I am 22 and I eat well, I'm not over weight and I go to the gym twice a week. I don't know what to do next. Can I get a second opinion? I just don't know my options.

Any help or guidance you could give me would be really helpful

Thank you

Joanna

 

[MeganN]

Hi Joanna

Sounds like you are having a pretty rough time. I was diagnosed in January and suffered with a lot of the same symptoms as yourself with some added kidney infections just to top it off. In the end they only did a blood test after sugar was found in my urine even though I had asked for a test beforehand.

All you can do is keep bugging your GP or possibly take yourself down to the hospital. Changing GP surgery could also be an option.

I hope you get this sorted out soon as it does sound like you are diabetic.

Best of luck! X

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi Pinksugar

Welcome to the forum.

Diabetes can be a tricky beggar to diagnose and that's for sure.

I wonder whether it might be worth asking your Dr about a variant of type one called LADA (latent autoimmune diabetes in adults) sometimes called 'slow onset type 1' where the islet cells in the pancreas fade more slowly and the symptoms of diabetes emerge more gradually. It's not so well known and may just not have been considered.

To my (entirely medically untrained) mind, you seem at the young end of the spectrum for classic Type 2 and you say that you are not overweight which would be another risk factor for T2.

There are (expensive) tests to measure the action of GAD antibodies that destroy islet cells in the pancreas which might give you confirmation one way or another.

Hope you get some clarity soon.

 

[Mark T]

Welcome to the forum Pinksugar 🙂

I'd agree - you need to make sure your Doctor has an open mind about things, there are plenty of different types of diabetes and I personally suspect that they are not half as rare as they are sometimes suggested to be. Possibly you should encourage your GP to refer to to a specialist consultant.

In the mean time, consider that it's the carbohydrate content in meals that makes your blood sugar go up - you might want to keep an eye on that. Bread, rice, potatoes and pretty much any breakfast cereal are packed with the stuff!

 

[Northerner]

Hi Joanna, welcome to the forum 🙂 It's interesting that you didn't go high enough to be diagnosed on your oral glucose tolerance test - do you know what your level was? How long after your meals have you been testing, and what sorts of things have you been eating? Have you noticed any correlation between your meals and the test results? It may be that the OGTT caused your pancreas to kick out a lot of insulin to counter the sudden sugar hit, whereas it might be a bit sluggish with proper meals so your levels climb higher. The diagnosis criteria are:

1. Diabetes symptoms (ie polyuria, polydipsia and unexplained weight loss) plus

a random venous plasma glucose concentration > 11.1 mmol/l
or
a fasting plasma glucose concentration > 7.0 mmol/l (whole blood > 6.1mmol/l)
or
two hour plasma glucose concentration > 11.1 mmol/l two hours after 75g anhydrous glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).

You do report the symptoms and some of your readings would fit the second line of criteria.

As suggested by Mike, you may be a slow-onset Type 1 where your pancreas is slowly losing the ability to keep pace with your food intake. This is suggested by the fact that you appear to have few of the normal risk factors for Type 2, being only 22 and not overweight. Diabetes is rather more complex than just two clear-cut types, so it is possible that your doctor hasn't considered this (it is relatively rare). I would suggest this to the doctor. There are tests they can do that can determine if you are slow-onset. Let us know how the appointment goes! 🙂

 

[Pinksugar90]

thanks for your reply's

Northerner-I have been testing 2hours after meals. I have noticed that I feel terrible after eating pasta or a heavy starchy meal, so I do my best to avoid them!

I'm not sure what my OGTT result was, I only recieved a letter from my GP saying they were diagnosing me with pre diabetes.

My fasting test isn't until next week so I guess I will have to wait until then. Do you think I would be diagnosed "officially" if this test is too high or will I have to start everything all over again?

Thanks so much for your help

 

[Northerner]

thanks for your reply's

Northerner-I have been testing 2hours after meals. I have noticed that I feel terrible after eating pasta or a heavy starchy meal, so I do my best to avoid them!

I'm not sure what my OGTT result was, I only recieved a letter from my GP saying they were diagnosing me with pre diabetes.

My fasting test isn't until next week so I guess I will have to wait until then. Do you think I would be diagnosed "officially" if this test is too high or will I have to start everything all over again?

Thanks so much for your help

If your fasting test is above 7 then yes, I would expect you to be diagnosed. I would keep doing your tests so that you have some up to date records to show your GP. Do you get your highest levels after pasta or heavy starchy meals? It would be logical if you are. If you are not happy with the outcome of the appointment then you should ask if you can be referred to a consultant, given the fact that you have symptoms, abnormal readings and do not have the main risk factors for Type 2. Does anyone in your family have diabetes?

 

[Pinksugar90]

Thanks I will continue to keep testing. I also considered keeping a bit of a food diary that lists my levels and everything I eat, is this worth doing?

Yes my highest levels hve been after eating starchy meals. Last time I had pasta I think I was about 16 2 hours after

My maternal grandmother has diabetes but we are not very close so I wouldn't like to say what type she has. Apart from that no one else has it that I am aware of.

 

[Northerner]

Yes, a food diary is an excellent idea 🙂 If you can, it would be worth recording the amount of carbohydrate in everything you eat (and drink, if for example you drink juice) so that you can see a more direct relationship between the amount of carbs and the readings. Test before your meals as well as 2 hours after so that you can see how much the meal raises your levels. I know it sounds like a lot of testing, but it really is worth it in the long run and in the future you will not need to test as often 🙂

 

[fencesitter]

I too wonder if you might be slow onset type 1. My son had high sugars picked up by accident when he was in hospital about something else, a year or so before diagnosis. He had a follow up test (only the one) which was within normal range, and the issue was dropped. I didn't give it another thought at the time, but I'm sure the T1 must have been creeping up on him even then. He felt really awful for a couple of months before diagnosis, but once it was under control things started looking up. He also had a long diabetic honeymoon (over a year) where his insulin needs dropped quite dramatically.
It's good that you're on to it now and can test your bg, so at least it won't get any worse without you being aware. Can you get a referral to a diabetic team I wonder?
Good luck.

 

[Caroline]

I hope you get some answers soon, it can be a worry. Is yours a group practice? Maybe ask to see a different doctor from the one you normally see.

If it is any consolation I was backwards and forwards to my doctors for over a year before I got anywhere. It was only because I had gone to a health awareness day at work and went to see Dr Twit with a letter and a sheet of results that he actually and very reluctantly did any tests.