Advice needed

[B23]

Hey all, I’ve joined here to try and get advice about some issues I’ve been having.

For context I’m 20 bmi of 20.3 no meds I have cerebral palsy and am a para athlete.

I’m not diagnosed diabetic but about 1.5 months ago I developed an unquenchable thirst and was urinating up to 20+ times urgently I felt tired and generally unwell so went to a&e, on arrival my bg was 4.7 and keytone 0.3? So not type 1 I’m still symptomatic now and also started measuring my BG as I thought some of my symptoms dizziness hunger shakey etc could signify lows and my bg drops to 3.5/3.1 when I’m having these episodes- some say that’s ok for non diabetic but I get so ill with it.

I’m still incredibly thirsty and have symptoms still, I’m wearing a libre to see any pattern and my bg seems to spike to 10 sometimes after eating then slowly crashes.

I know some types of diabetes can come on slowly and I’m concerned that the symptoms of thirst and the lows could be a warning of diabetes in the long run.

Any advice would be beneficial as I’m not getting much help from medical professionals

 

[Windy]

Hi @B23 welcome to the forum. Are you on any medications for your diabetes? Sorry, just read you said you're not diagnosed.
I'm concerned that your BG drops below 4, as that'll be making you feel dreadful. What do you do after you get a low reading to get your BG back up?

Also what sort of foods do you eat? Regular meals, lots of carbs, not much carbs etc?

 

[B23]

Hi @B23 welcome to the forum. Are you on any medications for your diabetes? Also did they say that you're type 2?
I'm concerned that your BG drops below 4, as I believe that's the level for a hypo (though more knowledgable people can confirm hopefully). What do you do after you get a low reading to get your BG back up?
Also what sort of foods do you eat? Regular meals, lots of carbs, not much carbs etc?

Hey I’m not actually diagnosed diabetic just having symptoms but at a&e my glucose was 4.7 so but high.
I’m not sure what’s considered hypo In someone without diabetes but I’m thinking at the lower end of 3 is I normally don’t treat anything above 3.5 as my body should correct but its starting to drop further so I have glucose tabs.
I eat a veggie/vegan diet relatively high protein and carbs with every meal.

 

[B23]

Hi @B23 welcome to the forum. Are you on any medications for your diabetes? Sorry, just read you said you're not diagnosed.
I'm concerned that your BG drops below 4, as that'll be making you feel dreadful. What do you do after you get a low reading to get your BG back up?

Also what sort of foods do you eat? Regular meals, lots of carbs, not much carbs etc?

I’m also not sure if the thirst and hypos could lead to an onset of diabetes

 

[Windy]

Normal blood glucose levels are between 4 and 7 mmol/L, so 4.7 is in the normal range. If you don't eat enough glucose, your body can make ketones as it burns fat to give you energy, I'm wondering if you get dips when you're training/after training or at other times? Do you get any support from your training team or a nutritionist? Do you eat a mix of slower and fast release carbs, ie sports drinks, bananas and something slower to digest, like oats?
I'm wondering if you're getting what cyclists refer to as "bonking" where you've exhaused your glycogen stores and get v wobbly and feel unwell because of that.
However, all this is well outside what I know about, as I'm a fat, unathletic, middle aged office worker, but hopefully you can see a sports nutritionist or similar to see if you're getting low BG levels because of that, rather than anything diabetes related.
But the frequent urination and thirst makes me wonder - can you get an appointment with a different GP and explain how much you need to go? Maybe make a note of the times you go over a couple of days, and a diary of what you've eaten and drunk through the day?
Hopefully some of the more knowledgable people can pitch in with their experience,
Sarah

 

[B23]

Normal blood glucose levels are between 4 and 7 mmol/L, so 4.7 is in the normal range. If you don't eat enough glucose, your body can make ketones as it burns fat to give you energy, I'm wondering if you get dips when you're training/after training or at other times? Do you get any support from your training team or a nutritionist? Do you eat a mix of slower and fast release carbs, ie sports drinks, bananas and something slower to digest, like oats?
I'm wondering if you're getting what cyclists refer to as "bonking" where you've exhaused your glycogen stores and get v wobbly and feel unwell because of that.
However, all this is well outside what I know about, as I'm a fat, unathletic, middle aged office worker, but hopefully you can see a sports nutritionist or similar to see if you're getting low BG levels because of that, rather than anything diabetes related.
But the frequent urination and thirst makes me wonder - can you get an appointment with a different GP and explain how much you need to go? Maybe make a note of the times you go over a couple of days, and a diary of what you've eaten and drunk through the day?
Hopefully some of the more knowledgable people can pitch in with their experience,
Sarah

Hiya I seem to be ok during training at the moment although I haven’t worn the libre while training yet so I’ll see how training affects me.
I’m terms of my diet I eat a mix of foods I’m under the care of a dietician because I got sick in 2019 with my stomach and lost 7 stone so I’m trying to get up to a healthier weight.

I appreciate anyones input to be honest because I don’t have a great support network and family think I’m being over the top with checking bg and libre as I’m not diabetic so it’s nice I’m not judged on this here.

I’ve seen about Lada which seems to come on slowly but my bg would be higher rather than lower with that I guess.

There’s a ton of different things it could be, my endocrinologist wasn’t exactly too helpful either.

 

[Windy]

I see you've posted in the Newbie thread - hopefully someone will be able to come back to you there who has some experience with LADA etc, as I'm a type 2, so don't know anything about it I'm afraid.
I've found the forum members helpful, friendly and non judgemental, I'm sure you'll find them that way too.

I'll paste the link of this into the Newbie thread so that people don't ask you the same questions again.

 

[Leadinglights]

You do seem to be displaying some of the symptoms of diabetes, thirst etc. There may be other factors causing your erratic glucose levels, certainly below 4mmol/l would be considered hypo for a diabetic.
I think you would be wise to insist on seeing your GP for a referral to a diabetes specialist clinic. As @Windy says if you can provide some evidence of what you are experiencing.

 

[B23]

You do seem to be displaying some of the symptoms of diabetes, thirst etc. There may be other factors causing your erratic glucose levels, certainly below 4mmol/l would be considered hypo for a diabetic.
I think you would be wise to insist on seeing your GP for a referral to a diabetes specialist clinic. As @Windy says if you can provide some evidence of what you are experiencing.

Hey thanks for your reply i really appreciate it, I’m seeing an endocrinologist about it all but so far I haven’t really got very far and as for the sugars he hasn’t even acknowledged them so I’m not sure what I should be doing about it all.
Here’s my Nightscout data so far- I’m calibrating with metre as the libre is sometimes inaccurate hence the gaps.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

First I am going to address the thirst and frequent urination. If this was down to diabetes your levels would be well over 10 as the kidneys don't start trying to remove surplus glucose until levels are usually persistently mid teens and above, so I think you need to be seeing a doctor about those symptoms as I don't think they are being caused by diabetes and in fact your levels are good to occasionally slightly low by the sound of it, although it depends on what you are measuring those lows with? If those low 3s are readings from the Libre, have you double checked them with finger pricks. I find Libre reads about 1mmol lower than a finger prick so those low 3s could be low 4s if you haven't double checked them.

I think the amount of fluids you are processing to keep hydrated may be causing you a problem with electrolyte balance and you may need extra salt in your diet to offset that, particularly as an athlete. There is a condition called Diabetes Insipidus which is not diabetes as we know it but it is a hormone imbalance which causes you to urinate far too frequently and the consequent thirst. It is pretty rare but might be worth researching and speaking to your GP about, but my feeling is that this is not diabetes mellitus. I think it's brilliant that you have been so proactive in investigating this health issue, particularly in the current climate when medical staff have been less accessible.

 

[B23]

Hi and welcome.

First I am going to address the thirst and frequent urination. If this was down to diabetes your levels would be well over 10 as the kidneys don't start trying to remove surplus glucose until levels are usually persistently mid teens and above, so I think you need to be seeing a doctor about those symptoms as I don't think they are being caused by diabetes and in fact your levels are good to occasionally slightly low by the sound of it, although it depends on what you are measuring those lows with? If those low 3s are readings from the Libre, have you double checked them with finger pricks. I find Libre reads about 1mmol lower than a finger prick so those low 3s could be low 4s if you haven't double checked them.

I think the amount of fluids you are processing to keep hydrated may be causing you a problem with electrolyte balance and you may need extra salt in your diet to offset that, particularly as an athlete. There is a condition called Diabetes Insipidus which is not diabetes as we know it but it is a hormone imbalance which causes you to urinate far too frequently and the consequent thirst. It is pretty rare but might be worth researching and speaking to your GP about, but my feeling is that this is not diabetes mellitus. I think it's brilliant that you have been so proactive in investigating this health issue, particularly in the current climate when medical staff have been less accessible.

Heya yep I’m using the contor next one meter to check and it’s low 3s my libre app reads higher so I’ve been using xdrip which is a bit better.
I’ll start using my electrolyte tablets.
I’m actually being tested for DI I’m just not sure why my sugars are in the low 3s I know it’s normal for non diabetic to run at 3.7 ish but surely not 3.1?
I was just concerned that this could be a warning of diabetes later on but I guess nobody could say that.

 

[Kaylz]

BG dropping would not be caused by undiagnosed diabetes, diabetes causes high BG if undiagnosed, have you looked into reactive hypoglycemia? xx

 

[B23]

A few people have mentioned this actually yeah, there’s clearly 2 different things going on here I think like with the thirst then the lows They’re very random and not always after food, that’s why I’m trying the libre out but it always seems to read higher than the metre which is annoying.