Can you have low blood sugar but high sugar in urine?

[zodiacstar]

I went to the doctor yesterday, he said I have type 2 diabetes, he said my urine had high amounts of sugar in it, I had gone last week to see him because I had lots of blood in my urine, and continue to have blood in my urine, this is still to be investigated, I was given a prescription for some tablets to take, I took one yesterday and within a hour felt very ill, headache, sweating, shaking, nausea, tummy upset, itchy skin and felt every time I tried to stand that I would collapse. It was very frightening as I live alone. All the doctor had said was that I might have diarrhea as a side effect, I didn't. I telephoned the doctors surgery today because I was frightened to take another tablet incase I get a repeat on yesterday, The doctor is on a break until after the New Year, but a person at the surgery said I should wait before taking another tablet until the doctor returns. and they said it seemed to them that the tablet had caused a low blood sugar, although they were not a doctor. I used a dip stick and while this was going on the sugar is high in my urine.

 

[Ljc]

Hi @zodiacstar welcome to the forum. That does sound frightening , how are you now ?
I trust investigations are in hand for the blood in your urine.
Were they Metformin ? they don’t normally cause low blood sugar (hypo’s) but I know a couple of people who used to post on here did hypo on them. I am wondering if yours could have been an allergic reaction, though some of your symptoms were hypo symptoms. Any way the best thing to do is not to take them, their are other meds available if needed, however their is lots you can do to yourself to lower your BG (blood glucose) levels.
If you need to , losing weight will help a lot

To be honest diabetes is a condition that we mostly manage ourselves with or without medication.
You see it’s carbohydrates that our bodies can no longer handle very well, sugar is just another carbohydrate. So by reducing the faster carbohydrates helps a lot.
Eg potatoes esp mashed, rice , pasta and bread , fruit juice is chock full of fructose a fruit sugar as are grapes , breakfast cereals, some people are fine with porridge others are not.

However we usually have no problems with protein or good fats, so if you eat meat , it’s fine as are high meat content sausages and burgers and bacon, eggs, cheese , some nuts are lower carb, butter milk cream , we often tolerate berries better, veg
Their is loads more that is fine for us.
You will find lots of helpful advise on the forum, so ask all the questions you need to about diabetes.

Have a read of these
This is rather a long one
maggie-daveys-letter-to-newly-diagnosed-type-2s

test-review-adjust by Alan S
If after reading this you decide you want to test to see how the various carbohydrates affect you, the cheapest glucose meter to self fund the ongoing cost of the test strips.we know of is the SD Codefree meter .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Codefree-Glucose-Monitor-Monitoring-Testing/dp/B0068JAJFS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1506485682&sr=1-1&keywords=sd+codefree+meter+mmol/l&linkCode=sl1&tag=xfm-21&linkId=f39210144fdc26c27738e45b6d957003&th=1
You’ll need to buy more test strips and one box of lancets

 

[novonord]

urine sugar level usually reflects blood level several hours ago when the urine was being produced, and no sugar will appear til your blood level reaches about 9.5 or 10, the renal threshold as they say, so to that extent it's possible to have a low current blood level but also have a high urine sugar level; testing urine sugar used to be the way to manage diabetes before the advent of glucose meters, flash glucose meters and continuous meters all of which give a more accurate reading of what's going on at the moment rather than historically.

 

[AndBreathe]

Zodiacstar - How did you test your blood sugar, or are you basing it on a comment made by the medics on the phone?

The reason I ask is the feeling you experienced could have been due to a number of things, including low sugars.

As has been suggested above, for there to be sugarr in your uring, it usually means your blood sugar is high. There is a class of drug that makes us wee out the sugar in our water, but those aren't usually the first choice of medication for someone newly diagnosed. The class og meds' name usually finishes with "...flozin". On those it is entirely plausible to have high sugar in urine, but not high blood sugars.

 

[zodiacstar]

I went to the doctor yesterday, he said I have type 2 diabetes, he said my urine had high amounts of sugar in it, I had gone last week to see him because I had lots of blood in my urine, and continue to have blood in my urine, this is still to be investigated, I was given a prescription for some tablets to take, I took one yesterday and within a hour felt very ill, headache, sweating, shaking, nausea, tummy upset, itchy skin and felt every time I tried to stand that I would collapse. It was very frightening as I live alone. All the doctor had said was that I might have diarrhea as a side effect, I didn't. I telephoned the doctors surgery today because I was frightened to take another tablet incase I get a repeat on yesterday, The doctor is on a break until after the New Year, but a person at the surgery said I should wait before taking another tablet until the doctor returns. and they said it seemed to them that the tablet had caused a low blood sugar, although they were not a doctor. I used a dip stick and while this was going on the sugar is high in my urine.

Hi @zodiacstar welcome to the forum. That does sound frightening , how are you now ?
I trust investigations are in hand for the blood in your urine.
Were they Metformin ? they don’t normally cause low blood sugar (hypo’s) but I know a couple of people who used to post on here did hypo on them. I am wondering if yours could have been an allergic reaction, though some of your symptoms were hypo symptoms. Any way the best thing to do is not to take them, their are other meds available if needed, however their is lots you can do to yourself to lower your BG (blood glucose) levels.
If you need to , losing weight will help a lot

To be honest diabetes is a condition that we mostly manage ourselves with or without medication.
You see it’s carbohydrates that our bodies can no longer handle very well, sugar is just another carbohydrate. So by reducing the faster carbohydrates helps a lot.
Eg potatoes esp mashed, rice , pasta and bread , fruit juice is chock full of fructose a fruit sugar as are grapes , breakfast cereals, some people are fine with porridge others are not.

However we usually have no problems with protein or good fats, so if you eat meat , it’s fine as are high meat content sausages and burgers and bacon, eggs, cheese , some nuts are lower carb, butter milk cream , we often tolerate berries better, veg
Their is loads more that is fine for us.
You will find lots of helpful advise on the forum, so ask all the questions you need to about diabetes.

Have a read of these
This is rather a long one
maggie-daveys-letter-to-newly-diagnosed-type-2s

test-review-adjust by Alan S
If after reading this you decide you want to test to see how the various carbohydrates affect you, the cheapest glucose meter to self fund the ongoing cost of the test strips.we know of is the SD Codefree meter .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Codefree-Glucose-Monitor-Monitoring-Testing/dp/B0068JAJFS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1506485682&sr=1-1&keywords=sd+codefree+meter+mmol/l&linkCode=sl1&tag=xfm-21&linkId=f39210144fdc26c27738e45b6d957003&th=1
You’ll need to buy more test strips and one box of lancets

 

[zodiacstar]

Yes the tablet I took was Metformin 500mg, I am what one would call morbidly obese, about 17st. The doctor wanted to know if I had lost any weight, I could not tell him since I had not weighed myself in 20 years, but I was 17st 20 years ago so I know I have not gained weight in 20 years. doctor did not give me any info on diabetes, he said he will send me to a clinic, I don't have a sweet tooth and I do not eat a lot a carbs, rarely do I have potatoes, rice or pasta although I started having a sandwich daily this summer for my lunch, I did not eat bread either until this summer I actually get told off by the woman that cares for me because I can easy miss meals, so she makes the sandwich and puts it in my fridge. I do have a glass fruit juice but only about twice a week. I do not eat breakfast cereals, but about once a week I will have porridge. I mostly have one egg and 2 rashes of bacon with a few mushrooms, my lady as started to add a slice of toast. the sandwich for lunch, mostly salad between the bread and in the evening fish and green veg.
But the doctor told me I shouldn't eat bacon or eggs because he said I need to lose the weight. until my lady came 2 years ago I did not eat a breakfast at all looks like I have to go back to that. my problem is salt I do not add salt, but I buy smoked bacon, and smoked fish, I also like fat, so although I might only have one sandwich the bread is well buttered

 

[zodiacstar]

urine sugar level usually reflects blood level several hours ago when the urine was being produced, and no sugar will appear til your blood level reaches about 9.5 or 10, the renal threshold as they say, so to that extent it's possible to have a low current blood level but also have a high urine sugar level; testing urine sugar used to be the way to manage diabetes before the advent of glucose meters, flash glucose meters and continuous meters all of which give a more accurate reading of what's going on at the moment rather than historically.

 

[zodiacstar]

I put a dip stick in my urine about 6 times yesterday from the morning until just before going to bed it is difficult to read because I have cataracts but I know it is the worse reading looks like 111 and below it 2000 and below that ++++ and again today.

 

[zodiacstar]

Zodiacstar - How did you test your blood sugar, or are you basing it on a comment made by the medics on the phone?

The reason I ask is the feeling you experienced could have been due to a number of things, including low sugars.

As has been suggested above, for there to be sugarr in your uring, it usually means your blood sugar is high. There is a class of drug that makes us wee out the sugar in our water, but those aren't usually the first choice of medication for someone newly diagnosed. The class og meds' name usually finishes with "...flozin". On those it is entirely plausible to have high sugar in urine, but not high blood sugars.

 

[zodiacstar]

I have not tested my blood sugar, I am going to look into meters, so yes I was basing it on the comment from the person at the surgery not sure if she had looked into my blood sugar from my blood results! I am not sure what all the symptoms of diabetes is but I had thought one symptom was thirst, I get dehydrated but not thirsty, I only know I need to drink when I get pain in my kidneys, same with hunger, I can easily go through a whole day without food and not be hungry, when I have obviously gone too long I start having stomach cramps.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

There are other causes of sugar in urine apart from diabetes.
No one on this forum can state your BG is high, to do so would be poor advice.
Only the doctor can tell you that after a blood test

We cannot diagnose you, or offer advice on medication.

Personally, I would take the doctors surgery's advice, and book an appointment as soon as possible to see him.
Try to eat and drink, and let your lady look after you until then.

 

[novonord]

Travellor
sugar in the urine was for many years used to define diabetes mellitus,
think you may be getting confused with protein in the urine that has many causes other than diabetes,
agree with you that zodiacstar is well advised to consult her doctor, needs to confirm that her diabetes is really type 2 and not 1.5 or early 1: if type 2 then the initial management is to lose weight rapidly, particularly as she describes herself as morbidly obese, and cut out fast carbohydrates and radically reduce all carbohydrate intake,
if that does not control the sugars, then drug or insulin therapy is introduced.

 

[Drummer]

The bacon and eggs is fine - the bread is not advisable, neither is fruit juice, possibly the porridge too.
I am fully type two diabetic, but by cutting out carbs I stay in normal numbers and am fine - it also helps with weightloss.
A lot of the advice we have had over the last several decades about weight and fitness is total rubbish and doesn't give results without extreme difficulty, but I have lost 3 stone without effort eating low carb foods.
I got a meter to test my blood glucose and learned how to keep it low.
I tried Metformin for a few weeks, but was so very ill I stopped taking it two years ago and have found that I never needed it in the first place.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Travellor
sugar in the urine was for many years used to define diabetes mellitus,
think you may be getting confused with protein in the urine that has many causes other than diabetes,
agree with you that zodiacstar is well advised to consult her doctor, needs to confirm that her diabetes is really type 2 and not 1.5 or early 1: if type 2 then the initial management is to lose weight rapidly, particularly as she describes herself as morbidly obese, and cut out fast carbohydrates and radically reduce all carbohydrate intake,
if that does not control the sugars, then drug or insulin therapy is introduced.

I'm not confused at all.

you're not a doctor, neither an I.

But I agree, zodiacstar needs to consult a real doctor.

 

[zodiacstar]

There are other causes of sugar in urine apart from diabetes.
No one on this forum can state your BG is high, to do so would be poor advice.
Only the doctor can tell you that after a blood test

We cannot diagnose you, or offer advice on medication.

Personally, I would take the doctors surgery's advice, and book an appointment as soon as possible to see him.
Try to eat and drink, and let your lady look after you until then.

The doctor told me I have diabetes, I had my son with me as I am almost house bound and needed him to help me, I had to leave doctors office to take yet another sample of urine, leaving my son and doctor alone, I did not recall the doctor telling me it was type 2 but my son who spoke more with the doctor, said the doctor diagnosed type 2, I have had problems with of urine for years, my urine is frothy, and has sediments, it has a large range in colour. and now it can be bright red due to a large amount of blood. One thing I do know is my urine does not have a bacterial infection apparently one cause of blood in the urine. The problem is I never go to visit the doctor, The only time I have seen a doctor is when my son takes me to have a annual flu jab. this aversion I have to doctors started more than 20 years ago, when they said I was slowly dying of heart failure and wanted to open me up, telling me I would not last pass 5 years if I did not let them operate. I said I would take my chances, also refusing to be medicated. as far as I know my heart is not worse off, then it was 20 years ago.

 

[zodiacstar]

The doctor told me I have diabetes, I had my son with me as I am almost house bound and needed him to help me, I had to leave doctors office to take yet another sample of urine, leaving my son and doctor alone, I did not recall the doctor telling me it was type 2 but my son who spoke more with the doctor, said the doctor diagnosed type 2, I have had problems with of urine for years, my urine is frothy, and has sediments, it has a large range in colour. and now it can be bright red due to a large amount of blood. One thing I do know is my urine does not have a bacterial infection apparently one cause of blood in the urine. The problem is I never go to visit the doctor, The only time I have seen a doctor is when my son takes me to have a annual flu jab. this aversion I have to doctors started more than 20 years ago, when they said I was slowly dying of heart failure and wanted to open me up, telling me I would not last pass 5 years if I did not let them operate. I said I would take my chances, also refusing to be medicated. as far as I know my heart is not worse off, then it was 20 years ago

 

[zodiacstar]

The bacon and eggs is fine - the bread is not advisable, neither is fruit juice, possibly the porridge too.
I am fully type two diabetic, but by cutting out carbs I stay in normal numbers and am fine - it also helps with weightloss.
A lot of the advice we have had over the last several decades about weight and fitness is total rubbish and doesn't give results without extreme difficulty, but I have lost 3 stone without effort eating low carb foods.
I got a meter to test my blood glucose and learned how to keep it low.
I tried Metformin for a few weeks, but was so very ill I stopped taking it two years ago and have found that I never needed it in the first place.

 

[zodiacstar]

The doctor wants me to stop taking bacon and eggs, I think this is probably due to my heart and high blood pressure, One of the reasons I have a aversion to doctors, When I was a young child to late teens I had probably what is called today anorexia. I had lung problems, due to whooping cough and double pneumonia, I had heart problems due to rheumatic fever. and I was grossly underweight, 3 stone at the age of 13, gaining to 6 stone when I married at 21. all through my teenage years the school on the recommendation of the school doctor, they made me eat sugar cubes, the teacher every so often telling me to take from the box of sugar cubes placed on my desk. I do not have a sweet tooth, and would try the palm the sugar cube to another pupil this being seen the teacher then stood over me, and at the end of the day I had eaten a whole box of sugar cubes. this happen daily for 2 years as I left school at 15.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

The doctor wants me to stop taking bacon and eggs, I think this is probably due to my heart and high blood pressure, One of the reasons I have a aversion to doctors, When I was a young child to late teens I had probably what is called today anorexia. I had lung problems, due to whooping cough and double pneumonia, I had heart problems due to rheumatic fever. and I was grossly underweight, 3 stone at the age of 13, gaining to 6 stone when I married at 21. all through my teenage years the school on the recommendation of the school doctor, they made me eat sugar cubes, the teacher every so often telling me to take from the box of sugar cubes placed on my desk. I do not have a sweet tooth, and would try the palm the sugar cube to another pupil this being seen the teacher then stood over me, and at the end of the day I had eaten a whole box of sugar cubes. this happen daily for 2 years as I left school at 15.

What changed to make you overweight?
As you said you still don't eat much, and often go a day without eating?

 

[zodiacstar]

What changed to make you overweight?
As you said you still don't eat much, and often go a day without eating?