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Dka

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
H

hellbell84

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
noticed a few of you have been hospitalised due to this, but im wondering how did you guys end up in hospital? i went to see DS and when i wasnt taking my insulin my sugars went up to 32 and she said i was close to being hopstialised but i felt fine in myself, if anything very tired and my hearing went funny and had a lot of acid in my throat

did you admit yourself in or did you collapse? im intrgued to find out how bad you guys were that you had to go to hospital


any answers would be great

thanks guys


xxx
 
As you've probably read, I was very sick with a virus which pushed my ketones and sugars high. I was probably close to collapse when I decided to call 999, and I wouldn't be here now if I hadn't done it then. I live alone and my neighbours didn't notice I wasn't around until I got out of hospital and told them, as they knew I was due to go away that week to Stockholm.

I suppose, like we always say, everyone's different. I couldn't even keep water down because of the virus, so I wasn't flushing any of the ketones out of my system. I would imagine some people can let their sugars get much higher before DKA, and some (as was related elsewhere) can get it as low as 10!😱
 
Alex had been sick and losing weight for 13 days and gp told us it was a virus. On day 13 he couldnt walk without help and looked like a skeleton. I took him to the walk in centre. They tested his blood - it was 38. They tested his urine - he had large ketones. They admitted him as he had DKA. He was on a drip etc and i was told any longer and he wouldnt be here today. Bev
 
My stomach just lurches at these stories. We were so lucky. And I guess, ultimately, so was everyone on this board...What a huge trauma for you all.

We had nothing like that hellbell84. Caught very early, though bg was 30.
 
hellbell84 said:
noticed a few of you have been hospitalised due to this, but im wondering how did you guys end up in hospital? i went to see DS and when i wasnt taking my insulin my sugars went up to 32 and she said i was close to being hopstialised but i felt fine in myself, if anything very tired and my hearing went funny and had a lot of acid in my throat

did you admit yourself in or did you collapse? im intrgued to find out how bad you guys were that you had to go to hospital


any answers would be great

thanks guys


xxx
Click to expand...

I called my out of hours doc as bs was 38, i had +4 ketones on the stick thingy and was so tired i thought i would pass out, they made me go sit and wait so as i fell off the chair my other half phoned casualty who said i should have gone straight there, i went in the entrance got rushed into a bay and put on a drip and the glucose in my wee was sky high and thats when they tested and found I was type 1 not 2, i nearly went into a coma so was lucky they acted so quickly when i got to the hospital
 
hellbell84 said:
noticed a few of you have been hospitalised due to this, but im wondering how did you guys end up in hospital? i went to see DS and when i wasnt taking my insulin my sugars went up to 32 and she said i was close to being hopstialised but i felt fine in myself, if anything very tired and my hearing went funny and had a lot of acid in my throat

did you admit yourself in or did you collapse? im intrgued to find out how bad you guys were that you had to go to hospital


any answers would be great

thanks guys


xxx
Click to expand...


Hi babe, i'd been losing weight for a while etc. I had toothache for a few days and took myself to bed.. started vomiting and then woke up in Hospital 4 days later rigged up to two drips.. heart monitors etc... it was touch and go for a while. 😱
 
I really want to know what my level was at diagnosis. do you think they'll have it written down somewhere? :D
 
katie said:
I really want to know what my level was at diagnosis. do you think they'll have it written down somewhere? :D
Click to expand...

Yes babe, the hospital will have it on your forms from when you went in, also all the blood gas results etc {ouch they bloody hurt!!}
ask your doctor 🙂
 
insulinaddict09 said:
Yes babe, the hospital will have it on your forms from when you went in, also all the blood gas results etc {ouch they bloody hurt!!}
ask your doctor 🙂
Click to expand...

I'll agree with that - the arterial blood was taken from my wrist and it felt like the doctor was driving a nail through my wrist - got terrible bruising from it all the way up my arm. I found out later that it's because the arteries are so deep, to protect them - veins are much easier and therefore less painful.
 
Northerner said:
I'll agree with that - the arterial blood was taken from my wrist and it felt like the doctor was driving a nail through my wrist - got terrible bruising from it all the way up my arm. I found out later that it's because the arteries are so deep, to protect them - veins are much easier and therefore less painful.
Click to expand...

Yes it it soo painful.... i had it done 4 times twice each side..😡

i was black all the way up both arms for about 3 weeks after i came home!!
 
Thanks Addict, i'll ask next time I go to the Docs :D


Northerner said:
I'll agree with that - the arterial blood was taken from my wrist and it felt like the doctor was driving a nail through my wrist - got terrible bruising from it all the way up my arm. I found out later that it's because the arteries are so deep, to protect them - veins are much easier and therefore less painful.
Click to expand...

Don't even get me started on the IVs!! I have tint vains and they had trouble getting the needle(s) in. They tried loads of times and one doctor stuck a needle is an artery by accident. It hurt so much :( so ever since then ive been really scared of blood tests (how ironic) and I get really queezy when I go for my HbA1c - ive nearly passed out a couple of times and ive had to lie down lol
 
oh btw they were just aiming for my veins not arteries - why did they need you arterial blood northerner?? ouch
 
The docs couldnt get the canula into Alex anywhere as he was so thin and his veins were nearly invisible - so it took 4 goes - he was screaming and i wanted to punch the doc!
Eventually they rang for an anaesthetist as they are apparently expert at getting canulas into people with tiny veins. He arrived and asked why Alex was in hospital - when i said he was diagnosed as diabetic he said - "well better to find out like this than finding him dead in a gutter somewhere"!
And that was supposed to make us feel better? Alex also heard what he had said and his face went even whiter. The only good thing about the visit from the anaesthetist was that he got the canula in in a second without it hurting!

So within the space of half an hour i was told my son had a life threatening condition and also that i should feel lucky that i hadnt found him dead in a gutter! I am not a violent person , but i can assure you that i felt like PUNCHING someone - especially as Alex looked so ill - like a skeleton lying on the bed sobbing his little heart out! What an introduction to diabetes!!!!!!!😡Bev
 
katie said:
oh btw they were just aiming for my veins not arteries - why did they need you arterial blood northerner?? ouch
Click to expand...

I think it's standard practice when you're admitted to emergency and they don't know what's wrong with you. Interestingly, when I had my angiogram (they stick a tube with a camera on up your femoral artery) that didn't hurt at all - perhaps I had a local anaesthetic, can't remember. I do remember the nurse who had to apply pressure to the inside of my thigh for 20 minutes afterwards though! We casually discussed marathons, as she was a runner too!😱:D
 
bev said:
...So within the space of half an hour i was told my son had a life threatening condition and also that i should feel lucky that i hadnt found him dead in a gutter! I am not a violent person , but i can assure you that i felt like PUNCHING someone - especially as Alex looked so ill - like a skeleton lying on the bed sobbing his little heart out! What an introduction to diabetes!!!!!!!😡Bev
Click to expand...

But look at how well he has come on and coped with it, bev - all credit to you and him!:D
 
Oh bev. How awful. People do say terrible things when they think it's somehow comforting...'At least it's manageable' is one of my pet hates. Like, that's not the point...

A nurse said to us, when showing us the glucogen injection, that her best friend's husband was type 1, and she'd only had to use the injection on him twice in 40 years, wasn't that good? I was horrified. Other people, upon hearing, said things like oh yes, so and so has it, and I remember the regular ambulance trips...One person even said oh my mother has type 1, and it's amazing she isn't dead yet.

Sorry, going off topic.
 
bev said:
The docs couldnt get the canula into Alex anywhere as he was so thin and his veins were nearly invisible - so it took 4 goes - he was screaming and i wanted to punch the doc!
Eventually they rang for an anaesthetist as they are apparently expert at getting canulas into people with tiny veins. He arrived and asked why Alex was in hospital - when i said he was diagnosed as diabetic he said - "well better to find out like this than finding him dead in a gutter somewhere"!
And that was supposed to make us feel better? Alex also heard what he had said and his face went even whiter. The only good thing about the visit from the anaesthetist was that he got the canula in in a second without it hurting!

So within the space of half an hour i was told my son had a life threatening condition and also that i should feel lucky that i hadnt found him dead in a gutter! I am not a violent person , but i can assure you that i felt like PUNCHING someone - especially as Alex looked so ill - like a skeleton lying on the bed sobbing his little heart out! What an introduction to diabetes!!!!!!!😡Bev
Click to expand...

Wow....that is a tremendous lack of tact on their part. 😱

When I was in hospital, every member of staff seemed to assume that I already knew I had diabetes...which was weird:confused:
 
Northerner - your absolutely right, Alex has dealt with it all amazingly well for a 10 year old (he was then). But i am extremely aware that by finding this forum - we were very lucky as in the early weeks as i asked so many questions and got some brilliant advice! I really dont know what i would have done without this site! But more than that - everyone on here has helped to make both Alex and myself feel much better about his diagnosis - mostly because you dont make us panic and give very sensible and calm advice!


Patricia, i really dont think people mean to say such stupid things - i just dont think they think it through properly! I do try to put myself in their shoes and i dont want to become so 'bitter' that it 'taints' an already difficult diagnosis. Bev
 
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