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First time poster - I have some symptoms. Type 1?

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jls95

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Relationship to Diabetes
Other Type
Hi all,

First time poster here. I’ve had a bad time since the festive period with various symptoms that with a quick Google, brought up Type 1 Diabetes.

I’m a 23 year old female, never had any health issues before. Used to lead a very active lifestyle until I started working full time around 4 years ago. I have an uncle on my father’s side that is Type 1, diagnosed in his early 30s and a few more distant relatives that are Type 1 on my mother’s side.

My symptoms include:
  • Weight loss (2.5st - 13st to 10.5st) over a short period. No obvious reason why.
  • Blurred vision.
  • Light headedness/dizziness. General ‘drunk’ feeling when it’s bad.
  • Excessive thirst
  • Increased urination. Smells strange too.
  • Cuts taking forever to heal - I’ve a graze on my knee from November that still hasn’t healed properly yet.
I’m the type to suffer in silence as I don’t want to bother anyone or waste anyone’s time. I confided in a few friends, one that is Type 1 and the general consensus was to go to my GP.

I plucked up the courage to go to my GP as I hate feeling like a nuisance. Turns out my usual GP (who was very good) had retired from the last time I went and I saw a new one that works two days a week. The surgery seemed very busy and the waiting area was full. I was in with the GP for no more than two minutes. With just me mentioning my symptoms and not even mentioning the possibility of diabetes, she said my symptoms did seem consistent with diabetes and asked me to book an appointment to get bloods taken.

Got bloods taken around 4 days later. 7x different vials full for various tests. I was told to phone the surgery 3 days later for results. I phoned, spoke to a receptionist and was told my blood sugar was “outwith the normal range” and to call back in the afternoon. Before the afternoon, I received a call from a different member of staff asking me to make another appointment asap to see the GP.

Fast forward to the next day. First thing the GP tells me is that there was a problem with the glucose test and I’d need to get another one taken - I told her what the receptionist told me previously, she said she wasn’t sure what she was referring to.

However, she did say I was anaemic, very anaemic at that (haemoglobin level of 6). I was prescribed a strong dose of Ferrous Sulphate 4x daily.

Back for another glucose test. I call for results and was told by a receptionist there was no need to make another appointment just now. That was the end of that.

That was a month ago. So far, I’ve not felt any better at all, worse even. Feels like all the iron tablets have done is made me extremely constipated. All my previous symptoms are still present. I feel worse every day and the excessive thirst and urination is horrendous, I cannot sleep through the night anymore without having to get a drink or urinate during the night several times. I work in a customer facing role and I’ve had to excuse myself several times recently to go to the toilet or grab a glass of water.

I’m at the point now where I’m quite stressed about the whole situation and I haven’t told my mother (who I live with) as I don’t want to worry her. I do want to go to my GP again, however I don’t want to waste anyone’s time sounding like a hypochondriac and also due to the nature of my job, I don’t like taking time off if I can avoid it. I had the 3x appointments previously and by the third appointment, my line manager expressed concern (sympathetically, I may add) and asked if I was okay. I didn’t want to go into details or get sympathy so lied and said I thought I had a food intolerance.

Thank you to anyone who has gotten this far with my late night rambling. Are blood tests always conclusive? I don’t know what to think right now, whether I should go back to the GP and push for more tests or just put it down to the anaemia. It does concern me though that my symptoms seemed bad before, but they’re much worse now.

J.
 
You can't go on being unable to sleep - the symptoms you describe need attention.
If you cannot get an appointment with your GP or do not get any relief, perhaps buying a cheap blood glucose tester and checking your levels would be a good idea - the meters and supplies are available mail order.
 
A general point... when someone tells me that a blood or any other test, result is "normal" or "abnormal" I ask what the the value was if only to say that I want to be involved in what is going on.

Second... go back to your GP and be persistant. Be nice, be helpful but be persistant. Work out the questions you want answered beforehand and if you don't understand the answer, just ask questions until you do. What you have said gives you a good starter... You have had some blood glucose results. What was actually measured and what were the results? What could be the explanation for the difference? You need to get to the bottom of what is going on the and the GP has to be got out of gatekeeper mode into healing mode.
 
I think you should definitely go back to your GP and ask for more tests. Being anaemic can affect the result of the standard HbA1c test, which checks your blood glucose levels over the previous three months, and your GP should be aware of this. Tell your GP all your symptoms are getting worse.
Some high street pharmacies will give you an on the spot 'snapshot' finger prick test, it might be worth asking one, and taking their advice, if you can’t get an appointment with your GP promptly. If the pharmacist feels it’s urgent, you’ll have that back up to insist on a same day appointment with your GP.
 
I agree with Robin, virtually every pharmacy chain offer free finger prick tests for BG. A test like that isn’t affected by anaemia, and for sure anaemia wouldn’t give the symptoms you’ve got, which are entirely typical of diabetes.

And with a haemaglobin of 6, you need a transfusion, not tablets. 8 is the level usually used to indicate transfusion is needed. How do you manage to get out of bed in the morning? Have you had any excess bleeding? Diabetic or not, that is a dangerously low level. You really should be in hospital for that. Seriously.
 
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@jls95 - I'd definitely go back to the GP or try to see a different GP, find out exactly what your results were, and ask for further tests to be done (eg a GAD antibody test and/or a C-Peptide test, which are the tests for type 1 as opposed to the HbA1c, which is the general test for diabetes), as it sounds as though your symptoms are getting worse, and you need to get to the bottom of them quickly, as if you do have untreated type 1 (and it sounds very much as though you do) it's going to keep getting worse until you end up being rushed to hospital, very seriously ill. If you can't get help from a GP you may end up having to go to A&E anyway.

I don't know anything about anaemia, but just to point out that MikeyB is a former GP, so he knows what he's talking about - please take his advice seriously.
 
Not just me Juliet, that’s the NICE protocol. That’s what worries me about the GP.
 
What worries me is that no-one seems to be asking why the OP is anaemic - shouldn't they be? I seem to remember when my Mum went to the GP and said she thought she was anaemic he said "yes, but why?" and sent her off for a lot of tests rather than just prescribing her iron pills, and that the fact that he did so probably saved her life, because the anaemia was a symptom of something serious.
 
Indeed. Nobody gets that anaemic through not eating iron containing foods, so feeding Iron in tablets seems ludicrous. You don’t give Iron tablets to patients who have lost blood in operations, or have had blood loss in an accident.

You also don’t test just for haemaglobin, you ask for microscopy - large red blood cells indicates pernicious anaemia, young nucleated red cells indicates a bleed.
 
Hi all, thank you so much for your advice before. I'm back here still confused and a bit miserable to be honest lol. I took the iron tablets briefly then stopped. My symptoms didn't really go away but I just suffered in silence, or so I thought, as I couldn't get more time off work and didn't want to feel like a hypochondriac by going to my GP, persisting and saying something is wrong, diabetes or whatever else. Silly I know but I'm very shy and don't like bothering people.

Fast forward to now, I've had mild/moderate acne for 8 years now and nothing seemed to clear it so I had a referral for the dermatologist back in November. My first consultation was March and he decided Roaccutane/Isotretinoin would be a good option. After various appointments, I have now been on Isotretinoin for 2 weeks. I've got the classic dry skin but that's about it.

However, the symptoms that I stated in my original post and now so much worse than before - I am now 1.5st lighter than the original post without trying, losing 5lbs this week alone. I feel very hungry a lot of the time. I have a constant dry mouth (although I know this can be an Isotretinoin side effect) and always feel dehydrated, not to mention the frequent urination. I've had a quick Google around and scared myself as there are various posts online linking the drug to developing Type 1 or 2 diabetes. The information leaflet that I have also says:

"On rare occasions, patients have developed diabetes, symptoms include excessive thirst and a frequent need to urinate or your blood tests may show an increase in blood sugar levels"

Whilst at a friend's house on Friday, who is Type 1 for over 20 years, without me mentioning anything as I wouldn't want to bother him, he expressed concern that I had a few symptoms for diabetes. I quickly changed the subject.

It was only after he mentioned this that I'm starting to become very concerned again/anxious. I feel like every day is getting worse. I went to work today feeling pretty bad, my colleagues made a few comments such as: were you out last night - are you drunk/hungover? You look horrendous etc. In fairness I didn't look great and felt quite dizzy, had a headache and blurred vision so wore my glasses all day, which I don't normally do.

I'm rambling as usual but I'd love some advice or a second opinion. Obviously it's been 4 months since my last post expressing my symptoms, has this went on too long now to be diabetes? Anyone clued up know if these are just side effects of Roaccutane/Isotrentinoin? Am I just being a hypochondriac?

If I'm not being crazy here, I can make an appointment to see my GP on Tuesday if that's advisable. I don't want sit in a room for 5 minutes again and leave feeling like I've wasted someone's time. Worst case scenario, I have my first check up appointment on 25th June and I will be getting blood taken then.

Thank you again.
 
Hi @jls95, you really can't go on like this. It's your long term health that is at risk and like the others have said, either you insist on your GP (or another at the surgery) discussing your results and treating you seriously, or you go to A&E. You are not, repeat not, bothering people, wasting their time or being a hypochondriac, you need proper help. Please don't wait any longer xxx
 
Take a urine sample and ask for a finger prick and for your ketones to be checked (they can probably do the ketones off a finger prick too but it’s easy for them to dip and check the colours). You don’t need any more complex blood tests to give you a reading of where your BG is NOW. A&E is entirely appropriate too. Or a walk in or a pharmacy as previously mentioned. Getting your current BG will give you a good indication of whether you need follow up - and if type 1 diabetes is suspected that should mean straight to hospital. There may well be other health issues going on (and I agree that anaemia that bad needs follow up as to the cause too). Weigh loss and anaemia could mean gut issues and those should be checked. Weight loss and high BG level would indicate diabetes and that needs treatment. Today.
 
You have ALL the symptoms of type 1 diabetes. This is potentially a very serious (but treatable) condition.

Going back to a GP, like banging one's head against a brick wall, might result in tears.

A hospital does hundreds of blood glucose tests each day, the test takes less than a minute, and you have the result.

Even if you do not have diabetes there is something seriously wrong and this MUST be treated. You are certainly not wasting anyone's time or being unreasonable.

Go to A&E.
 
This has not gone on too long to be diabetes.
You are not being a hypochondriac.
You need medical help as a matter of urgency.

As others have said, seeing your GP will not be enough - you need to see a diabetes specialist.
If you see your GP you may well end up in hospital anyway - either sooner, if the GP knows what they're doing, or later, in which case it may be too late (ie you may be at risk of serious complications if it is left too long).
Please do not put your long-term health and your life any more at risk, please go to A&E now.
 
I left it 6 months from getting symptoms like you to going to the GP because I didn't want to bother anyone. Like you I thought I had the signs of diabetes but I just went and talked about weight loss and itching and didn't mention the excessive thirst, peeing, fungal infections, horrible taste, tiredness, leg cramps, hair loss... I felt really stupid when I found out it was diabetes, and wished I'd gone earlier! So some people can have a steady decline over a while, it's definitely not gone on too long. Fortunately my GP ran a series of blood tests and got back to me straight away about the glucose level being too high.

I'd go to the pharmacy for a quick test which will give you a yes/no then if it's very high go to A+E, if not go back to the GP as soon as you can get an appointment and don't be fobbed off. You need referring to a hospital diabetes clinic and starting on insulin asap if that is the case.

Believe me, I felt so much better when I was on insulin, I really wished I'd gone sooner! You're not bothering anyone or being a hypochondriac, you don't want to delay when it comes to your health!
 
Back for another glucose test. I call for results and was told by a receptionist there was no need to make another appointment just now. That was the end of that.

Well, that's odd, if you do indeed have Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Regardless, unquenchable thirst (followed by urination) especially overnight is obviously something that calls for an explanation. (You'll be losing sodium from that, apart from anything, which might explain the feeling of fuzziness.)

If the blood glucose tests don't show anything, you might suggest diabetes insipidus (major symptom is apparently extreme thirst, including overnight). As I understand it (which isn't much, admittedly) it's rare enough that suggesting it (along with mentioning your thirst and urination) might help prompt consideration of it. (And if it is that then catching it sooner is (as usual) better since it's apparently readily treatable.)

(Obviously I'm in no way a medical practitioner, and diabetes mellitus is much more likely and easy to test for. I just happened to listen to https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/...-diabetes?in=bmjpodcasts/sets/the-bmj-podcast a while ago.)
 
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