Further diabetes symptoms? Or something else? :/

[Lauren95]

Hi everyone, first off I'd just like to say a huge thank you to those who commented on my previous posts, you guys have been a huge help!

Now down to my real problem. I've only been diagnosed type 1 just shy of a month, so I'm still settling into this all. One of the symptoms I initially had that led to my diagnosis was fatigue. It was my understanding that now that I'm on insulin that would go away. I'd say it possibly has a tiny bit but not much. In the past week or so I've also started developing muscle aches really randomly all over my body, and joint aches, in particularly persistently dull aches and stiffness in my knees. I'm only 20 so I feel like this really shouldn't be happening yet! I haven't changed any of my physical habits so I don't think it's related to that. My GP has noticed that in all the blood tests so far I've had, I've had consistently but only slightly elevated alkaline phosphatase levels, which he said could be nothing but could indicate other things developing too. He's ordered a few more blood tests including those for parathyroid function, for anti-mitochondrial antibodies, calcium, vitamin D levels and repeats of liver functions.

What would you guys say is the possibility that this is just odd diabetes symptoms? In particular the joint pain? One of the diseases that could show up from these tests is autoimmune hepatitis, which as far as I can tell I fit the symptoms for pretty well and am therefore quite worried about, as treatment for that is lifelong immunosuppressants. How likely is it for me to develop two autoimmune conditions at the same time? Does anyone else have any experience with any of these things?

Any advice/help/general reassurance would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you all 🙂

 

[Northerner]

Hi Lauren, sorry to hear about these problems You're noton statins by any chance, are you? These can cause joint pain in quite a lot of people (including me - the pains/cramps disappeared after I stopped taking them). I think it may be possible to develop more than one autoimmune condition at the same time - or rather, perhaps one has been masked or exacerbated by the appearance of the other? I think I have only come across one previous member with autoimmune hepatitis, although she developed it long after her diabetes diagnosis. It's quite rare, I believe. You can read her thread here:

https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/autoimmune-hepatitis-corticosteroids.11517/

Also, she used to write a blog, here:

http://diddyfeet.blogspot.co.uk/

Beyond that, I can't really help. I hope that the doctors can get to the bottom of things, and that it turns out to be something easily treatable, please let us know how you get on 🙂

 

[Caroline]

Aches and pains could be anything. It might be a cold or something developing, or it could be you had the symptoms all along and didn't notice them because your glucose levels were elevated.

I get aches and pains in my joints which is due to my weight and mild arthritis. I would suggest if you are worried go have a chat tot he doctor just to rule everything else out. Things feel worse if you don't know what the cause of the aches and pains is.

 

[Copepod]

Could be so many things. Personally, if my joints ache, I find the best thing to do is go swimming.

 

[Alba37]

Vit D deficiency can cause those symptoms too. People with diabetes are often deficient.... hopefully it could be that and it's easy to treat. I do think many people with diabetes continue with fatigue though and it is also still very early days for you and it could take a while for your body to recover. If no cause is found best you can do is control your levels as much as possible and try to limit swings up and down... so much easier said than done.