General query ❤️

[MollyOlly]

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all staying safe. I’m having some issues & would welcome some advice.
I have had symptoms of/been tested for Diabetes several times over the years, with the results always being negative. Recently I’ve been having some familiar problems, raging thirst, constantly needing to pee, feeling what seems to be hypo symptoms. I’m waking most mornings drenched in sweat & I’m exhausted all the time. A colleague (staff nurse) suggested it may be Type 1.5……. I’m 55, female and average build. Any help/information/advice would be appreciated
❤️

 

[helli]

Type 1.5 is often called LADA. It is basically, Type 1 diabetes diagnosed as an adult. Unlike childhood Type 1, as an adult, the cells that create insulin die off slowly.
(Some also call Type 1 with insulin resistance Type 1.5 but you would need a diagnosis of Type 1 to get this.)

If you are not on any blood sugar lowering medication, hypos are unlikely unless you have reactive hypoglycemia which is unrelated to Type 1 and, I understand, is a reaction to food not something you would wake up in the morning with.

I would recommend visiting a doctor and getting another blood test done. It may have nothing to do with diabetes. For example, it could be a UTI (which is what my GP thought I had when I was first diagnosed).

In the mean time, you could buy yourself a blood glucose meter and check what your levels are like when you are feeling "off".

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all staying safe. I’m having some issues & would welcome some advice.
I have had symptoms of/been tested for Diabetes several times over the years, with the results always being negative. Recently I’ve been having some familiar problems, raging thirst, constantly needing to pee, feeling what seems to be hypo symptoms. I’m waking most mornings drenched in sweat & I’m exhausted all the time. A colleague (staff nurse) suggested it may be Type 1.5……. I’m 55, female and average build. Any help/information/advice would be appreciated
❤️

These certainly sound like the symptoms people experience with high blood glucose levels regardless of what type they might be. It would be important that you get back to your G P and request an HbA1C test in the first place as a matter of urgency. It may be that they could go the extra tests at the same time for diagnosing Type 1 or 1.5.

 

[Docb]

Hi MollyOlly and welcome to the forum. I am afraid that there is only one thing that you can do and that is to go back to your GP and get checked out and re tested. If your problems are to do with glucose control then this can be spotted quite easily. If they are not due to poor glucose control then routine blood tests may well give some indication of what might be going on.

Two others have beaten me!

 

[MollyOlly]

Thank you all! In the process of trying to arrange an appointment with my GP

 

[EmmaL76]

In my experience (others may have a different one) type 1.5 does not exist to my consultant. 1 or 2 and that’s it. Even though I have aspects of both. It can be tricky getting appointments in a timely fashion, so in the meantime you could get your own meter and she what’s happening right now, pharmacy’s may also offer free testing I know some used to. My night sweats were terrible, and as I was 43 at the time I was told it could be peri menopause, after getting my sugars under control they improved drastically. Accept around my monthly’s when they return, but nowhere near as bad. So it could be hormones, but with the thirst and peeing diabetes shouldn’t be ruled out although there are other possibilities.

 

[rebrascora]

I would also suggest getting a home testing kit and testing your levels when you feel unwell and perhaps before and 2 hours after a meal to see how your body responds to food and in particular carbohydrates.

The 2 meters most often recommended by people here on the forum for reliability and economy of use are the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 and the Gluco Navii. Meter kits are about £15 and extra pots of 50 test strips are £8 (You only get 10 test strips in with the kit) Both are available online. Test kits at pharmacies often have much more expensive test strips (test strips are individual to the meter, not universal) so they can work out very costly in the long run.

As others have said, the only way you are likely to go hypo (low BG) is if you were using insulin or oral meds like Gliclazide which are used to encourage your body to produce more insulin..... or if you were suffering from Reactive Hypoglycaemia (RH) where the body produces too much insulin in response to carbohydrates in the diet so your levels shoot up after eating and then the pancreas over compensates and produces too much insulin and your levels drop very rapidly afterwards and go too low. With RH the highs and lows can cancel each other out and you might end up with a normal HbA1c blood test (the test the GP will use to diagnose diabetes) but home testing would pick it up because of the highs and lows. As @helli has said, if it is happening in the morning when you wake up, then that would be unlikely, as it occurs within a couple of hours of eating in response to carbohydrates.

You can be doing this whilst trying to get an appointment with the GP and will perhaps give the GP more information to work on when you do see them. Keeping a food and drink diary along with the readings will help.

 

[MollyOlly]

In my experience (others may have a different one) type 1.5 does not exist to my consultant. 1 or 2 and that’s it. Even though I have aspects of both. It can be tricky getting appointments in a timely fashion, so in the meantime you could get your own meter and she what’s happening right now, pharmacy’s may also offer free testing I know some used to. My night sweats were terrible, and as I was 43 at the time I was told it could be peri menopause, after getting my sugars under control they improved drastically. Accept around my monthly’s when they return, but nowhere near as bad. So it could be hormones, but with the thirst and peeing diabetes shouldn’t be ruled out although there are other possibilities.

That’s exactly my problem! GP wouldn’t accept anything other than a black & white T1 or T2 diagnosis
I’m most definitely post menopausal as I had a total hysterectomy at 27
The night sweats are awful, but the dizziness & trembling that read like hypo symptoms are bad too…..
Probably not the correct wording to use, but it’s good to hear from someone else with similar issues
❤️

 

[MollyOlly]

I would also suggest getting a home testing kit and testing your levels when you feel unwell and perhaps before and 2 hours after a meal to see how your body responds to food and in particular carbohydrates.

The 2 meters most often recommended by people here on the forum for reliability and economy of use are the Spirit Healthcare Tee2 and the Gluco Navii. Meter kits are about £15 and extra pots of 50 test strips are £8 (You only get 10 test strips in with the kit) Both are available online. Test kits at pharmacies often have much more expensive test strips (test strips are individual to the meter, not universal) so they can work out very costly in the long run.

As others have said, the only way you are likely to go hypo (low BG) is if you were using insulin or oral meds like Gliclazide which are used to encourage your body to produce more insulin..... or if you were suffering from Reactive Hypoglycaemia (RH) where the body produces too much insulin in response to carbohydrates in the diet so your levels shoot up after eating and then the pancreas over compensates and produces too much insulin and your levels drop very rapidly afterwards and go too low. With RH the highs and lows can cancel each other out and you might end up with a normal HbA1c blood test (the test the GP will use to diagnose diabetes) but home testing would pick it up because of the highs and lows. As @helli has said, if it is happening in the morning when you wake up, then that would be unlikely, as it occurs within a couple of hours of eating in response to carbohydrates.

You can be doing this whilst trying to get an appointment with the GP and will perhaps give the GP more information to work on when you do see them. Keeping a food and drink diary along with the readings will help.

Thank you for the information and the advice. I appreciate everyone taking the time to help reassure me xx

 

[Inka]

I have had symptoms of/been tested for Diabetes several times over the years, with the results always being negative. Recently I’ve been having some familiar problems, raging thirst, constantly needing to pee, feeling what seems to be hypo symptoms. I’m waking most mornings drenched in sweat & I’m exhausted all the time.

When did you last have a test for diabetes? My thought is that if you’ve had these symptoms for years and have always tested negative for diabetes, then it’s more likely to be something else (because otherwise your previous tests would have spotted something).

Type 1.5 diabetes (which my consultant just calls adult-onset Type 1 and doesn’t really differentiate) would be picked up on an HbA1C test as would other types of diabetes. The only way to check is to have another HbA1C test (unless you had one very recently).

You should speak to your GP anyway as there are many other conditions that can cause what you’re describing eg thyroid issues.

 

[Inka]

Just to add - I’d do that before buying any glucose meters. Far better to speak to a doctor and get some general checks for a number of conditions.

 

[MollyOlly]

Just to add - I’d do that before buying any glucose meters. Far better to speak to a doctor and get some general checks for a number of conditions.

Hi Inka,
Thank you. My last test for diabetes was about 3 years ago. My GP at the time was fairly dismissive and said ‘you’re peeing a lot because you’re drinking too much & vice versa’…..
I’ve had thyroid checks done too with negative results
Will definitely speak to my medical practice as soon as I can get an appointment x

 

[EmmaL76]

Well a hba1c will determine if you have either type or any subcategory in between so that’s a good starting point. There are hypos (low sugar) and hypers (high) the latter would be possible for you. With me, and different people have different experiences. Lows make me feels a bit drunk and not really with it plus shaking, and highs I generally feel ok but get very sleepy. If you did get your own meter, it would be a good idea to test your fasting BS on waking. So defo get some tests and hopefully you don’t have to join our gang but if you do then there will be so much help available on here. Keep us posted on how your getting on xx
Ps if you do get your hba1c done make sure you ask for your number. I had a well woman check at 40 and wasn’t told (as they don’t actually have to) that I was prediabetic maybe I could of made some changes at that point but at 43 I was diabetic !

 

[Leadinglights]

Three years is quite a long time ago and things can change in the meantime. People are being diagnosed following having had COVID so that might be a possibility as to why things have now changed. So do persevere to get that up to date HbA1C.

 

[Inka]

Hi Inka,
Thank you. My last test for diabetes was about 3 years ago. My GP at the time was fairly dismissive and said ‘you’re peeing a lot because you’re drinking too much & vice versa’…..
I’ve had thyroid checks done too with negative results
Will definitely speak to my medical practice as soon as I can get an appointment x

Then I’d ask for that to be repeated, and I’d also ask what additional tests would help diagnose your problem as suggested by your symptoms, and see if you can have those tests eg kidney tests, electrolyte balance, etc.

With the thyroid tests,I think you have to make sure they test additional things not just the basic test. I don’t remember the details, but Google might help you.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @MollyOlly . As others have said it's possible your symptoms aren't Diabetes, but they certainly fit Diabetes.
It is possible to get on a rollercoaster ride of Blood Sugars being too high and then too low (hypers then hypos) because of a thing called Reactive Hypoglycemia, which is where eating too many carbohydrates (for your particular body) causes blood sugars to rocket which in turn causes a huge delayed insulin production which in turn makes the blood sugars crash!
Usually all this happen within 4 hours of eating.

 

[MollyOlly]

Well a hba1c will determine if you have either type or any subcategory in between so that’s a good starting point. There are hypos (low sugar) and hypers (high) the latter would be possible for you. With me, and different people have different experiences. Lows make me feels a bit drunk and not really with it plus shaking, and highs I generally feel ok but get very sleepy. If you did get your own meter, it would be a good idea to test your fasting BS on waking. So defo get some tests and hopefully you don’t have to join our gang but if you do then there will be so much help available on here. Keep us posted on how your getting on xx
Ps if you do get your hba1c done make sure you ask for your number. I had a well woman check at 40 and wasn’t told (as they don’t actually have to) that I was prediabetic maybe I could of made some changes at that point but at 43 I was diabetic !

Thank you! I appreciate all the replies & information given. You’ve all been so lovely ❤️
bloods being taken later today x

 

[EmmaL76]

No problem! Please let us know how you are getting on 🙂

 

[Inka]

Thank you! I appreciate all the replies & information given. You’ve all been so lovely ❤️
bloods being taken later today x

Do let us know the results when you get them @MollyOlly Wishing you well.

 

[Diastard]

Hi Inka,
Thank you. My last test for diabetes was about 3 years ago. My GP at the time was fairly dismissive and said ‘you’re peeing a lot because you’re drinking too much & vice versa’…..
I’ve had thyroid checks done too with negative results
Will definitely speak to my medical practice as soon as I can get an appointment x

"You're peeing a lot because you're drinking too much and vice versa" is logical until you throw in the raging thirst that you mention. When we are properly hydrated we shouldn't feel the soif, so drinking and peeing would eventually find the balance. Our bodies use the thirst and water process to help flush out unwanted stuff through the kidneys, I guess this unwanted stuff isn't exclusively BG.