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Hi! New here! Could do with some advice!

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Becky'Bea'K

New Member
Hi everyone,

I'm new here, and although I have never been diagnosed with diabetes I am in a high risk category for developing it and could do with some advice.
For over a year now I have been having some really weird symptoms. They got so bad that last summer I went to the doctor and they seemed quite sure that it probably was diabetes. They ordered a blood test (not sure what this test was) and told me they would have the results back within a week. When I rang a week later I was told the tests weren't back yet and to ring the following week. When I rang again they still weren't back and so I rang again the following week. 3 weeks later I was told that the test results still weren't back from the lab and so I just gave up after that and have heard nothing since (yes I know this was silly as I never chased it up).
Anyway I test my own BG using my own monitor but only usually test upon waking and before bed. My blood sugar seems to be all over the place, ranging from blood sugar readings of 3's on fasting to high 7's several hours after my last meal. I am recently out of hospital having suffered from a serious kidney infection which had started spreading to my blood and had issues with blood sugar in the 3's in hospital which were rapidly dropping and meant they had to try and bring it back up quickly. I also had 2 seizures in the space of 10 minutes whilst sitting in A&E on the date I was admitted (I was diagnosed with epilepsy 4 years ago).
Anyway that is just a bit of background info. The symptoms I get are very severe sometimes and are as follows:
Most mornings I have to go to the toilet to pee at least 4-5 times in the first hour of waking.
I also have to get up in the early hours of the morning and several times after going to bed before going to sleep to pee. Sometimes I have to go and pee between 10/20 times a day at its worse.
I am excessively thirsty. I have never been a big drinker but often drink several litres a day because I am so thirsty. Often I just have to stop drinking even though I am still thirsty because I am drinking too much and nothing will quench my thirst. I also often have a dry mouth feeling and a strange unpleasant sweet taste in my mouth.
I feel tired all the time, drained and exhausted even when I have got enough sleep. Sometimes I can hardly keep my eyes open throughout the day.
Physically shaking and general feeling of weakness. Sometimes this can get so bad that I am shaking so much I need to sit down, and I feel so weak it makes me breathless as though all the energy has been sucked out of me.
I often have episodes of nausea where I just can't eat or periods of insatiable, ravenous hunger.
Strange cravings for sweet foods, carb foods and dairy (especially for large amounts of milk which I normally hate)
I have had frequent infections and UTI's over the years which have also on occasion spread to my kidneys and can be persistent even with long courses of anti-biotics.
I also have anxiety and severe mood swings which effect me very badly.
I have had incredibly poor circulation for someone of my age since I was a teenager (I am now 29), especially in my hands and feet. My feet are constantly cold and the normal colour of my toes is a kind of bluey/purple most of the time.
I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was in my early 20s. At the time I was told that I was in a higher risk category for diabetes due to insulin resistance but my GP saw no reason to regularly test for it. There is also type 2 in my family. My great aunt had it, and so does my 2nd cousin (her son).
I'm sorry this is so long but I wanted to give as much information as possible to see what people on here think I aught to do now. It is almost impossible to get an appointment with my GP and they don't seem to take much notice even when I can. I feel like they have just given up on me because of my complex health problems. To be honest I don't think they can really be bothered anymore. Every year I am getting iller and at 29 I feel as though these should be the best and healthiest years of my life. Any advice would be so much appreciated as I just want to get to the bottom of this once and for all so that I can start feeling better and get on with my life!
 
Hi Becky, Welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about the problems you have been having :( What you describe do sound similar to some of the symptoms of diabetes, but your blood sugar readings aren't particularly high and you also seem to be having problems with lows. However, most of the symptoms - thirst, tiredness, peeing a lot - are more associated with high (generally double figure) levels, and if you had diabetes I would expect you to be running high before eating as well as (even higher) afterwards. Getting levels in the mid-3s is normal for a person without diabetes, and it depends on what was eaten, but it is possible to get higher levels than 7 without having diabetes. Also, if you are ill with something else, then blood sugars may be elevated without being diabetic.

Difficult as it may be, I think you have little choice but to go back to your doctor and tell them what you have told us, as only they can run the necessary tests to uncover the root of the problems. It might be worth calling the Diabetes UK Helpline service though, as they have trained staff who should be able to give you better advice than me! Details here:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/helpline
 
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