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How did you find out you had diabetes?

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Early in 2020 I was diagnosed as pre diabetic.

But no one told me.

As the year progressed my symptoms became progressively worse but I just put it all down to old age.

It was only when my daughter visited (a rare treat) and she mentioned that I might be seriously ill that things changed.

My symptoms were losing weight (but still overweight), constantly thirsty, going to the loo often, getting out of breath going upstairs, always tired, couldn't keep my balance, couldn't walk, couldn't speak properly (sounded drunk), very poor coordination, itching, craving sweet food, etc

I was advised to see a doctor, so next day I tried to get an appointment, but could not get through to the surgery. I rang 111 who sent for an ambulance. The ambulance arrived and said I looked perfectly fine!!! But they took me to to hospital anyway. There, after a very long wait, I was admitted with an HbA1c of 140. I was kept 8n for 7 days. Diagnosed as type 1 diabetic, given insulin to inject and sent home.

But the story does not stop there.

I changed my diet completely and analysed everything. On advice I stopped the medication and everything settled down.

I was then informed that I was indeed a type 2 diabetic

But the story doesn't stop there.

Some time later, after I had lost 28Kg, felt well, tons of energy, etc, I had another blood test. HbA1c came back as 39. Non diabetic.

The new diagnosis was a temporary inflamed pancreas and I was not diabetic at all. However they will still monitor me just in case their new diagnosis is incorrect.

What? Seriously? They might have misdiagnosed my condition? (Probably a bit unfair 5hat as they responded to what they saw at the time)
 
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Cherrelle DUK said:
For many people, a diagnosis of diabetes can come as a shock and that's sometimes due to the fact that they didn't have any obvious symptoms or they related them to other conditions.

What lead you to feel there was something going on that needed looking into?
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I had all the classic symptoms - rapid weight loss despite eating pretty much what I wanted, blurred vision, excess thirst no matter how much I drank.

Interestingly I didn't connect the dots, and this went on for a few months. The final straw was when I had a tattoo on my leg and it took an absolute age to heal (I have a few other tattoos and they healed within around 2 weeks but the leg tattoo took 7+ weeks). Only at this stage did I realise that something wasn't right so I went to doctors. They did a blood test and sent me straight to hospital as my A1c was 122. After a few more blood tests over a few weeks I was diagnosed as type 2. This was in 2017.

Since then it was controlled well with metformin, diet and exercise but last year I took a turn for the worse again - I collapsed in March 2020, and once again I started losing weight rapidly again. My blood sugar once again started to rise and would hit the 20s and would not drop, no matter what I ate. After backwards and forwards to doctors I was put on insulin as the metformin (and later, gliclazide) didn't work, and in November 2020 antibodies were detected and my diagnosis was changed to type 1. Since then I have been taken off the metformin and gliclazide completely, and I am now solely on insulin - Tresiba and Novorapid. So far it seems back under control. My last A1c a month ago was 48. Hoping it stays this way!
 
I was 13 when I was diagnosed as type 1 [26 years ago ~ yikes]. For about 4 weeks, I went to school, where I had to pee before/after every class, was constantly drinking anything and everything [even during classes lol] and was falling asleep most evenings for hours.

Ironically, it was actually my Gramps [and not my type 1 Dad] that realised something was wrong with me, when he noticed how much weight I'd lost, about 2 stone. I was taken to the doctor the next day and my sugars were so high the meter only read "HH" so GP thought I was running 35mmol +.

Apparently had I been left any longer I'd have gone into organ failure. I was terrified.

Now, it's just part of me. I don't remember a time before I was diagnosed. If I was ever cured I don't think I'd be able to give up testing my glucose levels lol. It's so ingrained in me.

The only thing that gets to me sometimes is watching other people just people being able to eat whatever, whenever they want. Makes me so jealous! Lol

Anyhoo, if you read all that then well done lol.
 
I just did not have a clue, no symptoms, and not even much awareness of Diabetes pre-diagnosis.

I'd been a yo-yo dieter for much of my life but was in relatively 'slim' phase at the time, in preparation for my daughters wedding.
On the wedding day I was all set for a great time, but through the day, became more and more ill, and by the time all the others were off to the evening party, I was in an ambulance heading for A&E!
Well, that wasn't due to Diabetes, it was a appendix about to rupture. However, during the resulting blood tests etc I was diagnosed as Type 2,- and thus began my journey with Diabetes.
 
I started waking up with my left arm in a lot of pain.

My G.P. ordered some blood tests to investigate that. They came back negative for rheumatoid factor, but high for bilirubin (Gilbert's syndrome) and a high HbA1c. So that was retested to confirm a diabetes diagnosis.

I was quite annoyed at the time because it felt like they were only interested in the diabetes and ignoring my symptoms and why I was there. Not helped by the referral to rheumatology at a nearby hospital going missing, so it took a long time to see someone there.

Because my levels were so high despite not being overweight, they were initially unsure what type I was. As I remember it, the nurse did a urine test and determined type 2 from that, immediately prescribing Metformin and Gliclazide. However last year I discovered they did order a C-peptide test amongst those to confirm the diabetes diagnosis, but I have no idea what the result was. I assume inconclusive though, given they did not determine the type until after the urine test.

But the Gliclazide worked great and I had normal levels for a few years, until last year when it stopped working and my levels shot right up. Still no symptoms hyperglycaemia symptoms though. Another C-peptide test later and I was so relived to find out my pancreas is just not up to it any more. Not because that is a good thing, but because it explained everything and it could not be properly treated. Although despite it all seeming to me to be consistent with L.A.D.A., my official diagnosis has not changed.

Incidentally, when I eventually saw a rheumatologist they ordered x-rays which also showed nothing so I was starting to panic. But they did an ultrasound on my fingers and toes, and I was so relieved when the doctors started talking about the damage they found. Not because that is a good thing, but because I was paranoid they would think there was nothing wrong and that it explained everything.

So I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, given a Methotrexate prescription, and sent for a routine chest x-ray just to confirm it was safe for me to take. And then I received a phone call from the rheumatologist to say no, it was not safe for me to take. Off to the chest clinic, an M.R.I., and I had a pulmonary sarcoidosis diagnosis too. All that from waking up with a my arm in pain.

I did not feel so relieved by that, because that one was all rather invisible. But I still do not know why the "chest clinic" does not have a fancy 'ology,' and that does bother me. When one of the immunosuppressants I was taking instead for the arthritis started damaging my kidneys I was referred to both nephrology and urology to investigate. And that is not right, that the urine people get an 'ology' but not the lung people.

That I was a low risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and it was diagnosed by chance alongside [eventually] two autoimmune conditions (and I already has a psoriasis diagnosis from a few years earlier) has always made me think that was the cause for my diabetes. And I responded so well to Gliclazide that my HbA1c fell to 5.0% / 31 mmol/mol, so clearly I could take it, I just could not dish it out. Although that only applies to proper amounts of insulin, otherwise I can neither dish it out or take it. But I guess I now need to wait until my pancreas stops completely to confirm my diagnosis.
 
I went to the docs years ago and demanded they test me for dementia and they put me down for a test but then later they called me up and said they'd cancelled the test as it was my bg that was high and affecting my memory. Ages after that they said I was pre-diabetic, but I didn't have any symptoms. I never drink, that's why I measure out my four pints of water into milk bottles or I'd just not drink. I later had that sweet drink at the hospital but still only pre-diabetic. I could have pulled it back in all those years I think, but didn't. Same with liver, under the docs for ages with a fatty liver then all of a sudden doomed! 🙄
 
Thank you, Christy. It is not all bad news, for the past year I got priority supermarket deliveries because of it all! But I am mostly fine, you just have to learn to live with it, as we all do with our diabetes and other conditions.
 
I spent a couple of months at the end of 2006 thinking 'so this is what it feels like to be post-menopausal' I was dehydrated and my legs ached just carrying bag of shopping slightly uphill to my house. I went on a low carb diet, coincidentally, to shed a few pounds before Christmas, and then realised I'd sailed through the holiday period without putting any back on, was eating a lot of extras like nuts and cheese, and was still losing a couple of pounds a week. I think I suspected diabetes then, but (don’t laugh) I was too embarrassed to go to the doctor in case I was making a fuss about nothing.
I saw a caravan in Sainsbury’s car park offering health checks, and dived in on the spur of the moment. I remember when she did a finger prick test, the machine came up with 'Check Ketones' and the poor woman didn’t know what to do because she’d never had one say that! I was given a sheet to take to my GP, that said my spot blood test was 16, and had no idea if that was good bad or indifferent. GP looked at the sheet, and said 'Oh, you’re Diabetic. Youll be Type 2 because of your age, but you might be a weird Type 2 because you’re thin ' (she was a lovely GP but no bedside manner ). ‘I’ll refer you to the hospital, but I’ll do some bloods in the meantime,' Bloods came back with an HbA1c of 16.1%, and with elevated LFTs which set her off on the fatty liver route (turns out I had a normal liver, after an ultrasound, and the hospital said my liver just got angry with the high blood sugars). Couldn’t give me Metformin because of the liver results, so started on Gliclazide.

Had an appointment at the hospital a couple of months later, blood sugars still high (HbA1c 12% by now) and they added metformin, which made no difference at all, several month gap again, next hospital appointment, hmm, let’s add basal insulin, and let’s test you for GAD antibodies. Several more months passed, next hospital appointment, HbA1c is 9% by now, because I've read up stuff and I’ve pared carbs to the bone, 'Oh yes, you're Type 1. Stop the Metformin and Glic, and have some bolus insulin. Come and see the DSN after Christmas and she'll sort you out.'
So, approximately a year after I first went to the doctor, I finally got a proper diagnosis.
 
when I was first diagnosed I was feeling really rough, was up all night peeing, and had the usual raging unquenchable thirst, I was struggling to do more than a few hours work and at the time I was working for myself.
initially thought it was all because I wasn’t sleeping properly, but one day I felt so rough I just drove to Dr‘s surgery and told them I felt like collapsing on the floor, a nurse saw me I think my Blood sugar levels was something horrendous like over 30 they couldn’t believe I was there and wasn’t in hospital..
 
I hadnt been to see a doctor for years but when I moved house and registered with a new doctor I had to go and have a new patient health check. Couple days later doctor phoned to say my blood pressure and sugar levels were high so had to go back for a HBa1c test which confirmed I had diabetes. Dont know how long I had it but with hindsight I was feeling tired, had tingling feet and eyesight a bit blurry. I had just put it down to getting older and stress of moving house!
 
I started with peeing a lot, excessive thirst. When my vision went blurry GP diagnosed me as type 2 and gave me metformin. After a while i started losing weight, about 5 stone. The GP added more meds to what i already took but i lost more weight and levels were going higher. Eventually referred to DSN who confirmed i was type 1 not 2 and started me on insulin.
 
Blazing hot summer day in June 2013 got dehydrated , sun stroke and a urine infection from being dehydrated .
Went to the out of hours doctors when he checked my urine he said that I needed to book an appointment with my GP as my sugar levels were very high .
Came as a complete shock as I was only slightly overweight , teetotal and followed what I thought was a healthy Mediterranean diet also ate plenty of fruit and fruit juices . My only vice was 40 fags a day which I have now been smoke free since January 2017
My own GP was useless put me straight on metformin , statins and told me to avoid eggs any high in fat and calories .
Never gave me any additional info ? I stopped the statins as they were not good for me and when I pointed out to my GP that my cholesterol was never high he insisted it was until he checked my records and found I was right he was wrong but said statins were not just for cholesterol control ?
It was my local pharmacist that had known me since I was a child that pointed me in the right direction and what questions to ask my GP .
It has only been in the last 2 years that I have got my diabetic nurse on side to take notice that I'm trying to take control of my diabetes and that she has seen I'm getting results with my low carb regime .
 
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As a recently potty trained child, I started wetting the bed again. It was driving my mother up the wall - I got told off a lot during that period Not sure whether I lost weight, but I was a skinny little thing anyway. Winter hit, I got flu, ended up in hospital with ketoacidosis and was diagnosed as type 1 then.
 
Ljc said:
I am amazed at how thing were in the past, no glucose meters so having to boil up pee , not being provided with needles .And before that , well it doesn’t bare thinking about .

I consider myself lucky to have developed diabetes in a time glucose meters were available .
Now we have , pumps, nice pens, minute needles, FGMs, CGMs.
I wonder what will be next.
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Yes. I often think it's amazing how far we've come when I consider that the first insulin injection of a diabetes patient was in 1922, the year my father was born. I will be celebrating both centenaries next year.
 
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Pee,eyes,sleep,thirsty as hell & I thought it was just age, amazing how far my head was under the sand.
 
I've told my story on here many times before and largely because without the help of the forum, my situation would have been a lot worse and I am so grateful for the help, advice and support I received here. Just incase I haven't bored you with it before, here goes.
I went to a 'you are now over 40' health check up at my gp surgery, expecting a clean bill of health. I did feel tired all the time and got up in the night every night for a pee, but I'm getting on a bit and have two young children and a job, right.
The surgery ring me before my follow.up appointment to talk through results. The receptionist says you probably have diabetes and need to make an appointment with the nurse. I presume this is some.sort of mistake and another blood test will confirm all is well. I have another blood test and go and meet my friend for lunch. I remember the lunch very well. It was a sandwich and side of chips. My friend says she had what looked like a dodgy result and it turned out fine, nothing to worry about.
The receptionist rings to book me a gp appointment. The gp tells.me I have diabetes. I have no questions as I don't know what to ask, have no idea what the different types are really, let alone what an hba1c is. I leave with some leaflets and a prescription for Metformin.
Over the next few weeks I do some research, join this forum and lurk. I start cutting my carbs. I get invited to a Desmond course - ok, must be type 2 then.
On the Desmond course I brought the average age down considerably. The lady next to me was in her late 80s, early 90s! We were given a slip of.paper with our hba1c on. I was glad to know it, as, having lurked on here I was beginning to think this was something I ought to know. We all shared our result and a bit about ourselves. Everyone else's were mostly in the 6s and 7s,mine was 11.8.
I had started on advice from here, testing my own bs and was encouraged when the numbers went from teens and twenties to lower teens. I had my 3 month check up and my hbaic had gone down. All good news.
I gradually gave up more and.more carbs in a bid to keep the numbers down and to stop feeling so rubbish, but over time this became a loosing battle.
I was diagnosed type 2 on September 1st, the same day I started a new job, but by March had lost around 2 stone and was feeling terrible. At under 8 stone for the first time in my adult life people started noticing and commenting how good i looked - all fibs, I looked and felt like the living dead.
Back to the nurse. She decided to put me.on gliclicide to try and help, but had to get this signed off by a gp first. I didn't see the gp, but they asked the nurse to get a wee sample before I left.
At work they rang and asked me to bring in another wee sample the next morning, which I did in my way to work. You may be wondering why I didnt ask what for, but by this point, it was all I could do to manage the kids and drag myself in. I felt like I was wading through murky water all day.
The.gp himself rang me at work to say.my ketones were high, he thought I was actually type 1, not 2 and could I leave work immediately and take.myself,via the surgery to pick up a letter explaining the situation to A&E. I told.him I couldn't as I had a meeting and also needed to pick up the kids after school. He told.me.i could.
I rang my husband and sorted childcare.
The.gp told me I would likely be admitted and to take an.overnight bag. I felt so relieved sitting in A&E that someone was finally going to help me. Lots of.lovely people on the forum had been telling me things didn't seem right and that I should.get help, but its so hard to do when doing anything feels like such an effort. Without them, though, I wouldn't have been testing.my bs, seeing the high numbers, despite reducing carbs as.mich as possible and I wouldn't have booked to see the nurse.
At A&E they seemed perplexed as.to why the gp sent.me, did a finger.prick which was 12 ish - i had eaten a breakfast of eggs and smoked salmon and snacked.on.olives. they sent me home. I sat outside the.hospital and cried. I often wish I had eaten something carby before going.to A&E.
I carried.on for.a couple more weeks, and the dr referred me to the diabetes centre at the hospital
I went for my appointment and they said I was most.likely type 1, they would.do some tests and start me on insulin the following week.
The.following Friday, some time in July by now, I met one.of the DSN team, Mandy who gave.me all the kit and showed me how.to inject into an orange.
I had novorapid and levemir. My husband decided that first night that.we should have an Indian takeaway to celebrate. Fun times carb guessing, although I didn't have any rice or naan.
I can still remember on the Sunday, walking down the garden to chat to my husband and suddenly noticing the world again. The flowers , the sun on my skin, it was amazing. My husband said he got his wife back that day.

Ooops, sorry for the essay!
 
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