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Partner diagnosed and still no appointment with specialist

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Tea Jenny

New Member
Hi all
I'm concerned because my partner was diagnosed with what the GP thinks is Type 1 diabetes a week ago and while he's waiting for the referral to the diabetes clinic he's feeling pretty much in the dark. He was told his blood sugar was 300-400 (it was all a bit overwhelming and my OH can't remember the exact numbers). He's been shedding loads of weight and he's not looking well at all and I'm worried about whether we're doing the right things in terms of food etc right now - he's cut way back on carbs but still having some with his main meal, and has cut out sugar. All the GP said was to cut out obvious sources of sugar - but what if his b/s is still rising all this time?

You hear these horror stories online - should he not be getting treatment straight away? I'm terrified I'll come home and find him in a coma before he even gets seen.

Q1: How long did you have to wait to get an appointment with a specialist?
Q2: Should he be avoiding carbs altogether at this stage to be on the safe side?
Q3: Should he be trying to do plenty exercise or not? I've read both that exercise helps but also that it could increase the chance of ketoacidosis if blood sugar's out of control.

Thanks

Jenny
 
Hello Jenny, Welcome to the forum.

If your partner is indeed diabetic he needs to be testing his blood sugars. He should also cut out not only the obvious sugary foods but also may find it helpful to cut down on high carb things like potatoes, pasta, bread and rice, at least in the short term as all these things can convert to sugar in the system very quickly. Doing this may lower things enough that he won't need to go into hospital.

As for the specialist appointment, I can't really say Like many of us here, I was diagnosed after being carted off to hospital with DKA. I would suggest calling your surgery for two reasons: One, to get an update from your doctor about how long it might be before you get the clinic appointment. And two, to ask if you can have a blood glucose meter as a matter of urgency. They usually have some lying around they've been given by reps.

Failing that, either go out and buy one or look online, many of the companies, such as Abbott's who made mine or Bayer will send you one free.

Finding out what his blood sugar levels actually are will make it clear just how high he really is, once you know that you'll be able to decide what the next step should be. Above all, don't panic, he's still on his feet and that's a good sign.

Oh yes, if you have a number for the clinic, you might try calling them directly to see how long it may be before you have the appointment.
 
Has he been definitely confirmed as type 1? I know you said doc thinks its type 1.

If so has he got insulin?

If not, I'd take him to a&e to get his raising bloods under control
 
Hi Jenny, welcome to the forum 🙂 Can I ask where you are based? I ask because I'm trying to understand the numbers your husband was given. In the UK a fingerprick blood test will normally return a result in the range of 3.5-6.0 for a non-diabetic person, but can go up to 40.0 and above for someone with diabetes. In some parts of the owrld they use different units - in the USA for example, then a diabetic person might easily see a result in the 300-400 range. How old is he, and how did he come to be diagnosed? Is he overweight at all, despite losing a lot of weight, and how quickly has the weight loss occurred?

Sorry for all the questions! The GP didn't give very good advice about just cutting out obvious sugars, as you have obviously learned, and carbohydrate will raise blood sugar levels. Does he have a monitor so that he can check his own levels? Is he feeling ill/sick? Personally, I think I would be getting back to the GP if things are getting worse despite the changes he has made. Were you given any idea when the referral appointment might come through?

In answer to your questions, I would limit the carbs as much as possible for now. I'm not sure how long an appointment should take as I went straight to A&E when I was diagnosed, but it ought to be seen as an emergency if your GP suspects Type 1.

I would also be careful about doing too much exercise, as this can cause levels to rise higher if there is insufficient insulin circulating - perhaps just a daily walk rather than anything more vigorous.

Please let us know how things go!
 
Thanks for the advice guys. As it happened, just after I posted my OH called to say that the hospital had called and he had an appointment for this afternoon. They've got him sorted out with a blood glucose monitor and put him on pills for now to see what happens.

Northerner - we're in Scotland. The numbers they were giving him today were more along the lines of what you were saying - mmol/l is it? So it's dropped a lot since the GP visits last week - 10.3 this afternoon compared to 21 and 23 measured at the surgery. Ketones were low. They're not clear on which type it actually is, so have taken more blood samples to test for antibodies. He's 29 and normal weight, no family history so that's why the GP thought it was type 1 I guess. We'll just have to wait and see.

Just glad now he knows a bit more about what's going on and can keep tabs on his blood sugar himself!
 
Ah, that's good to hear Jenny, glad that things are getting sorted. Sometimes it can be difficult to ascertain what type of diabetes it is. Despite the message generally given out by the media, people of normal weight can get Type 2 - 20% are not overweight at diagnosis. There is also a form called Type 1.5, also known as LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adulthood), which is a slow-onset of Type 1 where the pancreas gradually loses the ability to produce insulin so symptoms can become worse as time progresses, but this can be months or even years in some cases before insulin is needed. Hopefully, the extra blood tests will help determine what type he is so that he can get the best treatment regime 🙂

The most useful tests are on waking (i.e. a fasting test), before meals and one or two hours after meals. The after-meal tests will show how well his body has tolerated the meal he has eaten and give some indication of whether the medication is helping.

Let us know how things go and if you have any more questions! 🙂
 
Welcome to the forum Jenny 🙂
 
Sorry to hear about your partner, I hope they decide which he is soon so they can get him on the right meds if t1.
 
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