Under pressure

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Viki

Viki

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
One of my close friends has been complaining of increased thirst and urination recently and not feeling weel, and I obv advised her to go to the GP.

She said that she was told she had high BGs on a routine blood test a few years ago but has had no follow up, in fact i dont think its ever even been mentioned again.

Any way, shes panicking a little, but i think its made worse because shes friends with me so obviously its going to play on her mind a bit more than a "normal" person :D

She wants to do a finger prick test when I see her later because she cant get an appt till tuesday. :confused: What level would be a worry?

Ive told her if she wants to do it then she can (im just worried in case shes on the point of falling over and i would hate to have had the opportunity to catch it and not done it!!) but if its a 9 or 10 that could potentially be ok for a non-diabetic person couldnt it??

Ive told her to not have a massive carby lunch and not to eat a good few hours before blah blah blah but i feel massively under pressure!

(and slightly irrationally guilty that our friendship is causing her extra worry!)
 
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I would say that a 9 or 10 if she hasn't eaten for over 2 hours wouldn't be good. Ideally, you'd test her 4 hours or so after eating and expect her to be below 7. But even if it's over 7, it's not conclusive as doctors need 2 fasting levels over 7 to diagnose or a non-fasting over 11.

It is a lot of pressure, and I can understand her desire to find out with you, as a friend, but you should make it clear that one fingerprick test doesn't really prove anything! Hope it goes OK and it's a 5.5 🙂
 
Hello,

She could always go to a Lloyds pharmacy and get a finger prick test done there (I think they still do them).

Thirst and urination are signs of high blood sugar so anything above 7-8 would probably need investigated. The higher the number the quicker they will need to do something about it.

My BG was 17 when I was diagnosed at doctors surgery.

NiVZ
 
Thats what im worried about, I was in the 30s and in DKA having been rushed in by ambulance before anyone thought of diabetes. (3 previous doctors had all diagnosed severe kidney infection - despite performing 3 seperate urinalysis tests!! they much have all been colourbling as missed the dramatic purple colour change :confused:)

So if theres a possibility of catching her at 16/17 and avoiding her going through all that then its defo worth it. I just want to be prepared with some knowledge in case its around the 9/10 mark, although at least then I know she'll be ok till her appt on Tuesday.

Im very much hoping its not, for her sake obv, but it will also put an end to tonight's pub night plans!!! 😉
 
fingers crossed shes ok.......

I have had similar situations with friends and nephews, my younger brother has had type 1 for over 20 years in comparison to my 11, and his son was displaying signs, bulging nappies and i mesn bulging 4 to 5 times a day, not eating, always sleeping, but when we tested his sugars where fine.......

Its good she has a friend with diabetes who can spot the signs, Im thinking the chances are she is less likely to have it, but you never know......

At least you can assure her thats its not the end of the world if the news is bad.

I look forward to good news...
 
Hope shes ok Viki, but if shes not shes a welcome member to the diabetic club =) as much as we wish we didnt get new members of course lol.

Let us know how it goes xx
 
Hi Viki I cant add to what had already been advised/said but as Lou said she wll be more then welcome member of this forum if she was diagnosed with D.
 
I would say the best way to test is to make sure she hasnt eaten for 4 hours - then test and make her eat some chocolate - then test 2 hours later. If she has gone up to double figures from single figures then I would say she needs to see her GP.🙂Bev
 
Thanks Guys!

Ill let you know how we get on.

She did actually say to me earlier that at least if she does have it she'd be able to come to the meets/drinking sessions im always going on about!!

:D shes awesome!
 
I hope your friend is OK. It is sensible to get things confirmed by a doctor. You are on hand for support.

Has your friend got anything else going on like a cold? Sometimes when people get a virus their bodys way of fighing the infection is to make you thirsty and pee more.
 
Keep her away from food before testing and make sure her hands are perfectly clean. Ideally the doc should do a random glucose, possibly a fasting glucose and an HbA1c if they suspect diabetes but then again doctors can't write legibly on request forms. They should also have urine dip sticks in their surgeries.

There was a case a few weeks ago that showed up (we get to see clinical details in the lab) where a person had ketones as high as the strips could go and nothing else was mentioned, no lethargy or constant thirst. Either the clinician was being slack or the person didn't mention it as they may have felt they were reacting to the heat adversely. Their glucose came out at 17.64 mmol/L. From the lab side of things it's easy to spot diabetes early as we can have instant access to information that clinicians cannot. Soem GP's may not (they damn well should be able to) recognise the symptoms of diabetes.

Tom
 
The result . . .

Hi Guys!

Quick update - my friend tested at an enviable 4.4!!! So we are very relieved 🙂

Although shes still going to the docs to find out what wrong with her but now wont spend the weekend worrying.

It was very amusing watching her trying to use a finger pricker! I do it on autopilot now and forgot how nervous it makes you when you dont know what to expect!! :D Took her 4 attempts to stop instinctively jerking her hand away and missing altogether!

As ever - thanks for being here! 🙂 xx
 
Phew! That's great news! At least she'll know what you have to go through with the finger-pricking now - I do about 3300 a year! 😱
 
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Viki said:
Hi Guys!

Quick update - my friend tested at an enviable 4.4!!! So we are very relieved 🙂

Although shes still going to the docs to find out what wrong with her but now wont spend the weekend worrying.

It was very amusing watching her trying to use a finger pricker! I do it on autopilot now and forgot how nervous it makes you when you dont know what to expect!! :D Took her 4 attempts to stop instinctively jerking her hand away and missing altogether!

As ever - thanks for being here! 🙂 xx
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Thats a relief! Well done for supporting her through it! I once did one on a met who was complaining of symptoms and it turned out he was dehydrated...that was all (phew).

Ah, is she gutted she cant join our exclusive club! 😉

xx
 
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