Waiting for results and feeling awful

[Mrscsimpkins]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently waiting for my HbA1c test results to come back but am feeling so unwell id love some advice.

Last July I was feeling ok but I changed my diet to become vegetarian as it was something I wanted to do for a long time, by the end of August I was anaemic and so weak, after that iron helped but I never really regained all strength.

I'm 41 and a busy mum of 2, but the last few months I've got weaker and weaker. A couple of weeks ago I started getting burning cold pains in my legs and then it spread to my arms and other areas, with pins and needles when I'm in certain positions. I've had burning eyes off and on, muscle weakness, yeast infections persistently, and on Saturday I became excessively thirsty. I've always had a thirst and drunk lots of water and always sufferered with low blood sugar and eaten every 3 hours, but never tested positive for diabetes.

Anyway the thirst on saturday was unbearable and I'd been doing the keto diet to help with the yeast infections and trying to eat healthy to aid recovery, so I thought I must be low in electrolytes, I also did a urine test and that showed ketones were high and specific gravity, I didn't know you could get dehydrated when you drink so much water! So I bought some good electrolytes with no caffeine or sugar in and had them, but woke up on Sunday still with excessive thirst and as the day went on I became quite faint.

I kept up the electrolytes, started to introduce carbs back yesterday and today I'm still as bad. I tested my urine and ketones are the same and its still saying I'm dehydrated, plus the thirst is crazy.

I'm wondering a few things, will the hbA1c test give a definite answer if I have diabetes? Especially as I haven't been eating sugar or carbs? Also, is there anything I can do now to ease my symptoms, the thirst and the dizziness? If the hbA1c test doesn't give an answer, is there another test I need?

Are regular healthy carbs going to stop the dizziness?? I'm gluten and dairy intolerant and can't eat a fair amount of things.

Any help would be massively appreciated as when I nearly fainted the other night looking after my children, that was scary.
Thanks for listening.
Rachel

 

[Ljc]

Hi @Mrscsimpkins welcome to the forum.
Tbh it sounds like you need help now rather than waiting for the results of your blood tests .

How high are your ketones .

Depending in how ill you are , phone your Gp today
But if you are really rough or start to feel really rough then don’t hesitate to call for for an ambulance.

 

[Mrscsimpkins]

Hi @Mrscsimpkins welcome to the forum.
Tbh it sounds like you need help now rather than waiting for the results of your blood tests .

How high are your ketones .

Depending in how ill you are , phone your Gp today
But if you are really rough or start to feel really rough then don’t hesitate to call for for an ambulance.

Thanks for your reply. I just called 111 as the dizziness is worse. They will call me back.

The urine strip colour was nearly the highest colour, one from it. I thought it was from the keto diet but I wasn't sure.
Any advice, what is the best healthy thing to eat with this low blood sugar dizzy feeling? I understand i may not have diabetes, but would love to know if any foods can help me feel a little better?.x

 

[rebrascora]

How do you know your BG is low? Have you tested it?
I believe ketone levels on a keto diet should be quite low.
Just checked my Ketostix pot and the second off highest reading is only 0.8 so not hugely high and may be due to ketosis if you genuinely are following a keto diet. If it was at the highest level of 1.8 I would be more concerned.

You say that you have always suffered with low blood sugar and had to eat every 3 hours. Was this diagnosed (reactive hypoglycaemia perhaps) or something you figured out for yourself? Again without testing when you feel like that it is only an assumption even if the feeling goes away when you eat something? This is why we as insulin users always test when we feel hypo rather than treating it with carb rich foods straight away. There are oiccasions when I have thought I was hypo and I was actually surprised to find my reading was actually too high.... it happened to me only yesterday (and I am hypoing quite a lot at the moment, so I am pretty familiar with the feeling) so it isn't always as obvious as you expect and you can misinterpret if you don't test.

If your BG levels are in fact high instead of low, advising you to have some quick acting carbs would not be a good idea, especially when you are producing ketones so I think you really need to know your BG level via a finger prick and hopefully you will be able to get that done now that you have contacted 111.

 

[rebrascora]

Something else which occurred to me is a vitamin B deficiency can cause the tingling and perhaps dizziness I believe. I wonder if being gluten intolerant and then also cutting meat from your diet you are not getting enough Vit B.

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi Mrscsimpkins, just popping in to say hi.

Really sorry to hear that you're feeling unwell. To be fair there are a lot of reasons for the symptoms you're experiencing so I hope that you were able to get some helpful info from 111.

I'd have a chat with your GP and get them to rule out a any other underlying issues and advise on the best way to manage your symptoms.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Mrscsimpkins

Sorry to hear about the unpleasant symptoms you are experiencing

Hopefully the results from your BG checks will suggest a way forward, but some of the things you are describing could well be symptomatic of high, rather than low, blood glucose levels.

And if you have been avoiding carbs, an elevated HbA1c might indicate that your body is no longer producing enough insulin, which would make any ketones much more worryng.

Take care of yourself, and let us know how you get on.

 

[Inka]

Hi @Mrscsimpkins I also think you should phone for medical advice today with ketones that high, such excessive thirst, and feeling so ill.

I would want Type 1 diabetes ruled out.