[Closed] Diabetes

You pharmacist may be able to do basic testing - for sugar in urine or blood sugar.

However if you have the symptoms of diabetes GO TO YOUR DOCTORS!. diabetes treated and controlled properly means no great issues with carrying on with your life. Untreated diabetes leads to limb amputation, blindness and death.

Untreated diabetes leads to limb amputation, blindness and death.

I’m reasonably sure that “MTFU” won’t work in this case…

Go see you r doctor, Dehydration and tiredness can be caused by a number of things (including Diabetes) but I’m not sure STW is the best self diagnosis tool…

The last thing you want is a preventable complication which knackers your health and quality of life all because you were “too butch” to go see a doctor…

Untreated masterbation leads to limb amputation, blindness and death.

😯 😳 😕 😐 😯

There are plenty of other possible reasons why you feel as you do - but with diabetes being a possibility and easily diagnosed and treated you would be foolish not to exclude it if you really do have the symptoms.

just go to the docs man ffs 😯

Off to Lloys pharmacy at lunch for a free test. Thank you guys....

Hey I was having similar symptoms recently. Including lying on the floor after footy saying I felt terrible.

I really should of go and got blood test, but didnt and I moved on to a lower GI diet. Ie porridge in the morning eating wholewheat food etc .

But most importantly I stopped drinking all energy drinks / energy foods. To be honest I've always known (since about 18, 30 now) that I've had problems controlling my blood sugar. I just dont think my body can cope which such huge quantities of carbohydrates in one go.

Have you been drinking alot of energy drinks recent ?

[i]Have you been drinking alot of energy drinks recent ? [/i]

Nope havn't ridden in months and even then didnt use energy drinks just electrolytes in the summer.

I havn't changed my diet but my body certainly does seem to be trying to tell me something..

Fail, both pharmacies I just visited wouldn't/couldn't do the test 🙁

MTFU and get a doctors' appointment ffs

It used to be known as 'Bulter's Disease' because the bulter was required to taste the masters urine. If it tasted sweet that they had diabetes.

Time to take a cup to the toilet Richard

You offering to taste my piss then Nick?

I never take the piss.

Your girlfriend said she thought you had diabetes. See if she REALLY wants to know

>Now I dont usually goto the doctors unless I know theres something up,<

And you thought you'd establish that for sure by asking on the STW forum?

WTF - get to the doctor you muppet!

Have you made a GP appointment yet, this is important! Go,go now!

err no I havn't I was going to find another pharmacy tomorrow....

Untreated diabetes leads to limb amputation, blindness and death.

really!

yes, really. In fact [url= http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Diabetics.asp ]Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults.[/url]
You can also have an eye test and in Scotland they will routinesly check for some form of calcification of the blood vessels in your eye - another test.

..or maybe diabetics are all wnakers, who knows?

Rich - you could go and see the practice nurse to dip your pee to test for sugar.
As people have said - lots of medical and non medical reasons for being knackered and drinking lots, but testing for diabetes mellitus is dead easy.....

DrP

Every 3 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with Diabetes and every hour someone dies from complications realted to diabetes.

Your choice...I'd go get it checked now before you loose your feet/lower legs, go blind, get a scracth and then get a serious infection and also go impotent.

The last one is very real and will probably ensure you no longer have a GF as she won't be hanging around to watch that turn green and fall off either!

Thing is, you sound like a reasonably sound guy, soif I were you I'd leave it a for a few weeks to see if it goes away...I mean, if your local pharmacy can't do the test then it surely can't be that serious...

Eejit...get yourself sorted!

Untreated diabetes leads to limb amputation, blindness and death.

One of the academics Dr North works with failed to take his diabetes seriously as a teenager. He describes going blind at 17 as "like someone drawing the curtains one day".

Get to the quack!

I have my wife's spare testing kit. Where are you?
Lloyds Pharmacy have similar testing kits for about a fiver.
Impotence is quite a common issue with diabetes in men, is that a big enough reason to see the GP? 😯

Can I have all your bike bits when you die please

I had all the symptoms of Diabetes but never realised, once my blood pressure reached over 215/120, my blood sugar was 26 and my cholesteral was sky high my body decided enough was enough and basically I managed to stagger to the reception in the Bellagio and tell Mrs Forge I needed a doctor.

The USA doctors were phemonenal if slightly bemused by my condition it took 5 reading, 2 nurses and 2 machines for them to accept my blood pressure reading 🙂 But they tested extensively blood, urine, ECG, blood pressure and diagnosed pretty much everything real time and were spot on.

I had all the symptoms and suffering the most horrific cramps imaginable that would cause bruising for 5 days, but because I was unaware and it didn't run in the family I couldn't see the symptoms as being anything bad.

I was told that had I continued as I was my best out look was a stroke or heart attack which at 30 would have been pretty bad.

I suggest you get checked out just to be sure as the down sides of the disease are very real, it also the case that it's treatable early and I am pleased to say 5 years on all my stats are very normal and all is under control.

It's worth checking it out at the GP for the sake of a blood test.

[i]Can I have all your bike bits when you die please
[/i]

Not much there..

spoke to the practice and can only book an appointment on the day. Will still be going to Lloyds today.

I'm in Southampton.

o a lower GI diet. Ie porridge in the morning

when I looked up porridge its GI was 100, same as pure sugar...

For porridge it depends on the oats used http://ginews.blogspot.com/2005/11/low-gi-food-of-month.html, but it can be high.....

I find a balanced diet the best approach.

My best friend died aged 37 from long term diabetes and it's complications. Don't delay getting tested.

err no I havn't I was going to find another pharmacy tomorrow....

you haven't explained your reasons for being phobic about doctors. Did one do a bad thing to you in the past ? My experience is that they don't get cross if it's a false alarm...

I was diagnosed at the age of 39 with type 2. Pre diagnosis used to wake up every morning feeling exhausted and constantly tired with boils errupting all over the place, catching every cold and sniffle etc etc etc. Since being diagnosed and treating it (now on Metformin) I am the fittest I have been in 12 years and 'touch wood' have never caught the flu/sniffles etc that the rest of the family are constantly getting. I know that life may be five years shorter for developing it and that within the next five years I will have some signs of diabetic tissue/organ/other damage but the flipside is now I dont let anything stop me from doing stuff that I always avoided as being dangerous or thought was beyond my capabilities.
If you do get diagnosed with it MTFU there is always someone worse off out there in life just get out and ride!

I shouldn't have read this, bearing in mind I'm the healthiest person I've ever met, as now I'm starting to recognise symptoms (barring impotence 🙂

hypochondria: 1, simon : 0

[i]It used to be known as 'Bulter's Disease' because the bulter was required to taste the masters urine. If it tasted sweet that they had diabetes.[/i]

Urban myth.

If you worried it'll take a few minutes to be test as Dr P says make an appointment with the practice nurse.

We didn't realise my sister was diabetic until my mum found her in a diabetic coma on the bathroom floor.
I wouldn't hesitate going to the docs if I thought I had the symptoms - in fact I have been twice as it's just not worth the risk.

[i]We didn't realise my sister was diabetic until my mum found her in a diabetic coma on the bathroom floor.[/i]

I take it your sister knew then?

No unfortunately she didn't, she was only about 12 at the time. She felt a bit rough but thought it was just a cold. My mum went upstairs to see how she was and found her sparked out on the floor! Her sugars had dropped suddenly so it was off to hospital where they got her stabilised and got her on an insulin routine. That was about 22 years ago and she's fine now as long as she takes her insulin.

Im diabetic , found out by going to the docs with the same symtoms as YOU ! Go to the quacks ...

So how did she go into a diabetic coma then if she wasn't on medication?

I take it her sugars must have been mental high.

So how did she go into a diabetic coma then if she wasn't on medication?

you mean the meds cause comas ?

[i]you mean the meds cause comas ? [/i]

Taking too much insulin or not eating a proper diet on insulin causes Hypoglycaemia where the blood sugar drops to possible dangerous levels.

Undiagnosed diabetics or those on a diet controlled treatment risk getting Hyperglycaemia where the blood sugars reach dangerous levels.

Both can cause unconsciousness as a symptom.

Didn't realise high blood sugar also can cause a coma.

Get to the Doc for FFS. Ask for a morning appointment and fast from the night before so they can give a better assessment of you blood sugars first thing in the morning when I assume they should be at their lowest?

I had similar symptoms along time ago and also thought it may be diabetes. In the end mine turned out to be an under-active thyroid which I suspect is no great deal once they get the medication sorted out.

[i]Didn't realise high blood sugar also can cause a coma. [/i]

Yup can make you do unconscious it's fairly rare though as people usually find out before then.

Sheffield, sorry too far.
Your hospital should have a diabetes centre/clinic with a specialist nurse on duty all the time if you want to address this urgently.
My wife has had type 1 since she was 2, apparently you get a letter from the Queen when you have had it 50 years. Manages her carbs and corrects with fast acting insulin as and when required. Some scary hypos but you get used to it!

Maybe her sugars were too high then, I may have forgotten the exact facts as it was a long time ago and my memory isn't quite what it was! 😆

No worries easy to get confused especially after 22 years, I got a bit confused the other week when talking about it but that was after about 22 beers.

Heck, and I ride bikes and come on STW to get away from the day job.

Oh well. The advice here is good. Diagnosis is on the basis of a fasting blood sugar - appointment in the morning with GP and nothing containing calories from midnight the previous night - water allowed - plus or minus a second blood sugar taken 2 hours after a standard glucose load (75g of glucose or if I remember rightly 385ml of flat lucozade if you are a cheapskate running a research project circa 1990). Diagnosis on the basis of 2 abnormal blood sugars as per international guidelines or 1 plus classic symptoms.

If you do have it then it ain't the diabetes that kills people it is the complications so the management is about avoiding the complications. Best way to do that is don't smoke and aim for controlled blood pressure and blood sugar - good studies in both Types to show that - as well as taking advantage of local screening programs looking for early signs of kidney and eye problems ( blood and urine tests and annual retinal photos).

Insulin is a hormone involved in the control of food processing and food stores. Hormones are chemical messengers passing messages to groups of cells in the body. Type 1 is where you have stopped producing insulin - to use a radio analogy it is a transmitter failure, Type 2 is where you still produce insulin but the cells that should get the message don't respond as well as they should, in the radio analogy a receiver problem.

If you feel rubbish go and see your GP anyway. If it isn't diabetes it may be something else. Rather than me stopping to wax lyrical on the possibilities, forgive me if I head back to a cup of coffee and wondering when the front mech I need to complete my rebuild is going to finally arrive.

If you do find you have diabetes then Diabetes UK's website is a good place to start for further information.

Double posting removed - I really have to get my linux set up working again - even XP is starting to get to me.

god lay people are stupid!! ;o)

make an appt ffs. Are pharmacists doctors no- if your sugar is high what are they going to do?- tell you to go to the docs.

also urine testing is rubbish misses loads of diabetics, you need at least a random, if not a fasting glucose.

And tesy it could be something else, thyroid disorder , anaemia or even complete madness!!

I now have an appointment at the doctors. Thanks for all the advice..

[b]Update[/b]
Just got back from the docs and he doubts I have Diabetes as I am so young and not fat 🙂

But was suspecious that I had Lymes Disease last year so sending me off for a a shed load of blood test.

Thanks al

Good news.
Remember Type 1 can get you any time and is not related to weight, says my wife. 🙂
Lymes? It's not some recurring thing like being bitten by a redback spider is it?

[i]Just got back from the docs and he doubts I have Diabetes as I am so young and not fat [/i]

None of which rule it out but least now your being tested.

It used to be known as 'Bulter's Disease' because the bulter was required to taste the masters urine. If it tasted sweet that they had diabetes.

Urban myth.

Correct, when I worked as a Butler not one vial of sweet urine I ever sipped resulted in a positive diagnosis

My cousin died due to diabetic coma last year. Unlike you he didn't have a GF so when he started feeling rough he upped his exercise regime riding his bike more (he was a roadie, not that that's relevant). No one knew he was diabetic, got diagnosed at the post mortem. Went to bed feeling rough, never got up again. His work colleagues went around to investigate and found him, poor sods. He was just 40, not overweight, fairly fit and didn't fit into any of the normal risk groups.

second the type 1 comments. however most people with new onset type 1 diabetes have good going osmotic symptoms- excessive thirst and drinking Loads, weight loss lethargy and peeing all the time.

as I am so young and not fat

Oh would that my life was that simple.

Yes there are classical presentations for Type 1 ( as described by doctornickriviera above) and Type 2 and they are well known and useful because they are often correct, but the youngest Type 2 I have seen at diagnosis was 24 and thin (and there are reports of Type 2 in teenagers in USA) and the oldest Type 1 I have diagnosed was 78 and fat.

Glad somebody is now trying to sort this out for you.

and type 2 teens in whales sorry typo i meant wales

My daughter was 2 when we found out and my mates youngest daughter 9 months. Both lost weight and excessive thirst was an under statement
All I can say is I am glad I don't have your doc

"Just got back from the docs and he doubts I have Diabetes as I am so young and not fat "

Tell him to **** off, I was 8 and weighed about 7 stone when I was diagnosed.

Ditto that, when my son was diagnosed a few years ago, one of our main concerns was how much weight he had lost in such a short space of time. approx 1 stone in 6 weeks... He weighed approx 4.5 stone

Mick

TPTCruiser - I don't think it is a letter from the Queen but you do get a medal for it all - would be very amusing if it was a chocolate medal! I've only got 17 years left to go...I do hope it is dark chocolate as I can't stand that so it won't get eaten!

I do find this long-service thing quite funny though...getting an award to show you have coped and lived with it for so long - but when you get to that length of time, it isn't going to be the sort of thing that you are just adjusting to!

Soma_Rich - Type 2 diabetes can be caused by being overweight, but Type 1 can get you at any time.

The under-active thyroid is also related to the diabetes (sort of) in sense they are both immune symptoms (*).

I was diagnosed at 17.5 months old - but I was lucky, at that age I was just getting to terms with life and all that so it wasn't a huge change for me - my parents had a seriously tough time, but it's just my normal routine so I was lucky not to discover I couldn't do what I did before (**).

Glad to hear you aren't suffering from Type 2 Diabetes though - that doc must be seriously skilled if he can tell all that just by looking at you! 😉

* I can't remember the exact terminology for them but there is a small raft of health issues that are all linked/related and Diabetes is a big player in it - not to say you need diabetes to have the rest but they are all linked in some way or another to do with your immune system - I think!

** although that is also rubbish as once you are controlled you can get back to doing everything you did before - the food/drink might need to be monitored better but the exercise doesn't need to stop.

He didnt actually say I didnt have it he said it was unlikely.

Waiting for all the results from the blood tests now 🙂

So your doc didn't do a blood glucose reading there and then? When my son was diagnosed last year I did a BG at home (also type 1 diabetes sufferer for the last 33yrs) and it was 27.2 mmol/l, went to docs he did one that was 24.3 mmol/l and my son was admitted to hospital the following day to start treatment.

Both the above BG's are very high for those that are not familiar, 4.5 to 6.0 are the norm for none diabetes sufferers, have a bit of an issue with being referred to as diabetics, rather be referred to as someone with diabetes, much like many other people who have disabilities.

For what it is worth soma_rich is actually fat, lazy and unfit. The healthy biker stuff (and the girlfriend) only exist in his internet world.

😉

Good luck Rich and don't die before 3we finally get to taste your fine (low salt, low fat, high fibre) cooking. In Swiss again next week but the week aftzer would be good if you are still alive.

Odd in 20 years of asking people do they have any medical conditions the diabetics will say "I'm a diabetic" a tiny amount will say "I have diabetes", not one has made a comment of being called a diabetic.

Lay off the doc a bit for saying he didn't think he'd have it- it's called giving reassurance, trying to reduce anxiety! 😉
Preferable to "my god you're right, don't start reading any long books, have you paid your life insurance premiums" surely?

I used to love my old doctors reassurrance phrase:

You are going to die, how can I delay you

Can't say I'm too fussed about being referred to as 'a diabetic' rather than as 'having diabetes'. What does pee me off is the misnomer that diabetes only affects people who are fat!

As has been stated above Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are very different conditions only really linked by the hormone insulin. In type 1 it is not produced, in type 2 it is not effective.

For what it is worth I got it 22 years ago when I was 11 and skinny as a rake. The causes are still unknown but I had no family history whatever. Other suggestions are a head injury (not in my case), stress (not at aged 11!) or a virus (possibly?). I hope you don't have it but it's not stopped me doing anything I've wanted to including running a couple of marathons, travelling in Africa, Asia and S.America, scuba diving and of course biking. It makes it a bit more of a challenge but there's a lot worse things to suffer from.

If you do have it, you must follow medical advice regarding insulin and your diet. My nan never did, and eventually died from associated complications.

I'm told that the thirst sympton is absolutely burning and can't be quenched, however much you drink.

I'm a diabetic (type 1 if it matters!)...I don't really give a monkeys how other people refer to it...I've never met another diabetic who takes offence at being called a diabetic.

This average blood level thing is interesting...4.5 to 6.0 is the 'normal' range but that has clearly changed over time as I was always told as a kid the ideal target is 7.0, but if I could get it between 6.0 and 8.0 then it was almost the same as a normal persons (in the sense that my blood levels could and would fluctuate more often than a normal persons)...then I'm now being told 4.5-6.0 is what you should be aiming for but it would be better to get between 5.0 and 7.0 as 4.5 is on the low side.

Just bizarre, but I'm not going to argue with it, my control has improved greatly since I knuckled down to it, but there is still plenty more room for improvement...slowly but surely!

The thirst thing...I've no idea but my mum does recollect the time when she almost fished me out the toilet as it was the only source of water I could get access to...so I suspect that is quite true!

And yes the fat issue is a real pain in the behind but the media need something to jump on top of...and if this helps keep people's awareness up then it can't be a bad thing.

A good UK based wesbite for sport is www.runsweet.com

I know there are skinny diabetics. A mate of mine skinny as a barge pole no family history was diagnosed in his 30s.
But, and no offence is intended here, most diabetologists will tell you there is a definite link between type 2 diabetes and obesity. The link isn't if you are diabetic you are fat, it's if you are fat you have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
They way we are going it is quite a scary thought. 5% of adult population is diabetic and 95% of those are type 2. The fatter we get (as a population) the more diabetics, the bigger the drain on the nhs. My mum and her brother both typical type 2s. over weight, diagnosed in 50s/60s. I need to get rid of my beer gut now!

Dick - the 4.5 to 6.0 is the norm for people without diabetes. My target range is 5.0 to 7.8.

The 'I have diabetes' ' I am diabetic' thing is something that has cropped up in our house since my son was diagnosed, being referred to as a diabetic has not helped him adjust to coping with it, makes him feel like he is different, whereas, him having diabetes does not. We have had quite a problem with him suffering at school as he is the only child with diabetes and kids can be b4stards without realising it. He is currently on multi injections but has a saline trial with a pump later this month, hope he gets his pump approved as it would be a lot better for him. I have a pump and it is a doddle to do a bolus or a correction without any one batting an eyelid, much less conspicuous than having to inject in your stomach or thigh.

I can't remember the exact terminology for them but there is a small raft of health issues that are all linked/related and Diabetes is a big player in it - not to say you need diabetes to have the rest but they are all linked in some way or another to do with your immune system - I think!

Yes there is a lot of association between obesity and Type 2 diabetes - I'm not arguing about that, but the obesity can be caused by a raft of issues and not just a desire to eat more than you need to consume.

Never said it was Dick.
Behavioural, cultural, genetic, medical, all sorts of reasons.
They key thing is avoidance of obesity (lovely phrase!) is really important in prevention of lots of health problems.
I remember a talk I attended about 18/12 ago on obesity given by the local spokesperson for the national obesity forum, a local GP who I have known for 20yrs since medical school. He made a very good point against the argument that we shouldn't treat obesity medically as it is a "social problem". He simply pointed out that I had just had 12 weeks off from a mountain bike accident and that this was also clearly a "social problem" caused by my own poor decision making (night ride, crap lights) and that if the medical profession stopped treating "social problems" we would soon have not much to do...

A bit of good news - [url] http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News_Landing_Page/Islet-cell-transplantation-in-Scotland/ [/url]

Docrobster, I didn't say you did either, but the media do seem to like to pin this tag on Type 2 being down to purely being overweight - there are many more issues than just that - I was having a go at the media rather than anything else...

Another bit of news for those with diabetes, can't find the link at the mo but on msn there is a story of a type of tattoo that changes colour dependant on your blood glucose level, they are hoping it will put a stop to the pin prick blood testing that we have to do, only requires a small area to be tattoo'd. Testing has been good on mice so far, not yet tried it on humans.