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Hi everyone. I was diagnosed Type 2 about 4 years ago and went on Metformin 2 weeks ago (2 x 500mg daily rising to 3 x next week). I had to fight to get a Type 2 diagnosis which came through in the end. The thing is, I think I have been diabetic my entire life. Diabetes is on both sides of my family tree and my Dad has been "pre" for over 10 years. I have spoken to my GP about it and you can tell he only really cares about the here and now. He does seem to be coming round to the idea that I have been diabetic for longer than 4 years, so that's a start. Let me tell you why I think I had a metabolic issue when I was little:
1. I was seriously underweight as a child and used to have rages. At 2 weeks old I was rushed back into hospital with "gastroenteritis", which we know was something of an umbrella term back in 1971. I nearly died but they had only just worked out how to get a drip into a newborn and so was spared a short existence.
2. I refused to eat.
3. I wet the bed. I never used to understand it. I went to bed, I went to sleep, I woke up in a wet bed. I can't be sure but I think they sent me to a child psychologist because they used to give me gold stars for dry nights. I can remember at the time thinking "you're on the wrong tack". However, now I'm not so sure. My parents introduced a system of waking me up as they went to bed and making them go to the loo. I was always very groggy, usually wouldn't remember the episode and used to fight them.
4. Last year I suspected my Mum was asberger's so I made her do some reasonably credible online tests and sure enough it showed up. But here's the thing, I also did the tests (for a laugh) and every single one said I was autistic. I know there is discussion about blood sugar and asberger's/autism. Lots of people who know me say I am sociable but everyone agrees I'm not normal or "unique" is the term they like to use. I believe I am really good at playing the social game but given a choice, would rather stay away from groups of more than 3.
5. There are certainly a few other things from my childhood that leave me to be suspicious but I won't go into them all suffice to say I once counted to a million on an abacus because I enjoyed it and I liked the pretty colours. Purple or crimson velvet seems to hypnotise me (still to this day).
6. From the age of fourteen something occurred (I don't know what). One morning I walled downstairs and I never wanted breakfast ever again. Still to this day I have to force it down.
7. When I left school at 17 and went to work I was like a rake and also 6 foot 4 by then.
8. I appeared to come up to a normal weight between 17 and 19 but that's when the first, more obvious, symptoms arose - creeping sensations on my skin as though I had fleas (in bed as I was drifiting off to sleep). Terrible episodes of crippling stomach cramps. I only wanted to eat carbohydrates (it wasn't really a conscious thing at the time as I had no idea of the dangers of sugars back then). Excessive sweating during exercise followed by overheating, fainting and vomiting. Unbelievable night sweats.
9. At 30 I was rushed into hospital with stomach cramps which were so intense they had slightly ruptured my colon and caused bleeding. I spent a week in hospital and nothing was diagnosed. Here's the thing, when I was transferred from A&E to the ward they said I was severely dehydrated. As soon as they put me on the drip I remember thinking, "My god, I have never felt this good".
10. I started to really pile the pounds on around 36 and went up to nearly 19 stone last year. Over the course of the last year I have managed to get that down to just above 16.
11. And here we are at week 2 Metformin but let me take you back to the very first Metformin tablet... I instantly felt my psychology change, radically. I felt calm and placid and focused to a degree where I'm not sure I've felt like that since maybe my early teens. The numbness at the tips of my fingers and down my arms and hands went away. I could read again, (although I am a professional writer I have always read slowly, at speaking pace, but over a 15 year period my ability to sit and read something substantial on screen or paper went away because the words shimmered all different colours and moved, were different sizes and I could see shadowed patterns in the configuration of words (very off putting), my mind would also wander halfway through sentences and I just could engage with it. All of this has gone.
My neurologist said this was very interesting and he has referred me to a clinical psychologist (I'll be honest, I'm a bit wary).
Does any of this ring true with anyone else? I'm struggling to talk with anyone who has had a similar experience. My family are sweet but they haven't read anything about diabetes and so they are at that, "just lose some weight" stage.
I'm Steve by the way, hi, nice to meet you all.
1. I was seriously underweight as a child and used to have rages. At 2 weeks old I was rushed back into hospital with "gastroenteritis", which we know was something of an umbrella term back in 1971. I nearly died but they had only just worked out how to get a drip into a newborn and so was spared a short existence.
2. I refused to eat.
3. I wet the bed. I never used to understand it. I went to bed, I went to sleep, I woke up in a wet bed. I can't be sure but I think they sent me to a child psychologist because they used to give me gold stars for dry nights. I can remember at the time thinking "you're on the wrong tack". However, now I'm not so sure. My parents introduced a system of waking me up as they went to bed and making them go to the loo. I was always very groggy, usually wouldn't remember the episode and used to fight them.
4. Last year I suspected my Mum was asberger's so I made her do some reasonably credible online tests and sure enough it showed up. But here's the thing, I also did the tests (for a laugh) and every single one said I was autistic. I know there is discussion about blood sugar and asberger's/autism. Lots of people who know me say I am sociable but everyone agrees I'm not normal or "unique" is the term they like to use. I believe I am really good at playing the social game but given a choice, would rather stay away from groups of more than 3.
5. There are certainly a few other things from my childhood that leave me to be suspicious but I won't go into them all suffice to say I once counted to a million on an abacus because I enjoyed it and I liked the pretty colours. Purple or crimson velvet seems to hypnotise me (still to this day).
6. From the age of fourteen something occurred (I don't know what). One morning I walled downstairs and I never wanted breakfast ever again. Still to this day I have to force it down.
7. When I left school at 17 and went to work I was like a rake and also 6 foot 4 by then.
8. I appeared to come up to a normal weight between 17 and 19 but that's when the first, more obvious, symptoms arose - creeping sensations on my skin as though I had fleas (in bed as I was drifiting off to sleep). Terrible episodes of crippling stomach cramps. I only wanted to eat carbohydrates (it wasn't really a conscious thing at the time as I had no idea of the dangers of sugars back then). Excessive sweating during exercise followed by overheating, fainting and vomiting. Unbelievable night sweats.
9. At 30 I was rushed into hospital with stomach cramps which were so intense they had slightly ruptured my colon and caused bleeding. I spent a week in hospital and nothing was diagnosed. Here's the thing, when I was transferred from A&E to the ward they said I was severely dehydrated. As soon as they put me on the drip I remember thinking, "My god, I have never felt this good".
10. I started to really pile the pounds on around 36 and went up to nearly 19 stone last year. Over the course of the last year I have managed to get that down to just above 16.
11. And here we are at week 2 Metformin but let me take you back to the very first Metformin tablet... I instantly felt my psychology change, radically. I felt calm and placid and focused to a degree where I'm not sure I've felt like that since maybe my early teens. The numbness at the tips of my fingers and down my arms and hands went away. I could read again, (although I am a professional writer I have always read slowly, at speaking pace, but over a 15 year period my ability to sit and read something substantial on screen or paper went away because the words shimmered all different colours and moved, were different sizes and I could see shadowed patterns in the configuration of words (very off putting), my mind would also wander halfway through sentences and I just could engage with it. All of this has gone.
My neurologist said this was very interesting and he has referred me to a clinical psychologist (I'll be honest, I'm a bit wary).
Does any of this ring true with anyone else? I'm struggling to talk with anyone who has had a similar experience. My family are sweet but they haven't read anything about diabetes and so they are at that, "just lose some weight" stage.
I'm Steve by the way, hi, nice to meet you all.