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low bloods but not diabetic

lucylocket61

lucylocket61

Expert
Messages
6,394
Location
Wrexham
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
my son is not well right now, unexplained constant nausea for 9 days now. Despite calling the surgery twice for help and info, the triage nurse says he is only nauseous, so no point in seeing him unless it goes on for more than 14 days or other symptoms appear.

we cannot get an appointment with a doctor unless authorised by the triage nurse.

last night he woke up and he was cold and sweating, not a lot, but a bit, so I took his blood sugar levels and they were 3.4 on my codefree meter.

We rang out of hours and a doctor rang back to tell him to eat something and ring the surgery again in the morning. We are still waiting to be able to get through to the surgery.

is that something to be worried about in a non-diabetic?

He has no other symptoms of anything. We are in Wales so NHS is a bit different, it seems, here.
 
May I ask how old your son is and (if very young) has he had all the usual lurgys, chicken pox etc?
 
lucylocket61 said:
about 5 hours earlier, but with the nausea he is not eating much.
Click to expand...

was it carby? I'm wondering if he could be reacting a bit dramatically to carbs?

with the nausea is it constant or intermittent? does it have any pattern? is he worried about anything? (SATS?)
 
he is in his 20's and nothing seems to have triggered it off. We eat quite low carb as a family. He had roast chicken, green veg and one potato.

the nausea is constant, 24/7 and started without warning 9 days ago. it gets worse and then eases off every so often, the the background nausea remains the same. Up until yesterday, when the sick feeling got worse, if he ate something, it eased, but thats not happening now.

He is a cheerful lad usually and made a joke last night about it being morning sickness. He is very slim, so he cant afford to lose weight. He is a natural stick insect body type.

is 3.4 in a non-diabetic low?
 
@lucylocket61 Sounds to me as if your son should definitely speak to a doctor, 9 days is too long, never mind 14. If you can't get past the nurse on the phone, try writing to the doctor of your choice, with her/his name clearly on a sealed envelope and the word CONFIDENTIAL. Describe symptoms and duration and say you would be happy with a telephone consultation, giving phone number. Also, mention the nurse's response to you.

Has your son been on any particularly exotic travels in the past 12 months? Some things can take that long to show up. Is there "something going around" in your area? Both are things to consider.
Sally
 
lucylocket61 said:
he is in his 20's and nothing seems to have triggered it off. We eat quite low carb as a family. He had roast chicken, green veg and one potato.

the nausea is constant, 24/7 and started without warning 9 days ago. it gets worse and then eases off every so often, the the background nausea remains the same. Up until yesterday, when the sick feeling got worse, if he ate something, it eased, but thats not happening now.

He is a cheerful lad usually and made a joke last night about it being morning sickness. He is very slim, so he cant afford to lose weight. He is a natural stick insect body type.

is 3.4 in a non-diabetic low?
Click to expand...

Not hugely at a fasting sort of level combined with lowish carbs and not being well.
 
Well I was diagnosed as T1 diabetic after only a week of symptoms so the 14 day thing is nonsense! You mentioned that he is thin, this is a problem as rapid or unintended weight loss is a symptom of DKA. Does he have any other symptoms? Drinking a lot maybe?

Also 3.4 is definitely possible in nondiabetics, especially if he hasn't been eating much if he's lost his appetite due to nausea. And keep in mind that the meter is not always accurate - he could have gotten a 3.9 for example which would be completely normal for nondiabetic people, due to measurement error.
 
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