Quite thirsty but normal blood sugar level..should I be worried?

[superlogical]

Dear forum,

Hope this message finds you all well!

To cut to the chase..I am a bit worried. Since last Thursday (2 days ago at the time I'm writing this message) I've been quite thirsty..on Thursday I drank about 10l of water (quite a bit more than usual), urinated qute a bit (which I guess could be expected as a consequence of drinking so much water) but I was not feeling hungry. I drink and urinate less now but I still feel thirsty

My doctor is unfortunately on holiday and she will be back on Monday when I plan on making an appointment asap! Now, I am not paranoid but as I have diabetis history in my family I am getting a bit worried..Initially I thought that it was due to extremely spicy food I ate on Thursday but now, a few days have passed and I am not feeling that much better.

I went to a big store and bought a blood sugar measuring device (Medisana is the brand, if it matters). I bought the device earlier today and did 2 tests, one approximately 5-6 hours after earing (returned a 3,9) and one 2-3 hours after eating (including a bit of chocolate and biscuits) - 4,9. According to the manual, those results are perfectly in line with someone who is not sick.

Not sure if this is relevant, after eating I feel better (no longer thirsty) and I feel worse (more thirsty) in the evening. I have no other visible symptions other than being thirsty and a dry mouth...

I'm not sure whether this forum is only for everyday folks like me with little to no medical background or there are also doctors..but I guess I have 2 questions right now:

1) Is it possible that I have diabetes with normal blood sugar levels?; and

2) If the above is negative, what could cause one to be very thirsty/dry mouth, even with normal blood sugar levels?

Many thanks for helping out guys, much appreciated!

 

[Rachox]

Hi Superlogical and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry that not feeling well has brought you here. However we cannot attempt to diagnose you as we aren’t Drs and can only advise you to see your Dr as soon as possible. Let us know how you get on.

 

[superlogical]

Hi Superlogical and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry that not feeling well has brought you here. However we cannot attempt to diagnose you as we aren’t Drs and can only advise you to see your Dr as soon as possible. Let us know how you get on.

Hi Rachox, many thanks for reaching out on such short notice! Just to make sure we're all on the same page - I will visit a real doctor first thing on Monday morning but in the mean time I found this forum to try and get some more insight...

Based on common sense and with your experience (quite unfortunate that you had to go through it of course) is it remotely possible that I have diabetes currently, given that my blood sugar level is normal? I know you shouldn't google your symptoms but still..diabetes is the first thing that came to my educated mind lol

 

[urbanracer]

Hi Rachox, many thanks for reaching out on such short notice! Just to make sure we're all on the same page - I will visit a real doctor first thing on Monday morning but in the mean time I found this forum to try and get some more insight...

Based on common sense and with your experience (quite unfortunate that you had to go through it of course) is it remotely possible that I have diabetes currently, given that my blood sugar level is normal? I know you shouldn't google your symptoms but still..diabetes is the first thing that came to my educated mind lol

There are times when Dr Google isn't very helpful. It's also best not to take medical advice like this from strangers on the internet.

If your quack gives you a positive result, you know where we are.

 

[EllieM]

but still..diabetes is the first thing that came to my educated mind lol

Diabetes does tend to be the first thing that comes to mind when people report thirst. In a way, this is a good thing, because undiagnosed diabetics can go into diabetic ketoacidosis and die (and occasionally still do, unfortunately). But there are many other illnesses that can cause extreme thirst, and I'm sure Dr Google could tell you a dozen more, from a common urinary tract infection to a brain tumour. (Actually I just made up brain tumour).

Now, I'm not allowed to comment on the likelihood of you having diabetes when you've had two blood tests at the low end of normal, but I will suggest that drinking that much water can be dangerous, and you ought to see a health care provider asap.

 

[superlogical]

I did a new test - 4,3 in the morning when hungry. Afterwards, 2,5h-3h after having breakfast (Muffing + chocolate), got a result of 5,9. Although I'm still drinking more water than normal, it's far better than in the last few days.

On a side note, is it not a clean cut answer that with normal blood sugar level, one cannot have diabetes? Or am I not correct and this is actually possible?

 

[KK123]

I did a new test - 4,3 in the morning when hungry. Afterwards, 2,5h-3h after having breakfast (Muffing + chocolate), got a result of 5,9. Although I'm still drinking more water than normal, it's far better than in the last few days.

On a side note, is it not a clean cut answer that with normal blood sugar level, one cannot have diabetes? Or am I not correct and this is actually possible?

Hi there, the problem is you don't know what your glucose levels are in between your testing before and after meals, I think only a proper h1ac will tell you that. Also there are many types of diabetics who have 'normal blood sugar levels' controlled in all sorts of ways but still are diabetics. I don't think any of us can give you an answer but I do hope you get one from your Dr. NOTHING about diabetes is clean cut of course. Obviously with the drinking it needs checking out as soon as possible, before I was diagnosed I had an unquenchable, raging thirst and excessive urination. I put the weeing down to more drinking but it was actually the other way round, my body was trying to get rid of excessive glucose via urination and this was causing me to dehydrate, hence I was having to drink more. I don't know what my readings were like then but they were extremely high on diagnosis. x

 

[Geordie_P]

Hi Superlogical.
I see that the others here, quite sensibly, have said that it's hard to diagnose or not diagnose when we are not doctors. I would agree with that, but just want to say that the blood test results you have been posting do not match the criteria needed to suggest diabetes. They look normal, not diabetic or even pre-diabetic. See the doctor and let us know how it goes, but don't worry about it too much for now.
Good luck!

 

[superlogical]

Hey guys, thanks so much for your support!

Tried to call my GP today but she was sick..I'll try to make a new appointment again tomorrow and keep you posted!

 

[LooperCat]

Definitely go and talk to your GP, but those numbers don’t seem to indicate diabetes. Are you on any meds that might make you so thirsty?

 

[ickihun]

Dear forum,

Hope this message finds you all well!

To cut to the chase..I am a bit worried. Since last Thursday (2 days ago at the time I'm writing this message) I've been quite thirsty..on Thursday I drank about 10l of water (quite a bit more than usual), urinated qute a bit (which I guess could be expected as a consequence of drinking so much water) but I was not feeling hungry. I drink and urinate less now but I still feel thirsty

My doctor is unfortunately on holiday and she will be back on Monday when I plan on making an appointment asap! Now, I am not paranoid but as I have diabetis history in my family I am getting a bit worried..Initially I thought that it was due to extremely spicy food I ate on Thursday but now, a few days have passed and I am not feeling that much better.

I went to a big store and bought a blood sugar measuring device (Medisana is the brand, if it matters). I bought the device earlier today and did 2 tests, one approximately 5-6 hours after earing (returned a 3,9) and one 2-3 hours after eating (including a bit of chocolate and biscuits) - 4,9. According to the manual, those results are perfectly in line with someone who is not sick.

Not sure if this is relevant, after eating I feel better (no longer thirsty) and I feel worse (more thirsty) in the evening. I have no other visible symptions other than being thirsty and a dry mouth...

I'm not sure whether this forum is only for everyday folks like me with little to no medical background or there are also doctors..but I guess I have 2 questions right now:

1) Is it possible that I have diabetes with normal blood sugar levels?; and

2) If the above is negative, what could cause one to be very thirsty/dry mouth, even with normal blood sugar levels?

Many thanks for helping out guys, much appreciated!

I was going to ask if you were taking any meds which thirst is a side affect, too. However seeing you don't have any diabetes diagnosed, yet; then your Dr is your first port of call.
Mind you! Does chemist's test for diabetes in your area? I'm guessing in the U.S chemist's are far cheaper if wanting an initial "yes or no" answer. Of course your GP would help you manage your health being the licenced physician. Chemist's are great but only a GP can order the hba1c blood test you need.
Ps. Don't assume over-weight means type2 either.
Some of Dr Now's 600lb patients don't have diabetes. Surprised? I'm not.

Please come back with your result, even if not diabetic as we will always be wondering how you got on.

 

[superlogical]

Dear all,

Thank you all so much for your support, you really are a nice bunch! Before I made this post I had good news and bad news, now I am a bit confused, let me explain.

As described in my earlier post, I managed to make an appointment with my practice for this morning. Luckily, my GP was too busy so a different doctor (actually a lot nicer!) took me in. I told her why I went there and described my symptoms. She asked for family histor which in my case is that my mother and grandfather (may he rest in peace) had Type II diabetes.

She said that based on what I told her, it could be Type I as my age is about the time people normally get it. However, I told her that I bought a medical device which measures my blood sugar levels which were all normal. She said she was surpised, that would like to measure my blood sugar level herself and agree on the way forward. She took my blood at around 9:40 AM, whereas I had a croissant with chocolate and yogurt at 8:00ish, also in the morning. I was quite surprised when she told my my blood sugar was quite on the low side, below 2 (so I imagine 1,9). Quite interesting, don't you think, also taking into account the fact that my blood sugar levels were supposedly normal before. Any thoughts on that? Also, if my blood sugar level was actually below 2, shouldn't have I already passed out? In any case she gave me some sweet juice to beef me up.

She told me that it is actually possible to have Type I diabetes with very low sugar levels even when you don't treat the condition and you don't even know whether it's there, not sure if she was right there?

Anyway, she afterwards called an internal diseases specialist, who told her that based on the information we have (e.g., I am not hungry, normal urination, etc.) it is not Type I that I might have, but some other kind of diabetes. My GP did not really know what it was, she just said the name and based on the best I can remember, it is potentailly the one which appears in wikipedia when you search for Diabetes_insipidus.

Not really sure of course. Anyway, what the specialist advised her was to take more blood samples from me to test electrocyts and perform a HbA1c test. The results came today - everything was normal. This is another point I want to ask you guy to comment on - does this mean 100% that I do not have diabetes?

My GP said that to be on the safe side she will still send me to a hospital (currently I live and work in the Netherlands so I am not entirely sure what she meant, most probaby for tests and diagnosis, not really for hospitalisation). Now, based on experience, this probably means is that as my case is not urgent, I might have to wait a month or 2 to get in.

Here I come to my earlier point - before I came here, the good news were that most probably I do not have diabetes, bad news being that no-one really knows why I am thirsty. But thanks to Mel dCP and ickihun, I am a bit ashamed. I work as a mid level manager at the biggest financial service company in the world (revenue wise) but it never occured to me that my thirst and dry feeling in the mouth might actually be a side effect of some medicine I'm taking. Currently the only medicine which I am taking is Deanxit. It is a very gentle pill which relieves stress, whcih I am sure you will all appreciate, is something I can use in my day-to-day stressed working environment. I re-read the instructions again and BAM, side effect numero 1, dry mouth. Of course, having embarassed myself previously for being stupid, I'm quite sure that this is quite a common side effect for potentially eveyr other pill. However, with effect of immediately, I will stop taking Deanxit anymore and see how this affects me. In the meantime I will also reach out to the company who produces it. Here comes my third question, does someone have a remote idea in the fortunate case that Deanxit is causing the dryness in my mouth, how long it will take to get it out of my system? Also, not sure whether it is relevant but I started taking this pill again on Tuesday, just 2 days before the sympoms. Also, I have previously taken this pill for longer periods of time, e.g., 3 months, with no side effects. Is it possible that I get them now?

As always, please also feel free to comment on other stuff which you think might be relevant. I guess it's a safe bet to make that I do not have diabetes?

p.s. Today I did 2 more blood tests myself, 5 hours after eating 4,8. 45 minutes after having dinner and eating something with chocolate - 6,1.

Thank you and cheers!

 

[LooperCat]

Dear all,

Thank you all so much for your support, you really are a nice bunch! Before I made this post I had good news and bad news, now I am a bit confused, let me explain.

As described in my earlier post, I managed to make an appointment with my practice for this morning. Luckily, my GP was too busy so a different doctor (actually a lot nicer!) took me in. I told her why I went there and described my symptoms. She asked for family histor which in my case is that my mother and grandfather (may he rest in peace) had Type II diabetes.

She said that based on what I told her, it could be Type I as my age is about the time people normally get it. However, I told her that I bought a medical device which measures my blood sugar levels which were all normal. She said she was surpised, that would like to measure my blood sugar level herself and agree on the way forward. She took my blood at around 9:40 AM, whereas I had a croissant with chocolate and yogurt at 8:00ish, also in the morning. I was quite surprised when she told my my blood sugar was quite on the low side, below 2 (so I imagine 1,9). Quite interesting, don't you think, also taking into account the fact that my blood sugar levels were supposedly normal before. Any thoughts on that? Also, if my blood sugar level was actually below 2, shouldn't have I already passed out? In any case she gave me some sweet juice to beef me up.

She told me that it is actually possible to have Type I diabetes with very low sugar levels even when you don't treat the condition and you don't even know whether it's there, not sure if she was right there?

Anyway, she afterwards called an internal diseases specialist, who told her that based on the information we have (e.g., I am not hungry, normal urination, etc.) it is not Type I that I might have, but some other kind of diabetes. My GP did not really know what it was, she just said the name and based on the best I can remember, it is potentailly the one which appears in wikipedia when you search for Diabetes_insipidus.

Not really sure of course. Anyway, what the specialist advised her was to take more blood samples from me to test electrocyts and perform a HbA1c test. The results came today - everything was normal. This is another point I want to ask you guy to comment on - does this mean 100% that I do not have diabetes?

My GP said that to be on the safe side she will still send me to a hospital (currently I live and work in the Netherlands so I am not entirely sure what she meant, most probaby for tests and diagnosis, not really for hospitalisation). Now, based on experience, this probably means is that as my case is not urgent, I might have to wait a month or 2 to get in.

Here I come to my earlier point - before I came here, the good news were that most probably I do not have diabetes, bad news being that no-one really knows why I am thirsty. But thanks to Mel dCP and ickihun, I am a bit ashamed. I work as a mid level manager at the biggest financial service company in the world (revenue wise) but it never occured to me that my thirst and dry feeling in the mouth might actually be a side effect of some medicine I'm taking. Currently the only medicine which I am taking is Deanxit. It is a very gentle pill which relieves stress, whcih I am sure you will all appreciate, is something I can use in my day-to-day stressed working environment. I re-read the instructions again and BAM, side effect numero 1, dry mouth. Of course, having embarassed myself previously for being stupid, I'm quite sure that this is quite a common side effect for potentially eveyr other pill. However, with effect of immediately, I will stop taking Deanxit anymore and see how this affects me. In the meantime I will also reach out to the company who produces it. Here comes my third question, does someone have a remote idea in the fortunate case that Deanxit is causing the dryness in my mouth, how long it will take to get it out of my system? Also, not sure whether it is relevant but I started taking this pill again on Tuesday, just 2 days before the sympoms. Also, I have previously taken this pill for longer periods of time, e.g., 3 months, with no side effects. Is it possible that I get them now?

As always, please also feel free to comment on other stuff which you think might be relevant. I guess it's a safe bet to make that I do not have diabetes?

p.s. Today I did 2 more blood tests myself, 5 hours after eating 4,8. 45 minutes after having dinner and eating something with chocolate - 6,1.

Thank you and cheers!

Don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed, it’s easy to overlook these things - I did it myself when taking amytryptiline, which also causes a horribly dry mouth! Looking it up, Deanxit has a half life of around 35 hours, which means it’ll halve it’s amount in your system in that time. It should be well below therapeutic dose after a week, I’d have thought.

 

[superlogical]

Hey guys, just wanted to give you all a big thank you note and let you know everything is fine. Luckily, no diabetes here and no other health issues. Official diagnosis for the thirst was medicine side effect which I am not convinced but oh well..all good now.

Apologies for the slow reply, I'm sure all of you will be fine.

Thank you again for the support!