I am baffled and need advice and help :)

[iHs]

Hi Calum

Im also going to be joe blunt with you. You are drinking too much alc every day and its now looking I think at having its pay back time on you,

There are many websites that discuss alcohol's effect on the digestive system so have a google and you will then find out. The symptoms you describe also come up. Alcohol is a lovely tasting corrosive liquid that starts to do its damage: http://www.montana.edu/wwwai/imsd/alcoh ... itract.htm

and then on to damage your other internal organs

Do see your doctor again and get a referral to see a gastro specialist at hospital and have some tests done which will explain the symptoms you are getting.

There are also a number of people who find themselves developing type 2 diabetes through the alcohol door so take care and make sure you don't join them. Start to see the writing on the wall !!

 

[calumcco]

Hello IHS, assuming I asked my doctor for a referral what kind of tests would I have to have? Are we talking about an endoscopy or a ultrasound scan or x-rays, etc? May I ask if anyone on here drinks a lot as well?

 

[calumcco]

And in response to whoever suggested that I have fatty liver disease, I can assure you that is not the case as I don't have 1 single symptom of this condition

a swollen abdomen (tummy)
itchy skin
vomiting and bringing up or passing blood
bruising easily
confusion or poor memory
weakness and muscle wasting
yellow whites of your eyes and skin (jaundice)

 

[iHs]

Hi

Medical technology has come on a long way but for my relative, the cause of the GERD was discovered by endoscopy and the liver damage discovered by ultrasound and biopsy.

Firstly, I am not a doctor or work in a hospital but over the years I have seen the dreadful pathway that alcohol consumption can take as I watched it destroy a relative's life within no more than 4 years of being told that they had a scarred liver which was extensive and that the only way to have any sort of well being was to give up alcohol completely which they only did a tiny bit but not completely. In the first instance, the symptoms of GERD occurred first, type 2 diabetes, then water retention in the legs, then yellowing of the eyes, very large bruises on the skin, blood not clotting correctly, then bloating of the stomach with internal bleeding and then body shutdown. Harrowing to say the least........... Although you are not experiencing the onward signs of liver damage yet, there is a good chance that you will.

Please don't end up like my relative Calum.... get some help if you need to..

 

[dawnmc]

You came on here for some advise. We can't give you a medical diagnosis.
The thing is you are only young and to be dependant on alcohol at your age won't help you take control of your diabetes.
You don't have to have any symptoms to have fatty liver. It is usually diagnosed with ultra sound.
You need to start taking control of your life before your health problems control you.

 

[calumcco]

Ok Thanks guys, as for your relative IHS how old were they and what drove them to drink so much?

 

[iHs]

My relative (cousin) was only 37 when the symptoms of GERD first started appearing and died when they were 41.

What fuelled the alcohol ...... wealth, having a good time at clubs and bars with husband, then divorce where hubby ran off with a younger woman leaving my cousin to bring up 2 sons who were trouble with the law every so often so alcohol became something even more to lean and become totally dependant on. She also experienced alcohol withdrawl symptons too and experienced hallucinations and was prescribed medication to calm down her brain.

 

[calumcco]

I am very sorry to hear about that. What year did they pass away? And how much alcohol did they consume daily?

 

[calumcco]

I have just spoken to a doctor who I know as a friend of a friend and he has suggested that my retching could be due to "diabetic gastroparesis".

So far it seems that this could provide an explination.

 

[Ambersilva]

Gastroparesis is when food passes through the digestive system very slowly or not at all. It is accompanied by a bloated feeling around the waist as food is retained in the stomach for several hours. The swollen stomach can be felt with your hand. Relief is obtained when the sufferer vomits food which is returned in the same condition as it was when it was first eaten.

Whatever you have, you need to get it sorted without concealing the quantity of alcohol that you imbibe. A doctor cannot treat you effictively if you don't provide him with details of your lifestyle.

 

[calumcco]

Well that doesn't sound like what I am suffering from as I have no bloated feeling...

I will definitely go to see my GP tell him that I am still retching (without vomit, pain, bloatedness) and see what he makes of it and I suppose we can take it from there. I will tell him that I have a very bad diet, that I never eat breakfasts and have mainly takeaways for dinner along with 3-4 cans of lager a night.

 

[phoenix]

I agree you really need to tell a doctor everything.
Before you replied I had found this:
a diabetes specialist describes diabetic gastroparesis .He says that it is rare and not seen with someone who has even average control (ie that would be higher than someone with a fasting glucose around 7mmol/l)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plr19b2AIAk

I've read posts from a few people with it but they were all people who have had diabetes for a long time .

 

[alohanicky2009]

I have been diagnosed with gastroparesis , and as a previous post explained food is extremely slow to digest or not at all, if it stays in the stomach it just sits there while more food is eaten it just keeps backing up , the pain is intense and I can actually feel the food clump/ ball together to form a Bezoar, the only relief is violent vomiting of all the food eaten as much as a weeks worth, very unpleasant and for me hospitalisation, foods that I am able to eat are very simple , liquid soft foods that are very easy to digest so no meat , little fats , dry foods , nuts or raw or el dente veg, and no alcohol , also regular Botox into the stomach to keep the stomach open so food can keep digesting, if it is gastroparesis it will be diagonised by eating a radio active meal and then x rays every half hour to see how far the meal has moved through the digestion process, I hope it is not gastroparesis


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Pieter-Jan]

Dear Calum,

As the other person already noticed 'what kind of heavy drinking?'

What's the good news and what is the bad news?

You probably have a form of what they call pre diabetes, but it is
in fact the same as diabetes.

The good news is that you can prevent it from getting worse
and reverse it easily.

I reversed type 2 diabetes. If you want to know more have a look
on www.sugarshiftcoach.com

Take care

Pieter :thumbup: