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A bit of a quandary.

F

FalconsFan86

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Prefer not to say
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Hello all,


I’ve been having some health concerns over the last month or so. I’ve been exhibiting symptoms of diabetes, or so the internet tells me, (frequent urination, increased thirst, constant tiredness/fatigue, vision problems, excessive hunger). I’m a 31 year old woman, generally healthy, not overweight, fairly active lifestyle. There is a family history of type 1 diabetes (not sure how relevant that is).


I haven’t been to the doctors because I’m in the process of buying a house and I’m worried that if I do have diabetes it will significantly effect the cost of the new life & critical illness insurance policy I’m taking out for mortgage purposes.


My questions to you are;

how does having diabetes effect your life/health/critical illness insurance policies?

How long is it safe to wait before seeing a doctor?

At what stage of diabetes development would these symptoms occur?

What warning signs should I be looking out for that would indicate I need to see a doctor sooner rather than later?


I know this sounds pretty irresponsible as far as my health goes, but I am really concerned about not being able to get/afford an insurance policy if I am diagnosed.


Any advice would be very much appreciated.
 
Hi.

You really should visit a doctor without delay. Better to find out what's going on.

If you do have t1d then in my experience you won't be able to get critical illness cover at a sensible price. You should be able to get life insurance but may cost 2 or 3 times more than a person with no health concerns.

Good luck with the new house!
 
See a doctor as soon as possible if you think you have diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes can come on very quickly and you could end up in hospital which would impact your house buying more than anything you are concerned about.
 
I don't know, but I would have thought that even if you take out insurance now (without a diagnosis of diabetes), then you would have to notify the insurance company as soon as you did get the diagnosis and they could then put the price up or cancel the policy especially if they thought you had withheld information. That is insurance fraud surely?
 
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Hi @FalconsFan86 welcome to the forum. A previously mentioned you need to see your doctor asap. Especially with your symptoms and family history. Agree with @archersuz you would have to inform the insurance company on diagnoses.
You have come to the right place for help, advice and encouragement. Good luck and keep us posted. :)
 
helensaramay said:
Type 1 diabetes can come on very quickly and you could end up in hospital which would impact your house buying more than anything you are concerned about.
Click to expand...
Or you could end up dead, which would pay off your mortgage but not do much else. :)

Seriously, though, I can see where you're coming from. If you get insurance before you're diagnosed you should be safe for life insurance (though 30 years ago I got life insurance with no issues as a T1 diabetic). All they really seem to care about is whether you smoke.

As regards critical illness, my understanding (possibly/probably wrong) is that they cover a specific list of life threatening illnesses. If diabetes is not on there (it's not really life threatening at your age), I'm not sure it would have much effect?
But, I would think it very very suspicious if you got diagnosed the week after you took out insurance....

Undiagnosed T1 diabetics die of a thing called DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). You could buy some ketone urine testing strips from your local chemist and check you're not running high.... (0 is normal for non diabetics who are not on special low carb diets.)

But you're damaging your body while you're running high sugars while undiagnosed.

Edited to add : I'm not joking, T1s do still die because they were diagnosed too late.
 
Hi FalconsFan86,

I have been getting some extra insurances (critical illness & life)recently as a T1 diabetic of 30+yrs & in some cases my policy was quoted as even less than my husband’s who has no health conditions & a perfect BMI (I don’t!).

Health Insurance policies have also always been OK. Naturally, in years where we have needed to claim for more than the basics like dentistry, podiatry, opticians etc, the following year the annual premium has risen slightly.

Plus we both work for ourselves & one our our businesses means that I have multiple mortgages & have to often apply for more mortgages and I have never found my type 1 Diabetes to be a problem on that score.

However as many have fed back already, for the sake of your good health & life, you really cannot sit on a possible diagnosis of type 1 Diabetes, as if you were a type 1 diabetic, you would end up seriously ill.

I understand that when applying for things like critical illness cover that you are asked to declare if you have any pending diagnosis with the doctor & that you may prefer to not ‘upset the Apple cart’ on the application by beginning testing with a GP. But if you are really feeling poorly & there is a significant difference in how your body is behaving, then your health has to come number 1.

Equally, as you will know about type 1 Diabetes from family members, you could always go to Boots & but a blood sugar meter to test it & that should make it quite clear to you whether it is Diabetes. If it was not a high blood sugar, i’d still be rather concerned about what is actually causing this for you & it really needs investigation.
 
Dont forget if you work for an employer that they should give a death in service, at least and depending upon scheme, its payouts can exceed life cover of an insurance company.. nowadays depending upon employers pension scheme etc and whether its binding or non binding with payouts is worth checking too.

T1 can take over very fast so you do need to see a GP as soon as possible...
 
Hi, yes you should see the GP but as an absolute minimum buy a glucose meter and check what your typical blood sugar levels are and check every few days. The results will be for you only. DKA can come on very fast and is dangerous. If your sugars go into the teens beware and if in the 20s or higher then see the GP urgently or go to A&E. Drink plenty of water and keep the carbs down.
 
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