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diabetes diagnosis

encore1332

encore1332

Well-Known Member
Messages
64
Location
malmesbury
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
not nice stuff
Hello. Ive been reading a lot of posts with people describing how long it took them to be diagnosed as diabetic. Doctor at my surgery just said I had a virus that caused me eyesight to go blurry but that aside, It took a doctor at A&E 30 seconds for me, considering I walked in and gave him a few of the symptons. I spent a couple of hours in rescusatation room while they sorted stuff out then it was a night in a bed on a drip then out by mid day with a box of needles. Ive read some people take months of telling there doctors something is wrong before anything is done. Was wondering how long other took to be diagnosed..
 
hi encore1332
the amount of time to be diagnosed varies so much because of the environment we live in , our personal circumstances , and lifestyle , other potential medical issues etcetc.
for me I had a bad virus in may 1972 and over the summer months started to lose weight , peeing all the time , drinking gallons , feeling tired.

but because this coincided with hot summer weather , and the symptoms developing over a number of weeks rather than days it was not until i completely ruined a family holiday to Disneyland by pretty much living in the toilet , wetting the bed , cutting short a 2 hour safari drive after 15 minutes that my parents took me to the doctor on august 14th.

It took him 5 minutes to send me to hospital for treatment--and the rest is history :D.

with Type 2 the signs can be much slower to be noticed because they can be more subtle and doctors can miss the signs ( although they shouldn't considering its prevalence.'
 
My type II was diagnosed as the result of urine sample given for a life insurance policy. Further tests confirmed a diagnosis but it was 4 months before I got to see an endocrinologist to prescribe anything.
My father's type II was picked up by his GP very quickly when he started complaining about hot feet in bed at night. Although he uncovered the results of a blood test done many years before his actual diagnosis which should have sounded some sort of alarm bell, but didn't.
My friend's type I was spotted as the result of a routine blood test (he works in pharmaceutical R & D), although he had suddenly lost 3 stone in 3 months, another classical sign, but only when you tell the doctor.
 
Hi,

Funny enough.. Similar to @himtoo 's acount. Though it was the summer of 76.. Remember that one? What a scorcher. There was a drought!
I don't remember having a virus. But I do remeber getting skin infections turning to the odd blister on my hands.. I've never had then since. I was always playing in the dirt. Apart from once traveling through India...
I got took to the GP at the time & my mum got fobbed off.. Sooo. We swing by the kiddie ward at the local hospital where my mum's friend was a nurse.. I was admitted straight away & the rest was history...
 
I was prediabetic, 2001.
Diabetic, 2009
Reactive Hypoglycaemiac, 2013.
Who knows! 2020.

Yes I was misdiagnosed, the many GPs that I had didn't have a clue!
 
Mine took months of going back and forth to the doc coming out with antibiotics, head ache pills etc. finally I demanded a blood test. Next day sent straight to A&E and diagnosed Diabetic. Confirmed T1 3 weeks later with blood test results
 
Similar to @himtoo - had a bad virus over christmas 71 and by middle of February 72 I was vomiting and couldn't get out of bed. GP said I had gastroenteritis and I was left with that diagnosis for 2 weeks (he visited often) until my Mother's friend, who ran a nursing home, came over to see me - smelled the acetone on my breath and pronounced that I was diabetic. Next thing the GP is doing tests and I am whisked off to hospital where I spent 2 weeks being stabilised. Never felt so ill in my life - DKA i would guess.
 
A matter of days. I went to see my physician, because I was feeling lethargic, lymph nodes in my neck and at the back of my head were enlarged and tender, and I just generally felt unwell. Initially, they believed I might have mononucleosis, so they sent me for blood work. My blood sugar was 289 non-fasting. The next day, they sent me for an HgbA1C and it was 11. Aside from feeling like I had the flu, I really didn't have any other symptoms.
 
Daibell said:
Hi and welcome. I think you need to change your GP. To just say your blurred eyesight was a virus sounds pretty weird to me.
Click to expand...

It sounded a bit weird to me as well, but googling what causes blurry eyes, Herpes and Conjunctivitis are both way up there. Herpes is a virus and Conjunctivitis can be caused by a virus (or in fact a bacteria). Blurry vision is one of the many symptoms of diabetes and can only be considered when presented with other symptoms. Looking at Diabetes as a whole, a GP should in theory be looking at your BG if you turn up with several of the acknowledged symptoms, these list are from 2 different sources.

Common symptoms of diabetes (type 1):
  • Excessive thirst.
  • Increased urination (sometimes as often as every hour)
  • Unexpected weight loss.
  • Fatigue or tiredness.
  • Nausea, perhaps vomiting.
  • Blurred vision.
  • In women, frequent vaginal infections.
  • In men and women, yeast infections (thrush)
Common symptoms of diabetes (type I and II):
  • Urinating often.
  • Feeling very thirsty.
  • Feeling very hungry - even though you are eating.
  • Extreme fatigue.
  • Blurry vision.
  • Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal.
  • Weight loss - even though you are eating more (type 1)
  • Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2)
If you turn up at your doctor with just blurry vision, he/she'd struggle to come to a quick diagnosis. I had blurry vision and it was the sign of a massive internal bleed. Something that they'd never have diagnosed until I collapsed, luckily at home.
There's a large number of eye problems that cause blurred vision, so maybe the optician would be the place to start. Then with non eye issues, there's migraine, stroke, even the medications we take can cause blurred vision.
 
It was the optician who diagnosed me. I went along with very blurred vision after previously having no vision problems.
She recommended that I go for a blood test the next day I had a call from the doctor to say that he had a bed waiting for me at the hospital.
Spent three days in there and was put onto a sliding scale of insulin.
 
I diagnosed myself at xmas when my mum bought me a new (smaller) tv and the writing was so blurred. It was xmas. I knew somehow from downing 2 2 litre bottles of lemonade at night and never quenching mly thirst that I was diabetic. Goodness knows how I knew, as there was no internet to look up the symptoms. I left it until Jan 6th to go to GP who told me to wee on a strip and then told me I was diabetic and he would get me into hospital the next day. I went out that night and had lots of sweet white wine and went to hospital 1st thing next day. Within 30 mins I had my first injection in my leg.
 
graj0 said:
It sounded a bit weird to me as well, but googling what causes blurry eyes, Herpes and Conjunctivitis are both way up there. Herpes is a virus and Conjunctivitis can be caused by a virus (or in fact a bacteria). Blurry vision is one of the many symptoms of diabetes and can only be considered when presented with other symptoms. Looking at Diabetes as a whole, a GP should in theory be looking at your BG if you turn up with several of the acknowledged symptoms, these list are from 2 different sources.

Common symptoms of diabetes (type 1):
  • Excessive thirst.
  • Increased urination (sometimes as often as every hour)
  • Unexpected weight loss.
  • Fatigue or tiredness.
  • Nausea, perhaps vomiting.
  • Blurred vision.
  • In women, frequent vaginal infections.
  • In men and women, yeast infections (thrush)
Common symptoms of diabetes (type I and II):
  • Urinating often.
  • Feeling very thirsty.
  • Feeling very hungry - even though you are eating.
  • Extreme fatigue.
  • Blurry vision.
  • Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal.
  • Weight loss - even though you are eating more (type 1)
  • Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2)
If you turn up at your doctor with just blurry vision, he/she'd struggle to come to a quick diagnosis. I had blurry vision and it was the sign of a massive internal bleed. Something that they'd never have diagnosed until I collapsed, luckily at home.
There's a large number of eye problems that cause blurred vision, so maybe the optician would be the place to start. Then with non eye issues, there's migraine, stroke, even the medications we take can cause blurred vision.
Click to expand...
I agree in some respects but the A&E guy apparently diagnosed in 30secs and asked about symptoms. We don't know whether the GP asked the right questions?
 
I was diagnosed by my 11 year old sister after she had watched a TV programme about diabetes. That was about 12 months after my symptoms started to appear.
 
My doctors surgery at the time always as complaints, used to have a few really good permenant doctors but now there changing so often, told my doctor about blurry vision feeling tired and drinking lots and something similar to pins and needles all over my body. didn't mention urinating a lot as I thought that was just because I was drinking loads. it was that doctor who a few years ago told me I had hayfever in December with snow on the ground.it was actually a pharmacist at Tesco who told me to go to a&e.
 
Hi encore 1332
I wasn't feeling right, dizzy, terrible headache. Went to doc and once I did a urine sample it showed up lots of sugar he did blood tests and within a day I was diagnosed. He sent me to hosp because my levels were vy high. It made sense then of the going to the loo at night, drinking lots and loosing weight. They said it was going on since around xmas, amazing the history your blood can tell!
 
I went to the doc because I was having heart palpitations. At the time I was newly retired, regularly looking after a grandchild, losing weight slowly but surely (deliberately) and feeling better than I had done for years - except for the palpitations! She sent me for heart monitoring but also did a range of blood tests which showed up the diabetes.

With hindsight, I also had some numbness in one hand and very sensitive feet but I had never heard of neuropathy and didn't know it was s symptom of diabetes so didn't report it. I should have been expecting the diabetes diagnosis because my mum had it in later life. I had asked about monitoring in the past but was told it wasn't necessary as the symptoms would be obvious. They weren't!

The diabetes is now under control for the moment. Latest HbA1c 41. But I never found out what was causing the palpitations!
 
My Mum told the GP 50 years ago I had diabetes, he refused point blank to believe her. Told her she was an over protective mother worrying about nothing as I was far to young to have diabetes. Told her when next passing to drop in a urine sample. Mum had come prepared. Drs face dropped a mile he closed the surgery and drove Mum and I straight to the hospital. Mum said he never stopped apologising the whole time. The rest is history as they say.
 
CarbsRok said:
My Mum told the GP 50 years ago I had diabetes, he refused point blank to believe her. Told her she was an over protective mother worrying about nothing as I was far to young to have diabetes. Told her when next passing to drop in a urine sample. Mum had come prepared. Drs face dropped a mile he closed the surgery and drove Mum and I straight to the hospital. Mum said he never stopped apologising the whole time. The rest is history as they say.
Click to expand...

Sorry to like that but it did make me chuckle to think of a GP driving and apologising.
 
I had a severe chest infection which took two courses of prednisolone to clear it. I ended up with blurry distance vision which could've been a side effect of the steroids so I spoke to my GP who sent me for a series of blood tests and diabetes was the diagnosis. I'd exhibited some of the diabetes symptoms before, particularly the sudden tiredness following a carb heavy meal but hadn't linked it to diabetes. I'd also been peeing a lot, espcially at night but as I have a caffeine intolerance had put those symptons down to that. That said, the diabetes diagnosis did not really surprise me at all.
 
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