Dka hospital admission!!

Sarahfergo

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109
Oh my lord I've had the week from hell!! So I start of with stomach bug and I'm on an insulin pump and ended up getting very poorly very quickly, My meter read high and my ketones were 4.9 so I rang 111 and they said they would send an ambulance so I wait whilst be sick etc this was at 2am and it came to 4 am so I rang back at this time I was confused and they said make your way to the hospital they have made me an appointment. At this time I have up and went to bed and locked my door, next minute I came around on the floor with police and paramedics over me this was at 6.30am I only know this as my dad looked into it as the police had to kick my door down I can't believe no one came to me earlier. Anyway in hospital day 3 starting to recover during the night my whole slide and scale was disconnected because I needed new lines in and she had to get a doc. After a while I kept saying I need my insulin drips etc because I'll get worse and she said no you will be fine sarah! Later I said I feel terrible check my ketones so she said no they were gone hours ago I was like but no they are back I feel bad! She just walked out, 3 hours later she checked my blood and it was 18 at this time I was so poorly she had to ring the alarm and it's the worst thing I've ever been through she eventually did my ketones and it was 7.6 I thought I was going to die I had chest pains hypoventerlating Could swallow heart going very fast I actually thought that was it and it was all that stupid nurses fault as I would have been out of hospital sooner if it wasn't for that!! I was even given morpheme coz the pains were so bad!! Well it gets better my dad rang the nurse who causes this and she lied to my dad saying she had checked my ketones when she hadn't, my diabetic team went mad there is going to be a full investigation into it. I just feel that was the worse dka I've ever had and it's really put fears up me I can't believe how let down I've been by the nhs, I know why though because they don't have the knowledge for diabetes this is not the first time I've gone in and ended up worse. Anyone else had a bad dka?


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totsy

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That is terrible, i have luckily only had it once when diagnosed 10 yrs ago, I have heard of many peoples diabetes getting worse in hospital though and that is one of my worries that if i ever ended up there i would be the same,
hope you get some answers and are now on the road to recovery:)
 

jodysd6

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190
I have had several episodes of DKA, and I have to admit a few were from me not looking after myself properly, but I know what you mean about hospitals maybe not having much knowledge, I was always scared to question what they were doing. I once went to a&e and thought I might be in DKA, I had a horrendous headache and was throwing up but before going to the hospital I had taken yet another huge correction shot via syringe. When I got there they tested my blood sugar and it was 7.9 so they assumed (or it felt like they assumed) that I was just being overdramatic. It was only when I started hallucinating that they attempted to even take bloods and then discovered I had the most severe DKA I had ever had.
 

Alanp35

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When my results came in Oct 2013 it was 71. I have heard of people being hospitalized for similar levels. Thank goodness I wasn't



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Riri

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Really sorry that you're having such a horrid time Sarah. Let's hope you get yourself fixed quickly and that you feel better soon. The hospital staff sound as if they haven't got a clue. Let's hope something positives comes from the investigation and that they learn lessons as it it so serious when they ignore ketones or low sugars.
 

Ambersilva

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715
Type of diabetes
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Insulin
dollydaydream2014 wrote I've never tested for ketones ..don't even know how to...is that bad


If your blood glucose reaches 14 you should also test your blood for ketones and inject insulin to bring the level down to a safe level. In the instructions that accompany the meter there will be recommendations on how to reduce ketones in the blood.

Request a meter that tests blood for ketones from your GP or diabetic team. I have such a meter but rarely reach blood glucose levels in excess of 14 for prolonged periods of time.

Some people use ketostix that test urine for ketones.
 
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Sarahfergo

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109
Thanks everyone I'm getting there, the diabetic consultant came to see me to explain that these days the dka protocol is so complicated for hospitals to understand he is going to fight to make it the simple way which is just as affective in treating dka, I'm just traumatized by what's actually happened!! How long does it take you guys to fully recover a bad dka? My blood are good now but I still feel terrible :( x


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tomvonc

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I had it when it was first diagnosed by my GP. He basically just said "I'm putting you in hospital" and called an ambulance. I was flushed through with IV fluids and put on an insulin infusion, and a Potassium drip, and felt great (relativly speaking after spending about 2 weeks in a state of DKA) after about 2 hours.
 

knightsbliss

Member
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i know what you mean my mum used to have some major arguments with them while i was in hospital as they didn't seems to have a clue. i think they didn't realise that you being on a pump wasn't having any long acting insulin so being off the pump you had no back ground insulin to help you keep you sugars down. my last stay in hospital was down the fact my school didn't have a clue how to deal with a real hypo and the paramedics at the time didn't know how to deal with a bad hypo, my mum gave them some tips how to deal with them. after that my mum home tutored and after then i have not a single stay in hospital since 2006.
 
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