Endless Symptoms. Advice?

So I've just spent the night at A and E, after experiencing a slow onset of recurring symptoms for the last month or two. These include -

Severe Joint Pain
Testicular Pain
Dry Eyes w/ Vision Problems (possibly retinopathy related)
Blood Glucose mostly in the mid to high 20s
Chest Pain/Tightness
Dizziness
Swollen Throat
Hand Tremors
Poor Cognition
Neuropathy
Depression

These mostly started to occur after a bout of food poisoning, which I believed triggered them. I somehow believed that these symptoms were just my body still fighting off the infection, and that I'd improve. I've not had the best control of my blood sugars in the past, but have seen improvements in the last few years. Have followed a healthy lifestyle (diet/exercise/mindfulness) for a long time.

After explaining all of this to a Doctor and countless medical professionals, I was not taken seriously and sent home with a double dose of antibiotics without any extra testing or answers as to what's going on. I understand that the NHS is under extreme crisis at the moment, so try to keep a polite and positive open mind when it comes to dealing with them, even though the whole experience was appalling. I constantly get brushed off by medical professionals because I am young (23). I am extremely depressed.

I've managed to book an emergency appointment with my GP later today as an effort to get my health back under control. My only other option I believe after this is to sell all of my possessions so I can afford to go private...

Anyone out there who has any advice for me I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you

Brunneria said:

Hi,

When I read your list of syptoms, the thing that popped into my head was Vit B12 deficiency.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/vitamin-b12-deficiency-symptoms-causes#1

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamin-b12-or-folate-deficiency-anaemia/symptoms/

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20924065,00.html#the-energy-vitamin-1

There are also some documentaries on the subject on youtube, if you do a search

You can get a test for B12 on the NHS (if you can persuade a doc to take you seriously), or you can buy supplements. If you go for self supplementation, then I believe (please do your own research) that the ones that dissolve under the tongue are the most easily absorbed.

Please bear in mind that I am not qualified to give any medical advice, and that you need to do your own reading on this.

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Hi there,

Thanks for your response. Whilst I do eat meat I also take a high quality multivitamin that includes B12 so if this is part of the problem it would be due to absorption rather than intake. Fortunately I've ordered a full blood test as well as a test for rheumatoid arthritis since this runs in the family (father diagnosed in his 20s)

After some more testing it turns out I had a lot of underlying infections I was unaware of (stomach, bladder, chest) so this explains the high blood sugars which was making everything else a lot more difficult. Symptoms are slowly starting to slow down as I'm taking some strong antibiotics.

Being more proactive has helped my mindset a little, and have my eye test coming up soon to get a better idea of the vision issues.

.

catapillar said:

@happydaze why are your blood sugars in the 20s? Do you give correction doses when you see blood sugars up there? Do you have ketone testing kit?

Your high blood sugars won't be doing anything to help your depression, retinopathy or neuropathy. Your high blood sugars are probably causing the chest tightness and poor cognition.

Are you aware of the sick day rules for correcting when I'll or with an infection? Obviously illness can make blood sugars harder to control but there's a reason there are guides on how to correct during illness. You are really risking DKA by not following them.

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I'm not worried at all about DKA since this has only ever happened to me when I have absolutely no insulin in my body, even just basal manages to keep me clear of ketones despite high blood sugars.

I was aware of them yes, but found the numbers to keep changing in terms of how much a unit would reduce blood sugar by. Was very confusing as my insulin sensitivity changes quite frequently. On this occasion, extra boluses didn't work when I tried to give correction dosages, still ran high despite extra basal as well. Most likely the infection/stress/dehydration making me insulin resistant, since the more insulin I take the less effective it seems to be.

Blood glucose is now under better control, and am preparing to start logging everything again to get the full picture of my readings/dosages. This has helped tremendously in the past even though it's quite tedious...

Grumpy ole thing said:

Hi @happydaze, is there someone who can support you with this? Are you ok with counting carbs, have you been on a dafne course? I find that through the day my ratio's change, also if my numbers are high the ratios don't work the same. Sounds like you're heading in the right direction; good for you. I'm testing a theory about the number of steps I do in a day and my numbers, as an office worker I don't get to move much some days. Good luck x

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Not much support around me at the moment hence I'm being a bit more active on here which is definitely helping. This site is great! So much info and brilliant people here.

Yes I've been on a course I think they called it BERTIE back when I did it - pretty sure it's similar. Counting carbs doesn't seem to be that effective for me, I tend to have to factor in lots of other things rather than just carbs (fiber, fats, exercise, bg trends and insulin timing)

Thanks for positive feedback Hope your experiment goes well for you, can't go wrong with some steps/movement to get the circulation going!