Fainting Incident - Help Needed

This morning MH went for a full spectrum blood test. He had to fast for 12 hours prior to his 9.40am appointment.

When he got to the doctors, there was a mix up and they had him booked in for 9.40am tomorrow, not today, even though his appointment card said today. They sent him home and told him to go back at 10.30am. I went with him this time as we were planning to shop afterwards.

When the nurse took the bloods, MH fainted. Quite a long faint, eyeballs hit the back of his skull, skin was paper white. He was sitting in the chair up against a wall and I had to hold him upright whilst the nurse panicked and told me to fetch the doctor. We got the doctor who administered oral glucose (about 60ml) whilst the nurse did his bloods - 5.2mmol so it wasn't a hypo - when MH had come round enough we moved him to the examination couch so that we could raise his feet above his heart. All told this episode lasted about twenty minutes. We were told to go home, have tea & breakfast. By this time MH had been running on empty for 16 hours. Breakfast was three very small thin slices of brown spelt flour bread (heavily seeded) butter and a thin scraping of half sugar jam and a pint of unsweetened tea.

It's now nearly 14.30 and MH still feels ill, and getting worse. His bloods climbed steadily from 5.2 to 10.6 mmol half an hour ago. His pulse is about 60 per minute. He says he feels like he's been steamrollered, his legs are really achy and he's incredibly tired. I ought to add that he's no longer on any Metformin - took his last one yesterday morning.

Why is he still feeling ill?

Ju

Lucy, I've been trying to get hold of our DSN but no luck. Latest BG is 8.6, so it's coming down. I've made him walk around a bit and he says his legs are better.

I want to call the doctor but he won't have it, says I'm making a fuss - but this was scary stuff. I think we have definitely confirmed that he is T2 after the DSN saying she thought he wasn't last Monday. He's being tested for B12 deficiency and all sorts of other things, so his system isn't working as it should be and I wondered if there was an adverse reaction to the glucose.

Ju

He's better now, but still tired - which is possibly mild shock.

Was it technically a hyper? The glucose was far too much for his system. He did say that it felt just like he'd binged and binged on sweets. I don't think he'll ever need a GTT........more likely a G&T.

I was really quite shocked to have a DSN who was panicking and a doctor who asked the nurse what she do.

Ju

He's feeling better now and ready for dinner!

Heaven help us if he needs a two week course of daily injections for his Vit B12 deficiency. Before the fainting the nurse did say she thought he was definitely deficient of Vit B.

He thinks that it was a combination of the nurse telling him horrible case histories about injections, and the quick glance he got of the blood-filled needle. It was also incredibly stuffy in the treatment room. So a combination of that, hunger and Jopar's brilliant explanation probably covers it.

Now, my carb bible says 100ml of white wine is 3.6 carbs...think I'll work that into my supper carb limit! MH can have some red....to replace the missing corpuscles!

Ju

We're a bit confused now; the last reading was taken at 14.46pm and was 8.4. He's just done another reading immediately after strangled eggs, bacon and a tomato and a glass of red wine and it's 4.2.

We thought, given the amount of glucose he swallowed, it would be higher?

Ju

I can see why it might be best to let a fainting person drop - but not this one. He's 17st, has spinal problems and wears glasses. No way was he being allowed to fall forwards onto his head on a polished concrete floor. That would have been tooooo messy.

This morning he's feeling quite good. We're allowed to OD him on B12 so he's having 1000mg morning and night. The night time ones have a good effect.

Three good things have come out of yesterday's capers; he's not craving sweets and sugary stuff any more - eating those would be too scary and ill-making. And he'll never need a GTT......and, of course, we now definitely know that he is a T2 diabetic.

Ju

Stephen, you would've thought he was in the right place...but neither nurse nor doctor knew what to do. The nurse was panicking and the doctor asked her what she should do. I was propping MH in his chair and grabbed a magazine or something to fan him with. I also had to ask the nurse to make a cold compress and I had to stop her from continually slapping him and shouting his name. Fainters generally come round when they're ready and it's dangerous to rush it. They didn't even have the facilities to offer him a drink of water when he was feeling better, and it was really stuffy in the treatment room.

I was taught in the Brownies about faints. "Check the airways are clear, if possible put the patient in the recovery position, watch carefully and wait for the patient to come round. Talk to them gently as they maybe disorientated when they come round. If they haven't come round after a few minutes get a first aider, doctor or an ambulance."

I hope they went and studied Fainting 101 when I'd taken him home....

Ju