Hospital error?

[Littleholls]

Hi I'm a new poster and not sure if this is in the right place, I just want a bit of a vent and to hear your opinions.

In September I went to a and e suffering an early miscarriage (8 weeks gestation) and was referred to early pregnancy unit (epu).

Miscarriage was explained way as 'one of those things' etc.

Fast forward to November, all the classic type 1 symptoms began, thirst, urination, fatigue etc. I went to gp and bg was do high their machine couldn't read it and I was immediately sent to hospital for iv meds and insulin. In hospital I mentioned miscarriage and no link was made. All explained as coincidence.

I began the long process of coming to terms with type 1. Was referred to diabetic pre conception clinic and this is where things began to get messy....

Looking at my notes, the consultant mentioned my 'previous gestational diabetes' of which I had never heard.

It turns out my bg reading at the time of the miscarriage was abnormal. Never, during any epu appointment was this mentioned, despite the fact that typically gestational diabetes presents in second or third trimester.

I was left, with known high bg, never having been told, until hospitalisation 2 months later with dangerously high bg (40 mmol).

Why was I never informed of haywire glucose at the time of the miscarriage?

Why was no follow up undertaken following the miscarriage?

Even if hospital perceived this to be gest. isn't it important I'm made aware for subsequent pregnancy?

Sorry, this is an epic post, I know!

I know type 1 can't be avoided or prevented, but I do feel that if my initial high bg had been investigated (or followed up) instead of being put down to gest it wouldn't have got to dangerous levels.

Thank you for reading this essay!!!!

 

[copepod]

Will try to find a reference, but I think that having gestational diabetes makes a woman more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in the future, but not sure that GD has any effect on risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

However, it's definitely worth discussing your situation with your diabetes team, and, if you're considering another pregnancy, ask to be referred to pre-conception clinic (combined diabetes & obstetrics). Most miscarriage clinics won't accept a referral after "just" one miscarriage - not that I mean that 1 miscarriage is nothing to be concerned about, just that's how obstetric clinics view such matters.

 

[Littleholls]

I was at a preconception appointment when this arose. Seems I was showing symptoms of type 1 at the time of mc and it was dismissed as gd, only to lead to things escalating and hospitalisation two months later.

 

[smidge]

Hi Littleholls!

Sorry for what you've been through. I think it is highly likely you were simply misdiagnosed. Many of us on this forum were misdiagnosed as Type 2 when we are actually a form of Type 1. Many of us were made Ill by our misdiagnosis. I guess GD was the most likely cause of high BG for you at that time and they didn't investigate further. Terrible that they didn't even tell you about the high BGs so you could keep an eye on it. I'm afraid it is an all too common story with the NHS and diabetes.

Take care

Smidge

 

[hanadr]

A misscarriage is a traumatic event and needs time to gt over. It could have been a co-incidence, as anything up to 25% of all early pregnancies are lost.
However, if you had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, you should have been handed over to the diabetic pregnancy team. At such an early stage, had you even got a formal diagnosis of pregnancy?
If you are not happy with what you are being told by the medics, contact your local PALs[patient liaison] group. Most likely through your hospital switchboard or hospital website. They have a time limit for dealing with patient worries. However Ican tell you from personal experience that a full resolution can take a LONG time. My husband had a diabetes related issue, which took just over a year to resolve.
Hana

 

[jopar]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.. As hindsight is what is now being used in your case..

Without having a GTT test prior to your miscarriage or any previous history of pre-diabetes any raised blood glucose during the miscarriage would more than likely to be attributed to the normal reaction of a non-diabetic to either body under stress or an underlying infection. Dependant on what the reading was would depend whether a flag would have been raised concerning a need to follow up.. Which it seems in your case your level wasn't flagged at meeting this clinical criteria..

It is more than likely that it's not somebody failed to inform you of something that you medically needed to know, but that with hindsight their medical clinical judgement is being clouded either by putting two and two together and making 5 or not noting all relevant information, they may have assumed that your were further into your pregnancy than 8 weeks due to your hospital admittance which is unusual for a miscarriage in early pregnancy.

The instances of gestational diabetes in the first trimester and even during pregnancy is on the increase in league with the increase of T2 diabetes being diagnosed within the younger population, as GD is linked to T2 which is linked to obesity traits.. Which if you are carrying a little extra weight could when thrown into the pot of clinical decision of presentation lead could also mislead..

Being diagnosed in the first trimester of a pregnancy lead me to my type being misdiagnosed, its a pretty long story which almost cost me my life... And sends shudders down the spine to those who I tell it too...

Best thing that you can do now, is concentrate on coming to terms with the loss, getting your head around your T1 diabetes so that when you ready to try again, you'll mentally and physically in the best position for an healthy outcome..

A little statistic here 1-5 first6 pregnancies end up in a miscarriage, and most will go on to have normal pregnancies with healthy babies...

 

[Littleholls]

Thank you everyone for replies.

I think I'm just having a bit of a tough time at the moment. It's only now the shock of both mc and diagnosis is easing that I'm realising all of the implications. I guess I want to 'blame' somebody!

I'm so glad I found this forum though I've spent a stupid amount of time reading through and hope I'll be in the position to offer advice before lOng!