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How urgent is it to get diagnosed?

O

omarm

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17
My son is 7, coming onto 8 next month
The doctor has said he needs to have a blood test to see if he has diabetes
He's gone away with his mum for the one week half term break staying at the inlaws - so we can't get any tests done until he gets back
How important is it to get the blood test done immediately??

10 days ago, out of the blue he'd have to go to the toilet again and again and again to urinate
Suddenly he'll get an urge to go to the toilet, he'd go. Then typically he'd want to go again 60 seconds later - and then again 2 minutes later
He doesn't seem to be able to last 30 - 45 minutes without going

We took him to the doctor. She thought he might have a urine infection so gave a course of antibiotics to be taken for 5 days
She said the immediate results of the urine sample indicated it was't all clear and had to be sent off to the hospital

Today, I called the surgery and spoke to a doctor and told them the antibiotic had no effect and we still had the same problem
The doctor said that the urine test results had come back and had showed there was no problem with his urine sample
He said write a slip and told us we'd need to get a blood test done

I'm worried sick right now
I don't actually that much about diabetes in kids - all I know is that it's really really serious
Are we OK to wait one week for him to get back and then do a blood test?

I've read the symptoms associated with diabetes
Yes at this moment in time he has to go very very frequently
But the other symptoms, I've got no idea - they could be there, but we might just have not spotted

I'm just praying that I'm wasting my time and that everything will be OK

Any replies would be appreciated

Thanks


Omar
 
Hi,

Of course if the Doc has said he should have a test, he should have that test. There is a dip test in a sample of urine that can be done by the doc during an appointment that would give a meaningful reading. I would have thought that the doc would have done this test if he thought the situation was urgent. I was diagnosed that way.

Is your son drinking a lot - by that I mean really noticeably much more than he normally consumes?
 
thanks for the reply
i could get my son to go to an emergency doctor appointment where he is and get a test done on monday with his mum
if i didn't call the doctor today, then i wouldn't know - the first doctor who saw us said to call in a 2 weeks time

dip test: is that urine or blood test?

drinking a lot - i couldn't say - that's the problem
we have loads of fruit juices in the house and coke - he simply helps himself
i'm obsessed with the kids not having too many sweets - but don't really bother with the drinks

the symptoms also mention stomach pains - well he has these quite a lot - but not exactly serious enough that i thought he'd need to go to the doctor

mood swings: erm, he's full of energy and fighting and playing, getting upset, getting angry, laughing away shouting - i'm sure there must be a dozen mood swings in there

all i know is that right now - 5 days after he started the antibiotics, he still has a major problem - he has to go to the toilet many many many times

if a blood test is done: does this need to be sent away to the hospital? or can some sort of test be done immediately?
i wouldn't want to reply on the nhs system to safely transfer a blood test done many miles away to our local nhs system

let me know what u think

many thanks
 
A urine sample is dipped to get readings.

A simple finger prick can provide a "snapshot" of the blood sugar at the moment it is taken.

A more meaningful test is drawn into a vial from a vein by a nurse and sent to a lab. It takes a few days to return a result to the GP who requested the test.

It would be very obvious if your son were drinking a lot of fluid.

Antibiotics take a while to work and urine infections can be quite stubborn.
 
@ambersilva thanks for that - all useful information
i think we'll give it another few days
i'll wait till he gets back to do a blood test
 
Hi. A few thoughts. You can buy urine test sticks from a chemist or on the web e.g. Amazon. I was diagnosed by my diabetes GP in the surgery on the spot using a urine stick. Sugar in the urine starts to show up when the body is dealing with too much sugar in the blood and normally implies diabetes. A pharmacy can also do an on the spot blood sugar test. Yes, blood samples sent off for analysis will normally provide results back to th surgery within a few days. Ask the receptionist for the results; you are entitled to them and hopefully if there is a problem the GP will setup an appointment. I would recommend reducing just a bit the amount of carbs your son is having whilst you wait for results just in case e.g. not too much fruit juice and have no sugar-added drinks. At your son's age diabetes can come on quite quickly but as long as the results can be discussed within a week or so that should be OK, but if you have any urgent concerns go to A&E.
 
@daibell, thank u for the reply - much appreciated

that's great advice.
should i tell his mum to go to pharmacy and buy some urine testing packs?
(or go to the pharmacy with a urine sample? don't think we'd have a container handy though!)

i'm not with him right now so can't control the intake of sugar :(
i'll his mum though. the message will go in one ear and come out the other :(
 
you should be able to pop into any local chemist and have a diatetes test finger pick done.if you are still feel you need a test before they come back then get his mum to pop into a chemist for a test.
 
pump994 said:
you should be able to pop into any local chemist and have a diatetes test finger pick done.if you are still feel you need a test before they come back then get his mum to pop into a chemist for a test.
Click to expand...
so would this be better than a urine test?
 
Hi. Yes, as pump994 says the finger prick test will give an accurate view of the level of blood sugar at the time of measurement. Urine sticks can be quite cheap e.g. perhaps £5 off from Amazon for 50 to 100 sticks; a bit more from the chemist. They are only intended to crudely show whether there is any sugar in the urine and approximately how much thru the colour the stick turns. Sugar in the urine starts to show-up when blood sugar goes to around 11 mmol which is a level at which long-term damage can be done
 
my daughter drank 8 litres in 4 hours...previous night to this wet the bed....i knew then she had diabetes... my friends meter which we pricked her finger with said Hi......i was concerned when the gp said have a blood test in a week if we can get appt.....i got her seen by a consultant in 4 hours... no diabetic comas for her...but yheir thirst is unlike anything else..x
 
elainechi said:
my daughter drank 8 litres in 4 hours...previous night to this wet the bed....i knew then she had diabetes... my friends meter which we pricked her finger with said Hi......i was concerned when the gp said have a blood test in a week if we can get appt.....i got her seen by a consultant in 4 hours... no diabetic comas for her...but yheir thirst is unlike anything else..x
Click to expand...
thanks for the reply elaine
that now worries me a huge amount
diabetic coma?
i'm going to call the wife right now and tell her to go first thing in the morning for the prick blood test
 
really sorry...didn.t mean to worry you so much...point is that i thoyght over a week was far too long espcially how quick kids can become ill....what i know is very didn.t as janes body copes well with high blood sugars and i mean over 20 but that is a different story.....its the amount they drink is the important factor...hope the prick test eas ok x
 
@elaine, thanks for the reply. i was't panicking, just happy that i was a little bit more awake of what could happen

my wife called a few pharmacies who all said they can't do a blood test and that we needed to go to the doctor and/or hospital

she then asked at the local surgery who said that a blood test could only be done in hospital

i'm highly cautious of having done at a hospital - the results could get lost and never transferred

blood test: i'm not 100% sure my wife was clear about the fact that she wanted a prick test - thought just occurred in my head
doesn't make much sense. the testing units only cost about £10

rather than wait a week, just buy one of these if necessary?
unless someone can suggest a better idea, i'll just tell the wife to do that

thanks
 
elainechi said:
really sorry...didn.t mean to worry you so much...point is that i thoyght over a week was far too long espcially how quick kids can become ill....what i know is very didn.t as janes body copes well with high blood sugars and i mean over 20 but that is a different story.....its the amount they drink is the important factor...hope the prick test eas ok x
Click to expand...


I agree with Elaine....My thirst was literaly unquenchable. As soon as I had finished 1 bottle of water I wanted another. Just a cycle of going to the loo and drinking. I had lost weight which was more noticable with clothes sizes and muscle mass. The biggest highlighter was that my vision went blurred all of a sudden. Also very tired but as I had an 11 month old I just thought it was all part and parcel of being a Mum.

I agree that you need to speak with your wife. I your son doesn't seem to have a huge thirst that may be a good sign. Hope it is something else but if not then with all the help from Drs and this forum things will be OK.

Hope it all works out Ok

Lucy xxx
 
thanks lucy
i haven't noticed a massive thirst urge from him - but he's got access to loads of drink, so hard to judge

he does get super tired - but this coincides with when asked to do school work or read a book - he'll happily stay up really late watching a film if given the chance + wake up at 7am to catch some tv before going to school!
so can't draw any conclusions there

i really hope i'm wasting my time and stressing and worrying - just hoping and praying that it's all nothing
 
omarm said:
thanks lucy
i haven't noticed a massive thirst urge from him - but he's got access to loads of drink, so hard to judge

he does get super tired - but this coincides with when asked to do school work or read a book - he'll happily stay up really late watching a film if given the chance + wake up at 7am to catch some tv before going to school!
so can't draw any conclusions there

i really hope i'm wasting my time and stressing and worrying - just hoping and praying that it's all nothing
Click to expand...


We obviously can't diagnose your son but hope that we can make you less worried, that said, best to be safe than sorry and where children are concerned its best to act quickly and get it checked out asap.

Hope he's OK anyway.

Lucy xxx
 
i think you get the blood form frm the drs and make appt for blood test...you might need to make apptat the hospital as under 12....so do these 2 things soon before your son comes back if you can.....doesn.t sound likely to be diagnosis...jane only lost 8lbs in weight...she was oh so tired...the blood test won.t have to be fasting as it .ll be an hba1c which measures how much glucose in the blood for last 3 mths...good luck im sure things will be fine x
 
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