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I am baffled and need advice and help :)

C

calumcco

Well-Known Member
OK, this is very confusing but let me try and break this down so it is easy for you guys to try and help me.

July 2011 - Aged 23 I start to retch/dry heave for no obvious reason and it concerns me but I try and get on with my life.

2012 - The retching all but disappears apart from a few times which were over so quickly I didn't even get bothered.

Feb 2013 - The retching appears again and starts striking me quite badly, it has become more often, more unpredictable and is more violent and accompanied with panic and a feeling of impending doom.

September 2013 - After 26 months of retching on and off I had enough and went to see my GP. I asked to be tested for Coeliac Disease as my mum was diagnosed with the condition in 2001 and I thought that I might have inherited the condition hence my body retching to get the gluten out of my system.
He sent me for various blood tests. All came back clear apart from my "Glucose Fasting" test. The test revealed that I had a Fasting Glucose Level of 7.9. My GP said that a level of this severity would "almost certainly indicate diabetes"

October 2013 - I have a repeat Glucose Fasting test. This time around I have given a Fasting Glucose level of 6.7. My GP says that it has dropped but is still higher than the normal levels expected in a healthy individual.
My GP informs me that I should attend my hospital and have an "Oral Glucose Tolerance Test" to "query diabetes"

I am very baffled by all of this. I am 25, I am 5'10 and weigh 9 stone 8lb's. I have a BMI of 19.2kg/m2 and I am very slim. I don't smoke and there is no history of diabetes in my family and I don't fit any of the criteria that is related to a diabetic patient.

I drink heavily and eat a lot of mints to supress my retching/dry heaving. Could these factors be causing my blood sugar levels to rise?

I have found some websites which link low blood sugar levels with "vomit like reflexes" Could this be causing my retching?

Please can anyone on this forum offer me any shred of comfort as I am very stressed and anxious about this whole scenario. I don't wish to have diabetes and I don't believe I do.

Thanks guys
Calum
 
It would be helpful if you said which drink you took heavily. Spirits do not impact greatly on diabetes but beer does.

The Glucose fasting tests are both not right really and suggest that you may have a problem.

You don't have to be heavy to have diabetes. That's just the publicity.

I am not aware that blood sugar causes vomiting but you could be the first and advance our knowledge on that point if you associated your intake with your output ...............so to speak.
 
Hi there, sorry I didn't elaborate further with regards to my alcohol intake. I drink only lagers, namely Fosters and Heineken and drink every night of the week. About 2-4 cans on average a night depending. Would you say my glucose levels were "grossly abnormal?
 
And with regards to "vomiting" I never do actually vomit. I just have annoying, sporadic bursts of retching and dry heaving that produce no vomit and there is no pain in any part of my body in the whole time I have had this annoying condition.
 
Diabetic or not - before my diagnosis up to 28 cans of lager a week would make me feel sick I am certain. Could be that your body has become intolerant to alcohol.

Retching has never been given as a symptom of Diabetes to my knowledge but as a reaction to some medications - yes, of course.
 
My view is that those fasting levels aren't too bad and could be affected in some people by the overnight liver-dump effect that we all have to some degree. Having a GTT is a good idea and will be a better indicator of diabetes as would an HBa1C test. A fasting test is a very 'loose' test. If a young slim person shows sings of diabetes and the right tests confirm it then it is more likely to be Late onset Type 1 then Type 2 (sorry to be a bit negative). Even if this turns out to be valid, with the right diet and tablets then it could be a good number of years before the nest stage of treatment; it took me about 8 years. BTW I can't comment on the retching and you must keep in contact with the GP on that.
 
I think that you should go for that oral glucose tolerance test. It will show where you 'stand'. It's scary but it's better to know.
Truly normal levels are much lower and when fasting will not have been influenced by any sweets you ate many hours before as they will have been digested.
What is Normal Blood Glucose http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/16422495.php

You may find no problem, if there is one you need to do something about it.

Though a minority of people (10%) with T2 diabetes may be thin, they do tend to be older. However alcohol can contribute to the development of T2.
http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/check-the-f ... y/diabetes

We are not doctors and none of us know all your details so please take the next part as a personal experience and not a diagnosis.

Re tolerance to alcohol, mine was greatly reduced during the period leading up to my diagnosis with T1 diabetes . I could only drink a glass or so of wine without being sick, particularly on an empty stomach. However, it was not 'dry' retching.
My onset of T1 was slow, over a few years, not the fast onset that you read about in young children. I was actually in my 50s so not young at all. I have a form of T1 called LADA (latent autoimmune diabetes in adults)

People with LADA are more likely to have :
http://www.locallada.swan.ac.uk/faq.html
•Uncontrolled high blood sugars (hyperglycaemia) despite a healthy diet and oral agents (tablets used to treat diabetes).
•Evidence of other autoimmune diseases including thyroid disease and coeliacs.
•A family history of autoimmune disease.
•A lower BMI than a person with type 2 diabetes.

I had no family history of diabetes ,I was thin and did have a mother with another autoimmune disease and there can be an inherited predisposition to autoimmune disease.( I now also have autoimune thyroid disease, controlled with a tiny pill( ) )


If you did have diabetes of any sort, discovering it early means that you can control it early. It takes learning but is very 'doable' You can then have a full and active life, people with diabetes have climbed Everest, won Olympic gold medals and become a judge in the American Supreme Court (basically apart from a few things like flying an RAF plane, you can do anything)
 
I would go along and have the GTT done Callum just to be sure. Reading what you've said about retching I'm surprised your gp has not referred you over to your local hospital to be seen by a gastroenterologists
 
My brother has an ongoing problem with retching too. For him it started as part of an anxiety disorder, and gets worse when he is more anxious/stressed.
It may not be the case with you, but the feelings of impending doom sound very similar to how bro feels when he has a panic issue.
He has been treated with antidepressants and beta blockers which have helped.
 
Hello and thank you all for your replies.

Luceeloo I suffer from anxiety badly and have done since 2004 but I try and cope with St. Johns Wort and Kalms, they do help but alcohol seems to make me feel better. I mentioned that to my GP when I went to him in September about the retching, he seemed to dismiss Anxiety though for some reason?

And why do you think my GP should have sent me to a gastroenterologist?
The lack of any pain makes me think it cant be a digestive/stomach disorder.

And the reason I am very apprehensive about going for this GTT is that I cant drink the night before, and if I cant have a drink in the evening I am certain I will be retching all night and I cant bear to go sober and have retching and a horrible medical test looming over me the night before.
 
I find it more concerning that you feel that you can't deal with things without a drink. Being even slightly under the influence every day for years will be damaging your liver especially. Does your Dr know your intake and if so have you had a liver function test?

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Hi morganator my GP didn't ask about my drinking habits so I didn't mention that I drink heavily to him. Anyway I have heard that if you have any problems with your liver or other associated problems from alcohol abuse then this would show up in the FBC which I had in September. Apparently liver disease or alcohol abuse shows up via the Mean Corpuscular Volume aspect of your FBC.

And I have never had a liver function test!
 
calumcco said:
And why do you think my GP should have sent me to a gastroenterologist?
The lack of any pain makes me think it cant be a digestive/stomach disorder.
Click to expand...

Well a gastroenterologist deals with problems of the oesophagus and stomach and you did say earlier( in your opening post) that you ''eat a lot of mints to supress my retching'' which could mean its a reflux problem, as your gp can't find the cause it would only be sensible to refer you over to a specialist for further investigation.....wouldn't you agree?
 
Yes I agree with you entirely but my GP says I can't have a stomach/digestion problem (i.e. reflux) as I don't have any heartburn or other pain in my stomach area... That's why I am at such a loss, however I will mention it again to him when I next see him.
 

It's worth mentioning that you drink two to three pints a night.
But 3 to 6 units a night is up to twice the advised limit of 21 units, so a couple of cans are always better than four, and a night off would help.
 
I agree Douglass99 but I drink to supress the retching/gag reflex, if I go a night without an alcoholic beverage then I feel very scared and petrified and the only thing that calms me down is 3-4 cans of lager. I used to be able to go without beer for weeks at a time, but stress has got to me unfortunately
 
Have a can of Fosters, then switch to a session beer/lager.
Have a bottle or two of the supermarket lagers at 2.5% or so, or a tin of Carlsberg.
 
Calumcco,

I'm sorry to be blunt but you're not going to like what I found online, Symptoms of Fatty Liver Disease:

Alcoholic patients may encounter non-specific digestive symptoms, such as anorexia, morning nausea with dry retching...

I think you need to come clean with your GP so that appropriate tests and treatment can be provided.
 
I'm going to be blunt too, the fact that you say that you cannot go a night without alcohol because you feel scared and petrified, in my opinion, shows a dependency.
Go back to your GP and tell him how much and how often you drink. Also tell him it is at the stage that you need it to be able to function normally.
The liver is an amazing organ and with the right care and medication can recover if caught in time. Ask about counselling too, then maybe you can get to the room cause of your anxiety and find better coping mechanisms.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Hi guys, thanks for being blunt and honest!
I would just like to clarify thought that it isn't morning nausea with dry retching, I don't feel the urge to be sick, it is more of a bad habit sensation or overactive gag reflex I believe, and as for anorexia??? I can assure you all I don't have any type of anorexia. And I have had this retching nearly 28 months now, surely if it was something as serious as fatty liver disease it would have progressed further to more severe symptoms after 2 and a half years???

And the only reason I cant go a night without alcohol is because it supresses the retching sensation and if I don't have a drink to "calm me down" then I would feel completely overwhelmed by this awful dry heaving/retching. Alcohol also helps me sleep as well, I have had sleeping issues since I was about 4 years old.
 
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