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Need advice about diabetes

Melm30"5

Melm30"5

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Long story short. 4-5 years ago blood tests came back high blood sugar, gp considered starting insulin but then decided to do fasting test, fasting test came back borderline and nothing has happened with gp since. During this time I have been ill on and off, often very Tired and lose weight and shaky. Only way to control shakes is eat sugar!

Fast forward to Xmas 2018 became very unwell with a silly cold that hit me so hard, NYE couldn't swallow so went to emergency doc as breathing affected ended up with a serious case of oral thrush gp said never seen anything like it and went and got another doc. This doc decided I had a serious immune system problem and immediately checked my blood sugar, it was 5 so ruled diabetes out. Antibiotics given and sent away and saw gp two days later who wanted to do blood tests. Received a call to say my blood sugar is high and they want to do the fasting test again! So I'm confused because it seems sometimes my blood sugar is ok, other times I think it spikes and the occasions I have to eat sugar to stop shaking I'm assuming it's dropped but if every time I have tests I'm not getting a definitive answer what do I do? I drink non stop, horrific dry mouth, itch like mad at night and pee for England. My tired is tired, I'm physically drained and can hardly get out of bed. I can't carry on like this. Had anyone else experienced not getting a definitive result but sugars that are all over the place?? Is this even diabetes symptoms?
 
For now, just look after yourself and get thoroughly tested: your symptoms look like diabetic symptoms, but if your blood sugar numbers aren't diabetic then perhaps it's not that. Mind you, what sort of test was it on NYE? You could get 5 on a finger test and still have issues with diabetes. The HbA1c might be worth looking into, if you haven't had one done

https://diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html
 
Thank you. The first test NYE was a finger prick the second one that's come back high was blood test. Having fasting test Monday but will ask about this hbac test. Thank you so much for your help
 
Go to Walmart and buy a cheap glucose meter and 100 strips for about $30.
 
Melm30"5 said:
Long story short. 4-5 years ago blood tests came back high blood sugar, gp considered starting insulin but then decided to do fasting test, fasting test came back borderline and nothing has happened with gp since. During this time I have been ill on and off, often very Tired and lose weight and shaky. Only way to control shakes is eat sugar!

Fast forward to Xmas 2018 became very unwell with a silly cold that hit me so hard, NYE couldn't swallow so went to emergency doc as breathing affected ended up with a serious case of oral thrush gp said never seen anything like it and went and got another doc. This doc decided I had a serious immune system problem and immediately checked my blood sugar, it was 5 so ruled diabetes out. Antibiotics given and sent away and saw gp two days later who wanted to do blood tests. Received a call to say my blood sugar is high and they want to do the fasting test again! So I'm confused because it seems sometimes my blood sugar is ok, other times I think it spikes and the occasions I have to eat sugar to stop shaking I'm assuming it's dropped but if every time I have tests I'm not getting a definitive answer what do I do? I drink non stop, horrific dry mouth, itch like mad at night and pee for England. My tired is tired, I'm physically drained and can hardly get out of bed. I can't carry on like this. Had anyone else experienced not getting a definitive result but sugars that are all over the place?? Is this even diabetes symptoms?
Click to expand...

A few things.

If you feel bad and shaky and have to take sugar to feel better then this is usually a sign of low blood sugar, not diabetes which is high blood sugar and not helped by even more sugar.

Thrush, on the other hand, is a common side effect of high blood sugar. However they tested and your BG was 5 so pretty normal.

Drinking and peeing is also a classic sign of high blood sugar.

As suggested, you probably need to get a BG meter and test regularly to confirm what your Blood Glucose levels are first thing in the morning and 2 hours after meals. Plenty of advice here about BG testing.

@daisy1 for the newbie welcome.

One thing that can cause low blood glucose is Reactive Hypoglycemia where you eat something then produce too much insulin which takes your BG low. This might explain the shakiness but possibly not the other stuff.

Welcome to the forum. Ask loads of questions, and keep us up to date with your progress.
 
@Melm30"5

Hello Melm and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why

  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
Your symptoms may be due to a virus or something else and not blood levels at all
 
Melm30"5 said:
Long story short. 4-5 years ago blood tests came back high blood sugar, gp considered starting insulin but then decided to do fasting test, fasting test came back borderline and nothing has happened with gp since. During this time I have been ill on and off, often very Tired and lose weight and shaky. Only way to control shakes is eat sugar!

Fast forward to Xmas 2018 became very unwell with a silly cold that hit me so hard, NYE couldn't swallow so went to emergency doc as breathing affected ended up with a serious case of oral thrush gp said never seen anything like it and went and got another doc. This doc decided I had a serious immune system problem and immediately checked my blood sugar, it was 5 so ruled diabetes out. Antibiotics given and sent away and saw gp two days later who wanted to do blood tests. Received a call to say my blood sugar is high and they want to do the fasting test again! So I'm confused because it seems sometimes my blood sugar is ok, other times I think it spikes and the occasions I have to eat sugar to stop shaking I'm assuming it's dropped but if every time I have tests I'm not getting a definitive answer what do I do? I drink non stop, horrific dry mouth, itch like mad at night and pee for England. My tired is tired, I'm physically drained and can hardly get out of bed. I can't carry on like this. Had anyone else experienced not getting a definitive result but sugars that are all over the place?? Is this even diabetes symptoms?
Click to expand...
Have you asked them to test for other types of diabetes (i.e., not the common one which most of us have, which is related to sugar levels). Ours is called diabetes mellitus, but there's also one called diabetes insipidus, which is associated with your pituitary gland, not your pancreas/insulin uptake - I don't know all its symptoms, but I have a friend who has had it now for about 30 years, and she too experienced raging thirst and tiredness before she was diagnosed. She's on medication (don't know what), and starts getting very thirsty and needs to pee like crazy if she doesn't take it. So may be worth checking out.
 
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