I am an expat in NZ. I was diagnosed today with type 1 diabetes after many years of symptoms. I always knew diabetes would catch up with me eventually, but I assumed it would be type 2.
I have taken metformin in the past for PCOS and then when we were trying to conceive I was given a very high dosage of it which I could not tollerate. Shortly after than we gave up trying. Then I was admitted to hospital with pancreatitis.
I had a very unsympathetic consultant who was of the opinion that the only people who get pancreatitis are alcoholics.
A few months later I was back in with similar, but not exact same symptoms (severe vomiting abdominal pain in the appendix region), although the amylase levels were raised, no inflammation of the pancreas was found (CT & MRI scans). Two more admissions about 6 months apart followed, the last time I was throwing up large amounts of blood due to a mallory weiss tear in the oesophagus. In between admissions I was also throwing up bile on a regular basis. As I found the doctors attitude unpleasant I did not want to go there, so when I got these bouts, I just did what they did at the hospital - pain killers and fasting and it brought it under control.
I also noticed that everytime I got it, my period started usually the day after. I kept saying they were related, but the doc said there is no connection. Having just googled I find that glucose levels rise the week before menstruation, which has come as a bit of a shock now.
Having been just diagnosed today, I was warned as my levels are so high that if I start vomiting then I have to call an ambulance. I asked about this and was told this is a common sign when levels get so high.
The question is, could this pancreatitis have been a mis-diagnosis? At the time they said my levels were high but nothing to worry about as pancreatitis does that. By the time they saw me at the hospital I would have been unable to keep anything down for 24-48 hours, so high levels after that length of time sure should have been of concern. Also by fasting as a way of treating myself, this would also have had the effect of bringing my levels down.
I have taken metformin in the past for PCOS and then when we were trying to conceive I was given a very high dosage of it which I could not tollerate. Shortly after than we gave up trying. Then I was admitted to hospital with pancreatitis.
I had a very unsympathetic consultant who was of the opinion that the only people who get pancreatitis are alcoholics.
A few months later I was back in with similar, but not exact same symptoms (severe vomiting abdominal pain in the appendix region), although the amylase levels were raised, no inflammation of the pancreas was found (CT & MRI scans). Two more admissions about 6 months apart followed, the last time I was throwing up large amounts of blood due to a mallory weiss tear in the oesophagus. In between admissions I was also throwing up bile on a regular basis. As I found the doctors attitude unpleasant I did not want to go there, so when I got these bouts, I just did what they did at the hospital - pain killers and fasting and it brought it under control.
I also noticed that everytime I got it, my period started usually the day after. I kept saying they were related, but the doc said there is no connection. Having just googled I find that glucose levels rise the week before menstruation, which has come as a bit of a shock now.
Having been just diagnosed today, I was warned as my levels are so high that if I start vomiting then I have to call an ambulance. I asked about this and was told this is a common sign when levels get so high.
The question is, could this pancreatitis have been a mis-diagnosis? At the time they said my levels were high but nothing to worry about as pancreatitis does that. By the time they saw me at the hospital I would have been unable to keep anything down for 24-48 hours, so high levels after that length of time sure should have been of concern. Also by fasting as a way of treating myself, this would also have had the effect of bringing my levels down.
