Please help me understand this

[Rallen]

Hello everyone,

I believe I have sudden diabetes.

On the 9th of March (more or less) I discovered a sweet taste in my mouth, my saliva was sweet. That taste persisted the next day, so I started taking my blood glucose first thing in the morning, after about 8+ hours of fasting. The results were near 100 (5.6 in UK terms) and according to the documentation it is classed as borderline prediabetes.

A few days later I got a blocked nose, stuffy but not runny, and a sweet smell. The sweet taste and the sweet smell, come and go, and the sweet smell is more often than the sweet taste. The nose is stuffy most of the time as if I have got a cold, but there is no discharge.

Finally right at the same time, I became "constipated" meaning I only visit the toilet once a day, when my usual average is at least 3 times a day. This was also a profound change, as I now visit the toilet in the morning and forget about it for the rest of the day, which is definitely not how it used to be before.

After a month or more of this, I asked my wife to kiss me just to make sure I was not dreaming the sweet taste (it was a medical emergency after all), and she verified a very sweet taste in my mouth,

Last three days I decided to cut down on carbs, so yesterday early morning my readings were about 5.0 and I was happy with that. Yesterday I had very little carbs but all evening and night I had this sweet taste it had come back, This is when the wife-kiss experiment took place. This morning the reading is 6.0 - clearly prediabetic especially if you are American,

I visited the GP who said that they do not really look at anything below 6.0 (fasting) and advised me on a better diet and not to worry about it. He was doubting my sweet smell and sweet taste thinking it must be seizure activity (I have brain cancer) and at that time I had not yet conducted the wife-kiss experiment which verified it is not a seizure, it is an actual sweet taste.

In addition I have two gall bladder stones. I was told the only solution is to remove the whole gall bladder and I have not done that.

I do not know how all the above is related. Can it be the gall bladder playing havoc with my digestion, thus the "constipation" but maybe also the way I digest food and the glucose readings?

Just to emphasize my morning readings in the past 4-5 weeks are all below 6.0. They average about 5.4, and only today I got a 6.0.

Any ideas and help would be most welcome.

 

[Deputy_Dawg]

Rallen, I dont think you are diabetic. When I became diabetic I was going to the toilet three or four times every night, drinking at least 5 litres of fluid every day, tired and with no energy. I went to my doctors who took a urine sample then sent me to the A and E straight away. My breath didnt smell of pear drops either. Regarding your blood test my wife is 5.6 here in UK is normal if you had diabeties you would be over 17 constantly. Hope this helps.

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

It doesn't sound like diabetes to me as your numbers are good. I recommend less worrying and more kissing X

 

[azure]

Catarrh can cause a sweet taste in your mouth. As you've mentioned a stuffy nose, maybe it's connected to that?

Your numbers don't sound worrying, but do see a doctor if you're anxious so you can get reassurance regarding your gall bladder and constipation.

 

[azure]

It seems from your previous post, that you have a number of health concerns and anxieties:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/strange-glucose-readings.49928/

Do see a doctor to discuss them and get a general checkover - more for your other issues than your blood glucose.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

I once read that inexplicable smells and tastes can be caused by brain problems and you say you have brain cancer. Your numbers are the envy of us diabetics since the readings are low and don't indicate trouble.

I am going to go with the doctor's opinion but I can't explain why your wife thinks you taste sweet.

 

[Rallen]

I'd go with "seizures" too except : 1) the sweet taste is real (as my wife asserts) 2) the blocked nose and extra sneezing is real

Sorry to mess you guys with my low glucose readings, I looked up "sweet taste in mouth" and diabetes came up as number one, the body trying to eliminate sugar apparently.

 

[azure]

I'd go with "seizures" too except : 1) the sweet taste is real (as my wife asserts) 2) the blocked nose and extra sneezing is real

Sorry to mess you guys with my low glucose readings, I looked up "sweet taste in mouth" and diabetes came up as number one, the body trying to eliminate sugar apparently.

The sweet taste is a symptom of DKA - diabetic ketoacidosis. But that's linked with an extremely high blood sugar eg 30mmol or more (just to,give you a rough idea). It's not a symptom of prdiabetes.

Your numbers aren't diabetic.

As you you have epilepsy, I'd suggest seeing your doctor to make sure your seizures haven't changed.

 

[Pinkorchid]

As you have normal BG levels...not even prediabetic... I would say you do not have diabetes but as you do have health problems it is more to do with that so something we are not able to help with only your doctor can do that. Hopefully you will get it sorted out

 

[Squire Fulwood]

I'd go with "seizures" too except : 1) the sweet taste is real (as my wife asserts) 2) the blocked nose and extra sneezing is real

Sorry to mess you guys with my low glucose readings, I looked up "sweet taste in mouth" and diabetes came up as number one, the body trying to eliminate sugar apparently.

The body does try to eliminate excess sugar but the method is not to make things taste sweet. It makes you pee often and as it gets worse you drink a lot to help the process.

Diabetes means syphon and mellitus means sweet. I will leave you to judge which end of you tastes sweet. I feel that you don't have diabetes and I don't actually know what you do have.

 

[Freema]

I'd go with "seizures" too except : 1) the sweet taste is real (as my wife asserts) 2) the blocked nose and extra sneezing is real

Sorry to mess you guys with my low glucose readings, I looked up "sweet taste in mouth" and diabetes came up as number one, the body trying to eliminate sugar apparently.

I think you shall keep an eye on this.. because you have other servere conditions...and going low carb is also good against cancer... concerning seizures low carb or actually ketogenic eating style is actually used in very servere cases as it sems to lower the rate of seizures..
Sometimes doctors can not find a cause to a symptom... but try not to be scared and well I would my self continue to look after a possible reason for this sweet taste...

some people do get taste changes when they lack zink in their body, and maybe that could be because something is really different in their body and not just imagination... the same when people do get seizures they sometimes feel like everything taste like poison... but who really knows if something is also chemically different in their mouth that causes that experience

http://www.badmouths.org/sweet-taste-in-mouth/
in the link above there seems to be also a possibility that this phenomenon could precede parkinsons, alzheimers or multiple sclerosis disease a

if that is true I would ask to be sent to an expert in neurologi

http://scarysymptoms.com/2012/01/sweet-taste-in-mouth-causes-and/:
"infection with the bacteria pseudomonas can cause a sweet taste and smell " this is a servere infection but rare in healthy people, http://www.healthline.com/health/pseudomonas-infections#treatment6

http://byebyedoctor.com/sweet-taste-in-mouth/ : Infections in the nose, throat and/or sinuses, particularly bacteria known as pseudomonas, may contribute to a sweet smell or taste. This is a bacterium that may cause sinuses and other infections of ear, nose, and throat particularly in those individuals with immune systems that are compromised including aids for diabetes as well as any other immune system that are compromised. This bacterium often creates infections of the urinary tract as well as pneumonia. Even though pseudomonas may cause the taste of sweetness in the mouth, infections by pseudomonas can also be life-threatening. But normal individual may get infections with pseudomonas and do just fine..

it can also be caused by GERD

 

[leslie10152]

Hello everyone,

I believe I have sudden diabetes.

On the 9th of March (more or less) I discovered a sweet taste in my mouth, my saliva was sweet. That taste persisted the next day, so I started taking my blood glucose first thing in the morning, after about 8+ hours of fasting. The results were near 100 (5.6 in UK terms) and according to the documentation it is classed as borderline prediabetes.

A few days later I got a blocked nose, stuffy but not runny, and a sweet smell. The sweet taste and the sweet smell, come and go, and the sweet smell is more often than the sweet taste. The nose is stuffy most of the time as if I have got a cold, but there is no discharge.

Finally right at the same time, I became "constipated" meaning I only visit the toilet once a day, when my usual average is at least 3 times a day. This was also a profound change, as I now visit the toilet in the morning and forget about it for the rest of the day, which is definitely not how it used to be before.

After a month or more of this, I asked my wife to kiss me just to make sure I was not dreaming the sweet taste (it was a medical emergency after all), and she verified a very sweet taste in my mouth,

Last three days I decided to cut down on carbs, so yesterday early morning my readings were about 5.0 and I was happy with that. Yesterday I had very little carbs but all evening and night I had this sweet taste it had come back, This is when the wife-kiss experiment took place. This morning the reading is 6.0 - clearly prediabetic especially if you are American,

I visited the GP who said that they do not really look at anything below 6.0 (fasting) and advised me on a better diet and not to worry about it. He was doubting my sweet smell and sweet taste thinking it must be seizure activity (I have brain cancer) and at that time I had not yet conducted the wife-kiss experiment which verified it is not a seizure, it is an actual sweet taste.

In addition I have two gall bladder stones. I was told the only solution is to remove the whole gall bladder and I have not done that.

I do not know how all the above is related. Can it be the gall bladder playing havoc with my digestion, thus the "constipation" but maybe also the way I digest food and the glucose readings?

Just to emphasize my morning readings in the past 4-5 weeks are all below 6.0. They average about 5.4, and only today I got a 6.0.

Any ideas and help would be most welcome.

When I was first diagnosed, my BGL's were off the scale on a glucose meter. I could take in 8 litres of fluids and loose it as fast as I took it in. Sweating, shivering, extreme weight loss and weakness. I woke up in the emergency admittance ward, only to be told I would on insulin for life. I am not sure what your symptoms entail, but it does necessarily indicate diabetes. But, stay ever vigilant.

 

[Emile_the_rat]

Any readings below 6 mmol fasting are great
And as mentioned above you do not have any of the classic symptoms like urination, thirst, fatigue, blurred vision.

 

[Rallen]

Thanks for the suggestions. Just to summarise, the sweet taste in my mouth is not my impression (neurological), my wife has verified it too. Now on its own this could be a symptom of prediabetes. However my glucose levels are too low. Then there is the blocked nose and sweet smell.This points to sinus problems, and most likely a bacterial infection with pseudomonas (which I have had before in my ears). Oral antibiotics won't necessarily work as there is no blood supply in there. The internet blogs of pseudomonas sinus infections are very scary. Basically your sinuses swell and block the natural drain into the nose whislt harboring a sea of bacteria. You need a catheter inserted through the bone and ballooning to open up and drain the cavity and flush it all out, and then it comes back again, and back in you go for more flushing with large needles inserted through the bone. Quite terrifying.

 

[azure]

I suggested catarrh above, which is kind of related. I hope you get it sorted very soon

 

[Rallen]

Thanks for the catarrh suggestion, but I have no runny nose at all, no cough, nothing like that.

 

[azure]

Thanks for the catarrh suggestion, but I have no runny nose at all, no cough, nothing like that.

But you have a stuffy nose so your sinus suggestion above sounds very possible

 

[Rallen]

Last night the sweet taste came back in droves and I realised it is my saliva being produced which is sweet. It cannot be a sinus infection giving me this sweet taste, because it originates from my own saliva, On some body building forums they discuss this in length, the sweet taste comes and goes, or is present during the night, and they have explained it on artificial sweeteners (splenda), MSGs, and very rarely if ever, on diabetes.

The stuffy nose was slightly better today, the weird sweet smell had almost gone, and as soon as I woke up and left the bedroom, I sensed an array of "new" smells in the house, which is how it used to be before this infection. My wife used to complain that she cannot wear perfume, deodorant annoys me, cooking smells bother me so much so that even in the middle of winter I have to go around opening doors and windows. For a few weeks she was happy she could cook anything and I would not know it...

 

[azure]

I'm pleased your stuffy nose seems better Hopefully all will improve now gradually

 

[Robinredbreast]

Thanks for the catarrh suggestion, but I have no runny nose at all, no cough, nothing like that.

My adult son had 'diabetes like' symptoms, so I told him to go and see his Gp, my son found out he had very high cholesterol.