Grateful
Well-Known Member
Good morning dear virtual friends. Sorry, this is very long (brevity is not my forte).
When I was diagnosed with T2D nine months ago, I had none of the symptoms. It is true that for more than five years, I have been urinating more frequently than when I was a young man, but it was not dramatic. It was probably every two or three hours. It was never a major issue except that, for instance, when going to a lengthy concert or theater performance I would feel the need to use the toilet during the interval. I was not thirsty, I was not hungry, I was not losing weight. After the diagnosis, I brought my BG totally under control but the "old man's peeing habits" continued. It did not bother me.
Since the diagnosis in February of this year, I seem to have been successful in controlling T2 using diet/exercise only (see signature). This "therapy" was prescribed by my GP, who is someone that counsels the "low-carb" approach to T2D treatment when appropriate. I will call him Dr. K.
Recently though, two strange symptoms have appeared:
Concerning the extreme constipation episodes, Dr. K. was confident they were not related to the low-carb diet, because they did not appear until I had already been on the diet for eight months. He said they would have appeared much earlier, if they were diet-related.
Dr. K. also looked through my currently extensive medicals tests. This year, for reasons totally unconnected with T2D, I have had a routine colonoscopy, and abdominal CAT scans and an MRI (these were because of a kidney stone, and an exercise-related groin injury). There is also quite a history of blood work this year. Dr. K. said that because of this recent test history, all of which I "passed" with flying colors, he could rule out most of the "bad stuff."
"@Grateful,Your symptoms make no sense at all!" said Dr. K. He seemed quite concerned, but is determined to get to the bottom of this. He did not mention diabetes by the way.
To complicate matters, in the following days the lab seems to have messed up my blood work. Dr. K. ordered quite a few tests, including of course the regular HbA1C, but so far only a handful of them have come back (and they are not the key ones). I have access to my online records and even to the lab orders from my doctor, and can see that he did indeed order quite a few tests including the A1C. I've been in touch with him and he is following up to see what happened.
So I am in limbo. Very tired, stressed, and of course worried.
I am not asking any of you to play doctor at a distance. I have a lot of respect for Dr. K. and am confident we will figure this out. Frankly I am hoping it is something incredibly banal like a UTI (and that the constipation episodes are just a one-off, and completely unrelated).
I guess I have just one question: Has any forum member with diabetes that seemed to be well-controlled had similar "peeing all the time" episodes in the way that I described above? Could this, in your experience, presage a failure of BG control? (If so, that would be awfully disappointing given that my period of "diet-only control" would have ended within nine months.)
Thank you.
When I was diagnosed with T2D nine months ago, I had none of the symptoms. It is true that for more than five years, I have been urinating more frequently than when I was a young man, but it was not dramatic. It was probably every two or three hours. It was never a major issue except that, for instance, when going to a lengthy concert or theater performance I would feel the need to use the toilet during the interval. I was not thirsty, I was not hungry, I was not losing weight. After the diagnosis, I brought my BG totally under control but the "old man's peeing habits" continued. It did not bother me.
Since the diagnosis in February of this year, I seem to have been successful in controlling T2 using diet/exercise only (see signature). This "therapy" was prescribed by my GP, who is someone that counsels the "low-carb" approach to T2D treatment when appropriate. I will call him Dr. K.
Recently though, two strange symptoms have appeared:
- Even though my bowel movements have been regular on the low-carb diet (with adjustments to add more fiber), I have had two episodes in the past three weeks where it became clear I was not totally evacuating, as it were. On those two occasions I would "go" several times during the space of a few hours and considerable quantities emerged (normal, not diarreah). On both occasions, this was preceded by considerable abdominal pain (bad enough that I wondered whether I should go to A&E). The pain resolved as soon as I had emptied my bowels, over a period of a few hours.
- One week ago I started having a constant and urgent desire to urinate, even when my bladder is empty or nearly empty. It is not painful, it is just a constant desire to "go." It is bad enough that it wakes me up around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. and I then have great difficulty getting back to sleep because of this constant desire to relieve myself. By the way, I am not thirsty. The beginning of this problem coincided with the second "bowel episode" described in my previous paragraph. Probably a coincidence?
Concerning the extreme constipation episodes, Dr. K. was confident they were not related to the low-carb diet, because they did not appear until I had already been on the diet for eight months. He said they would have appeared much earlier, if they were diet-related.
Dr. K. also looked through my currently extensive medicals tests. This year, for reasons totally unconnected with T2D, I have had a routine colonoscopy, and abdominal CAT scans and an MRI (these were because of a kidney stone, and an exercise-related groin injury). There is also quite a history of blood work this year. Dr. K. said that because of this recent test history, all of which I "passed" with flying colors, he could rule out most of the "bad stuff."
"@Grateful,Your symptoms make no sense at all!" said Dr. K. He seemed quite concerned, but is determined to get to the bottom of this. He did not mention diabetes by the way.
To complicate matters, in the following days the lab seems to have messed up my blood work. Dr. K. ordered quite a few tests, including of course the regular HbA1C, but so far only a handful of them have come back (and they are not the key ones). I have access to my online records and even to the lab orders from my doctor, and can see that he did indeed order quite a few tests including the A1C. I've been in touch with him and he is following up to see what happened.
So I am in limbo. Very tired, stressed, and of course worried.
I am not asking any of you to play doctor at a distance. I have a lot of respect for Dr. K. and am confident we will figure this out. Frankly I am hoping it is something incredibly banal like a UTI (and that the constipation episodes are just a one-off, and completely unrelated).
I guess I have just one question: Has any forum member with diabetes that seemed to be well-controlled had similar "peeing all the time" episodes in the way that I described above? Could this, in your experience, presage a failure of BG control? (If so, that would be awfully disappointing given that my period of "diet-only control" would have ended within nine months.)
Thank you.
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