What lead to your diagnosis?

I had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer in August 2009, I had the surgery on 2nd September 2009, and started treatment. I quickly ended up with Cellulitis and Septicemia, because of an infection I had acquired during surgery.

I was admitted, blasted with every antibiotic known to man and eventually was allowed out on Halloween last year! I spent another 6 months taking a cocktail of powerful antibiotics, Ceflexin, Clairythromycin, Erthromycin, Ciprofloxacin and more lately Doxycycline and Rifampacin.

No one could explain to me why the infection didn't heal, Not the surgeons, not the oncologists, none of the specialists in Cancer care knew why. They just threatened me with more extensive surgery to remove all the effected tissue on my chest arm and back, followed by huge skin grafts. I was suffering badly with Lympeodema and Cellulitis - these cant be cured either, just managed.

In March this year, feeling very ill, in a lot of pain and very depressed, I went to see my GP, to see if he could help me, as I was feeling totally out of control as far as my care at the hospital was concerned.

He decided to go back to basics, and try and discover was there a reason I wasnt healing as I should. I was screened for MRSA - all clear. I was screened via blood tests for a barrage of other likely candidates. And guess what?

I was pronounced Diabetic!

So I started on Metformin, and an aggressive change in diet, and have in the since months since got my BG levels down to around 6.5mmol/l.

Despite being really good (I have huge incentives to be good, as it keeps the infection under control and also since discovered I have the beginnings of Retinopathy), a simple thing can upset the apple cart.

I had been on antibiotics since October last year, until 3 weeks ago - when it was felt, due to issues with photosensitivety related to the drugs, it would be an idea to try and not take them, as my infection was well managed too.

It was going great guns until ..... I went for my flu and pneumonia injections, which has to be done in my thigh, as my arms a no go zone for needles due to the infection problems.

My leg blew up like a balloon, and a week on I still have a noticeable swelling. I had a bad reaction to the injections, which set my immune system off and this in turn caused a huge reaction to some medical tape I had applied on my chest as part of a treatment to try and assist lymph drainage and healing. The skin blistered - and I ended up back on antibiotics for the foreseeable future, and struggling to get my BG levels near normal again.

I am off to have some more surgery soon, a total hysterectomy and salopingo oophrectomy to help prevent the spread of cancer to these areas - just dreading another infection though!

Hey Zoe...just wanted to wish you good luck with your up-coming further surgery.
I have salopingo oophrectomy almost 5 years ago and I'm still here leaping around!

I was dx'd with T2 following a totally unrelated Road Traffic Accident (sideswiped on the M20 by a French HGV....lovely). It just showed up in blood panel workup. This was March 2008. I think I was in a bit of denial for a while, but now I have good control, which I plan to maintain!

I had a routine urine test more than 10 years ago and was told I had higher sugar levels than normal, then had annual fasting blood sugar test which were always just under the diabetic range.

Then, about a year ago my fasting blood sugars and HBA1c went over the line and I got quite a shock.
Since then I have been on a low carb diet and just today my HBA1c was 5.2 and I was told that I was in the normal range. The diabetic nurse is not convinced by the diet but I lost over 2 stone on it, so it works for weight loss and keeping carbs under control. My blood pressure has come down too.

I just wish I had known about the diet before - as a vegetarian I had kept to a low fat low sugar diet with wholemeal everything for the last 10 years after the initial diagnosis and still it crept up on me.

I also had various joint and infection problems in the past few years which i did not associate with the high sugar levels until I started to take it seriously and join communities like this one and review what was available online.
L

I was diagnosed as a Type 2 with an elevated fasting blood glucose reading of just over 7 from a routine MOT testing carried out by my GP practice - e.g. blood pressure, cholesterol etc.

Well, I was diagnosed after a routine blood test for prostate cancer. Doctor wrote me a letter telling me to get there NOW. My BG was 14 mmol (I think).
Symptoms were cold feet (Loss of sensation to my big toe), thirst and urinating frequently- especially when cold.
I reckon I went undiagnosed for about 2/3 years

Kipperdog said:

I reckon I went undiagnosed for about 2/3 years

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That was also the thought that ran through my mind. Just how far do you have to go before the symptoms are such that someone bothers to check for diabetes :?:

In my case since I was fairly borderline (I had three blood test, one of which actually passed - just), I am fairly certain that it was caught extremely early in the cycle. Other relatives of mine have not been so lucky and diabetes wasn't dignosed until they actually keeled over.

IanS

IanS said:

Kipperdog said:

I reckon I went undiagnosed for about 2/3 years

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That was also the thought that ran through my mind. Just how far do you have to go before the symptoms are such that someone bothers to check for diabetes :?:
IanS

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That's true Ian. in my case though, I never thought to mention the symptoms as I thought they were minor. Everyone should report any symptoms - homever minor = I guess we don't learn until it is too late
The turning point in the treatment of my diabetes has not been by medical staff though, but through this great website. I now have better control over my BG levels than before thanks to the people here

Like IanS - I had "passed" a blood test 6 months earlier, so am hoping that I was picked up in good time.

I have since lost some weight, and GP says I have turned the clock back, but am still restriciting carbs quite a lot to be on the safe side.

First three monthly HbA1c was 6.0 - and I have yet to get into double figures on routine testing with my meter (one of the lucky ones with unrestricted test strips).

Off on a 3 1/2 week cruise tomorrow, and after consulting GP ( who in not only excellent medically, but also has much common sense) am leaving glucometer behind, as I now know what to/not to eat to keep things that way. She says ships medical centre will have a glucometer if I am worried at any point.

Luckily I can get away with a small pudding if I don't have any bread, potatoes or rice with the rest of the meal. A glass of wine with it helps too. Easy to avoid starch at breakfast time, as it is with Fred Olsen, and there is always plenty of fish on the breakfast buffet - and I am fortunate enough to be able to eat any kind of fruit. I can definitely recommend smoked salmon and watermelon

couldnt stop drinking or eating very tired cramps in my legs going from 7stone to about 4stone in about a month,that was 39 years ago in my teenage years.Probably one of the worst ages to get this.taken to doctors who said i had to wait for hospital appoinment.Waited for over a month till my mum took me back to doctors and he sent me straight to hospital where i nearly died.My blood sugars were that high they didnt know how i was still concious.But after all these years i am fine :wink: :wink:

I have no recollection of diagnosis but I know I scared my family to death!

Had mumps after my 4th birthday and then on June 6th 1970 I started drinking copious amounts of fluids – mum told me she even found me with my head under the tap – I was duly “told off”! :lol:

That night I wet my bed and my mum put this down to my “naughtiness” for drinking so much! During the day mum found me in the pantry (do houses still have pantry’s?!) as near as possible to the sugar bowl shuffling sugar into my mouth – I was duly reprimanded and in my mums own words “I though you were just attention seeking”. :lol:
Following morning June 8th 1970 found unconscious in me bed with diabetic ketoacidosis. :shock:

My only recollection of that time was being kept in hospital an inordinately long time and there are photographs in the family album of my being “allowed” away from the hospital to spend time with my family – clearly sporting my huge hospital ID bracelet!!

My mum mentions she occasionally still feels enormous guilt that she told me off when in fact I was very sick but I’m still here and I love my mum.

Just hope I can get to 50 years on insulin so I can claim my medal!!

Txx

I'm so glad I found this forum! I'm from Argentina and we don't have sites like this. I sent my story to argentinian cosmopolitan and I'd like to share it with you. I have diabetes type 1 and got it when i was nearly 17; ironically i had stopped eating sugar a long time ago. It's funny how we ignore how life's gonna turn in the end.

I stopped eating sugar when I was 12, almost 13. I started dieting excesively and restringd myself from a lots of different food items; I completely excluded sugar and carbs from my diet, because I started my career as a model. Unconciously, I ended up eating nothing but vegetables and fruits, which led to anemia, anorexia and bulimia, added to a bad relationship with my family and depression. I kept on saying that I had a balanced diet while I eat almost nothing. When I became aware that I was sick and asked for help, I quit the agency at the age of 16.

At the beggining of 2007 I started taking theatre classes which relaxed me a lot, but I started to notice I had this feeling that I needed to consume sweet things. I had restricted myself from those for all those years and now that I was 'recovered' I allowed myself to eat a bit more. For months I eat lots of carbs -sugar and flour containing food- and noticed that I gained no weight. Even though I tried to mantain a balanced diet, I noticed that I drank almost 5 lts of water -I'm not lying-, peed (I'm not sure how to say it in english, sorry) like a horse and had all these red spots all over my face, shoulders and chest -which I had never had, not even a black-head. I also had lots of crams (when your muscles tighten up and hurt, don't know the exact word) and started having palpitations.

I went to so many doctors which diagnosed so many different things, because when I told them that I ate balanced -even mentioning that I had those weired desires for sweets-, went to the gym, have an athletic figure (sorry if it's not right spelled), etc., they never though I would end up with diabetes. One of them gave me two shots of penicilin -very painful-, other one said it was the depression and send me a prescription for venlafaxine, and a few more diagnoses.

The night before my come, begged my mom to go and buy banans -which I hate- because I felt like having a banana milk shake -which i have!!!!- with sugar. When she got home I was on the floor, he called the doctor who lives right in front of my house and took me to a clinic. I woke up two days after, with oxigen and suero (the thng that they put in your arm) and stayed there for two weeks; 8 days in ICU and the rest of the days iin the building upstairs.

What I keep on saying to everyone is that, even though I have diabetes and it's in fact a disease, I'm much more healthier now than back then when my pancreas still pumped insulin. For almost the half of my life (yesterday I turned 19) I had thought I ate healthy while I wasn't aware that in the end that's how I would HAVE to eat.

Greetings! Lola from Argentina.
If anyone's interested in chatting, which I'd appreciate to do with some english speakers,please PM me.

( Edited. Please do not put Email address on the public board unless you want about a million spam Emails from all over the internet. )

Sugarless Sue Senior Moderator.

Welcome to the forum , Lola. I hope you find it helpful.

welcome lola its a great forum id be lost without it, either that or the hospital would be sick listening to me :lol: glad to hear your feeling better

Hi john,

sorry for the late response
Being type 2 it is Ok to drive buses as long as my diabetes is well controlled.
Type 1 and injecting insulin is a NO NO for driving buses.

Iain

Iain77 said:

Hi john,

sorry for the late response
Being type 2 it is Ok to drive buses as long as my diabetes is well controlled.
Type 1 and injecting insulin is a NO NO for driving buses.

Iain

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Hi Iain.
As a Type 2 holding a Group 2 licence it is a little bit more than just 'well controlled'.
See here from the DVLA website.

Drivers will be licensed unless they develop relevant disabilities e.g. diabetic eye problem affecting visual acuity or visual fields, in which case either refusal, revocation or short period licence.
If becomes insulin treated will be refusal or revocation.
Drivers are advised to monitor their blood glucose regularly and at times relevant to driving, particularly if taking a sulphonylurea.

I started feeling generally Icky, very tired all the time although I sleep for about 13 hrs, I suffer with depression so put it down to that and the meds I take for it. I had finally had enough so went to the Docs and she arranged for a routine all round blood test, I got phoned a week later by the DN and asked if I could come in as they had found that I have Type 2 Diabetes, oh joy.

I saw a different Doctor who sent me for a complete set of blood tests after I mentioned that my father died of a heart attack at 52 (I'm 48). Surprise surprise, I passed the cholesterol etc tests but my BG was 7.6!
No symptoms, no family history, and although I was overweight, I'd alweays eaten my veggies and exercised, so the possibility had never crossed my mind. I had had a GTT after having my second very large baby, 12 years previously - apparently that's an indicator - but I'd passed with flying colours. I consider myself lucky that it was picked up before I got any complications :wink:

Cheers,

Brill

For me it was my eyesight, it got increasingly worse and after going to see my optician he sent me straight to my GP as he could see a significant change in my prescription over a very short time. Now I have been diagnosed (10months now) I am stable and my eyesight is a lot better.

Hi All

I was diagnosed in June this year. For the last year or so, my health seemed to have taken a nose dive. I was constantly tired, lethargic. I could fall asleep at any point just sitting down. Concentration was terrible. Generally I had no get up and go.

I had a Glucose tolerance test about 15 months ago and that came OK. However, blood test in June showed my Blood Glucose to be high. So the GP carried out a fasting blood test and the HBA1c came in at 7%. From that day, I was prescribed Metformin 500mg.

Not too chuffed about being Diabetic, obviously. However, since being prescribed Metformin, my health has taken an about turn. I am no longer lethargic, do not want to just fall asleep, have loads of energy and am losing weight (7kg in 3 months). So I'm just glad that it is being dealt with and managed.

15 years ago I had "cotton wool" headaches most mornings, a bit like a weak hangover. I was losing feeling in my toes and then feet. Thirsty. Penile thrush. Kept going to the docs over a period of 2 years. They (saw several docs at the practice) kept saying "you've got to expect these things as you get older". After 3 years I booked myself in for a "well man check-up" with the young Practice Nurse. Took her about 30 seconds to work out what was going on! Diabetic Clinic said the docs should be struck-off, and that this was an all too familar problem with GPs. As my father and all his brothers, and his father had type II - really I should have been more proactive and worked it out for myself rather than relying on lazy complacent docs. Much easier to do that now with the internet.