[BriLewis]

Hello Everyone! I am 21 years old and believe that I am experiencing Diabetes symptoms. I already have an appointment for this Thursday at 9.30am to be checked for Diabetes, but I thought I would get your opinions. I have been experiencing symptoms for the last few months and they are growing increasingly worse. It started with the fatigue and then moved onto the excessive thirst/urination, and then to the excessive hunger, etc.

Risk Factors:

• Family History
• Obesity
• High Blood Pressure (controlled with a low dose diuretic)
• Low Exercise (I don't really think you can count intense cleaning and chasing my two year old daughter everywhere as exercise)

Symptoms:

• Excessive Thirst/Urination (Urination is horrible at night)
• Excessive Hunger (Especially after eating)
• Fatigue (I find it hard to stay awake during the day)
• Nausea (Results from the excessive hunger)
• Blurred Vision (Not constant though)
• Dry Mouth
• Slow Healing Cuts/Bruises (Cuts become infected easily now no matter where on the body, I have never gotten infections this easy in my life)
• Tingling/Numbness in the Hands/Feet

I have been checking my blood glucose levels at home for the last week and when I wake up my glucose levels are around 120 (sometimes more). I have gotten two random glucose levels over 200 (around 211 or so) in the last couple of days.

I would just really appreciate your opinions.

Thanks in advance!

 

[BriLewis]

I also forgot to mention as far as symptoms, I do have very itchy skin. I haven't ever really experienced dry skin before and it isn't as if my skin is dry now.

 

[Shanny]

Welcome, Bri . . . it's good to know you're already checking your blood glucose, and I suspect you won't be terribly surprised if your diagnosis this week is diabetes. The morning fasting levels are often the last place it really shows up, and you're already seeing those.

Instead of the random tests, you could start testing at one and two hour intervals after meals; the 1-hour interval will tell you how high you are spiking (so keep a food journal so you'll know which foods cause the worst spikes), and the 2-hour interval will tell you if you're dropping back down to pre-meal levels, as you should be.

Do keep us posted what you find out at the dr. appointment. The other symptoms are often indicative of diabetes too, but often subside if you get your BG levels down under 140.

Take care, thank you for joining us, and please visit often.

 

[breezeonby]

Hello Everyone! I am 21 years old and believe that I am experiencing Diabetes symptoms. I already have an appointment for this Thursday at 9.30am to be checked for Diabetes, but I thought I would get your opinions. I have been experiencing symptoms for the last few months and they are growing increasingly worse. It started with the fatigue and then moved onto the excessive thirst/urination, and then to the excessive hunger, etc.

Risk Factors:

• Family History
• Obesity
• High Blood Pressure (controlled with a low dose diuretic)
• Low Exercise (I don't really think you can count intense cleaning and chasing my two year old daughter everywhere as exercise)

Symptoms:

• Excessive Thirst/Urination (Urination is horrible at night)
• Excessive Hunger (Especially after eating)
• Fatigue (I find it hard to stay awake during the day)
• Nausea (Results from the excessive hunger)
• Blurred Vision (Not constant though)
• Dry Mouth
• Slow Healing Cuts/Bruises (Cuts become infected easily now no matter where on the body, I have never gotten infections this easy in my life)
• Tingling/Numbness in the Hands/Feet

I have been checking my blood glucose levels at home for the last week and when I wake up my glucose levels are around 120 (sometimes more). I have gotten two random glucose levels over 200 (around 211 or so) in the last couple of days.

I would just really appreciate your opinions.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome BriLewis! We are happy to have you as a member and I feel confident that you will feel comfortable here. It is a good thing that you are going to be checked for diabetes, your symptoms are a sign of having diabetes. Your fasting levels are getting near the range that having diabetes fall within. I hope that your doctor will run an A1C blood test for you so that you can see what your blood glucose levels have been doing for the last 3 months. And since you are so young, it would be good to rule out Type 1 diabetes, although your blood glucose levels would be much higher if that were the case. I wish you luck on Thursday and hope that you will be able to put some of your suspicions to rest. Let us know how things turn out. I hope that you have time to visit the forum often, it is a great place for help and support.

 

[BriLewis]

Welcome, Bri . . . it's good to know you're already checking your blood glucose, and I suspect you won't be terribly surprised if your diagnosis this week is diabetes. The morning fasting levels are often the last place it really shows up, and you're already seeing those.

Instead of the random tests, you could start testing at one and two hour intervals after meals; the 1-hour interval will tell you how high you are spiking (so keep a food journal so you'll know which foods cause the worst spikes), and the 2-hour interval will tell you if you're dropping back down to pre-meal levels, as you should be.

Do keep us posted what you find out at the dr. appointment. The other symptoms are often indicative of diabetes too, but often subside if you get your BG levels down under 140.

Take care, thank you for joining us, and please visit often.

Hi Shanny,

I have been at 2 hour intervals and every so often at one hour intervals of eating meals. I have also been checking before meals. There have been very few times that it is in a normal range around the time of eating (before and after). I can't remember what foods I ate, but I will start to keep a food journal. I used to keep one but just hadn't had time for it in a while but I will make sure I have time for it now. The one and two hour intervals after eating have been at least over 156.

I hadn't even thought about the possibility of having Diabetes until I started getting infections in any cuts I get, that and the yeast infections(but those have always been a problem, the doctor thinks I have some sort of imbalance). I have had a little knowledge of Diabetes because of the family history, plus a medical terminology class that I just finished two weeks ago.

Thank you for your help Shanny!

 

[BriLewis]

Welcome BriLewis! We are happy to have you as a member and I feel confident that you will feel comfortable here. It is a good thing that you are going to be checked for diabetes, your symptoms are a sign of having diabetes. Your fasting levels are getting near the range that having diabetes fall within. I hope that your doctor will run an A1C blood test for you so that you can see what your blood glucose levels have been doing for the last 3 months. And since you are so young, it would be good to rule out Type 1 diabetes, although your blood glucose levels would be much higher if that were the case. I wish you luck on Thursday and hope that you will be able to put some of your suspicions to rest. Let us know how things turn out. I hope that you have time to visit the forum often, it is a great place for help and support.

Hello Breezeonby,

Can I request that my doctor runs an A1C blood test if he does not suggest it?

It will be such a great relief on Thursday no matter what the outcome because at least I will know what is going on with my body. I am very in tune with it. I have been ever since I was pregnant and started to have blood pressure problems during the pregnancy that continued on after the pregnancy. Ever since then I've been able to notice if even the smallest things are wrong, but I didn't think much of these symptoms for a while.

 

[breezeonby]

Hello Breezeonby,

Can I request that my doctor runs an A1C blood test if he does not suggest it?

It will be such a great relief on Thursday no matter what the outcome because at least I will know what is going on with my body. I am very in tune with it. I have been ever since I was pregnant and started to have blood pressure problems during the pregnancy that continued on after the pregnancy. Ever since then I've been able to notice if even the smallest things are wrong, but I didn't think much of these symptoms for a while.

Most doctors already know what tests that they want to run when looking for a problem. I would make the request to run the A1C and your doctor will probably run this test for you. When I was diagnosed, I did not know what to ask, so I don't know if I had an A1C test done or not. I don't see the doctor anymore who diagnosed me, so I will never know if that test was run. If you do have diabetes, the A1C is a very important test and there is no harm done to run it.

 

[BriLewis]

Most doctors already know what tests that they want to run when looking for a problem. I would make the request to run the A1C and your doctor will probably run this test for you. When I was diagnosed, I did not know what to ask, so I don't know if I had an A1C test done or not. I don't see the doctor anymore who diagnosed me, so I will never know if that test was run. If you do have diabetes, the A1C is a very important test and there is no harm done to run it.

I will make sure to request the test. For appointments like this do the doctors usually have the results that day? I know that my doctors office has their own lab but I was just wondering if any of the tests they may run will take a while to get the labs back.

 

[breezeonby]

I will make sure to request the test. For appointments like this do the doctors usually have the results that day? I know that my doctors office has their own lab but I was just wondering if any of the tests they may run will take a while to get the labs back.

If they have their own lab, I would say that you could get your results within 48 hours. My doctor usually has my labs back by the end of the day that they are drawn. He likes to sit down and discuss them, so I usually see him within one week of the labs. If something shows up, you probably will get a call from the doctor. Be sure to ask for a copy of your test results.

 

[BriLewis]

If they have their own lab, I would say that you could get your results within 48 hours. My doctor usually has my labs back by the end of the day that they are drawn. He likes to sit down and discuss them, so I usually see him within one week of the labs. If something shows up, you probably will get a call from the doctor. Be sure to ask for a copy of your test results.

Oh I hadn't thought of asking for a copy of the results. Thank you for bringing that up. I will be sure to get a copy of the results.

 

[Joshua Shorter]

Those are almost the exact symptoms I had when I was diagnosed (at 21 yo) back in may.
My doctor called me back in a couple hours and sent me to the hospital. But my bg was around 650-700 and my A1C was over 14 when the test results came back. He was afraid I was about to go into a diabetic coma and possibly even die.
Since you know your bg levels the chances are low that this will happen to you. But I will pray for your appointment tomorrow and wish you all the best.
Good luck,
Josh.

 

[kooshbal]

Draw Blood and run Labs

Oh I hadn't thought of asking for a copy of the results. Thank you for bringing that up. I will be sure to get a copy of the results.

Itchy skin is an indication of kidneys. Have your Dr Look at your kidney function. Most likely you are experiencing a combination of symptoms. Good Luck and follow through.

 

[BriLewis]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I had my appointment this morning. They collected blood and urine to test. They are running quite a few tests and I just can't remember the names of them all...lol. The lab tech said that I could call to find out the results on Monday if I didn't want to wait until my follow up appointment on the 29th. I'll let ya'll know the results as soon as I find them out.

 

[jeremiahtren]

Let us know!!

 

[BriLewis]

So my husband has a doctors appointment for an asthma checkup tomorrow and when I'm there with him I'm going to see if I can get the results of my labs then. I'll let ya'll know if I get them tomorrow.

 

[BriLewis]

so I had my appointment this morning. I'll just list my results now.

Comp Metabolic Panel
Blood Urea Nitrogen - 5 (Low)
Sodium - 139
Potassium - 3.9
Chloride - 102
Glucose - 95
Creatinine - 0.8
Calcium - 9.4
Total Protein - 6.7
Albumin - 3.7
Bilirubin - 0.6
ALK Phos - 71
AST - 23
CO2 content - 27
Anion Gap - 10
ALT - 22
Bun/Creat Ratio - 6.3 (Low)

Lipids
Cholesterol - 193
Triglyceride - 64
HDL - 28 (low)
LDL - 152 (high)

TSH - 1.59

Insulin Resistance - 17

My doctor decided that I am close to becoming diabetic (pre-diabetic), so she put me on Glucophage 500mg once a day for two weeks, then it will be going up to twice a day. I am going back on Aug. 26th for a checkup and then she will give me 3 months of Glucophage.

Since you all are the experts here - can you tell me what all of this means. My doctor has decided that she wants me to walk 2 miles 4-5 days a week.

I just need someone to help me make sense of all of this. And thank you everyone who has been helping me through all of this

 

[Shanny]

It looks to me like your doc has covered it pretty well - glucophage (metformin) is the one I use too, and it has a good track record. It may cause some gastric distress at first, but that usually subsides. It also takes awhile to reach maximum blood levels, so keep taking it regularly even if you don't think it's doing anything. It's just building up to maximum coverage.

Exercise also lowers blood sugars, so you dr. has that covered too - and if you want to speed up the results even more, you can watch your diet and avoid the really starchy foods that raise blood sugars - stuff like sweets, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc., and of course sugary drinks.

I think you're moving right along in the right direction and your doctor seems to be okay this far too. Keep us posted!

 

[BriLewis]

It looks to me like your doc has covered it pretty well - glucophage (metformin) is the one I use too, and it has a good track record. It may cause some gastric distress at first, but that usually subsides. It also takes awhile to reach maximum blood levels, so keep taking it regularly even if you don't think it's doing anything. It's just building up to maximum coverage.

Exercise also lowers blood sugars, so you dr. has that covered too - and if you want to speed up the results even more, you can watch your diet and avoid the really starchy foods that raise blood sugars - stuff like sweets, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc., and of course sugary drinks.

I think you're moving right along in the right direction and your doctor seems to be okay this far too. Keep us posted!

Hi Shanny,

Thank you for responding. It doesn't seem my doctor ran a A1C test...should I talk to her about that.

I really like this doctor, I had her before for a few things (my dr. office is a clinic and I get a diff. doctor a lot). She does seem to be working good to help me with this.

 

[Shanny]

Yes, it's good to have a baseline A1c - it gives you an idea of the progress you make over longer periods of time.

Your lipids need a little work, but often the lowering of blood sugars has a positive effect on our lipids too.

 

[breezeonby]

so I had my appointment this morning. I'll just list my results now.

Comp Metabolic Panel
Blood Urea Nitrogen - 5 (Low)
Sodium - 139
Potassium - 3.9
Chloride - 102
Glucose - 95
Creatinine - 0.8
Calcium - 9.4
Total Protein - 6.7
Albumin - 3.7
Bilirubin - 0.6
ALK Phos - 71
AST - 23
CO2 content - 27
Anion Gap - 10
ALT - 22
Bun/Creat Ratio - 6.3 (Low)

Lipids
Cholesterol - 193
Triglyceride - 64
HDL - 28 (low)
LDL - 152 (high)

TSH - 1.59

Insulin Resistance - 17

My doctor decided that I am close to becoming diabetic (pre-diabetic), so she put me on Glucophage 500mg once a day for two weeks, then it will be going up to twice a day. I am going back on Aug. 26th for a checkup and then she will give me 3 months of Glucophage.

Since you all are the experts here - can you tell me what all of this means. My doctor has decided that she wants me to walk 2 miles 4-5 days a week.

I just need someone to help me make sense of all of this. And thank you everyone who has been helping me through all of this

Things look pretty good. I got out my last lab results to see the reference ranges and your HDL is low, but according to my ranges, your cholesterol & LDL are still within range although they are both in the upper limits. Lab reference ranges do vary from lab to lab. I have low HDL and have not been successful in getting that back in range, but this has been an ongoing problem for more than 10 years. When doctors look at lab results, they often see a different picture than we see. They know what is maybe higher or lower than normal and often look at other values to put things into perspective. I think it is a wise choice for your doctor to start you on Glucophage. Be sure to ask your doctor to run an A1C the next time that you get blood tests done. Like Shanny noted, it is a good idea to get a baseline of where you are at. Are you testing your blood glucose at home? I am not sure if your doctor suggested that you do some testing even though you are really not considered a diabetic. I think you can pat yourself on the back since things look pretty good!