Type 2 diabetes

[ChrisKH]

Any sufferers out there?

I might be a complete hypochondriac but having suffered drug related pancreas problems in the past and my father having it, I've always half expected I might some day 'get' it. I have had a unquenchable thirst for the last week and I'm suffering skin eruptions where normally I would not. I'm permanently tired, but there's nothing new there. What symptoms should I be looking for?

Any advice appreciated. Obviously I should take myself off to the docs. at some point.

 

[col]

You answered your own question,get to the docs and a test will tell you.

 

[LLB]

I'm type 2 - book yourself in with the docs. How old are you ?

In the mean time, if you do have a problem, cut out all processed sugars/coffee mate/anything with glucose in the ingredients, and this will help reduce the thirst (dehydration)

 

[ChrisKH]

I'm type 2 - book yourself in with the docs. How old are you ?

In the mean time, if you do have a problem, cut out all processed sugars/coffee mate/anything with glucose in the ingredients, and this will help reduce the thirst (dehydration)

LLB I'm 45.

 

[LLB]

LLB I'm 45.

Could be then given your age. Take advice and go see the docs.

You might manage with just a change of diet, but even if you are it isn't the end of the world. I'm on tablets and have 'good control' (numbers are within safe limits)

 

[ChrisKH]

Just had a blood glucose test 1 hour after lunch and it was 8.2 mmol/L. Sounds pretty ordinary to me.

 

[LLB]

Test again after 2 hours.

The test should be 2 hours post prandial (eating) , and the normal results should be between 4.0 and 7.0 mmol/L . The Glucose tolerance test is the definitive one done at the hospital, and the HBa1C is the long term blood test which show overall control over a prolonged period of up to 3 months.

The reason why diabetics get thirsty is because the kidneys try and excrete the glucose if the level goes over 10.0mmol/L, you wee a lot and then get dehydrated.

You will be asked to go for 2 or 3 early morning blood tests at the docs. If they come out at over 7.0 then you will be sent to have a glucose tolerance test.

This involved an empty stomach, a pre test blood test, then drinking a large quantity of glucose 'gel' which takes you up to about 17.0mmol/L and then sitting quietly for 2 hours after which having another blood test to see if you have produced enough insulin to bring your numbers back down to 7.0mmol/L or below.
This is the way they find out if you are diabetic.

The reasons why diabetics feel tired is because the glucose builds up in the blood stream and cannot get in to the cells due to lack of insulin which allows the cells to absorb it.

 

[ChrisKH]

The test should be 2 hours post food, and the normal results should be between 4.0 and 7.0 mmol/L . The Glucose tolerance test is the definitive one done at the hospital, and the HBa1C is the long term blood test which show overall control over a prolonged period.

The reason why diabetics get thirsty is because the kidneys try and excrete the glucose if the level goes over 10.0mmol/L.

You will be asked to go for 2 or 3 early morning blood tests at the docs. If they come out at over 7.0 then you will be sent to have a glucose tolerance test.

This involved an empty stomach, a pre test blood test, then drinking a large quantity of glucose 'gel' which takes you up to about 17.0mmol/L and then sitting quietly for 2 hours after which having another blood test to see if you have produced enough insulin to bring your numbers back down to 7.0mmol/L or below.
This is the way they find out if yo uare diabetic.

Thanks for that LLB, I will re-test at 3.00 pm and go to the doctors anyway.

 

[LLB]

Thanks for that LLB, I will re-test at 3.00 pm and go to the doctors anyway.

I was actually marginal on the tests at the docs, but the tolerance test was fairly damning.

6.0 pre test, 17.0 after 40 minutes, 15.0 at 2 hours (where it should have dropped back to 7.0 or below), I then walked about 1.5 miles home (on empty stomach) and started to go hypo when I go there (2.9)

When your sugar levels are high, you feel fine, it is only when your levels drop you feel ropey.

I have to be fairly careful when I ride any distance on the bike as i can go/have gone hypo after about 10 miles if I don't eat properly before I set out.

 

[LLB]

How did you get on with 2 hour test ?

 

[allen-uk]

Just a bit more information for you:

I was treated for type II diabetes for some years, having most of the usual symptoms.

Then I gave up being an alcoholic, and the diabetic clinic discharged me.

Point being that diet can make a huge difference (meaning ANYTHING you put down your neck, not just solids!), and although the urine/glucose tests will give you a fair indication of what's going on, it isn't 100% definitive, hence the blood tests as well.

Go to your GP, certainly, but don't hold back. In my case, it was the amount of alcohol that I kept quiet about. You might be a cream-bun addict, for example. Have a close look at your diet and habits, then go and tell your GP what you get up to. That way you'll get the best advice (which you may or may not wish to follow).

Good luck.

Allen.

 

[LLB]

Just a bit more information for you:

I was treated for type II diabetes for some years, having most of the usual symptoms.

Then I gave up being an alcoholic, and the diabetic clinic discharged me.

Point being that diet can make a huge difference (meaning ANYTHING you put down your neck, not just solids!), and although the urine/glucose tests will give you a fair indication of what's going on, it isn't 100% definitive, hence the blood tests as well.

Go to your GP, certainly, but don't hold back. In my case, it was the amount of alcohol that I kept quiet about. You might be a cream-bun addict, for example. Have a close look at your diet and habits, then go and tell your GP what you get up to. That way you'll get the best advice (which you may or may not wish to follow).

Good luck.

Allen.

Alcohol suppresses the liver function, so if anything, you would have been going hypo on a regular basis. This is not the case for me as there is family history of it (both my father and brother have it, as well as my fathers brother etc), and I felt fairly ill before being medicated whilst trying to manage it with just diet.

Many diabetics have died after heavy drinking sessions because their liver stops releasing glucose, they go hypo and their organs shut down after going into a coma.

 

[ChrisKH]

How did you get on with 2 hour test ?

7.1 but I had snacked in the meantime.


Two hour test this morning after breakfast was 5.8

 

[ChrisKH]

And yes, I do have a cake habit as I have a sweet tooth. So I daresay this may be part, if not all (hopefully), of the problem.

Cereal and apple this morning and feel fine.

 

[LLB]

7.1 but I had snacked in the meantime.


Two hour test this morning after breakfast was 5.8

I wish mine were. You may well be OK but still get checked out for peace of mind.