What were your pre-diagnosis symptoms?
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| Fri, 03-19-2004 - 8:19am |
I ask these questions because I am concerned about my health. In particular, I am scared that I may have diabetes. I am 24 years old and I am in good physical shape (a bit underweight, contrary to the belief that all diabetics are obese/overweight). However, I have been having some "odd" symptoms: occasional parched mouth, daily nausea, extreme tiredness and irritability, frequent yeast infections, hungry all of the time, a 10-pound weight loss over the past year (without dieting), and occasional (but mild) numbness in the fingers, although I haven't experienced the numbness in well over a year. I went to my ob/gyn a few months ago to have the yeast issues checked out. I urged her to check my blood sugar for any problems (since she can't find any other cause for the infections). She claimed that my blood sugar was "normal" (perhaps I should've told her that I had been fasting... maybe that would've changed her opinion). I think my blood sugar was 120'ish, although I do not fully recall.
I do have every intention of seeing a doctor, but to be honest with you, I am terrified. I cannot live with a lifetime of "illness" - I've seen my grandfather live with diabetes and it's NOT FUN! He has to watch every piece of food that goes into his mouth, take insulin pills all too often, prick his finger several times per day, etc. He is nothing more than skin & bones... all because there is no "safe food." I'm terrified.
I'd appreciate any feedback/support. I am really interested in knowing what your pre-diagnosis symptoms were. Did you "know" that something was wrong with you before you were even diagnosed?
Thanks.
Edited 3/19/2004 9:31 am ET ET by melkar2002

Tuesday, December 3 - Street signs were fuzzy on the way into work. My co-worker's face was blurry too.
Wednesday, December 4 - My co-worker's face was VERY blurry
Thursday, December 5 - I started to drive to work and got less than a block before I realized I couldn't see well enough to drive safely. I got a same-day eye appointment and walked there. He told me my eyes were fine & to get tested for diabetes. At that point my vision was so poor I was legally blind.
Friday, December 6 - My tests came back conclusive - type 2 diabetes. I started taking glyburide that night.
Monday, December 9 - My vision was 100% restored.
In retrospect, there were other signs. I'd had a lot of trouble with yeast infections in November, but I'd also been on antibiotics that month, which always makes me "yeasty". November was a month where I was pretty constantly sick - flu, sinus infection, bronchitis, the works. I lost about 10 lbs that month. Any of this could have been the diabetes. I'd had a miscarriage the previous spring and hadn't been able to conceive again. I honestly think that my then-undiagnosed diabetes had a role in this.
BUT - diabetes doesn't have to be doom & gloom. I was able to get my sugars into tight control to the point where I was taken off my meds only 6 weeks after diagnosis. I've learned a lot about how diabetes works in general and what I need to do to manage it for myself. I was able to have a healthy, complications-free pregnancy, and delivered a happy, healthy baby. I only test a couple of times a day, a few days a week. All foods are "safe" for me - I just need to be aware of portion sizes and timing. Diabetes may be an illness, but I don't think of myself as sick. In fact, because of changes I've made to my eating and activity habits, I'm healthier now than I've ever been in my life.
Please talk to your doctor about your symptoms and your fears. I've learned that anxiety over a "maybe" generally tends to be much worse than dealing with a "definitely". I spent about a month grieving after my diagnosis. Then I decided that I was going to control my diabetes, I wasn't going to let it control me. Until you know for sure what's going on with your body, you won't know what it will take to make yourself better. So talk to your doctor, and let us know what s/he says.
*hugs!*
- Kelly
type 2 diagnosed 12/6/02
mommy to Meg, born 12/16/03
"Tobi" edd 3/15/06
Meg born 12/16/03
diagnosed w/type 2 diabetes 12/6/02
Hi Melkar2002,
Welcome to the diabetes board. My name is Mary Frances and I am one of the community leaders for this board. I am a type 2 diabetic and a registered nurse. Any advise I may give is not a substitute for seeking medical advise from a health care practitioner of your choice.
Probably more women are diagnosed by their OB-Gyn than any other medical practitioner. I know in my case that was true. I felt absolutely awful. In retrospect I was drinking a lot of liquids, at least for me. But I wasn't drinking enough to send up a red flag for me. I was also having terrible headaches and blurred vision. That was almost 15 years ago. For the first 7 years I was managed on medical nutritional therapy (diabetic eating) and exercise and weight loss. Then I need first one medication and then another until now when almost 3 weeks ago I started on insulin.
I actually am healthier than I was before diagnosis. Diabetes has slowed down some of my activities but my other health issues have made more of an impact on my life. I weight close to 50 pounds less than when I was diagnosed and trying to lose more weight. I am a third generation diabetic. So there wasn't much that I could do to change my genes. I still travel all over the world and do really intereting things. Yes, there are some things that I wanted to do that I won't be able to do. But that isn't going to stop me from doing what I can.
Now let's look at some of the things you told us in your posting. If your blood sugar was less than 125 or above 110 you have a diagnosis of pre-diabetes. You absolutely needed a fasting blood sugar done. The diagnosis, at this point, is two fasting blood sugars 126 or above, or a random blood sugar (means non-fasting) of 200 or an A1C of 6 or higher. There is a move to change the diagnosis to a fasting blood sugar above 110. When I was diagnosed it was above 140, which means that now a days I would have been diagnosed much earlier. It is important to diagnose diabetes as early as possible to prevent the complications of diabetes which start when the diabetes starts. Diabetes type 2 starts 12-20 years before it is diagnosed.
I would be less than honest if I didn't say it isn't fun to have a chronic disease. But is it a disease that is manageable and that is what I have been trying to do. It gets worse over time but the closer you manage it the longer you are okay.
If your grandfather hasn't seen a dietitan in a long time I suggest that he see one. The rules for diabetic eating have been relaxed and there is little that is off the diabetic's plate. Yes we have measure what we eat but that doesn't mean that most things that we like we can't have. It all things in moderation including moderation.
So please call your physician and make an appointment to get this checked out. Don't ever let them get away with just saying "normal". Ask them for the actual number. Then after you get your lab work done come back here and let us help you understand what you have been told. There is nothing to fear here and much to take control of.
A gentle hug,
Hi, first let me welcome you to the board. I am one of the community leaders for this board who has been a type 1 diabetic for over 28 years now and on a insulin pump for over 6 years. I can completely understand your being afraid of being diabetic, but it really is not that bad at all. Granted you have to check your blood sugar a few times a day and some need medication to help control their diabetes. How ever I do not know of foods that we need to avoid other than the sweets, but that does not mean we cannot enjoy a sweet every now and again. Also know that each diabetic has their own set of symptoms since we are all not the same. I will share with you what my symptoms were with you even though I was a child I can still remember all to clearly all the symptoms I had before being diagnosed.
Well, lets see here I was only 6 years of age when I was diagnosed. I was loosing a ton of weight like it was nothing even while eating all the time due to my being hungry so very much. I also noticed that my eye sight was getting very bad with the chalk board becoming blury to me, which the school did a eye exam to see why I was having so much problem with seeing the board and found that my eye sight was very bad in which they had my parents take me to a eye doctor who just said that the backs of my eyes were cloudy in that doctor not having no idea what he was doing suggested prescribing me some glasses. How ever a few days had passed and I once again could not see well at all. All this time I was constantly thirsty while going to the bathroom often and sadly even wetting my bed at times. It seemed I had to get up so often that it tired me so much to just have to do it several times a night that I was not getting much sleep from all that going. I was also so exhausted all the time like I was lathergic to the point I did not play with my friends instead I sat in a chair watching while I was in a semi daze state. I craved milk all the time as well in which I drank gallons of it. Now my mother had no idea of any of this other than my eye sight not being so good, but of course most of her family wears glasses so she did not think much of that at all.
Now several months have gone by with all those symptoms. My mother took me to see my grandmother. My grandmother asked my mother what was wrong with her in not taking me to see a doctor, because I looked so sickly with being down to skin and bones like a cambodian child with a very small pooch of a stomache. My grandmother gave my mom a big lecture in paying closer attentiong to her child that it made my mother take me right away to see a doctor at the Air Force base hospital where they had a clinic for patience to be seen right away. We got there and the doctor brings me in for an exam, which he tells my mother that I seem to be malnutritioned and asked if I was eating anything at all. She began to tell the doctor that I was eating most of the time, but not gaining any weight at all. The doctor wants to confirm what my mother was saying by doing some blood tests. This is the part where it scared us all. My blood got drawn, but my blood did not look anything like blood due to it being so white in color with only hints of red to it. The doctor takes my mother out of the room to talk with her after seeing that to discuss with her what he wanted to do. They both came back in the room, but my mother was literally bawling so I began to cry myself since I thought I was going to die. I was explained that there was something wrong with me and that I would be staying in the hospital until they could get the results from my blood tests back from Seattle. So I was then taken upstairs by wheel chair to a room they had waiting for me in which I had my own room at least. They began to get me undressed and into some pajamas to wear.
I was in that hospital for pver 3 months since they had also still though that my mother malnutritioned me and they wanted to get to the bottom of that. I was seen daily by the doctor, counselor, and family therapist since they all wanted to solve the problem I was having that they kept thinking it was my mother. Daily I got asked if my mother was feeding me and taking good care of me, but of course I always told them yes I get to eat and she takes care of me just fine. Well, they began to give me shots each day of insulin since they had gotten the results back, but still had counselors and family therapist coming to see me to try to get me to say I was not being taken care of by my mother. My mother was getting upset with the hospital and doctor since they got the results of the blood work, which stated that I was a diabetic. My mother requested to be taught how to draw up the insulin and give me shots, which they began to teach her every day until she got it down well enough. She then requested that I be released from the hospital and if they would not she was going to take me out of there anyways. They did not argue with her since she had married a Lt. kernel who out ranked many of them so they did as she had wanted with releasing me one day.
I tell you this was just not fun at all. They did not even teach my mother anything about my diabetes what so ever. She was never even taught how to do much of anything other than give me shots. So I ran on the high side all the time while I was young, but after I left home at 15 years of age I began to take it upon myself to get myself in to good control in which I am glad to say that I did just that with help from a diabetic educator. I learned so much and got myself back in control of my diabetes instead of it controling me. So as you can see if is very important to get yourself checked, becauase I have lossed 2 of my friends to diabetes since they kept holding off on being checked and passed away while being in a coma from having extremely high blood sugars. It sounds to me that you had a blood sugar reading not an actual HbA1c done to see how your blood sugars have been for the past 3 months in which it is simplier to diagnose a patient by this simple blood test. You must of course fast 10 to 12 hours before getting your blood drawn for that test, but that is since they want to get an accurate reading. So please do get yourself checked out and request the HbA1c be done to determine if you are indeed a diabetic. I look forward hearing of you getting checked and hearing the results of that HbA1c, but I will pray for you not to be a diabetic since I know how much you do not want that to happen to yourself. So please do keep us posted on how things are with you and if you keep having symptoms. Take care and do have a wonderful day!
Denise ^..^
Mom to
Yes, I will agree, having diabetes is no walk in the park. I won't lie to ya. Somedays it's all you can do to just throw in the towel. But you have to remember that catching this disease early, starting treatment and staying under good control can be a HUGE help in keeping you healthy later on. Learn as much as you can. Read up, ask questions to ANYONE you can get to stand still to listen and remember that each person's experince with diabetes is COMPLETELY different. What your grandfather goes through is his "version" of the disease. Take it one step at a time. Get to the doctor first and take it from there.
good thoughts and good luck
Being that I just moved to a new area, I do not have a doctor for myself. I tried calling several physicians in my area so that I can schedule a first appointment and have everything checked out, but the earliest appointment I can get is TWO MONTHS from now (being that I'm a new patient). Aaargh... I'm scared, paranoid, etc. I don't think I can wait two months.
But, once again, I want to offer everyone a sincere "thank you" for your replies. It made me realize that I cannot take my symptoms lightly and that it's important to address the issue at hand. And, as some of you pointed out, a diagnosis is not necessarily a death sentence. Life goes on.
Thank you again. I'll keep you guys posted. Best of health to all of you.
Hello - Since everyone has given you a wide array of experiences I will skip my long tale and just say I was diagnosed in October 2003 and doing 'ok' now on oral meds, the right diet (most of the time) and more exercise. This board has been wonderful and I so appreciate everyone here.
My thought though is that most physicians will schedule new patient appointments far out BUT have you told them you are new to the area AND have been experiencing symptoms that make you believe you might be diabetic and have a history of it in your family? If you tell them that specifically they hopefully will get you an appointment sooner...can't hurt to try.
Smoochdog (aka Michelle)