A Question for Diabetics

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m sure this question has factual answers and such, but I’m really looking for anecdotal information here, so I’m not posting this in GQ. Ahem.

So, my question: how did you realize that you had become diabetic? I experience reactive hypoglycemia (plus the kind that happens if I just don’t eat, I forget what it’s called–my reactive is much worse), which means that there is a high likelihood that one day I will become diabetic. I’m under physician’s care, blah blah blah, and doing my best to prevent this from happening, but I’m pretty curious what I might expect at that point, should it come.

2

My doctor told me that whatever the qualifying diagnostic criteria were, I’d met them. (I’m summarizing, not quoting. :))

Alas, later I was told that once you’re diagnosed diabetic, that’s it: you’re diabetic for life. Even though I no longer meet the diagnostic criteria, the best I can be considered is “well-controlled diabetic.”

Feh.

3

Excessive thirst, hunger, and urination are good indicators as well as unexplained weight loss, fatigue, irritability, etc.

Useful links: American Diabetes Association | Research, Education, Advocacy http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/consumer/index.htm Diabetes - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

4

By coincidence I just made a doctors appointment to check this out. It may be hypochondria on my part, but I want to see what’s up with some symptoms I’m having. (Also I haven’t had a physical in years.) I was thinking of starting a thread asking the same question.

5

Larry, I hope, if anything, you might just have reactive hypoglycemia like I do. I became suspicious when I realized bread and sugary stuff put me right to sleep, sometimes even making me pass out. Fun stuff. Exercise and low-carb dieting has helped me tremendously, so there’s hope. But I’m still worried about the future of my blood sugar, of course.

6

Normal blood test. My glucose was over the limit.

7

[QUOTE=bufftabby]
I’m sure this question has factual answers and such, but I’m really looking for anecdotal information here, so I’m not posting this in GQ. Ahem.

So, my question: how did you realize that you had become diabetic? I experience reactive hypoglycemia (plus the kind that happens if I just don’t eat, I forget what it’s called–my reactive is much worse), which means that there is a high likelihood that one day I will become diabetic. I’m under physician’s care, blah blah blah, and doing my best to prevent this from happening, but I’m pretty curious what I might expect at that point, should it come.
[/QUOTE]

Everyone in my family is diabetic, except my sister, who has hypoglycemia. My symptoms were: dry mouth, frequent urination, nearly passing out after a meal, even a salad, and increased irritability. My blood sugar was about 270 when I was diagnosed; normal is under 125.

My father had advised me years ago that if I ate like I HAD diabetes, I would never become diabetic.

Weight loss is significant in improving your symptoms. The more belly fat you have, the more insulin resistant cells you have. I am reading Dr. Gabriel Cousens’ book There is a Cure for Diabetes, which has some fairly radical ideas in it.

But here is my story. Back in February and March, my sugars were well into the 260-280s. These are morning sugars, btw…a very ABNORMAL occurance, since your sugar drops during the night. For four years I had to deal with my doctor threatening (and in some cases, adding) more meds. This book offers some interesting things to do to lower sugars.

I tried two of the things Dr. Cousens recommends. I drink Noni juice (mixed with a fruit juice because this stuff tastes NASTY) and take Goji berries every day. Well, within two weeks, my morning sugars are between 100-150. Yes, for the first time in years, my sugars are normalizing. (And I had tried everything, from diet and exercise, to meds…NADA. Until the Noni.) LOL

Oh, I still watch my diet and exercise! I have lost about ten pounds thus far.

I hope that helps. Congrats to all of those who are in “remission” with their diabetes. Keep up the good work.

:slight_smile:

8

I was hypoglycemic when I was young. Many of the women in my family (including my mother) became diabetic as they hit middle age.

Mine was diagnosed when I was about 40 after dealing with a couple of nasty skin infections. Currently, my morning sugar runs between 100 and 120 almost every morning without meds. It’s been that way for a little over a year.

I generally eat a high protein - low carb diet and exercise more than I used to. I still haven’t lost bunches of weight, but I have gone down about a pants size since doing this.

Good thing too…got another 30 to 40 years (I hope) with this! :slight_smile:

9

SiL (who is a doctor and Mom’s GP) had gotten ahold of the idea that Mom had to be a diabetic, as she drinks and urinates frequently. She was baffled when the blood tests kept coming back aces. Finally she ordered a different test, which doesn’t look at glucose but at some glucose complex; I have never been able to get her to either give me the name or the explanation, with other people she’ll use the technical words but with the one relative who’d be likely to understand them, namely me, she goes Sesame Street :dubious:. This test came up as “slightly off,” at which point SiL happily pronounced Mom a diabetic and claimed that the reason the glucose tests came up right was that Mom had it “under control through diet.” I’m not sure why is Mom supposed to take a pill now (I mean, if she had it under control already, what’s the pill supposed to be doing?) but she is and she does. Since IANAD and SiL is, I keep my mouth shut most of the time. I do not keep it shut when SiL does things like make Mom chart her pre-and-post-meals glucose for a month and, looking at the list, exclaim “your glucose goes up after every meal and down before the next!” Ehrm, excuse me, did you learn any biochemistry at all in medical school? What the hell did you do during those 6 years of classes, 3 of preparing your specialty admissions test and 3 of GP training? I’m more polite when asking but I also sometimes have doubts about whether Mom really is a diabetic or it’s just a matter of testing bias.

10

I had unexplained weight loss. I have a family history of diabetes, so I was pretty sure I knew what was happening. And I was right.

11

I used to drink like a fish. I could easily down a pint of water (Imperial pint - 20 fl oz) without taking a breath, then drink another half pint on top.

My aunt remembered that was a symptom and told me to go get checked out. (My father was a diabetic in later life, but I was so fuzzed out I’d forgotten the symptoms.)

My initial blood sugar test came back at 23.8 mmol/litre (normal is 4 to 7).

After starting treatment, some other things stopped too.

I’d been losing weight - that went into reverse.
I stopped waking up with a mouth so dessicated my tongue stuck to my teeth.
My energy levels rose.
Some chronic genital lesions disappeared.

12

I was about to hit 40, and suddenly had all the symptoms. Overwhelming, constant thirst; frequent urination to go with the thirst; fatigue; sudden weight loss; and most disturbing, my eyesight suddenly changed, with most of my myopia going away. With my age, family history, and having been overweight for years, it was a textbook case, so I wasn’t surprised when I went in and they confirmed it with a blood test. My blood sugar was over 500.

On the way home, I passed a Dairy Queen and almost cried. Since then, I’ve adapted, and eat a reasonable diet with very occasional treats like ice cream. Still not down to a good weight, but getting there. Besides Metformin, I’m taking cinnamon extract; there’s some evidence it helps one metabolize sugar.

I’m also taking something to control blood pressure; apparently the combination of diabetes and high blood pressure is dangerous because of the risk of kidney damage.

13

[QUOTE=bufftabby]
Larry, I hope, if anything, you might just have reactive hypoglycemia like I do. I became suspicious when I realized bread and sugary stuff put me right to sleep, sometimes even making me pass out. Fun stuff. Exercise and low-carb dieting has helped me tremendously, so there’s hope. But I’m still worried about the future of my blood sugar, of course.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks, bufftabby. I’m hoping it’s just hypochondria, but I seem to have the thirst/ peeing thing going on. In any event I could use a physical, and it’s only a $30 co-pay.

14

Thanks for all the responses so far, guys. I test my blood sugar weekly, so I should have a good idea when/if I do go diabetic.

The biggest PITA about my hypoglycemia so far seems to be when people offer me cake cookies etc. I politely decline, but they often persist. Then I say, “I can’t” because I most certainly cannot, and they act like I’m on some silly little diet, and say things like “sure you can”. Yeah, let’s get me high on sugar, then watch me crash. That’ll be good for a larf. I do miss tiramisu and chocolate cake though. I guess I just need to become a master baker with some agave nectar and whole grain flour.

15

[QUOTE=Silver Fire]
Excessive thirst, hunger, and urination are good indicators as well as unexplained weight loss, fatigue, irritability, etc.
[/QUOTE]

These were my father’s symptoms, exactly. My mother, who works for a GP, knew exactly what the problem was, but couldn’t convince him to go to the doctor for almost 10 years (!), at which time it was an ER doctor he ended up seeing. That’s when he (forcibly) realized he was a diabetic, and when he (under extreme coercion) made the necessary lifestyle changes, like giving up a 6-a-day Pepsi habit.

It’s so nice to see that everyone in this thread is a little less stubborn.

16

Thankfully, I’m not diabetic.

My wife, however, is. She proudly announced to me one evening that she had lost nearly 40 pounds! (Me —> :cool: )

In just 3 weeks! (Me —> :dubious: )

And she wasn’t even dieting! (Me —> :eek: )

The very next morning, I dragged her [kicking & screaming] to her doctor’s office – Appointment be damned, this needed an explaination.

The blood test confirmed it: her glucose level was spiking over 600 mg/dl … :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

No family history (except possibly an uncle in Denmark that died 18 years prior) and no other warning symptoms ever manifested. Go figure …

It’s been nearly 14 years now. She’s been struggling to keep her glucose level below 160 mg/dl ever since … some days are better than others. (She still likes to cheat on her diet.)

And I tease her about the cost of the medications it takes to keep her alive. (“You’re sure gettin’ expensive to keep around …” )

But, all things considered, I still love her anyway! (Besides, it’d be too much trouble to try and break in a new model … and she’s real handy to have around when I want to keep the grandkids at greater than arm’s length!)

Good Luck!

Lucy

17

Two day after Christmas I realized that I couldn’t see the crawl on the bottom of my TV screen. I had been sleeping poorly and had been going to the bathroom at all hours of the night. I called the doctor and asked if he could see me early, I’d had a previous appointment but the tiredness and oddly enough an itching in my mouth itching was bothering me. The doc asked me a few questions said it sounded like Diabetes (I had been thinking it too, like others here it runs in my family) and sent me to the lab. He called me the same night and told me to report to the ER at the time my blood sugar was over 600. The hospital result was low 900s.

I spent the next week in the hospital. Currently I’m taking Insulin with meals but I’ve changed my diet considerably and my morning reading is usually between 80-100. I’m hoping to go to a pill form or totally off insulin in the next couple of months.

18

I don’t remember. I was 3 at the time.
I think my parents noticed frequent urination and excessive thirst and had me checked out.

19

The tip-off for me was when I went to the doc with a urinary tract infection earlier this year and there was sugar in my urine. I had no symptoms, but am overweight and diabetes runs in my family (especially with the women). I narrowly dodged that bullet, though: it takes two consecutive fasting blood tests with a blood sugar of over 126 to confirm the diagnosis, and my first one was 147 but the second one was 94. I made changes to my diet as soon as the urinary sugar was discovered, before even the first test, and my doc said I’m one of the lucky few whose bodies respond immediately to changes like that (he also said I’m one of the few who take such results seriously, and he was proud of me for making the changes so quickly). So I avoided the diagnosis, but I still have to be careful.

[QUOTE=evangelinagirl]
My blood sugar was about 270 when I was diagnosed; normal is under 125.
[/QUOTE]
Nitpick: normal is under 100; 100-125 is considered pre-diabetic. (cite)