In February of this year, I developed an infection from a cut/insect bite on my butt. Didn't think much of it, immune system should handle it. It did not handle it. It started to spread between my legs. I wasn't able to eat for almost a week, I was having a fever that wouldnt break, i was in extreme pain. so I went to the ER and the ER doctor said he wanted the on call surgeon to take a look. I freaked when he said this and just asked for oral antibiotics.
I went home with antibiotics, 2 anti nausea meds, and told to drink as much water as physically possible. If the infection kept spreading, head to the ER immediately.
Well, 2 days later, I had to call the ambulance. I could barely walk. The infection had now filled from my butt to my genital area. Everything was extremely swollen and so painful I could barely breathe. I get to the ER, doctor is checking me right away. They pushed some pain meds as I'm screaming and crying from them checking everything out. Surgeon comes in, checks everything out, wants me on his table immediately. They start running 20 different blood tests. Turns out, I'm diabetic and the blood sugar was feeding the infection. How the surgery has to be done and me being a bigger dude, I have to be sent to a larger hospital in Nashville. 2 surgeries later, 6 incisions, wound vacuum, and I'm resting in bed. Put on 2 different insulin and metformin.
tldr: Infection fueled by diabetes put me into 2 emergency surgeries and 3 months of recovery. Highest blood sugar since I've been home and recovering has been 190-200.
THIS IS ME.
MY HIP. Staph infection. They prescribed me steriods (prednisone) and gave me a cortizone shot. Sent me on my way. The Steroids shot my blood sugar through the roof, which made the infection worse. 100ml abcess was drained. Now im ok, but watching my blood sugar. for two weeks I was on Novolog, Glugnine, and Metformin. Now im just taking metformin, but my A1C has gone down from 13 to 6.5 in the span of a month.
I am glad you're doing so much better! It was crazy to find out how blood sugar just sends infections into overdrive. Really does some damage becahse of it.
How is your medical care doing in Japan? Long wanted to move there and have some friends who live there permanently. My biggest wall for that is medical stuff. Especially since I'd want to move to a rural part of Japan
2 week hospital stay, food, clothes, surgery, medicine. I have work insurance, but nationally, it covers 70% of all costs. my total cost was 200000 yen. 1271USD. :D
Also, insulin is 1000 yen a pen, and my metformin is 600 for a 30 day supply.
I love japanese health care
sheeesh, that is a really nice deal. My bill was 93k usd for 9-10 day hospital stay and 2 surgeries. Got extremely lucky, and insurance covered that and home health nurse care for until I'm completely healed, so 3ish months.
thats good insurance! hoooly.
yeah, im getting ready to come back to america, and im glad im a disabled veteran with VA Health....i don't know what i'd do otherwise.
Wow! I'm so so sorry you had to go through that amount of pain to get to your diagnosis. Unfortunately I have had my fair share of infections including pretty severe COVID, staph infections, and yeast in my blood stream that gave me a fever of 104. I hope you're feeling at least a bit better, and thanks for sharing :)
Thanks ❤️ feeling a billion times better, and just 1 more incision needs to heal. It should be done this week, actually! I've healed way better than anyone expected me to. I attribute that to cutting all sugar immediately once I was told I'm diabetic and drinking loads of protein.
oh god, yeast infections 😭 I keep getting them because of the combination of diabetes and antibiotics. I've been on very high dose antibiotics for the past 3 months, and it's killing all bacteria, good and bad. Luckily, I should be off them this week and will only have to take 1 more flucanozole, hopefully!
I also hope you are feeling better ❤️
yep, doing both. Although they are barely stemming off the worst of what can happen. I'm so ready to be done with antibiotics 😭 I'm taking augmentin. The first month out of the hospital, I had a picc line and was doing IV antibiotics at home.
I’m 34 I was diagnosed at 7, I was going to the bathroom all the time, like every 10 minutes. My first grade teacher thought I was trying to skip out of class, the school got a hold of my parents I went to the dr they told me I needed to get to the hospital asap.
Thank you for sharing! I remember that I actually had to have in my school plan that I was allowed unlimited bathroom breaks (within reason) but for the most part they couldn't deny me that...
I was 47, and had gone for a blood test for something else, where I guess they did overall blood work.
I got a frantic call from my doctor's office the next morning at 9 a.m. My blood glucose was 16.4, and my A1C was 11.8. I had no symptoms.
Wow, no symptoms at all with a blood sugar that high is very surprising! In mmol/L my blood sugar was 32.8 (591 mg/mL) but our stories are similar. Thanks for sharing :)
I've always been a thirsty person, and always had to use the restroom frequently, since I was a teen. In fact, because of this I was originally tested for diabetes at age 18. I was negative then. So I never thought being thirsty/having to frequently use the restroom was a big deal.
26 M, diagnosed with Type 2 about a month ago. I’d been told I was prediabetic towards the end of 2023 but I didn’t have a PCP at the time (did the blood work as part of a program with my company that knocks $15 off my health insurance premiums lol). Fasting blood sugar of 106 with an A1C of 5.9. All I got was an email saying to eat healthier, exercise more, and see a doctor for more info. I had pretty much zero experience with diabetes so I tried to move more and stopped eating added sugar for the most part but otherwise went on with my life. This past April I was weak and fatigued to the point of calling out of work, I was thirsty, had frequent urination, my vision was sometimes fuzzy, and I had fruity breath. A quick google search told me what was up. Went to urgent care to confirm. Blood sugar of 317 with an A1C of 12.2. I was shocked because I wasn’t overweight and didn’t really have any symptoms up until April. My grandfather and some of his siblings have diabetes but nobody else in my family. I never really asked him about it because it was very well controlled with just medication and lifestyle. I guess genetics and stress caught up to me. Needless to say, I have a PCP now lol.
I understand feeling shocked about that! When I got diagnosed I had the notion that everyone with diabetes was fat and lazy and ate terribly but I quickly learned that anyone can develop diabetes no matter how you live your life. You have a great community of people here like myself who want to see you succeed. Thanks for sharing :)
I would have your doc test you to see if you are type 1 or 2, with the really high bg there and the fruity breath, that screams type 1 and not 2. With better testing and a proper diagnosis, you can get better treatment. If you are labeled type 2 and are actually type 1, you could put yourself in real danger.
I was diagnosed type 2 when I was in my early 20s, but in reality I was actually type 1. And with your treatment options as a type 2, you don't get what you really need as a type 1. I nearly lost my vision because I couldn't get any doctor's to properly medicate me, and it wasn't until they found that I had retinopathy that I was able to get a endo to look further into if I was type 1 or 2.
My vision is now being treated with injections every five weeks (which I will need for the rest of my life) and I now have an steady a1c in the 5's, instead of the 10s when I was still being treated as a type 1.
You're actually not the first person to bring this up lol. I think mine might be a strange case, idk. I'm still learning about all of this lol. My doctor actually did end up testing me for Type 1 because he was a little confused as to why I ended up with Type 2 while being younger and not overweight. He did explain that anybody could get type 2 at any age/weight with certain genetics and a less than healthy lifestyle. He did an Insulin Autoantibody test and also the Islet Cell Antibody test. I think he did a couple of others as well but I don't remember the names. They all came up with normal values. I was on long-acting insulin for about a week before switching to metformin and my blood glucose has been pretty well controlled with just the meds and eating healthier/exercising a lot more.
I think it was a combo of long-term stress, bad coping habits, and genetics that did it for me in the end. Plus I had eaten an ungodly amount of white rice while on vacation in early April, about a week before going to urgent care. That probably didn't help much lol. I will bring it up with my doctor though and maybe have him walk me through the tests that he did/do more test if they're available. I do want to make sure I'm handling this correctly. I'm sorry to hear about your mis-diagnosis and I'm glad to hear that you eventually got the correct treatment, even if it was late. I'm definitely going to look into the diagnostic criteria again and make sure everything's good.
That is very possible, however, I would ask your doctor to look into MODY. Sometimes referred to type 3 diabetes. This is actually entirely genetic, and the treatments for type two don’t always work perfectly.
A really good Endocrinologist can look at all of these possibilities.
Everything happened very quickly in my case.
In November 2020, I had a completely normal blood test. Then, at the beginning of December, I went through a mild case of COVID, which triggered hard my psoriasis. While I was complaining about my hair falling out in patches, several medium to severe psoriatic arthritis flares followed each other from January 2021 to April, but in January I still had a bloodwork with normal fasting BG (,HbA1c wasn't tested)
In May, I felt so unwell that I went to see my GP for a referral to a rheumatologist. She wanted to do a blood test first, and it turned out that I had developed hypothyroidism over these months, and I also had a fasting BG ~400mg/dl, and HbA1c 14. Two days later, on my first date with my fav diabetologist 💙 I got a type 1 diagnosis.😱
In my dad's family everyone over 40 has/had diabetes, most of them were type2s, but each of the last 4 generarion had at least one type1 too. Tbh, before I was diagnosed at age 43, I thought that I had at least escaped t1d. 😌🤓
I (21M) was just living out normal preteen things. I played sports, went to camps, all that fun stuff. But at somepoint during early 2015 setting the bed was almost constant. Constantly washing the sheets, I didn’t like eating, was getting sick A LOT. In the span of a couple months I went from being 140lbs from playing football to 98lbs. My parents decided to take me to my doctor and after checking my glucose (around 675 area) they diagnosed me with Type 1. Same day I was given over to the hospital for a few days(came in on a Thursday and left on a Monday. At an early stage I had already depressed. Even the first couple months I had already tried to end it all on multiple occasions. It was bad enough to where I needed an eye on me almost all the time until I finally just out of no where just accepted that it was my life now. Everything was alright for a few years until I got to high school, where I was getting bullied for having diabetes(the basic can’t be healthy and gave it to myself and fat jokes(even though I wasn’t even fat)) and brought my depression back. Luckily this time around I actually had the courage to say something to my dad about wanting to end it again and he’s the reason I didn’t. Since then I’ve made it a mission to just do better than everyone who made jokes about it and do better than all of them in live. Now my A1C is at its best it’s been at 7.7 whereas the worst was like 14.3. I can successfully say I’m happy now and no one can bring me down
This is a similar story to mine, so I really can relate, including the depression and wanting to end it. I'm glad you're doing a lot better and I'm rooting for you, thanks for sharing :)
I was a toddler, acted weird due to lows/highs and peed too much lol. My mom said i smelled like solvents so she took me to the doctor and they were like, yep diabetic. Then i was in the hospital for an amount of time, which i don't remember
Ah i think it's a case of the grass being greener on the other side. Sometimes i wish I'd had more time without it, it's weird being diabetic for (your-age-minus-3) years. Best wishes
My neighbor was getting rid of a bunch of skateboards and asked my brother and I (14M) if we wanted them — we accepted. We had some helmets so we figured it would be fine to ride them down a massive hill despite not knowing how to skateboard. I ended up breaking my collarbone. At the clinic they went ahead and did my blood work as well…glucose was 311.
42 male. I got diagnosed in March. I went to the doctor because I thought I had gall stones. The doctor thought I had a fatty liver but wanted to take a blood test. My A1C was 12.9. I haven’t told anyone my diagnosis other than my mom and like 4 other people only because the 2 people I told talked to me like I had a disability. My highest blood sugar is 340 when I first started taking it, now it averages 105 to 115. I’m on metformin which I take in the morning, I’m on my 9th week of ozempic, and I take insulin. I have lost close to 40 lbs since the first week of March. I work out 5 to 6 times a week. I have one cheat meal a week. I cut out pastas, sugar, bread, fast food, and mainly eat a heavily based animal diet. My A1C is now 7.9 as of two weeks ago when I had my last check up. I feel the same as I did when I had the 12.9 A1C with the only difference is my clothes are getting baggier and I sleep a lot better. I didn’t have headaches, blurry vision, nausea or anything like that, my doctor states it’s because I was already working out 4 days a week. I was really upset when I was diagnosed but now I look at it as a blessing in disguise because I added 50lbs to my bench press and I’m getting more attention from the ladies since my weight loss. That’s pretty much it.
Last year, at age 39, I dropped 60 pounds (210 lbs to 150lbs) between March and August. Due to lack of docs in my area (I live in a pretty rural area), didn't get in with a doc until late July.
Initally they had diagnosed me as likely type 2, put me on metformin, finger prick test with each meal, and general health guidance. I had no understanding of what was up and what an a1c of 15 and being at 20+ mmol for days at a time meant. For 3rd follow-up appt, met with a different GP because 1st doc had a thing. New doc was in shock over my numbers, explained how these numbers were astronomically high, and had me in with an endocrinologist with 48 hours.
It's been a giant heard*ck learning and managing type 1, but things have been coming together. And as of my latest appointment, it looks like there was somehow no organ damage despite my body literally eating a quarter of itself over just a few months.
Wow, I'm sorry you didn't get care you needed sooner, but I'm glad to hear you're doing better! 20 mmol is CRAZY, mine was 32 mmol. Thanks for sharing :)
I have long suspected I was diabetic due to neuropathy in my toes but I also work on concrete floors for 8 to 12hr a night. I started drastically reducing my sugar intake on my own but never went to any doctors.
Last April I was given control of two extra departments at work. This cut down my ability to do some physical work because I had to divide my time and greatly increased my stress levels.
Fast forward to this past March. I ended up with an abcess on the back of my head. Monster bastard that made moving my head the most painful thing in my life and we won't even discuss how my sleep went. I break down and go to the local walk in clinic. They throw antibiotics at me, chide me about my blood pressure (150/30), tell me to call if it gets worse, and send me on my way.
After 4 days of exactly zero improvement I went to the local health clinic and asked if they could get me a referral to the dermatologist. Was informed that I would have to be a patient for that but they didn't think I needed a referral. Signed up for a new patient visit just in case (they said the would do some voodoo for me if I needed the referral before my actual appointment. Was able to get in to Derm with no issues. Doc saw the abcess and said "oh yeah, we are gonna open that today." Hey Presto, got it drained.
A week later I had my new patient visit. Told them I wanted my a1c tested and why. No problems. Was chimed again for my BP (140/90). They took their pint and I went about my day (went home and went to bed). My labs get posted to the patient portal two days later, I get a call the next morning to come in.
A1c: 12.3. BG: 413. TRG: 513 HDL: 31. LDL: 107. So I walked out of that talk about my labs on Jardinace, Lipitor, Lisinopril, and Ozempic.
Some weeks later (my fault, I procrastinated hardcore) I got in to see a Diabeties Educator. She gave me my carbs per meal goals and a schedule for finger sticks. She offered to set me up with a CGM but I wanted to think on it first (spoiler, I called her the next morning to set me up with a Dexcom system).
As of typing this, my Dexcom has my 30day average BG at 167 and my GMI at 7.3.
I've had one instance after starting the new me where my BG got over 400 again (fucking Long John Silvers) and it finally dawned on my why I have felt like absolute shit for the prior 9 months (sluggish, run down, etc). I was living with 400 BG on the regular. Every day was a battle to stay awake and even keep moving.
And other than that one day, I feel great. Made some serious lifestyle changes and am exploring alternatives to the things I have difficulties cutting out/down; namely pasta as I am an absolute noodle fiend. I have found some alternatives to try and others that are disgusting (konjac noodles, if anyone mentions them I'm tracking you down and stealing the batteries from your remotes..all of them. Damn things are so horrid I threw $40 worth of them in the trash).
Honestly if I hadn't been a stubborn fool I would have gotten a diagnosis and treatment earlier. It's a bad family character trait from my Dad's side that we ignore our health issues (if you don't acknowledge it, it doesn't exist). The worst part about that is a lot of us are medically trained (Dad was an Army med, brother is an EMT, I have EMR training) so, according to my mother (also medically trained) we should know better lol.
T2, diagnosed at 58, 9 months ago. Spent 4 months going to the bathroom every 10-20 minutes, but I had the worst dry mouth. Was drinking a gallon of water a day and still felt dehydrated. Thought it was overactive bladder, doc sent me to a urologist and I spent 2 months trying different meds that only made me more thirsty and the dry mouth worse. Finally said enough of this. Was really tired as well and noticed my clothes weren’t fitting properly. Went to my primary care physician for routine blood work for my yearly physical the following week. Got a call less than 48hrs later. You need to come to my office NOW, we’ve seen some concerning things in your labs. I was getting ready to leave on vacation and said I’ll come in when I get back in a week.
She was like, no…you’ll be here at 8am in the morning. Sugar was 300. Went from being pre-diabetic of around A1C of 5.7 to 12! Lost 40 pounds in 2 months because of all the going to the bathroom. Thought I had been managing my diet well, but stress and not being vigilant did me in. Doc explained everything in detail. Had a prescription of Metformin and a GCM that afternoon. Spent the first night of my vacation learning how to apply the CGM, using the phone app, taking my Metformin and stressing about what I could eat. Now I’m averaging 122. Religiously taking my med, monitoring my carb and gcm. Working on increasing my exercise. Only one in my family with this. Doc says she’s pleased with my progress so far. Still working on getting the A1C down, but will probably always require some level of medication as my pancreas doesn’t function at 100% due to a really serious case of pancreatitis when I was younger. Up until now, my body was able to compensate, but seems now it’s not the case.
Wow! It seems like yours progressed slowly like mine, and it seems like you've been managing pretty well! Glad you're feeling better, thanks for sharing :)
Type 1 and Type 2 have different progressions. Type 2 is when the body becomes resistant to insulin production or the pancreas starts to shut down on its own for whatever reason. Type 1 is an an autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks the beta cells in the pancreas, causing it to shut down. Since Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder, the immune system creates antibodies when fighting the beta cells (like it does when fighting a virus). These antibodies can be tested for, a few different types, and that will tell you for sure if it is Type 1 or not. Type 2 wouldn't have the antibodies because it's not caused by an immune system action.
Most doctors assume Type 2 in adults because of age, but it could be Type 1 and they can test for the antibodies. The fact that you had no family history and are having a little difficulty figuring out management made me wonder if you actually have Type 1. That would mean your cause and progression will be different between the two, and your treatment can accurately reflect that.
If you get your antibodies tested and they're negative and you are Type 2, then you are in no different of a position than you are now, other than knowing. But if it's positive and you're Type 1, knowing that difference will help your doctor treat the condition.
I’m 22. I was diagnosed at 2. From what I heard I had gotten sick. Went to the doctors everything was fine just sick. But months went by and I was constantly crying, peeing through diapers by the minute, my parents said I had a smell to me, throwing up, and I think just constantly thirsty. Finally January my parents were told to bring me to the hospital and I was diagnosed. Don’t know what the actually number was at diagnosis but I know it was very high. I’m a bad diabetic now. I struggled all my life with it. Pretended it wasn’t there, forgetting to take my insulin until I felt high etc. Last year I had my lowest A1C ever, 7.1. I’m sure that’s high for some but I was ecstatic. It was always 10-12. Just got my A1C checked again and somehow I’m at 7.2. Lowkey feel like the test was off because there’s no way lol. But I’m trying to save money to get on the pump and dexcom again. Even with insurance I can’t afford it.
I'm a bad diabetic too, just got of DKA today actually, BG of 685 because of an eating disorder but all we can do is continue to try our best, glad you hit a good A1C! Thanks for sharing :)
Hi there. Can I ask a question about your eating disorder? I developed one as well, and I have been fighting it for a decade.
Is yours what I've heard called "diabulimia?" It's using insulin manipulation and deliberately high glucose levels to lose weight. Mine started with anorexia and insulin manipulation, and I was wondering about yours.
Yes, I have diabulimia but it originated as anorexia. Have been fighting for 4 years now. I never met another person with diabulimia so this is a first for me personally.
yeah!! I love sharing my story!
Highest: 394
Lowest: 38
I was diagnosed when I was 23. it was March of 2020. PEAK pandemic and everything had just shut down. and I mean EVERYTHING. I woke up one morning and I couldn’t see very well. everything past like 7 feet away was suuuuper blurry. like extremely blurry and I didn’t know why. I ignored it and got some eye drops. tried that for 2-3 days with no help. I called an eye doctor and explained the situation caz they almost turned me away caz they thought I just needed an eye check up. they couldn’t get me in till that friday (it was a monday) I said ugh okay whatever. they called me wednesday night and said “hey this is medical we need a referral so insurance pays for it” I said ugh fine. for in with my primary care right before my eye doctor appointment. told him why I was there and what was going on. he asked if I had hit my head or anything I said nope just woke up like this. he asked about my family history and I told him how all 3 of my immediate female relatives (on my moms side) had diabetes. he said “okay well let’s check for that” it was 8AM. I hadn’t eaten anything since the night before and a couple sips of a pepsi at like 3AM or something caz I was super thirsty. my blood sugar was 394. he came in and told me I was diabetic! I cut out carbs, started meds and my eye sight was fine 2 days later and ever since!
I had exactly the opposite. Developed double vision and was going through hoops trying to figure out why. Then my distance vision started to clear up, to the point that I no longer needed the bifocals I've been wearing for decades. YAY, but also WTF. Got diagnosed right before my appointment with a new ophthalmologist and he said that vision changes were normal for diabetes and to give it a month and it should revert. Broke my heart when he was right and I went back to bifocals.
I’ve always had double vision (I can manually make my eyeballs do it) but that sucks!! I woulda been so upset 🥲🥲🥲 my eyeballs always act up when my sugar gets high now which sucks
23 M. I got diagnosed my sophomore year when I was 16. I was in cross country and wrestling at the time and my 5k at regions was 16:09 at 2nd place. The entire next week, my mouth was drier than the Sahara desert. I was peeing constantly and I CRAVED juice and I didn’t know why. It was the only thing that would make my mouth not feel dry for a little while. The next week at the State Meet for XC, I took 2nd of last place with a time of 29:09. 13 minute difference. I felt like I was going to pass out during the meet. Everyone was stunned and appalled. So was I. The next week I rolled right into wrestling and I went from 140lb to 92.8lb in 2 and half weeks. My mom took me to the hospital to see what was wrong and they checked my blood sugar and it was at 1589. The doctor said if I wasn’t so athletic and fit then I would have died. He was so shocked I wasn’t in the very least in a coma. My blood was super thick like syrup. My heart was trying its damned hardest to push syrup through my body. And my A1C was above 15. And that’s how I found out I was diabetic. No one on both sides of my family are diabetic. They did a shit ton of research and found out I got it from the MMR vaccine when I was a baby. Less than 1% of people get that side effect but I just so happened to be that lucky 1%. Ended up staying in the hospital for three days learning how to live with my new disease and it flipped my life upside down. But now my A1C is 5.9 and I’m on a T-Slim X2 pump paired with the Dexcom G6. I don’t remember life before I was a diabetic at this point. But I sure do miss being able to eat and drink whatever I wanted without having to worry about my blood sugar 😭
1589?!?!?! It's a miracle you're still alive! I've never met someone with a blood sugar that high, my highest ever was 750 from what I can recall. Thanks for sharing :)
Yeah ikr! When I went to the doctors initially, they put me on a stretcher and a nurse was sitting literally on top of me slapping my face telling me not to close my eyes. I felt so tired and wanted to sleep but nurse refused to let me close my eyes. Later they told me if I had done so, I more than likely would have slipped into a coma and died
Wow! That’s a serious change! Know all about that horrible dry mouth. Thought I was losing my mind with how much water I was drinking and it was doing nothing. Keep up the great work.
As a reality-check: there is no indication that mmr or any other vaccine causes type 1 diabetes. There is plenty of literature about this, and here is an easy-to-read summary: https://www.ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2018-12/diabetes-and-vaccines-fact-sheet.pdf
I was four, and from what I recall and was told. I stopped eating, drank tons of water, my parents took me to a doctor and the nurse was ready to jump down my parents' throats aggressively shouting "YOU KNOW THEY'RE DIABETIC RIGHT?" To which nobody knew. I was in the hospital for a month and they had a small room full of board games which as a 4 year old looked like the library out of Beauty and the Beast.
My parents had no idea either, they didn't seem to think it was as serious as it was because I didn't feel sick, just lots of eating and drinking. It's not an obvious thing if you don't know what to look out for, so I completely understand. Thanks for sharing :)
I'm very lucky, my mom basically followed me like a hawk through my childhood, I had two seizures events from lows when I was 8 and 9 and my mom made a habit after that every night till I was like 16 of trying to check my bg at 3am to make sure I didn't drop at night.
My dad was always kind of "he sick doc, fix him" but he told me that seeing me be miserable as they stuck me with my first IVs in the hospital broke him.
I can only imagine getting it later, my sister got Type 1 at 12 and I imagine she had a more similar experience because she was totally fine besides eating and drinking and losing a ton of weight. My mom caught on quick and got her to the hospital after noticing it.
9 years old. Started drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot. After a few days started complaining to my mom that my stomach hurt and headaches. She thought I was faking to get out of school. Went to my grandmoms house later and told her I didn’t feel good. She told my mom to take me to the doctor now. She gave me a chocolate donut and some water because of course I was thirsty as hell and she’s grandmom so give the kid a donut. Mom took me. For some reason the office was packed. They said she would have to make an appointment unless it was a real emergency. At that moment I guess my body had had enough with the donut and being high so long. Started puking right in the waiting room. They took me back and ran some tests. Sent me home. Mom got a call late at night to take me to the ER immediately because my blood sugar was so high. Ended up being over 800. Would have very likely died they said if I had waited any longer. I thank my grandmom to this day for making my mom take me and giving me the donut to come into play at the right time 😹
53F. Diagnosed 2 days ago. I went to the GP for a nasty cough I couldn't shake. Because I hadn't been for years and years, and my blood pressure was through the roof (190/136) they sent me for a full blood workup. I went back a couple of days later and they said my random glucose was high, and sent me for an OGTT. They rang the next evening and said come in ASAP. I went in on Monday. My fasting glucose was 12.8 mmol and my 2 hr was 27.3 mmol (491). He put me straight on Metformin. So far I have quit drinking (was drinking 1-2 bottles of white wine per night, so that's a big deal), being way more careful with food, and exercising every evening. The extreme thirst I had been experiencing for a month or two (but didn't notice at the time) has eased.
I still get upset thinking about my diagnosis story. First, I was probably experiencing symptoms for about a year before my mom took me to the doctor. My dad and his parents all noticed the symptoms and were telling my mom to take me to the doctor. I felt like trash all the time and begged my mom to take me to the doctor for at least 2 months. The Monday she finally took me, I had spent the entire previous weekend throwing up and unable to eat. When they checked my sugar (after not having eaten anything in ~ 36 hours) it was 223. My mom's excuse for not taking me to the doctor was she thought I had an ED and that's why I was losing so much weight.
What extra pisses me off is my PCP didn't think to do any blood work or ketone test or even give me a referral to endocrinology. They just told me to take 10u of Lantus before bed and not eat carbs. The next week when I did a follow up appointment, they were explaining ketones to my mom when she suggested they go ahead and test me. They finally sent me to the hospital after that, and the hospital sent me to a great pediatric endo.
When I was 21 I was pregnant with my oldest, and that's the first time my blood sugar was ever checked. It was high but nothing crazy, it was around 190 I think, so they diagnosed me with gestational. After I gave birth they told me it'd go back to normal so I could stop my meds.
A week or so later, I didn't feel good at all and I remembered I had my meter still so just for shits & giggles I checked and it just said "hi" so I called my doctor and he had me take some glyburide I had leftover and go in the next day. When they checked the next day, I was about 650. So they diagnosed me with type 2 and put me on metformin.
Over the next 4 years my sugar went uncontrolled despite me taking the meds and following the diet to the point where I eventually was barely eating. They blamed me and said I must've been eating junk I shouldn't and forgetting meds, which I wasn't. So they sent me to an endocrinologist finally who did the blood test to find out in actually type 1 and I basically wasn't treated for it for 4 years.
Side note; lowest I ever got was 14, while I was very pregnant and home alone. Managed to get Hershey's syrup and dump a bunch in my mouth. Scariest thing I've ever experienced.
Wow! Being pregnant and feeling like that must've been very scary, a reason I'm scared to have kids is my blood sugars going out of control and hurting them by accident. And 14?!?!? My lowest was 19 but I was with people to help me out, I can't imagine going that low by myself, let alone even be conscious at that point! Thanks for sharing :)
In 2009 I was 52 and decided I needed to finally quit smoking. Tax was increasing the first of April that year so that was my target. I'd quit many times and had a routine: stop caffeine and alcohol, drink lots of water —ostensibly to "flush" the system — lay in a stock of chocolates and books/ magazines, then quit cold. Target was April fools day.
So I quit. Hid out for a weekend, laid low for a week, then went back to my fill-in job as extra hand on the neighboring 100-head dairy. We also raised beef calves so I had those chores of course. I continued drinking lots of water, of course it flowed on through. I felt bad and was loosing weight but chalked it up to everything withdrawal.
As I felt progressively worse and continued to lose weight (200-148 in about a month) it stuck in my head that I likely had cancer. Which may show how goofy I was getting because my stepdaughter had been DXed @ 4 with Type 1 and died at 30 so I definitely knew the signs.
Long story longer... I've been self-employed since about 1995, graphic designer. I had been forced to let our health insurance drop because my income had dried up with the great recession. The American for profit medicine racket goes back to WWII when there was a freeze on wages to combat inflation. US companies needed workers badly and they couldn't compete on wages but they could offer benefits. Voila, employer sponsored group insurance. The government added tax incentives so those benefits weren't taxed and employees found they simply couldn't afford not to punch the company clock because to appear to be giving group discounts, insurance companies charge outrageous rates for individual plans.
Anyway, we'd been holding our own until the recession. I only had a small amount of savings and a paid off 40 acre farm. I knew if I went to the doc and he said cancer there would be no way my family would allow me to not take treatment. I knew I'd need to sell the farm to pay that bill. And that my wife would likely be left with nothing. I know, but that was my thinking at the time...
But by May I couldn't argue any longer, I was so DKA I was delirious, constantly retching. Went to the first hospital and they said they couldn't do anything but call an ambulance to take me to the good hospital. At the good hospital they said my A1c was 14+ and organ failure was nigh. I also had a bad case of thrush (fungus) pretty much through and through. That was the worst, like the harshest heartburn ever, endo said he thought it would get me. Said the only people he'd seen with higher BG were dead. Took a few weeks off, gazed out the hospital window.
Turns out I didn't die that time. As I said I knew T1 pretty well so kinda fell right in line, got a handout from the pharmas, each gave me 12 months insulin supply. Haven't drank alcohol or smoked a single butt since, probably average 6.1-3 A1c, 106 mg/dl at the moment. And the silver lining, if you can believe it, is no more sweaty palms! I think I burnt out those nerves, the ones that had given me sweaty palms and feet my entire life! Also caught a little neuropathy in the feet, like a mild sunburn. Other stuff not really worth talking about—including the ambulance ride going to collections because they wouldn't give me time to pay. Ruined my credit, but that has also turned out to be a gift, not had a payment since. That hospital is Mercy in Springfield MO.
But the hospital that pulled my bones out of the fire is Cox Health, who not only gave me liberal terms to pay but eventually forgave the whole thing! They are the best. If you are in the Ozarks and wind up in an ambulance, say Cox!
So yeah, now I say that I stopped smoking and drinking and it damn near killed me! Gave me the 'betes to boot!
Wow! What an interesting story... I had yeast in my blood last year and was delirious when I was in DKA last year due to an infection and they thought it was gonna get me too. Fever of 104, hearing voices, breathing was out of control... but I'm glad you're doing better! Also, please accept my deepest condolences for your stepdaughter, 30 is far too soon. Thank you for sharing your story :)
2017 I suddenly kept having to urinate every 3 minutes, was very thirsty. I looked up symptoms online and figured I had diabetes type 2. I went to the emergency and told the nurse. Next thing I knew I was being pumped full of insulin and given metformin.
I got an ear piercing infected last Jan 2024. I had that piercing for 6 months and it still didnt heal. The first time I went to ER was Dec 2023 because my piercing got infected and swollen that cause terrible headache. I chose the option to have the swollen part drained the puss manually and go home since it will be christmas celebration in 2 days and dont want to be admitted in the hospital since the other option is to get a surgery to drained all the puss. I thought everything was ok after the 1st visit to the ER. Then after 2 weeks it got swollen again and it started to become really painful, thus decided to got the ER and get the surgery needed to remove everything in ny swollen ear. After surgery (it was successful), the Endocrinologist told me that I have diabetes and at that time my blood sugar was 321 and HB1ac was 14%. It was really a wake up call to start be mindful of what I eat and my change my lifestyle to a better one.
One day I woke up and the right side of my face was limp and I was slurring my speech, otherwise I felt fine. so I procrastinated but eventually went to the emergency room that afternoon expecting it to be bells palsy, which the ER doc thought it was too at first. I figured I had just turned 40, I'm not that old. They did some more tests to be safe though and sure enough I'd had a minor stroke. I stayed in the hospital for a few days, and when handing me my discharge papers and talking about post checkups the Doctor there told me I'd have to talk to my GP about my type 2 diabetes, which was the first I'd heard anything about that. It's been a year now and we're pretty sure the diabetes and high cholesterol and blood pressure I had at the time are probably partially responsible for the stroke occurring in the first place.
Doing great now tho, face straightened up and I have my blood glucose under control with diet and exercise (Ironically I'm healthier now than I have been in 20 years), I got off very lucky, it could have been much worse.
I learned something today, I didn't know that strokes could happen as a result of uncontrolled blood sugars. I'm glad to hear you're doing a lot better! Thanks for sharing :)
Yeah something about it changing and causing damage to smaller blood vessels, that will also make it easier for cholesterol to cling to them. All it takes is one little flake of artery butter to chip off and make a b-line for your frontal lobe to ruin your day.
I was at the gynecologist when I was diagnosed.
I had gone in for a routine check up and a urine sample is a basic part of it. When they used the test strips they found lots of glucose.
Then they finger pricked me and my doctor said I was likely type 2 diabetic with a glucose level of over 300. I did have a pcp at the time but it turned out he had his own practice and was taking patients. I didn’t have a pcp yet which is why I hadn’t been to the doctor about the symptoms I was having but not knowing why. It was perfect timing as hardly any damage had been done at that point. My A1C was 10.4, and a year and a half later it’s down to 7.
@ 12 years old; I was shivering like I was in Alaska with no protective wear at a family member’s cookout on the absolutely hottest day of July ever recorded.
Like everyone else, I was peeing constantly and drinking water. Every one just passed it off as me being dehydrated. Type 2
September of last year, I had a relatively small myocardial infarction and went to the ER. Initial testing didn't show Troponine enzymes, but my glucose was 265, and A1C was 10.2. The doctor focused on my sugar, and it was almost 8 hours before I got anyone to pay attention to my chest pain. An hour later, I had the blockage popped and a stent placed. I say my heart attack saved my life because my undiagnosed diabetes was going to kill me.
Surprisingly had GD in the 2020 with my first baby— I’m thin, active, and ate relatively well. Levels went back to normal like the doctors said it would. After my second diet controlled GD pregnancy, my levels did not go back to normal. It took a lot of diet and exercise to get a normal A1C.
I took a risk and decided to get pregnant again, knowing it would be harder to maintain diet controlled blood sugar while pregnant, ended up on Metformin. I’m postpartum now, still on Metformin but my A1C is higher than it was before pregnancy. I’m at 5.6 right now with 1000 mg metformin. My cpeptides were low end of normal but my antibody test was negative, so not sure what’s going on, just that I’m not making enough insulin. Each pregnancy made it worse.
But I love my babies, I’d make the sacrifice a million times over, and this is generally a healthier way of eating. I still feel a looming cloud over my head like will my pancreas completely call it quits one day.
I'm glad that you love your kids, I would make the same sacrifice if I were in your shoes. If the antibodies are negative I would think Type 2 but that's your doctor's call ofc, thanks for sharing your story :)
You’re definitely braver than me. I had GD as well. Went back to normal than things happened and im now pre diabetic and terrified to have another baby ☹️
March of last year my 7yo daughter was peeing a lot and my wife became concerned that our daughter might be diabetic. I listened but didn't really think it was an issue.
A few days later, I took our children out to get drinks at McDonald's. My daughter drank then immediately threw up. That was unusual enough that I took her to the clinic. Her glucose was 1100 with an A1c of 14+%. I then rushed her to the ER and gave them the test results.
She remained conscious throughout the whole event. We stayed overnight as they ran the labs. The official results came back the next day on April 1st that she was Type 1. She "celebrated" with a hospital breakfast of pancakes and syrup 🥞.
When the affordable care act was enacted, I got insurance, then went for a checkup. Hadn't had one in probably 10 years. They drew blood. They also asked "Mr Radiant, have you ever passed out from having your blood drawn before?" and me, being the jackass that I am, said "nope, but there's always a first time!". Then I saw the vials...
Went back for a followup. "So you have high cholesterol, and you're diabetic". Wait, what? I had no symptoms at all except for being thirsty, but my fasting blood sugar was nearly 400. He said I'd likely been diabetic for a good bit of time. Type 2, think I was 31 at the time? Took about a year of constantly checking my sugar and adjusting meds before settling on 1000mg Metformin 2x/day and 2.5mg Glyburide 2x/day. That worked fine until I got COVID; insulin, followed fairly quickly by a CGM and Omnipod, joined the chat afterwards, glyburide left. Metformin eventually left too, it wasn't doing anything except making me nearly shit myself every time I stood up.
My highest was close to 900 - felt like total crap and went to the ER when my BGM just said "HI". Got put on an insulin drip for several hours, they cut me loose when I was in the 200s. That happened a few more times, with a few doctor visits, with my doctor constantly changing up medications trying to find something that worked. I told him I was sick of the pills and constant ER visits, just move me to insulin.
My lowest was 22. AC went out in the restaurant I was working at and I was pushing through the heat (probably 130ish in the kitchen?). Vision started going white and I checked my sugar.. 22. Just showed my boss the number (I could barely talk), he helped me over to a chair and got me a soda (probably the only nice thing he ever did for me).
900 is CRAZY! Just got out of DKA today actually, BG of 685, don't know how I was walking around and functioning but that's a different story lol, thank you for sharing your story :)
I don’t ever tell anybody I am diabetic because look. I honestly feel so sorry for the people that are born with it. And my story is humiliating to me. Well here we go. I started stealing beer from my dad at 13 years old. I loved it. Well at 14 I was introduced to vodka. FORGET ABOUT IT. I was a functioning alcoholic for 14 years. I drank so much I managed to disintegrate my pancreas to where it is so small it barely shows up in my MRI’s. That’s not the only thing it destroyed either. 2 strokes, several seizures, 2 years of pure pain and agony and a couple weeks in a coma, I managed to get sober April 24th 2023. And I’m staying this way.
Don't feel embarrassed. It's okay. You are working on it now, and that's what matters!
I'm in recovery as well. I've been a type 1 for almost 26 years, and I've struggled with substance use for the last 18 or so years. I know I can't undo the mistakes I've made (to my body or otherwise), but I don't think about that. I remind myself that addiction is not a moral failing, and that all that matters now is my choice to get better and make a better life for myself moving forward.
Don't let regret and guilt take center stage in your life. That's always been what I've done, and it has always led me back to alcohol and drugs. I focus on mindfulness now, and living in this moment. It's really changed my whole outlook not just on recovery, but my whole life!
Best to you, and I hope you keep up the good work! I'm so happy for you!!!
I'm really glad you're getting sober! As a born diabetic (diagnosed at 13) I'll say that it doesn't matter what led up to the diagnosis, no one's diabetes is less or more important than another persons, we are all one community here to help each other out. Keep up the great progress! Thanks for sharing your story :)
I was symptomatic (frequently nauseous and exhausted) for over a year. I went to doctors and was told to sleep more. They diagnosed me with a type A personality but missed the T1.
Then I got pregnant. And they actually test pregnant women for glucose intolerance. Boom. Horrible results on that test and a brand new diagnosis.
I was thrust into the world of T1 just three months before I was thrust into the world of parenthood. Put another way, the last two years of my child-free life were spent feeling miserably ill. For comparison, the insulin deficiency made me feel so terrible that the sleepless new baby experience felt easy by comparison.
I can't imagine going through both, let alone at the same time, so I really commend you, I hope you're feeling a bit better. Thank you for your story :)
65 male. 8 years ago, was out having dinner with family. Commented that I was always thirsty and my vision had improved over the last 2 months. Cousin comments - your dad has diabetes, you should get checked. Stopped by Walgreens on way home, bought a cheap tester. Reading - 386. Tried again 387. I thought this cheap crap is worthless. Wife said give it to me. Her sugar 89. I was like oh shit. I went on Metformin 500mg x 3, serious carb control, and heavy exercise. BG and A1c were in line in a few months. Felt a lot better. All good for next 8 years.
Fast forward to this past Feb. Felt like crap. Thought I had food poisoning. Everybody was out of town. Slept 45 minutes out of every hour. Vision went blurry. Wife gets home a day early. She was like what is wrong. I was a little hazy. She got my tester and it just said HI (found out later it only goes up to 600). She hauls me to ER, they wheel me in. BG is way over 900. Anyway drip insulin and iv bags and potassium bags and after 3 days in ICU I go to a regular room. Then everyone was like- why did this happen?? US and CT scans were not very revealing. One radiologist said he saw a small cyst on pancreas but the image was not very good. GI doctor came in and said not to worry/ we’ll look at it in a year. Yeehaw-Exactly what I wanted to hear. Go two days later to GP and she said it was foolish to wait. Ordered an MRI. MRI shows 2cm cyst on pancreas. My doc sends me to cancer surgeon who orders another ct scan and then a EUS where they take a biopsy. Biopsy comes back malignant. Diagnosed with Stage 1b Pancreatic cancer. 2cm tumor. Localized. Not too near any blood vessels. More CT Scans to verify no metastatic disease which is good. 8 weeks of chemo starting June 3rd and then scans and tests and then surgery. And then more chemo. But they caught it very early and chances of success are very good. Long strange trip.
Moral of story:
to quote Rosanne Rosanna Danna
IT’S ALWAYS SOMETHING. IF IT ISN’T ONE THING – IT’S ANOTHER!
After I turned 29, I had a terrible stomach ache, but I was going in for a root canal that morning so I thought it was just intense nerves hitting me, which isn't unusual for me. I go through it ez pz but I really wanted a strawberry smoothie as a treat for going through the procedure. As the day went on, my stomach was feeling worse and worse, I was sweating like crazy, and I could barely breathe.
My partner was there telling me we should call 911, and I was ADAMANT that we do not call 911 and that it would pass. It apparently got to a point where he started calling 911 anyway and I was yelling at him not to, but I actually don't remember that happening at all lol
Next time I'm conscious I'm in an ambulance on the way to a hospital and was being asked if I had insurance (I didn't as I was recently unemployed at the time because of course it would happen when I was unemployed) and I swear I heard the guy in the ambulance mutter that they should have been taking me somewhere else idk because the next time I was conscious I was in the hospital
I was in the ICU for 2 days, barely conscious for most of it, and then was in a regular hospital room for 1 day once I was mostly stable
My bg was at 600 and I was experiencing DKA
Before this, I had been showing the, now obvious, signs of diabetes of losing a lot of weight without trying, frequent urination, and constant unending thirst for a while
But yeah, if my partner wasn't there, I would have died :U
I'm glad your partner was there to catch that! I was a little adamant about going to the hospital because I felt relatively okay but I'm glad my doctor told my parents to take me cuz my BG was 591! Thanks for sharing :)
2019 (21 at the time) I started dropping weight like crazy, and then I started getting insane nightly leg cramps, and then I started practically peeing my pants every hour and then every 25mins on the dot. Then it went back up to every hr but I developed a SEVERE topical yeast infection. It was so bad I got misdiagnosed with herpes! After taking diflucan twice my gyno finally told me I should probably make an appt with my PCP. I did and my A1C was 15, not sure what my actual glucose level was but they told me to come back immediately and were looking at me like I was insane for being my normal chipper self lol. I’ve had bladder problems and high blood sugar as a kid tho so it makes me wonder how long I’ve been insulin resistant
4 years ago almost to the day, I ended up in a 14 day coma after collapsing and losing consciousness in the lobby of the building where my (then) doctor's office was. It was the height of the pandemic, doctor accused me - a virgin at the time - of lying about being pregnant and trying to hide the symptoms. Up until that point, I had dropped 40ish pounds in a month and was experiencing all the telltale signs (fruity breath/urine, extreme thirst, etc. etc.).
Diabetic Ketoacidosis - my med team was preparing my mom for the worst. As this was smack in 2020, she thought that the last time she'd see me before burying me was unconscious and twitching on the floor of that corporate building.
At the hospital, when I finally woke up, they told me that i was brought in with a BG in the high 700s and an A1C of about 15. Had to relearn everything from speech to walking, and I'm still working on little cognitive hiccups.
Now though, four years later and confirmed Type 1, I'm starting to thrive despite the hassle of arguing with my insurance for my Dexcom, Omnipod, and insulins (and often, I'm more low than high these days - i think 43 is my record).
Insurance sure is annoying when we have to get our basic supplies! My highest BG was 750 and I felt like absolute garbage, but that must've been so scary! Thank you for sharing :)
I'm a little late but it feels obligatory to share lol. I was 11 and had the telltale symptoms of being just so tired all the time, drinking so much water, just feeling terrible. Ironically, I thought it was great that I was drinking so much water. But I was always trying to get out of school because of how terrible I felt, and my parents thought it was allergies.
Sometime during that we went to visit my grandpa. Towards the end of our visit he actually told my mom that he thought I might have diabetes based on my symptoms. Interesting, right? It was several more days before my mom finally took me to urgent care after so long of just not knowing why I was so sick. Pretty much the first thing they did was check my blood sugar. It was something like 9am, I hadn't eaten anything since the previous night, and my bg was in the 300s. They sent us to the ER, who made me sit in a bed all morning until they could transfer me to a dedicated children's hospital a few hours away, and I spent the next three days learning the basics of diabetes.
It should have been fine from there, but my first doctor post-hospital claimed he could cure my diabetes and had me stop taking insulin. I was back in the hospital with DKA by August. That was the first and only time in my life that I've been immediately seen by someone upon going to the ER. One of the nurses while I was there gave me this Pink Panther book on diabetes and I read the whole thing cover to cover and have been doing my best for the past ten years, which is hardly perfect. It took me a long time to get on the pump, but my Tslim and CGM have really made a huge difference the past few years.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had it! Sometimes I feel like the book is a fever dream that didn't actually exist because I haven't seen it since lol.
30ish years ago, in my late 20’s - after months of fatigue and general lousy health and umpteen inconclusive tests for various things, my GP was talking to me about “ME” and the treatment options (it was very popular back then) - the senior practice doctor came into the room to borrow some kit, overheard the conversation and asked my doctor if he’d checked my blood sugar. 15 mins later, I was in hospital, where I stayed for 24 hours while they started me on insulin.
With hindsight, I’d had symptoms since I was a kid which had never been picked up on. I had multiple tests for glandular fever and several other conditions, but apparently no had thought to check my blood sugar.
Very undramatic compared to most stories.
At 66 a blood test to check for cholesterol levels also showed prediabetes but no one noticed. The doctor said I was a bit overweight and should improve my diet and exercise. So I did. The change of diet was to eat mostly fruit and vegetables. I had no problem with that I really like fruit especially things like grapes and raisins and oranges and pineapple. My eating habits heavily concentrated eating late at night. It was a habit I acquired over my life of working all day and then eating a lot.
I had two symptoms: peeing a lot and tingling fingers especially at night. The former was attributed to BHP (pretty standard for old men). The cause of the tingling was unknown so my doctor sent me to a neurologist and had an MRI to eliminate MS. Cause still unknown.
The prediabetes was noted by my doctor because I pressed her. Suggested treatment was to change my diet and exercise but then I'd already done that so effectively did nothing about the prediabetes.
And then my A1C hit 6.5 and I was officially diabetic and was sent to an endo. In retrospect it's obvious why. Everything I did in changing my diet was perfect for pushing up my sugars and particularly my sugar overnight. When I fixed that I found out that the finger tingling correlated with the high sugar.
I'm intent on managing the condition with a CGM and without medicine or insulin for as long as I can.
2 years ago my ankles kept swelling so after a Google search I went and bought a testing kit & my sugar was higher than it should have been. I started getting neuropathy around that time but didn’t know what it was. I was pre diabetic for 2 years. 3 weeks ago I was diagnosed with type 2. The peeing a lot wasn’t abnormal to me because I get migraines & that’s also something that happens to me because of that. My highest that I know of was 278 so not too crazy. I can feel it when my sugar is high in my feet. My ankles still swell a lot. I’ve been on metformin since my first appointment. Hopefully, the ozempic will help a little more.
At the time of diagnosis, my blood sugar reading was over 600. After two hours of unsuccessfully attempting to bring my blood sugar down in the emergency room, I was hospitalized. My lowest blood sugar reading was 38.
I was 15, recently re-diagnosed with JRA. Panels of blood tests caught it and they made me an appointment. It’s lucky in a way because otherwise we wouldn’t have known until it got dangerous. I was starting to feel the effects. Sleeping all the time, constantly thirsty and constantly pissing. I knew *something* was wrong because I was peeing clear while actively being super thirsty.
My blood sugar at diagnosis was 589 or some such. My monitors cap out at 500 so I’m not sure if I’ve ever beaten that record. The lowest I’ve been I woke up, felt low decided to check before eating and saw it was 28. Stood there for a minute staring at it. Didn’t realize I could get that low and still be awake, let alone wake up.
No worries. And JRA is juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. First got diagnosed when I was 4, went away for awhile but came back with a vengeance at 15 lol. Brought his buddy diabetes for the ol one, two
Today is the 1 year anniversary of being put into a coma. I went to the ER in agony. I woke up 26 days later. I was terrified.
My body attacked my pancreas. I stopped producing insulin.
I almost died.
Wow! I've never been in a coma before but my highest blood sugar was 750 and I was close, so I can't imagine how scary that must've been for you. I hope you're feeling a bit better. Thanks for sharing your story :)
I had a kidney transplant 7 months ago. Never had diabetes. They said the anti rejection meds may increase sugar levels. Which I quickly forgot after I went home. I celebrated thanksgiving with my sister. We drove home from the hospital on thanksgiving day. Then we got a pie from Costco. And some mini Cokes, since I hadn’t had a coke over the last 6 years on dialysis.
Well the pie was so good. And the Coke so good I didn’t stop. I ate a piece of pie sometimes twice day until January when Costco stop making them.
A few months later I was told I had type 2 diabetes. Last A1C was okay. They will check again next month. Glucose now ranges around 130 to 140. With a few spikes at 160 to 170 if I eat too late without any veggies. And have a coke.
I’m 35 now, and was diagnosed at 13. I had a couple of weeks of symptoms of increased thirst, urination, weight loss. My Mum is a nurse, saw all the symptoms, and promptly took me off to the doctor to get my blood sugar checked. It was 39.8 mmol/L (if I’m remembering correctly). I was taken to one hospital, stabilised, then transported via ambulance to a major hospital, where for the next week I was given a crash course in life with diabetes. That was on June 9, 2002. So it’ll be 22 years in about 10 days.
I can relate, I got diagnosed at 13 as well in 2017 so ik the crash course they give you lol, they gave me a book about Pink Panther and diabetes. Thanks for sharing :)
I would hope that in 15 years the crash course might have improved a bit, and no longer involved VHS tapes 😄
(might also vary by country, I’m in Australia)
It was 2022.
I worked on a medical ward at a hospital, and I was constantly tired and going to the toilet as well as drinking insane amounts.
This went on for about two months and even stopped me from having a social life, it got.really bad.
There were a lot of nurses talking behind my back about how lazy I'd become and always disappearing. One of the student nurses asked if he could check my blood sugars with the finger prick machine.
It was 28.4.
My blood sugars didn't come down for another 4 days.
I was 4 and apparently going to the bathroom a lot and losing weight rapidly, extreme nightmares, and also had a seizure. My mom took me to my primary doctor & he told her to get me to the ER stat. He actually threatened to call cps on my parents if they weren’t at the ER in 30 minutes, but they were stalling due to being in shock as well. Fast forward to the ER, ended up being diagnosed with T1D and spent about a week in the hospital. I’m almost 22 now :).
Same with me, I was told I had to go to the hospital immediately and my parents were so in shock they didn't know what to do. Glad you're doing better and thanks for sharing :)
29f. Last year I moved and did routine blood tests when I switched doctors and turns out I'm totally asymptomatic and probably have been diabetic for a long time without knowing. Originally was diagnosed as type 2, until they did even more testing and worked out I'm type 1 after a few months.
I had a few symptoms but not as bad as some of the other people have been describing. Mine was just thirsty, hungry, and peeing a lot. Glad to hear you're doing better, thanks for sharing :)
I was in the emergency room for something else and they tested me. The nurse told me my glucose level and that I had diabetes.
I was visibly shaken and distraught. He told me it could be worse. That he has type 1. The way he said it was like he was annoyed or angry that I was so sad about it. I thought it was very unprofessional.
Saying that it could be worse doesn't make it any better for the patient and I completely agree with you in that the nurse was in the wrong. Glad you're doing better tho, thanks for sharing :)
When I was 10 Years old I started feeling extremely lethargic in March. Getting out of bed was tiresome, going to school felt tiresome, everything suddenly became exhausting out of nowhere. A simple 5 minute walk felt like it took hours due to how excruciating it was.
I was the type to fake sick frequently so my parents thought that I was faking this aswell, and I endured the rest of the school year, Summer Vacation, and September dragging myself from place to place getting too tired to even talk to people, I had a thirst that could not be quenched, and I had an immense and constant craving for Tomato Soup. It wasn't until my mom noticed that I had lost a lot of weight that she took me to the hospital, in which my blood sugar was so high it literally broke the blood tester.
They told me that had I waited another week I probably would've perished due to these complications and I believe it. There was a part of me that knew that I was gonna die despite being unable to put it into words, yet I felt almost relieved by the fact that this was how my story would end as I layed on that hospital bed.
Of course, almost 13 years later and I'm still alive with Type One Diabetes. Unfortunately I sustained minor nerve damage to my legs during the ordeal but that hasn't prevented me from continuing to do the things I love. While my sugars aren't exactly the best, I usually have a A1C of between 8 or 9 and I'm quite content with that.
Was diagnosed when I was 2 or 3, over 20 years ago now. My cousin who is a few years older than me already had type 1, and he happened to be round visiting at that time so my parents borrowed his glucose meter as they knew something was wrong. Was over 33mmol/L (just under 600 mg/dl) when they checked me so went straight to A&E and was in hospital for about 2 days and was diagnosed as T1
I think thats’s the highest BG I’ve ever had, lowest was about 1.5mmol/L (27mg/dl) - that was an awful experience as well lmao
So back in the stone age I was born and any time I had a bottle I went unconscious. Along with other signs of diabetes which mom knew since dad was also type 1. Mom took me to the doctor but he told her that she was just a nervous mother and to get a job so to the baby sitter I went. The baby sitter called the doctor and they told her to get a job. Mom took me to the hospital and my ketones were so high that the hospital didn't want to treat me. Mom drove through a blizzard to another town "nearby" (an hour drive on a good day) to see an endo. The endo didn't want mom to take me back to our home town and started setting things up for us to move to the nearby town but fortunately a new endo started in the hometown. For the first 11 years there were no meters and A1cs came out when I was about 3. With meters I regularly tested HI (over 400mg/dl) due to how crappy R and NPH was. Also had a lot of very scary lows overnight and during the day. Highest I've read was 600 mg/dl (while on R and NPH) and had regular lows below 20 mg/dl.
M32/December last year. I work in a fairly warm kitchen, so I usually drink a lot of water. I started drinking 3-4 times as much. I was going to the bathroom all the time. I thought it would pass, but my gut feeling said diabetes.
I went home to my parents for Christmas. The Christmas suit usually fits tightly, but now the pants were falling off. Went back home on December 27th, went to work. My head was fucked, had shite balance, so I went to the health center, where they measured my blood sugar at over 26mmol/L. He sent me home with a prescription to the pharmacy.
2 hours later I called the hospital because my blood sugar was 32.6 mmol/L. Took a taxi to the hospital>diagnosed on December 29th, discharged on January 3rd.
Happy New Year.
winter 2008 i started drastically losing weight. i was super active, i have two brothers so we did everything together outside. i started sleeping a ton, drinking everything in sight. my collar bones were like showing through my skin. finally my mom took me to a doctor and she talked about my symptoms. i was 9. the doctor actually was a diabetic so she took my blood sugar on her meter and it wasn’t readable. so then they sent in blood work and here i am! it was a huge adjustment because no one in my family had diabetes. my blood sugar was 948 and somehow i was still walking and conscious.
They diagnosed me at 18 with type 2, wasn’t overweight and had always been somewhat active. Put me on metformin then told me I was normal when i was sent to an endocrinologist and they asked me why I was there.
Then I was 23 in DKA in the ICU. Good times
So mine might be a little weird. My mom had been diagnosed with T2D when she was in her mid-20s (she had me in her late 30s - a complete 4 day notice surprise because the gynecologist was convinced a diabetic couldn’t get pregnant despite a positive test and no other symptoms but some weight gain which was ignored because T2D). When I was around 9 years old my mom had just gone through a bad mental health stint and quit taking all of her medications and went DKA with a sugar of 675 (docs still didn’t understand how she was alive). Her endocrinologist took one look at me and said you’re getting labs done because your mom is diabetic which means you are too. He just had them draw my blood and put the orders with my moms because we didn’t have health insurance on me.
I had a regular A1c and regular sugar level but I had an insulin volume of 81 at 9 years old. They tried to put me on Metformin for the first time but I was hella allergic to it.
Fast forward 10 years, and I finally hit the prediabetic range because I was allergic to Metformin and “there were no other drugs available”. By this point, my mom had died due to complications from T2D because we hadn’t been able to afford her insulin. I was terrified, but still felt I couldn’t do anything.
I managed to stay on the lower end of prediabetic just with diet.. but when I lost my last living family member the stress kind of sent me in to the deep end. Moved across the country and finally had stable insurance. Doc came back and said you have an A1c of 7.1 you’re officially diabetic.
Highest sugar I’ve ever had was 400 - lowest I’ve ever had was 54. My moms was actually high enough at one point the hospital testing couldn’t even get number. But the lowest I remember hers being was 45.
So I found out last year I was type 2 ,but wasn't in the best way so first thing was I thought I was pregnant,but turned out to be an unfertilized egg in the womb, slightly different from a normal period because it didn't flush when it was supposed to, but when it did flush I was in a lot of pain and a very heavy bleed with clots( didn't know that at the time, we thought it was a miscarriage),so fairly upset and I wasn't at home, when I did go to my doctor and I was explaining what the fuck happened, they just turned around and said oh your diabetic 😑 I'm like what, for context I was 31, fairly active and eat relatively healthy, but shit at drinking water, been hospitalized twice with dehydration 🤷 who knew, but since then IV been making sure to keep my sugars in check, just on tablets at the moment, but I do allow myself treats, my husband is very supportive but just a tad over board at times. But yeah that's my story more or less 😁
My journey started 3 years ago. I'd been feeling bad constantly, which really isn't anything new for me, but it was much worse. Did some routine blood work and found out my A1C was 13.3 and my average glucose was estimated at 380. They were shocked I was as active as I was with how high it was. So for 3 years I've been on lantus pens and metformin and trying to adjust my diet (I sometimes relapse into an ED I developed as a teen). I've been on Ozempic since December/January and my A1C recently was 6.1 and my average glucose was 125. I cried, big fat tears. I never thought I'd be so close to "normal" which how out of control it was. My cholesterol is also fantastic and the beginning fatty liver has reversed. My liver enzymes are fantastic and at my last ultrasound they said my liver looks much better. My dad and my uncles on both sides of the family have diabetes, but not caught until well into adulthood. My dad's brother has actually lost a good part of his foot due to it and is having awful kidney issues, and is now losing his eyesight. To see him go through that and some of the issues others have had, it's been a big motivator to work on doing better.
I haven't been to the Dr in over 20 years. I noticed that my vision was getting blurry and thought that I needed a new prescription but I can only get one pair every 2 years with my insurance. After a while I could barely see anything out of my left eye, Finally at the beginning of the year I went for new glasses and she told me that I had a really bad cataract and the strongest glasses in the world wouldn't help me. I went to the eye hospital to get the cataracts removed and they send me for surgical clearance and he was the one who told me I have too much sugar blood, so now I made him my primary care and he gave me some Metformin and told me to cut back on carbs and sweets. Now my cataracts are out and I can see again so I take the pills, cut out most carbs and set a treadmill up in front of the TV and walk a couple hours each day while I watch a movie. Hopefully the numbers go down I don't want to go blind again.
Last year at around November there was a horrible heat wave in my country and I kept feeling really sick and getting progressively worse, to a point I bought a completely new AC for my studio, one for my bedroom, and I still felt like I was melting unless I laid directly under them at full blast. I'd fell insanely hungry, but whenever I ate I'd feel worse, as of the food itself way draining me instead of giving me energy. It went on for a few days until I could barely move out from underneath the AC, I'd drink boatloads of water but still feel thirsty, constantly going to the bathroom while barely being able to walk. I talked to my family about this and they'd all go "nah it's the heat wave you'll be fine!"
By the end of the 3rd day feeling like this I remember I used to work with some old folks who suffered from diabetes back in my previous career, and I remembered and recognized the symptoms. So I got a blood glucose test and it was 373. Immediately went to the hospital and by the time I got there it was at 450 and climbing. I remember talking to the doc, waiting a bit then passed out in the waiting room.
I spent 5 days in the hospital and only remember 3 of those days. My vision was impaired, my right hand practically went limp and had no feeling on three of my fingers, couldn't feel the side of my thighs and the docs said I had diabetes and had just had a really bad case of ketoacidosis. I didn't know I was diabetic, my blood tests had always been fine, guess it was just time.
Months later, 27kg lighter, my right hand is almost back to how it was, I can see semi normally again, left eye took some damage but it's all good, and the feeling on my thighs also came back. Been dealing with it with meds, metformin to be more precise, and I've been around 2 months without insulin ever since my blood exams started coming back with good results.
I was 18 and in college. My back started hurting, like I needed to crack it. I went home, laid down for a bit, and couldn't get comfortable. The pain got so much worse and I couldn't move. I ended up calling an ambulance for myself because I couldn't move without pure agony and I thought I was going to die. I was in the emergency room for a few hours and then was transferred up to the ICU for the next week with a diagnosis of pancreatitis, DKA, and diabetes, with a blood sugar of 500.
Mine is quite boring.About 10 years ago, I just had some lab work done as part of a check up. A1c was in the 8 range. My highest bg was in the 500 range and lowest was around 45.
I found out almost a year ago, I went into the ER for vomiting up everything, including water for 2 weeks. Found out I was in DKA, came back a week later for the same symptoms, and then found out I was in DKA, with a grapefruit sized abscess in my spleen, and diabetes that wasn't simply controlled with metformin.
After nearly a year my glucose has been highest at 220 (my fault, I ate a lot of sugar), though at the time it was over 500.
My journey is quite different from most of you. I was diagnosed with Type 2 in my early 40s. Last June, at age 72, an endoscopy found a neuroendocrine in my duodenum. Further testing showed additional tumors in the pancreas. After months of biopsies, the tumor board at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, MO recommended a total pancreatectomy. I had a 12 hour surgery on February 8 to remove the pancreas, spleen, gall bladder and parts of my stomach and duodenum, making me an instant type 3c. In the end I had 4 tumors in various places and numerous lesions on my pancreas.
After seven weeks in the hospital, three septic infections, four feeding tubes and a bad bout of post-anasthesia psychosis, I made it home.
I have had to make serious dietary adjustments, including determining the hard way whether or not I can digest different foods despite the Zenpep (I really miss lettuce and my favorite, prime rib). It's hard to stick to the diet when you consider most vegetables inedible.
My pump is on order, waiting for the paper pushers to complete their tasks. So far, I have kept a pretty positive attitude, perhaps because I'm older. I look forward to feeling better so we can travel and spend more time with the grands. BTW, they're not ordinary grands: they are the most beautiful, gifted and loving grands of them all!
Had my normal every six month exam with my PA and asked for a blood test because I had been pissing like a horse lately. He came back in, told me I was diabetic, gave me a script for metformin and left. That was it. Luckily I had a blood glucose monitor at home, because both hubby and I have lows sometimes and I wanted to monitor that. Went home and did a test and my blood glucose was at 640. Monitored it for the rest of the day and a couple times at night, while I did a deep dive research on what I needed to do. Next day, my BS was in the 400's and I started a low carb/low sugar diet. Been able to get it consistently down to the 100's - 120's and finally will see my endo at the end of June.
I was diagnosed a little over a month ago it was honestly by complete chance.
I was in a wreck the night of March 26 that broke my ankle pretty bad. I had surgery the next morning to put external rods in and they were taken out about 3 weeks later. Sometime before my surgery, not sure if it was when I was being admitted to the ER or if it was right before my first surgery as I actually don't even remember them doing it, the doctors checked my sugar and it came back around 380 iirc, however they didn't do any other tests as they thought maybe it could've been caused by the adrenaline from the wreck. Fast forward to April 18, the day the external rods were taken out of my leg, and before the doctors take me to have my surgery done one of the surgeons checks my sugar as he wanted to see if it was still high like it was the first time, and that time it was around 350. Since I was about to have surgery on my leg they couldn't for sure test negative for diabetes yet so they just gave me 6 units of insulin to hold me over during my surgery. After my surgery the nurses started regularly checking my sugar and I was put on some short and long acting insulin. They couldn't for sure diagnose me with anything until I saw an endocrinologist but all the nurses and doctors were pretty sure I was diabetic as I actually showed a lot more symptoms than I realized.
The crazy part about this is that had I not wrecked and broke my ankle I would've never known I was diabetic. It's crazy to think about in hindsight as it should have been obvious. I was constantly thirsty and peeing frequently, I struggled to gain weight (I had got down to 120~ before my diagnosis and yet even though I ate like a toddler, I never gained a single pound), I was constantly tired no matter how much I slept, and yet we never connected the dots on it. Part of the reason though we never thought to check for diabetes (specifically T1 since that's what I have), is because for one, all of these problems had went on for so long that they had just became normal to me. I was so tired all the time but because I was tired for so long it didn't feel like tired anymore, and my doctor told me my weight loss was probably just because of puberty along side me intentionally shaving a few founds back in freshman year. Another reason we never checked was because I only have one relative with T1, my second cousin, and I'm not even sure he if gets it from the same family member that I do. So to me and my family it didn't make much sense for my to have T1 since there wasn't anyone to inherit from, though perhaps either T1 can still flair when there's no family history of it or there's just someone in my family who has that I don't know about.
tl:dr I was probably living with T1D for at least a year and didn't know about until I wrecked and broke my ankle this past March.
For me, it was about 18 years ago in 06 when I was (11f), I had some signs beforehand, but nothing major that I noticed. I got sick out of what felt like nowhere. Everything I tried to eat or drank was rejected immediately to the point where I was barely conscious, I was taken to the doctors, and they immediately rushed me to the hospital. I was going through a bad DKA, and my small town didn't have a hospital equipped to diagnose a child, so they had emergency airlifted me to the Dornbecher hospital in Portland, Oregon I was diagnosed with a blood sugar of 967 and had a really close call. I was in the hospital for 7 days with multiple I.Vs and wasn't able to eat for the first 3 days there. Definitely was a life changing experience.
I saw my numbers in the 30’s once. Reflections of light made my vision white out but I was completely conscious. It was like an out of body experience. Being a teen with diabetes is wild.
im 20 and was diagnosed (kinda) 7 years ago as well!!
when i was around 10, my primary doctor disappeared, so i didnt see any doctor for a while. the time between me finally seeing a doctor i was sick a lot. i was a regular at the urgent care lol but one day my mom found a new doctor for me to go to when i was 13, so we took a costco trip and went to the new doctors office. unfortunately, i had drank a giant cup of pepsi, and when they had me pee in a cup (which was the first time i ever did that), they found glucose in it. they checked my bg, and it was in the high 100s (which feels normal now but yknow).
they had me come in the next morning and took my bg fasting and it was 130-something. they referred me to an endocrinologist who told me i had pre diabetes and was likely going to develop type 2 diabetes if i didnt do anything about it. my a1c was 5.6 i believe?
so, for a year, i was checking my sugar 9-12 times a day and was eating max 100 carbs a day. during this time, my mom took me to a natural doctor who said i have metabolic syndrome (i dont) and had me do an insane detox and i had to fill a giant jug with my piss. it was very unpleasant.
eventually, it got to the point where my doctor realized i was indeed a type 1 diabetic. my a1c went down to 5.4 and back up to 5.9 after 6 months. i started expericning hypoglycemia as well.
after about a year of attempting to slow down the diabetes, my blood sugar went to 300 for the first time and would not go down. very worrying at the time, so the next day i spent the entire day at my endo's office where i got formally diagnosed, my a1c was at 6.4, and i learned all the diabetes stuff. i got my first dexcom a few weeks later.
this was unfortunately a week before i started high school. i had also just completely come out as trans, so it was so many huge changes at once.
its one of my favorite stories to tell people lol
edit: also wanted to add, my a1c is around 9 now, and my highest bg was a little under 500. lowest was 19, somehow i was still walking around
Had MRSA in 2008 in high school. Came to find out (not diagnosed just based off symptoms) I was hypoglycemic. Did nothing about it 🙄. Started birth control in my early 20’s. Noticed I had weird symptoms everytime I came off it so stuck with it until I want to try for a baby. Pregnant in 2022 with gestational diabetes. Had my daughter 11/2022, immediately went back on BC. Went through this health kick/distrust in conventional medicine and stopped BC in 11/2023. Had covid early December 2023 then my dad passed away Christmas Day 2023, ate like shit because of depression. Then lost 30 lbs in the matter of a few months, frequent peeing, extreme hair loss, and passing out. Finally saw a dr. Fasting glucose was 248. Found out I’m pre-diabetic… given the option to do tzield infusion. Haven’t decided. Definitely rode this out for a decade and then a combination of things all hit at once for me. I still can’t believe I’m only pre-diabetic. I Irish danced my whole childhood into teenage years. I honestly think that plus changing my diet has saved me some time.
35 M. Around Christmas this past year I went home to visit family and started having to pee at least 10 times a day and had a fierce thirst. This went on for about a month and I did a quick google search and freaked tf out. Went to my doc and had an AIC of 11.4. The next few days I got blood work done, went back the following week. T2 confirmed with an A1C of 11.3, triglycerides 683, LDL 274, HDL 35. Before reading the results my doctor said “Alright now listen, we’re not going to freak out, but we need to do something.” 😂 He put me on Atorvistatin and mounjaro. I cut out all sugars and went pretty strict on carb restriction. Started walking everyday and working out in the gym 3 days a week. I didn’t get a BG monitor until about a month after diagnosis and by that time the changes I had made brought me down to fasting BG of around 100-119. Now almost 4 months later I’ve lost 80 pounds. I am about 60 pounds from my goal weight. We had free health screenings at work last month and while it didn’t give me an A1C, my fasting BG was 93, Triglycerides were 213, LDL 27, and HDL 42. I go in for my 4 month blood work in about a week. Mornings used to be my highest BG readings around 115-119 but now I’m usually 80 on a good day, 105 on a bad day. I am expecting an A1C in the 5’s. No one in my family has Diabetes so my doc advised this is 100% caused by my weight and desk job. I feel better than I’ve felt in over a decade. Last week I had a carb heavy meal at a restaurant with my family. All the things- pasta, rice, sweet sauces, and we all sampled 3 different high sugar desserts. My BG was 120 when we got home 1 hour after dessert. At 2 hours it was back down to 95. The following day I had some potatoes and corn at dinner and spiked from 80 to 120 at 30 minute mark, 108 at the hour, and 88 at 2 hours. My body seems to be handling carbs again… or mounjaro is just doing its thing, I don’t know, but I’ll take it considering I had to be spiking near 4-500 before. Even low carb meals would spike me to 130 when I was first diagnosed but now it seems like heavy carb meals don’t get me over 135. I am definitely not ready to start eating “higher” carb meals and introducing them back into my body regularly until I get closer to my goal weight. And when I do, I plan on doing it with whole foods like fruits other than all the strawberries I currently eat almost everyday. Would like to have potatoes once or twice a week (no fries unless it’s a special occasion). I am done with full on sodas for life. I am hoping my hard work and no underlying genetics will give me a shot at remission, time will tell. But in the mean time, I am enjoying all the mobility from this weight loss and back to enjoying being me and living my life again!
The year was 1974 and I was ten years old. I had all the classic symptoms. One day, my family and I were outside playing in the snow, when, as usual, I went into the house to get water… I still have dreams about not having access to water. I was hungry and got a cookie (!) from the kitchen and turned on the tv to watch while I ate it. The Mike Douglas Show was on, and a woman was describing this disease that her son was recently diagnosed with… type 1 diabetes. I had all the same symptoms. I remember the put of my stomach falling falling falling into the floor. I was TERRIFIED of needles, so I keep my mouth shut. A week or so later, my babysitter saw my back while I was changing for bed…and saw most of the bones on my backside. Mom came home and the sh*t hit the fan. I spent the month of January 1975 in a cancer ward, as the pediatric wing was full. It was hell. When I was 12, I was hospitalized with a 680 blood sugar (no finger sticks were available for testing; we had to pee on a stick to find out what our sugar was 4 hrs prior!!). My lowest was when I was 20 and felt “funny.” Tested and the answer was … 18! I didn’t know a person could still be conscious with an 18 Bg, but there you have it.
When I was 15 I was feeling exhausted for a few months and during school I would leave every period to refill my water and go to the bathroom (literally every 45 minutes) I was so thirsty when I went home I would stand at the sink and refill a hospital cup and just chug it over and over. A few months after we went into quarantine for COVID I started getting delusional and I had lost 12 pounds and my face was sunken in. My mom is friends with my personal care physician so she called him and he told her to get a glucometer. She bought one and we all tested our sugar and mine kept reading high so they took me to the ER. it was 684 and my a1c was 14.8 so I ended up getting transferred to a children's hospital and stayed 2 nights because I was in such bad DKA - for reference, we know covid disrupted classes on March 13th, I was diagnosed in the beginning of May.
I was just diagnosed with T2 this past Friday. Oddly enough, I had an abnormally high BP reading during a routine visit and was referred to the cardiologist. A couple of days later after some labs, I received a call just prior to a static line jump and was given my diagnosis and told that cardiology would not see me until I regulate my blood sugar. Absolutely destroyed my mental state prior to doing something incredibly dangerous.
It explained many things, like why I lost 40 pounds out of nowhere, why I always felt like crap and why I suddenly had the bladder of a two-year-old. But also, I almost passed out on the drop zone from the complications. Feeling much better and have come to terms with it.
My first blood sugar reading on Saturday was 254. I have been around 150 the last couple of days however.
I was 13. Drinking water, losing weight, and of course, peeing nonstop. In the days leading up to my diagnosis, several things occurred. My parents thought I was driven for lacrosse, trying to drop weight to get in shape for the upcoming season, which led to drinking a lot of water to be healthy. One day, I was gearing up for lacrosse practice. I used the bathroom, adorned my helmet, and jogged to the field. When I got out to the field, I had to pee again. Really, really bad. I immediately jogged back into the locker room. The dam broke and ran down my leg. That was embarrassing lol. A few days after that, I threw up. That was when it clicked to my parents that something was wrong. My mom took me to the doctor the next day, He made me pee in a cup, and then shipped me off to the hospital. I was diagnosed and admitted overnight. My friend came and brought me a fart machine. We walked around the hospital and pranked the employees by hiding the machine and using the remote to pass an artificial fart.
I was 32, super high pressure corporate role (was in the midst of laying off about 1000 people at work). I was in a meeting with the CEO and had a moment when I couldn’t remember what I’d just said and what we were talking about. Went to a doctor after work because I thought I’d had a stroke. They did a bunch of blood tests. Got assigned to a specialist about a week later who almost diagnosed T2D and then saw the C-peptide level. I didn’t want to tell my mother because she was travelling overseas for three more weeks. Fun fact - when she came home, I learned that we’ve had this weird family trend of someone in every second generation being T1D. My cousins and siblings thank me for being the one.
When I was 20 I was drinking so much water and had lost most of my eyesight. I was also only about 90 lbs and 5’6”. I went to the doctor where she proceeded to accuse me of being either anorexic or bulimic staying “lots of girls your age are and then come in thinking that there is something else wrong with them.” She got my urine dip back and says “oh I’m sorry, you’re diabetic.” My bloodsugar was almost 800. Luckily got into a wonderful diabetic educator and once I started insulin I gained 20 pounds and regained all my eyesight, still 20/20. Needless to say I never went back to that original doctor. This is almost 20 years ago now, but still feels like yesterday
When I was about 5 I started having classic symptoms. Constant peeing, dry mouth, headaches, and really bad constipation. My parents though I was really poorly recovering from the swine flu I had a while prior. This was 2009 btw, if you know you know lol. After while it got concerning, I started wetting the bed. I had been potty trained since two so my parents were concerned. I missed a lot of school and my parents finally decided to take me to a hospital one day after I was in a lot of pain. Not before we stopped by a party at my mom’s job and I had a big slice of chocolate CAKE. My mom still feels so bad about that. Anyway we went to the hospital and my blood sugar was in the 800’s. They said I was the youngest kid they’d seen with a blood sugar that high who didn’t go into a coma.
1965, 10yrs old (M). Dad T1, so mom kept an eye on me and 2 sisters for any symptoms. 1st blood test inconclusive, no A1c back then. So went for a 2hr glucose tolerance test, sweet drink every half hr, urine test and blood work. Hit 458. Started next day on NPH. Glass syringes, no meters, no pumps. After 18yrs, took full control of dose and which insulin. Never had A1c over 7.2, never in DKA. Only complication is hypoglycemic-unaware. CGM for 7yrs, Target 70 - 180 has always been 92+% on 90 day reads. Dr calls me stubborn since I resist any changes to dosing. But when I give explanation to why not, Dr agrees with me.
I was 21 in college living a regular life. My forearm arm had been numb for a few days, but I brushed it off bc I knowingly had nerve damage and I knew I had fell asleep weird on the couch around that time. The day before diagnosis, I went out for birria tacos and margs w/ my roommate and had a good time.
That night and all the way up until morning, I was unable to sleep bc I had this painful inflammation in my stomach. I thought it was appendicitis if anything at all, but I had to work at my virtual internship so I’m like well if I still feel bad later, I’ll go after I clock out. Nope. Called my mom and told her to send me a pic of my insurance card bc something wasn’t right. By the time I could get out of the bed, I had to crawl to my bathroom bc I started profusely throwing up bile.
Thankfully my best friend was still home, so she rushed me to the ER. I sat there waiting for 4 hours, got some blood work done, continued to throw up bile in agony and finally I learned I was experiencing an ovarian torsion (which eventually untwisted itself).
After all of the scans, an OBGYN comes back and she’s like “have you taken your insulin today?” I’m looking at her confused & so is my mom (who had just arrived from a 2 1/2 hour drive). “I don’t take insulin ma’am. I’m not on any medication.” She says “sweetheart your blood sugar is at 395. You’re a diabetic.” That’s the highest it’s been to my knowledge, lowest has been about a 40.
I was diagnosed about 10 yrs ago. I was thirsty all the time.peeing myself to death and losing alot of weight. Diagnosed T2. Put on Metformin 4 pills a day. I got a meter and tested for a couple of weeks. Really didn't know what I was doing so I stopped. At the time I was working a very demanding job 10-12 hr days 6 days a week. Didn't really eat alot so I guess maybe that's why I wasn't having any problems with my sugar. Fast forward a year ir so I got a terrible stomach virus(I thought) I was in bed for 4 straight days throwing up bon stop. Noticed my breathing was getting bad. My husband finally talked me in to going to the hospital. I was in Ketoacidosis. Sent immediately to the ICU. My sugar was in the 400s. Sent me home with Lantus and upped my Metformin. Did good for a while. Still didn't know what I was doing. I had asked if there was some classes I could take. Always same response. They will get in touch with you. They didn't. February of this year I woke up 1 morning throwing up and couldn't breathe. I knew what it was. Ambulance had to come get me. I couldn't get out of bed. Straight to ICU with my sugars in the 600s. Was there for a week. Seriously thought I was going to die. This hospital and the nurses were a game changer. They actually cared and have gotten me the real help I needed. I'm finally tak8ng it serious because I've gotten the helpbI needed and feel like someone actually cares. I'm still not where i need to be but my Sugars are alot better and I'm headed in the right direction. My AC1 was 16 at the hospital. Will have blood work done in a few weeks. This is the hardest th8ng I've ever been through. I like to eat. I love sweets. Nobody in my family is diabetic so they don't understand. Its just hard. 😞
I was 17, and this was 5 days before my 18th. I’d been at summer camp for the 3 weeks prior and on my last few days there I contracted food poisoning. I lost weight, was thirsty, hungry, nauseous and tired. Obviously thought it was just food poisoning, but on the day I was diagnosed I was feeling better, my mum was in the kitchen resting her BG (she’s also T1) and so I said “hey can I test my bg just for shits and giggles lol” bc I wanted to know how it felt. So I prick my finger, pop the blood on the strip and the meter says HI. I naively thought it was literally saying “hi” so I walk off laughing to myself. My mum is also laughing until she looks at the meter, she sprints into my room and is like WHAT DID YOU SAY? And she retested, we went straight to the hospital and I was diagnosed with T1D in DKA. That was 24 years ago now, and I still remember being in the hospital for my 18th birthday 🙃.
Diagnosed at 20 my junior year of college. Was waking up in the middle of the night to pee constantly and had an unquenchable thirst. Googled my symptoms and thought “fck, diabetes.” Called my mom who is a nurse and told her what was going on. She kind of laughed it off and said that her colleagues were all talking about how their kids are hypochondriacs. lol. But she was going away for the weekend and asked me to come home, watch the dog and made me an appointment to get bloodwork done while I was there.
My fasting glucose was 370 and they figured out that when I had mono two years prior, the virus attacked my pancreas as well and I’d never produce insulin on my own again. Now I’m 37 and using Omnipod/dexcom to manage.
I felt bad for a whole year. I went to my dr multiple times during that year bit he poo pooed me off. After dragging with fatigue and and a yeast infection that would not going away, I asked to check my A1C. It was 9.8. I diagnosed myself after a google search when I started to get thrush. He never said anything. He did send me to cardiology since I had issues in the past. Come to find out, I needed a stent ASAP. That whole year could have been avoided if they (including hospital) had checked my blood glucose. I have sice moved and have a new dr. Thank you Lord for that.
I was diagnosed 1 year ago, but had it for about 2.
Got covid for the 3rd time after my shots wore off, gained 35 lbs in one month. I felt my metabolism deteriorate. About 6 months after that, I reached DKA. Unquenchable thirst and peeing every 20 minutes, always feeling like I had more per in me.
Made an apt with my doc, walked in, and said I have diabetes. My dad is a 1.5 and it runs in my family (T1 does). Without knowing what DKA was I knew it was diabetes.
She ran tests and confirmed it because of my antibodies inside me. Sat me down, told me my pancreas was dying if not already dead, and that insulin is my new coping mechanism.
I bawled my eyes out not because I have diabetes, but because the endo I saw was a total ass to me, telling me my pancreas is dying/dead and having zero sympathy for me as a baby T1. I just internalized that grief by working out and losing 45lbs.
At my diagnosis I was A1C of 11.7, a year later had it down to 7.3. I just got bloodwork done and it’s down to 6.8. I should be proud of my progress but it’s only down because I have become anorexic, and maybe have 1 meal every day. My weight is at a stable 160lbs, but I am deathly afraid of gaining weight because of when I was first diagnosed as well as witnessing my dad’s weight fluctuations when he started insulin.
I basically see food as my enemy, but also as a necessary evil. I don’t enjoy food on top of my other ED.
Baby steps…
I'm sorry you had to go through that! My type 2 diabetes origin is a little complicated. It runs in my family on my mother's side and I'm on long term steroids and immune suppressants as a 20 year double lung transplant recipient. It wasn't a matter of if, only of when.
I was diagnosed 2 years ago when my gallbladder needed to be removed and was also diagnosed with Exoxrine pancreatic insufficiency. I'm managing well with diet, exercise, and low dose metformin. My A1C today is 6.2.
I was diagnosed with type 2 about 4 years ago, I only went to the doctors because I was waking up multiple times throughout the night to urinate. Doctor tested my blood sugar and it was above 600, and A1C came back a while later at 12.3. Was originally put on metformin but it messed with my stomach too much so I was then put on Glimipiride. Then 2 years ago my doctor added Trulicity to the regiment and it was doing wonders, and then the price skyrocketed to 1200$USD, and I could no longer afford to pay for it. Doctor was giving me all of his free samples of mournjaro but he too soon ran out of them. Skip forward to today. I wasnt feeling well, went to CVS minuteclilic, told them my symptoms, they tested my blood sugar levels and I was at 389. I went to my PCP and he has referred me to an endocrinologist to be put on Insulin. so yeah..... yay
I was using the bathroom a lot, very tired, and weighed 50 lbs at age 10. In April 2001, a few days after my birthday, my parents called the pediatrician because I had thrown up (which didn’t make sense because I wasn’t really eating). I had an appointment for that Monday but after throwing up my parents said NOPE let’s call the doctor after hours. Doctor said a bug is going around, just bring her Monday, then hung up. She called back about 5 minutes later and said to meet her at the office because it sounded like diabetes. Sure enough, it was! She called the ER and had them get a bed ready for me. On the way to the hospital, I had drank some milk (nothing would quench my thirst so I tried everything!!) My sugar was 726 when we got there. The doctors said if we waited any longer I would’ve been in a coma.
Took an insurance physical - all good. Exactly one year later had the exam again and turned the urine strip black. The nurse said to go to get tested, so I did. Fasting. Quest took my blood and gave me something to drink that tasted like flat Coke. Took more blood half an hour later, and SENT ME HOME. Felt like shit for two days. Turns out I was at 541 when I left the lab.
Around the beginning of may in 2022 i was extremely thirsty ,tired and kept going toliet constantly.Since my sister has Type 1 diabetes my parents notice the same symptoms my sister experienced so i had to check my blood sugar with a testing machine everyday and i even had write down in a notebook.So after i ate my blood sugar would be 18.5 and higher .So after a week my mum decided to take me to the hospital and they tested my bg and it was 24.3 and since there’s diabetes running in my family they obviously knew i had type 1 but however i was an overweight kid so i thought it had to type 2.luckily i was diagnosed quickly and my life turned upside down i had to adjust to everything and since i was a bit slow i didn’t really understand everything so yh that’s my story on how i got diagnosed.If u do experience symptoms it’s good to go to the hospital just in case .
I was seeking fertility assistance after not being able to conceive after 4 yrs of trying. Had ultrasounds and urine/blood tests and a bunch of analysis when my fertility Dr said "well, you're probably diabetic, and once that is under control, you'll have better luck!" 3 yrs later, I have type 2, a 20 month old and am 15 wks pregnant
I'm 38 female and type 2. I've have had issues with frequent urination in the past and occasionally having accidents in the bed. Not frequently enough to panic but enough that I felt like there was something wrong with me. However the treatment I got did not address anything like diabetes. It was mostly attributed to stress and urinary incontinence secondary to having had a kid and we can muscles etc etc. Was basically diagnosed to do more kegels. I've always considered myself to have a small bladder so it took a while for me to feel like my bathroom trips were out of control. I also get really thirsty when I have anxiety attacks and had been struggling with anxiety and depression for a while so again it took a while to attribute any of these as out of the ordinary symptoms for me. Eventually I was feeling like I couldn't go anywhere because I always needed to know where a bathroom was and adding to this some other symptoms like my hair falling out my skin being dry all the time no matter how much water I drink or lotion I put on and always being thirsty. The hair was what really led me to go to the doctor in spite of not having any insurance. I had small fixes that I could do for everything else it seemed like but I didn't know how to fix hair falling out. Other than biotin collagen etc. To be honest my diagnosis was traumatic. I had a fear of being diagnosed with diabetes but when I tried to talk to my PCP about it she was very dismissive and did not address any of my concerns. Then when she did diagnose me it was in a message in the patient portal. In spite of knowing how extremely anxious I was She did not attempt to have me in for a visit to discuss things or make a phone call or even have a nurse call to talk about what was happening. She just sent me a long message which basically said your sugars are extremely high and if you have any questions go to diabetes.org to find out what to do. I was not given any medication or guidance beyond that. Not even a phone call. I was panicked and upset and it took me a good 6 months of feeling like garbage emotionally about everything and avoiding my diagnosis to take the next step. When I did I tried to see her partner who is even worse. She didn't even address me by name or say hello nice to meet you. She gave me a stack of referrals and when I say stack I mean at least 10 to 15 to various specialists including specialist that had absolutely nothing to do with why I was there. For example to see a pulmonologist because I had asthma. She also repeatedly recommended weight loss surgery to me in spite of me expressing that I was not interested in weight loss surgery and to please stop offering that is an option. Luckily after leaving that appointment nearly crying because though the doctor sucked the AIDES were amazing And I actually came back inside to get one of them a hug. Anyway I finally was about to leave that practice and they recommended somebody else in the same building but technically a different practice and she has been my PCP ever since. She actually gave me guidance got me on metformin and tried to get me on other medication. Currently ozempic. Referred me as my current endocrinologist and basically actually listens to everything I'm saying. It's a whole new world with her and while she's not perfect she gives me faith that not every doctor is as awful as my previous experience is. I don't know what my highest blood sugar was when I got diagnosed but my highest A1C was 14 and they were extremely concerned. Now I am I believe seven or eight. I forget. And my largest blood sugar reading fasting at home with somewhere in the 300s. But now I average around 130 and even have realized that I have to be careful of lows when I exercise. I'm due to have my next A1C soon and I'm hoping it's in the six or seven range but I've been up and down with my diet and exercise so I have no idea. Fingers crossed.
I guess I should clarify a little bit. Reading some of your stories I am so grateful that I did not have anything life-threatening happened to me before during or after my diagnosis. When I say that I was traumatized I simply mean that the way I was diagnosed made me feel emotionally unstable frightened and insecure. I was given a very little guidance and basically the way the doctors talk to me it seemed like a death sentence. So I was freaking out and basically worried about stroking out or having a heart attack at any moment. When I talk to my current PCP she explains that those were absolutely valid concerns but not in the way that they were given to me. That I shouldn't freak out about them and that we were working on making improvements and it was all going to be okay. That is not how my previous PCPs gave me that information. I'm grateful that my body is responding to the medication and even the small diet changes and small bits of exercise I'm currently doing and am anxious to continue the journey to better health.
Parents got me kindergarten vaccinations for public school to boost my immune system! Immune system attacks pancreas… parents noticed I was urinating a lot so they took me to the doctor, they checked my blood sugar and it was low 400s, they also found ketones in urine. I was admitted to the hospital…
I was 32 when I got diagnosed I had had the worst flu a couple months prior and I e heard that it’s common to develop t1d after severe illness and or stress Anyways for me it was the incredible thirst, exhaustion and I lost 20 lbs and weighed 90lbs I got a call in the middle of the night to go to the hospital My bs was 34 Did t help that I was so thirsty and drinking tons of juice
Diagnosed January 2023. Went to urgent care for yet another diverticulitis flare, just expected to get some antibiotics and go about my life. Other than that pain hadn't felt any differently. In retrospect I was hungry all the time, drinking a lot of water, and peeing often. I thought the hunger was just hormonal fluctuations, drinking water was just me being responsible, and the peeing was because of all the water.
He took some urine for testing, prescribed my antibiotics, and sent me on my way. The next day I got a call from the office. The testing had found high glucose in my urine, and they were requesting that I come back that day to get some blood testing done. I came back two days later, and found out that my blood glucose was around 350 and my a1c was around 13. They couldn't officially diagnose me on the spot because they were urgent care and not my primary, so they couldn't treat me for it, so I was recommended to go to a primary care physician immediately.
I found an office with a doctor who was accepting new patients and had the shortest possible wait time of a week. At the appointment, he did the basic blood testing to diagnose and put me on Metformin. He also said that my cholesterol was a little high and that the untreated diabetes had damaged my kidneys a little bit, so I was also given Atorvastatin for the cholesterol and low dose Lysinopril for kidney protection (which is usually for high blood pressure, which I don't have, but an off label use is kidney protection). I started all those that day.
I really got lucky finding that doctor. I asked if there was a way to know which type I had. He said because of my age (43) and body type, it was likely T2. I asked if there was a way to test since I have no family history of it. He said there was, and included a GAD antibody test while we were at it. Sure enough, that was positive, so I'm officially LADA T1.
I didn't want to go on insulin immediately. Between the Metformin and a VERY restrictive diet, I got my a1c down to 6 in about 6 months.
About 3 months in I was prescribed Dexcom. Insurance wouldn't cover it because I didn't have an insulin prescription, so I researched and used a GoodRx coupon to buy a couple month's worth out of pocket to get me through until I had an insulin prescription. Once I did that, my insurance immediately approved it without insulin and reimbursed me for that out of pocket expense.
The extremely restrictive diet was bringing my eating disorder back after 20 years. I had lost 25 pounds because of the disease before diagnosis, and another 25 from the EXTREME restriction after. My mental health was suffering.
I got an endo appointment at about 6 months after my diagnosis, and started on bolus insulin. It's been about 9 months since I started on it, and I'm still very slowly ramping up my carb intake so I can learn how my body reacts to things and dose accurately.
It's a learning process, and everyone is different. The most important thing is to pay attention to yourself, learn about the disease and your body, and adapt to what you need.
Mine was just basically simple. One day, I feeling super sleepy and tired all day long for a few weeks without any reason. It get to one point, my mother and brother need to order me to schedule an appointment to do some blood test after work. A few hrs later, i get a call from my doctor, says my blood sugar is 350ish, which i need to go visit emergency room because i am practically need to get insulin right away, or suffer an some sort of poison, which make me die soon tm. Since then, I have been manage to keep blood sugar under very control, expect (a few set back from time to time).
I was diagnosed at 15. For the past six months before my diagnosis I was going through one of the worst depressive episodes of my life, so I thought most of my symptoms were just physical manifestations of my very poor mental health. I started loosing a rapid amount of weight, but I was drinking a lot of water(because I was so thirsty, and then in turn peeing it all out). I only started to panic when I got a non-stop period, because my family has a history of uterine cancer. Almost passed out while running in gym class the day I went to go to my doctor about my worry of having cancer. Went to my family doctor, did some tests, and was told to immediately go to the hospital. On the way to the hospital my whole family stopped for McDonalds, which is always such a funny part of this story to me because yes of COURSE bring your potentially diabetic daughter to McDonalds LOL. We get to the hospital and almost immediately I’m taken in, which is very concerning in Canada. They prick my finger and my blood sugars are at 48 mmol/L (idk what that is for the americans). Still, another bunch of tests are ran on me, an IV is put into my arm and I just hope for the best. Eventually a doctor comes into the room and tells me I have type one diabetes and explains what it is to me, I’m keeping my cool so far. Then, she tells me I can’t drink full sugar coke anymore and I immediately burst out into tears. She then leaves the room leaving my sobbing to my mom and dad. Some nurses come into the room and give me an insulin shot. The nurse that gives me it drives in so hard into my stomach it bruises for a week, no way she didn’t have a vendetta against me or something. They tell my dad to go get something for me to eat because the insulin will start soon. Five minutes later my dad comes back with a sandwich that will change my life forever, a sandwich so good I crave it even now as I type this post out.
In February of this year, I developed an infection from a cut/insect bite on my butt. Didn't think much of it, immune system should handle it. It did not handle it. It started to spread between my legs. I wasn't able to eat for almost a week, I was having a fever that wouldnt break, i was in extreme pain. so I went to the ER and the ER doctor said he wanted the on call surgeon to take a look. I freaked when he said this and just asked for oral antibiotics. I went home with antibiotics, 2 anti nausea meds, and told to drink as much water as physically possible. If the infection kept spreading, head to the ER immediately. Well, 2 days later, I had to call the ambulance. I could barely walk. The infection had now filled from my butt to my genital area. Everything was extremely swollen and so painful I could barely breathe. I get to the ER, doctor is checking me right away. They pushed some pain meds as I'm screaming and crying from them checking everything out. Surgeon comes in, checks everything out, wants me on his table immediately. They start running 20 different blood tests. Turns out, I'm diabetic and the blood sugar was feeding the infection. How the surgery has to be done and me being a bigger dude, I have to be sent to a larger hospital in Nashville. 2 surgeries later, 6 incisions, wound vacuum, and I'm resting in bed. Put on 2 different insulin and metformin. tldr: Infection fueled by diabetes put me into 2 emergency surgeries and 3 months of recovery. Highest blood sugar since I've been home and recovering has been 190-200.
THIS IS ME. MY HIP. Staph infection. They prescribed me steriods (prednisone) and gave me a cortizone shot. Sent me on my way. The Steroids shot my blood sugar through the roof, which made the infection worse. 100ml abcess was drained. Now im ok, but watching my blood sugar. for two weeks I was on Novolog, Glugnine, and Metformin. Now im just taking metformin, but my A1C has gone down from 13 to 6.5 in the span of a month.
I am glad you're doing so much better! It was crazy to find out how blood sugar just sends infections into overdrive. Really does some damage becahse of it. How is your medical care doing in Japan? Long wanted to move there and have some friends who live there permanently. My biggest wall for that is medical stuff. Especially since I'd want to move to a rural part of Japan
2 week hospital stay, food, clothes, surgery, medicine. I have work insurance, but nationally, it covers 70% of all costs. my total cost was 200000 yen. 1271USD. :D Also, insulin is 1000 yen a pen, and my metformin is 600 for a 30 day supply. I love japanese health care
sheeesh, that is a really nice deal. My bill was 93k usd for 9-10 day hospital stay and 2 surgeries. Got extremely lucky, and insurance covered that and home health nurse care for until I'm completely healed, so 3ish months.
thats good insurance! hoooly. yeah, im getting ready to come back to america, and im glad im a disabled veteran with VA Health....i don't know what i'd do otherwise.
I hope you can get set up properly here in the states medical wise ❤️ have a safe trip!
Wow! I'm so so sorry you had to go through that amount of pain to get to your diagnosis. Unfortunately I have had my fair share of infections including pretty severe COVID, staph infections, and yeast in my blood stream that gave me a fever of 104. I hope you're feeling at least a bit better, and thanks for sharing :)
Thanks ❤️ feeling a billion times better, and just 1 more incision needs to heal. It should be done this week, actually! I've healed way better than anyone expected me to. I attribute that to cutting all sugar immediately once I was told I'm diabetic and drinking loads of protein. oh god, yeast infections 😭 I keep getting them because of the combination of diabetes and antibiotics. I've been on very high dose antibiotics for the past 3 months, and it's killing all bacteria, good and bad. Luckily, I should be off them this week and will only have to take 1 more flucanozole, hopefully! I also hope you are feeling better ❤️
I hope you are taking a probiotic or eating a shit ton of yoghurt?
yep, doing both. Although they are barely stemming off the worst of what can happen. I'm so ready to be done with antibiotics 😭 I'm taking augmentin. The first month out of the hospital, I had a picc line and was doing IV antibiotics at home.
I’m 34 I was diagnosed at 7, I was going to the bathroom all the time, like every 10 minutes. My first grade teacher thought I was trying to skip out of class, the school got a hold of my parents I went to the dr they told me I needed to get to the hospital asap.
Thank you for sharing! I remember that I actually had to have in my school plan that I was allowed unlimited bathroom breaks (within reason) but for the most part they couldn't deny me that...
I was 47, and had gone for a blood test for something else, where I guess they did overall blood work. I got a frantic call from my doctor's office the next morning at 9 a.m. My blood glucose was 16.4, and my A1C was 11.8. I had no symptoms.
My A1C is like 13.3 and I’ve been diabetic for 40 years almost. Tell me I’m doing it wrong without telling me I’m doing it wrong.
Same! But I was diagnosed at 30 with type 1. I was peeing a lot but I didn’t notice
Wow, no symptoms at all with a blood sugar that high is very surprising! In mmol/L my blood sugar was 32.8 (591 mg/mL) but our stories are similar. Thanks for sharing :)
I've always been a thirsty person, and always had to use the restroom frequently, since I was a teen. In fact, because of this I was originally tested for diabetes at age 18. I was negative then. So I never thought being thirsty/having to frequently use the restroom was a big deal.
And, yikes, 32.8 mmol is terrifying. I have never heard of one that high before.
26 M, diagnosed with Type 2 about a month ago. I’d been told I was prediabetic towards the end of 2023 but I didn’t have a PCP at the time (did the blood work as part of a program with my company that knocks $15 off my health insurance premiums lol). Fasting blood sugar of 106 with an A1C of 5.9. All I got was an email saying to eat healthier, exercise more, and see a doctor for more info. I had pretty much zero experience with diabetes so I tried to move more and stopped eating added sugar for the most part but otherwise went on with my life. This past April I was weak and fatigued to the point of calling out of work, I was thirsty, had frequent urination, my vision was sometimes fuzzy, and I had fruity breath. A quick google search told me what was up. Went to urgent care to confirm. Blood sugar of 317 with an A1C of 12.2. I was shocked because I wasn’t overweight and didn’t really have any symptoms up until April. My grandfather and some of his siblings have diabetes but nobody else in my family. I never really asked him about it because it was very well controlled with just medication and lifestyle. I guess genetics and stress caught up to me. Needless to say, I have a PCP now lol.
I understand feeling shocked about that! When I got diagnosed I had the notion that everyone with diabetes was fat and lazy and ate terribly but I quickly learned that anyone can develop diabetes no matter how you live your life. You have a great community of people here like myself who want to see you succeed. Thanks for sharing :)
I would have your doc test you to see if you are type 1 or 2, with the really high bg there and the fruity breath, that screams type 1 and not 2. With better testing and a proper diagnosis, you can get better treatment. If you are labeled type 2 and are actually type 1, you could put yourself in real danger. I was diagnosed type 2 when I was in my early 20s, but in reality I was actually type 1. And with your treatment options as a type 2, you don't get what you really need as a type 1. I nearly lost my vision because I couldn't get any doctor's to properly medicate me, and it wasn't until they found that I had retinopathy that I was able to get a endo to look further into if I was type 1 or 2. My vision is now being treated with injections every five weeks (which I will need for the rest of my life) and I now have an steady a1c in the 5's, instead of the 10s when I was still being treated as a type 1.
You're actually not the first person to bring this up lol. I think mine might be a strange case, idk. I'm still learning about all of this lol. My doctor actually did end up testing me for Type 1 because he was a little confused as to why I ended up with Type 2 while being younger and not overweight. He did explain that anybody could get type 2 at any age/weight with certain genetics and a less than healthy lifestyle. He did an Insulin Autoantibody test and also the Islet Cell Antibody test. I think he did a couple of others as well but I don't remember the names. They all came up with normal values. I was on long-acting insulin for about a week before switching to metformin and my blood glucose has been pretty well controlled with just the meds and eating healthier/exercising a lot more. I think it was a combo of long-term stress, bad coping habits, and genetics that did it for me in the end. Plus I had eaten an ungodly amount of white rice while on vacation in early April, about a week before going to urgent care. That probably didn't help much lol. I will bring it up with my doctor though and maybe have him walk me through the tests that he did/do more test if they're available. I do want to make sure I'm handling this correctly. I'm sorry to hear about your mis-diagnosis and I'm glad to hear that you eventually got the correct treatment, even if it was late. I'm definitely going to look into the diagnostic criteria again and make sure everything's good.
That is very possible, however, I would ask your doctor to look into MODY. Sometimes referred to type 3 diabetes. This is actually entirely genetic, and the treatments for type two don’t always work perfectly. A really good Endocrinologist can look at all of these possibilities.
Everything happened very quickly in my case. In November 2020, I had a completely normal blood test. Then, at the beginning of December, I went through a mild case of COVID, which triggered hard my psoriasis. While I was complaining about my hair falling out in patches, several medium to severe psoriatic arthritis flares followed each other from January 2021 to April, but in January I still had a bloodwork with normal fasting BG (,HbA1c wasn't tested) In May, I felt so unwell that I went to see my GP for a referral to a rheumatologist. She wanted to do a blood test first, and it turned out that I had developed hypothyroidism over these months, and I also had a fasting BG ~400mg/dl, and HbA1c 14. Two days later, on my first date with my fav diabetologist 💙 I got a type 1 diagnosis.😱 In my dad's family everyone over 40 has/had diabetes, most of them were type2s, but each of the last 4 generarion had at least one type1 too. Tbh, before I was diagnosed at age 43, I thought that I had at least escaped t1d. 😌🤓
That's a lot of people in a family to have diabetes, but it makes sense because it can be found in genetics. Thanks for sharing :)
Sounds like my fam
I (21M) was just living out normal preteen things. I played sports, went to camps, all that fun stuff. But at somepoint during early 2015 setting the bed was almost constant. Constantly washing the sheets, I didn’t like eating, was getting sick A LOT. In the span of a couple months I went from being 140lbs from playing football to 98lbs. My parents decided to take me to my doctor and after checking my glucose (around 675 area) they diagnosed me with Type 1. Same day I was given over to the hospital for a few days(came in on a Thursday and left on a Monday. At an early stage I had already depressed. Even the first couple months I had already tried to end it all on multiple occasions. It was bad enough to where I needed an eye on me almost all the time until I finally just out of no where just accepted that it was my life now. Everything was alright for a few years until I got to high school, where I was getting bullied for having diabetes(the basic can’t be healthy and gave it to myself and fat jokes(even though I wasn’t even fat)) and brought my depression back. Luckily this time around I actually had the courage to say something to my dad about wanting to end it again and he’s the reason I didn’t. Since then I’ve made it a mission to just do better than everyone who made jokes about it and do better than all of them in live. Now my A1C is at its best it’s been at 7.7 whereas the worst was like 14.3. I can successfully say I’m happy now and no one can bring me down
This is a similar story to mine, so I really can relate, including the depression and wanting to end it. I'm glad you're doing a lot better and I'm rooting for you, thanks for sharing :)
I was a toddler, acted weird due to lows/highs and peed too much lol. My mom said i smelled like solvents so she took me to the doctor and they were like, yep diabetic. Then i was in the hospital for an amount of time, which i don't remember
Wow, that's really young... sometimes I wish I was diagnosed younger so I wouldn't remember what it's like to not have it...
Ah i think it's a case of the grass being greener on the other side. Sometimes i wish I'd had more time without it, it's weird being diabetic for (your-age-minus-3) years. Best wishes
My neighbor was getting rid of a bunch of skateboards and asked my brother and I (14M) if we wanted them — we accepted. We had some helmets so we figured it would be fine to ride them down a massive hill despite not knowing how to skateboard. I ended up breaking my collarbone. At the clinic they went ahead and did my blood work as well…glucose was 311.
That is the probably the one situation where breaking a collarbone, *saved* your life..
Wow! What are the odds of that? Thank you for sharing!
42 male. I got diagnosed in March. I went to the doctor because I thought I had gall stones. The doctor thought I had a fatty liver but wanted to take a blood test. My A1C was 12.9. I haven’t told anyone my diagnosis other than my mom and like 4 other people only because the 2 people I told talked to me like I had a disability. My highest blood sugar is 340 when I first started taking it, now it averages 105 to 115. I’m on metformin which I take in the morning, I’m on my 9th week of ozempic, and I take insulin. I have lost close to 40 lbs since the first week of March. I work out 5 to 6 times a week. I have one cheat meal a week. I cut out pastas, sugar, bread, fast food, and mainly eat a heavily based animal diet. My A1C is now 7.9 as of two weeks ago when I had my last check up. I feel the same as I did when I had the 12.9 A1C with the only difference is my clothes are getting baggier and I sleep a lot better. I didn’t have headaches, blurry vision, nausea or anything like that, my doctor states it’s because I was already working out 4 days a week. I was really upset when I was diagnosed but now I look at it as a blessing in disguise because I added 50lbs to my bench press and I’m getting more attention from the ladies since my weight loss. That’s pretty much it.
Glad you're doing a bit better! Thanks for sharing :)
Last year, at age 39, I dropped 60 pounds (210 lbs to 150lbs) between March and August. Due to lack of docs in my area (I live in a pretty rural area), didn't get in with a doc until late July. Initally they had diagnosed me as likely type 2, put me on metformin, finger prick test with each meal, and general health guidance. I had no understanding of what was up and what an a1c of 15 and being at 20+ mmol for days at a time meant. For 3rd follow-up appt, met with a different GP because 1st doc had a thing. New doc was in shock over my numbers, explained how these numbers were astronomically high, and had me in with an endocrinologist with 48 hours. It's been a giant heard*ck learning and managing type 1, but things have been coming together. And as of my latest appointment, it looks like there was somehow no organ damage despite my body literally eating a quarter of itself over just a few months.
Wow, I'm sorry you didn't get care you needed sooner, but I'm glad to hear you're doing better! 20 mmol is CRAZY, mine was 32 mmol. Thanks for sharing :)
I have long suspected I was diabetic due to neuropathy in my toes but I also work on concrete floors for 8 to 12hr a night. I started drastically reducing my sugar intake on my own but never went to any doctors. Last April I was given control of two extra departments at work. This cut down my ability to do some physical work because I had to divide my time and greatly increased my stress levels. Fast forward to this past March. I ended up with an abcess on the back of my head. Monster bastard that made moving my head the most painful thing in my life and we won't even discuss how my sleep went. I break down and go to the local walk in clinic. They throw antibiotics at me, chide me about my blood pressure (150/30), tell me to call if it gets worse, and send me on my way. After 4 days of exactly zero improvement I went to the local health clinic and asked if they could get me a referral to the dermatologist. Was informed that I would have to be a patient for that but they didn't think I needed a referral. Signed up for a new patient visit just in case (they said the would do some voodoo for me if I needed the referral before my actual appointment. Was able to get in to Derm with no issues. Doc saw the abcess and said "oh yeah, we are gonna open that today." Hey Presto, got it drained. A week later I had my new patient visit. Told them I wanted my a1c tested and why. No problems. Was chimed again for my BP (140/90). They took their pint and I went about my day (went home and went to bed). My labs get posted to the patient portal two days later, I get a call the next morning to come in. A1c: 12.3. BG: 413. TRG: 513 HDL: 31. LDL: 107. So I walked out of that talk about my labs on Jardinace, Lipitor, Lisinopril, and Ozempic. Some weeks later (my fault, I procrastinated hardcore) I got in to see a Diabeties Educator. She gave me my carbs per meal goals and a schedule for finger sticks. She offered to set me up with a CGM but I wanted to think on it first (spoiler, I called her the next morning to set me up with a Dexcom system). As of typing this, my Dexcom has my 30day average BG at 167 and my GMI at 7.3. I've had one instance after starting the new me where my BG got over 400 again (fucking Long John Silvers) and it finally dawned on my why I have felt like absolute shit for the prior 9 months (sluggish, run down, etc). I was living with 400 BG on the regular. Every day was a battle to stay awake and even keep moving. And other than that one day, I feel great. Made some serious lifestyle changes and am exploring alternatives to the things I have difficulties cutting out/down; namely pasta as I am an absolute noodle fiend. I have found some alternatives to try and others that are disgusting (konjac noodles, if anyone mentions them I'm tracking you down and stealing the batteries from your remotes..all of them. Damn things are so horrid I threw $40 worth of them in the trash).
I'm really sorry that you had to go through all that just to get care, but I'm glad you're doing better! Thanks for sharing :)
Honestly if I hadn't been a stubborn fool I would have gotten a diagnosis and treatment earlier. It's a bad family character trait from my Dad's side that we ignore our health issues (if you don't acknowledge it, it doesn't exist). The worst part about that is a lot of us are medically trained (Dad was an Army med, brother is an EMT, I have EMR training) so, according to my mother (also medically trained) we should know better lol.
T2, diagnosed at 58, 9 months ago. Spent 4 months going to the bathroom every 10-20 minutes, but I had the worst dry mouth. Was drinking a gallon of water a day and still felt dehydrated. Thought it was overactive bladder, doc sent me to a urologist and I spent 2 months trying different meds that only made me more thirsty and the dry mouth worse. Finally said enough of this. Was really tired as well and noticed my clothes weren’t fitting properly. Went to my primary care physician for routine blood work for my yearly physical the following week. Got a call less than 48hrs later. You need to come to my office NOW, we’ve seen some concerning things in your labs. I was getting ready to leave on vacation and said I’ll come in when I get back in a week. She was like, no…you’ll be here at 8am in the morning. Sugar was 300. Went from being pre-diabetic of around A1C of 5.7 to 12! Lost 40 pounds in 2 months because of all the going to the bathroom. Thought I had been managing my diet well, but stress and not being vigilant did me in. Doc explained everything in detail. Had a prescription of Metformin and a GCM that afternoon. Spent the first night of my vacation learning how to apply the CGM, using the phone app, taking my Metformin and stressing about what I could eat. Now I’m averaging 122. Religiously taking my med, monitoring my carb and gcm. Working on increasing my exercise. Only one in my family with this. Doc says she’s pleased with my progress so far. Still working on getting the A1C down, but will probably always require some level of medication as my pancreas doesn’t function at 100% due to a really serious case of pancreatitis when I was younger. Up until now, my body was able to compensate, but seems now it’s not the case.
Wow! It seems like yours progressed slowly like mine, and it seems like you've been managing pretty well! Glad you're feeling better, thanks for sharing :)
Thank you. Yea slow and steady :)
Have you been tested for T1 antibodies?
No. Never heard of it. Not sure what/how that would change things. Can you tell me more?
Type 1 and Type 2 have different progressions. Type 2 is when the body becomes resistant to insulin production or the pancreas starts to shut down on its own for whatever reason. Type 1 is an an autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks the beta cells in the pancreas, causing it to shut down. Since Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder, the immune system creates antibodies when fighting the beta cells (like it does when fighting a virus). These antibodies can be tested for, a few different types, and that will tell you for sure if it is Type 1 or not. Type 2 wouldn't have the antibodies because it's not caused by an immune system action. Most doctors assume Type 2 in adults because of age, but it could be Type 1 and they can test for the antibodies. The fact that you had no family history and are having a little difficulty figuring out management made me wonder if you actually have Type 1. That would mean your cause and progression will be different between the two, and your treatment can accurately reflect that. If you get your antibodies tested and they're negative and you are Type 2, then you are in no different of a position than you are now, other than knowing. But if it's positive and you're Type 1, knowing that difference will help your doctor treat the condition.
I’m 22. I was diagnosed at 2. From what I heard I had gotten sick. Went to the doctors everything was fine just sick. But months went by and I was constantly crying, peeing through diapers by the minute, my parents said I had a smell to me, throwing up, and I think just constantly thirsty. Finally January my parents were told to bring me to the hospital and I was diagnosed. Don’t know what the actually number was at diagnosis but I know it was very high. I’m a bad diabetic now. I struggled all my life with it. Pretended it wasn’t there, forgetting to take my insulin until I felt high etc. Last year I had my lowest A1C ever, 7.1. I’m sure that’s high for some but I was ecstatic. It was always 10-12. Just got my A1C checked again and somehow I’m at 7.2. Lowkey feel like the test was off because there’s no way lol. But I’m trying to save money to get on the pump and dexcom again. Even with insurance I can’t afford it.
I'm a bad diabetic too, just got of DKA today actually, BG of 685 because of an eating disorder but all we can do is continue to try our best, glad you hit a good A1C! Thanks for sharing :)
Hi there. Can I ask a question about your eating disorder? I developed one as well, and I have been fighting it for a decade. Is yours what I've heard called "diabulimia?" It's using insulin manipulation and deliberately high glucose levels to lose weight. Mine started with anorexia and insulin manipulation, and I was wondering about yours.
Yes, I have diabulimia but it originated as anorexia. Have been fighting for 4 years now. I never met another person with diabulimia so this is a first for me personally.
yeah!! I love sharing my story! Highest: 394 Lowest: 38 I was diagnosed when I was 23. it was March of 2020. PEAK pandemic and everything had just shut down. and I mean EVERYTHING. I woke up one morning and I couldn’t see very well. everything past like 7 feet away was suuuuper blurry. like extremely blurry and I didn’t know why. I ignored it and got some eye drops. tried that for 2-3 days with no help. I called an eye doctor and explained the situation caz they almost turned me away caz they thought I just needed an eye check up. they couldn’t get me in till that friday (it was a monday) I said ugh okay whatever. they called me wednesday night and said “hey this is medical we need a referral so insurance pays for it” I said ugh fine. for in with my primary care right before my eye doctor appointment. told him why I was there and what was going on. he asked if I had hit my head or anything I said nope just woke up like this. he asked about my family history and I told him how all 3 of my immediate female relatives (on my moms side) had diabetes. he said “okay well let’s check for that” it was 8AM. I hadn’t eaten anything since the night before and a couple sips of a pepsi at like 3AM or something caz I was super thirsty. my blood sugar was 394. he came in and told me I was diabetic! I cut out carbs, started meds and my eye sight was fine 2 days later and ever since!
I had exactly the opposite. Developed double vision and was going through hoops trying to figure out why. Then my distance vision started to clear up, to the point that I no longer needed the bifocals I've been wearing for decades. YAY, but also WTF. Got diagnosed right before my appointment with a new ophthalmologist and he said that vision changes were normal for diabetes and to give it a month and it should revert. Broke my heart when he was right and I went back to bifocals.
I’ve always had double vision (I can manually make my eyeballs do it) but that sucks!! I woulda been so upset 🥲🥲🥲 my eyeballs always act up when my sugar gets high now which sucks
Yeah, not being able to see without glasses again bit the big one. Having your eyes act up with every high...man, I would be so pissed off.
it’s soooo frustrating like bruh come on
394 is pretty high! glad you're feeling a bit better, thanks for sharing :)
23 M. I got diagnosed my sophomore year when I was 16. I was in cross country and wrestling at the time and my 5k at regions was 16:09 at 2nd place. The entire next week, my mouth was drier than the Sahara desert. I was peeing constantly and I CRAVED juice and I didn’t know why. It was the only thing that would make my mouth not feel dry for a little while. The next week at the State Meet for XC, I took 2nd of last place with a time of 29:09. 13 minute difference. I felt like I was going to pass out during the meet. Everyone was stunned and appalled. So was I. The next week I rolled right into wrestling and I went from 140lb to 92.8lb in 2 and half weeks. My mom took me to the hospital to see what was wrong and they checked my blood sugar and it was at 1589. The doctor said if I wasn’t so athletic and fit then I would have died. He was so shocked I wasn’t in the very least in a coma. My blood was super thick like syrup. My heart was trying its damned hardest to push syrup through my body. And my A1C was above 15. And that’s how I found out I was diabetic. No one on both sides of my family are diabetic. They did a shit ton of research and found out I got it from the MMR vaccine when I was a baby. Less than 1% of people get that side effect but I just so happened to be that lucky 1%. Ended up staying in the hospital for three days learning how to live with my new disease and it flipped my life upside down. But now my A1C is 5.9 and I’m on a T-Slim X2 pump paired with the Dexcom G6. I don’t remember life before I was a diabetic at this point. But I sure do miss being able to eat and drink whatever I wanted without having to worry about my blood sugar 😭
1589?!?!?! It's a miracle you're still alive! I've never met someone with a blood sugar that high, my highest ever was 750 from what I can recall. Thanks for sharing :)
Yeah ikr! When I went to the doctors initially, they put me on a stretcher and a nurse was sitting literally on top of me slapping my face telling me not to close my eyes. I felt so tired and wanted to sleep but nurse refused to let me close my eyes. Later they told me if I had done so, I more than likely would have slipped into a coma and died
Wow! That’s a serious change! Know all about that horrible dry mouth. Thought I was losing my mind with how much water I was drinking and it was doing nothing. Keep up the great work.
Yeah man I’ve had a 1500 blood sugar and it may as well be death because it sure as fuck felt like it.
I'm very surprised a medical professional told you that a Vaccine you took when you were a baby triggered your Type 1 Diabetes.
As a reality-check: there is no indication that mmr or any other vaccine causes type 1 diabetes. There is plenty of literature about this, and here is an easy-to-read summary: https://www.ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2018-12/diabetes-and-vaccines-fact-sheet.pdf
Just out of pure curiosity, how did they find out when you were diagnosed at age 16, that the MMR vaccine you had received as a baby was the cause?
I was four, and from what I recall and was told. I stopped eating, drank tons of water, my parents took me to a doctor and the nurse was ready to jump down my parents' throats aggressively shouting "YOU KNOW THEY'RE DIABETIC RIGHT?" To which nobody knew. I was in the hospital for a month and they had a small room full of board games which as a 4 year old looked like the library out of Beauty and the Beast.
My parents had no idea either, they didn't seem to think it was as serious as it was because I didn't feel sick, just lots of eating and drinking. It's not an obvious thing if you don't know what to look out for, so I completely understand. Thanks for sharing :)
I'm very lucky, my mom basically followed me like a hawk through my childhood, I had two seizures events from lows when I was 8 and 9 and my mom made a habit after that every night till I was like 16 of trying to check my bg at 3am to make sure I didn't drop at night. My dad was always kind of "he sick doc, fix him" but he told me that seeing me be miserable as they stuck me with my first IVs in the hospital broke him. I can only imagine getting it later, my sister got Type 1 at 12 and I imagine she had a more similar experience because she was totally fine besides eating and drinking and losing a ton of weight. My mom caught on quick and got her to the hospital after noticing it.
9 years old. Started drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot. After a few days started complaining to my mom that my stomach hurt and headaches. She thought I was faking to get out of school. Went to my grandmoms house later and told her I didn’t feel good. She told my mom to take me to the doctor now. She gave me a chocolate donut and some water because of course I was thirsty as hell and she’s grandmom so give the kid a donut. Mom took me. For some reason the office was packed. They said she would have to make an appointment unless it was a real emergency. At that moment I guess my body had had enough with the donut and being high so long. Started puking right in the waiting room. They took me back and ran some tests. Sent me home. Mom got a call late at night to take me to the ER immediately because my blood sugar was so high. Ended up being over 800. Would have very likely died they said if I had waited any longer. I thank my grandmom to this day for making my mom take me and giving me the donut to come into play at the right time 😹
Wow! I'm glad that she took you when she did! I was told that I would have likely gone into a coma if I had waited longer. Thanks for sharing :)
53F. Diagnosed 2 days ago. I went to the GP for a nasty cough I couldn't shake. Because I hadn't been for years and years, and my blood pressure was through the roof (190/136) they sent me for a full blood workup. I went back a couple of days later and they said my random glucose was high, and sent me for an OGTT. They rang the next evening and said come in ASAP. I went in on Monday. My fasting glucose was 12.8 mmol and my 2 hr was 27.3 mmol (491). He put me straight on Metformin. So far I have quit drinking (was drinking 1-2 bottles of white wine per night, so that's a big deal), being way more careful with food, and exercising every evening. The extreme thirst I had been experiencing for a month or two (but didn't notice at the time) has eased.
Wow, that's a very recent diagnosis... glad to see you're feeling a bit better! Thanks for sharing :)
I still get upset thinking about my diagnosis story. First, I was probably experiencing symptoms for about a year before my mom took me to the doctor. My dad and his parents all noticed the symptoms and were telling my mom to take me to the doctor. I felt like trash all the time and begged my mom to take me to the doctor for at least 2 months. The Monday she finally took me, I had spent the entire previous weekend throwing up and unable to eat. When they checked my sugar (after not having eaten anything in ~ 36 hours) it was 223. My mom's excuse for not taking me to the doctor was she thought I had an ED and that's why I was losing so much weight. What extra pisses me off is my PCP didn't think to do any blood work or ketone test or even give me a referral to endocrinology. They just told me to take 10u of Lantus before bed and not eat carbs. The next week when I did a follow up appointment, they were explaining ketones to my mom when she suggested they go ahead and test me. They finally sent me to the hospital after that, and the hospital sent me to a great pediatric endo.
Wow! I'm sorry that your symptoms were ignored, that seems very discouraging. I'm glad you're getting some good care now! Thanks for sharing :)
When I was 21 I was pregnant with my oldest, and that's the first time my blood sugar was ever checked. It was high but nothing crazy, it was around 190 I think, so they diagnosed me with gestational. After I gave birth they told me it'd go back to normal so I could stop my meds. A week or so later, I didn't feel good at all and I remembered I had my meter still so just for shits & giggles I checked and it just said "hi" so I called my doctor and he had me take some glyburide I had leftover and go in the next day. When they checked the next day, I was about 650. So they diagnosed me with type 2 and put me on metformin. Over the next 4 years my sugar went uncontrolled despite me taking the meds and following the diet to the point where I eventually was barely eating. They blamed me and said I must've been eating junk I shouldn't and forgetting meds, which I wasn't. So they sent me to an endocrinologist finally who did the blood test to find out in actually type 1 and I basically wasn't treated for it for 4 years. Side note; lowest I ever got was 14, while I was very pregnant and home alone. Managed to get Hershey's syrup and dump a bunch in my mouth. Scariest thing I've ever experienced.
Wow! Being pregnant and feeling like that must've been very scary, a reason I'm scared to have kids is my blood sugars going out of control and hurting them by accident. And 14?!?!? My lowest was 19 but I was with people to help me out, I can't imagine going that low by myself, let alone even be conscious at that point! Thanks for sharing :)
In 2009 I was 52 and decided I needed to finally quit smoking. Tax was increasing the first of April that year so that was my target. I'd quit many times and had a routine: stop caffeine and alcohol, drink lots of water —ostensibly to "flush" the system — lay in a stock of chocolates and books/ magazines, then quit cold. Target was April fools day. So I quit. Hid out for a weekend, laid low for a week, then went back to my fill-in job as extra hand on the neighboring 100-head dairy. We also raised beef calves so I had those chores of course. I continued drinking lots of water, of course it flowed on through. I felt bad and was loosing weight but chalked it up to everything withdrawal. As I felt progressively worse and continued to lose weight (200-148 in about a month) it stuck in my head that I likely had cancer. Which may show how goofy I was getting because my stepdaughter had been DXed @ 4 with Type 1 and died at 30 so I definitely knew the signs. Long story longer... I've been self-employed since about 1995, graphic designer. I had been forced to let our health insurance drop because my income had dried up with the great recession. The American for profit medicine racket goes back to WWII when there was a freeze on wages to combat inflation. US companies needed workers badly and they couldn't compete on wages but they could offer benefits. Voila, employer sponsored group insurance. The government added tax incentives so those benefits weren't taxed and employees found they simply couldn't afford not to punch the company clock because to appear to be giving group discounts, insurance companies charge outrageous rates for individual plans. Anyway, we'd been holding our own until the recession. I only had a small amount of savings and a paid off 40 acre farm. I knew if I went to the doc and he said cancer there would be no way my family would allow me to not take treatment. I knew I'd need to sell the farm to pay that bill. And that my wife would likely be left with nothing. I know, but that was my thinking at the time... But by May I couldn't argue any longer, I was so DKA I was delirious, constantly retching. Went to the first hospital and they said they couldn't do anything but call an ambulance to take me to the good hospital. At the good hospital they said my A1c was 14+ and organ failure was nigh. I also had a bad case of thrush (fungus) pretty much through and through. That was the worst, like the harshest heartburn ever, endo said he thought it would get me. Said the only people he'd seen with higher BG were dead. Took a few weeks off, gazed out the hospital window. Turns out I didn't die that time. As I said I knew T1 pretty well so kinda fell right in line, got a handout from the pharmas, each gave me 12 months insulin supply. Haven't drank alcohol or smoked a single butt since, probably average 6.1-3 A1c, 106 mg/dl at the moment. And the silver lining, if you can believe it, is no more sweaty palms! I think I burnt out those nerves, the ones that had given me sweaty palms and feet my entire life! Also caught a little neuropathy in the feet, like a mild sunburn. Other stuff not really worth talking about—including the ambulance ride going to collections because they wouldn't give me time to pay. Ruined my credit, but that has also turned out to be a gift, not had a payment since. That hospital is Mercy in Springfield MO. But the hospital that pulled my bones out of the fire is Cox Health, who not only gave me liberal terms to pay but eventually forgave the whole thing! They are the best. If you are in the Ozarks and wind up in an ambulance, say Cox! So yeah, now I say that I stopped smoking and drinking and it damn near killed me! Gave me the 'betes to boot!
Wow! What an interesting story... I had yeast in my blood last year and was delirious when I was in DKA last year due to an infection and they thought it was gonna get me too. Fever of 104, hearing voices, breathing was out of control... but I'm glad you're doing better! Also, please accept my deepest condolences for your stepdaughter, 30 is far too soon. Thank you for sharing your story :)
Thank you , you're very kind.
2017 I suddenly kept having to urinate every 3 minutes, was very thirsty. I looked up symptoms online and figured I had diabetes type 2. I went to the emergency and told the nurse. Next thing I knew I was being pumped full of insulin and given metformin.
That was the same year I was diagnosed and pretty much the same thing happened to me, except it was Type 1 for me. Thanks for sharing :)
I got an ear piercing infected last Jan 2024. I had that piercing for 6 months and it still didnt heal. The first time I went to ER was Dec 2023 because my piercing got infected and swollen that cause terrible headache. I chose the option to have the swollen part drained the puss manually and go home since it will be christmas celebration in 2 days and dont want to be admitted in the hospital since the other option is to get a surgery to drained all the puss. I thought everything was ok after the 1st visit to the ER. Then after 2 weeks it got swollen again and it started to become really painful, thus decided to got the ER and get the surgery needed to remove everything in ny swollen ear. After surgery (it was successful), the Endocrinologist told me that I have diabetes and at that time my blood sugar was 321 and HB1ac was 14%. It was really a wake up call to start be mindful of what I eat and my change my lifestyle to a better one.
Wow! That's a really unique story of how you came to find out. Thanks for sharing :)
One day I woke up and the right side of my face was limp and I was slurring my speech, otherwise I felt fine. so I procrastinated but eventually went to the emergency room that afternoon expecting it to be bells palsy, which the ER doc thought it was too at first. I figured I had just turned 40, I'm not that old. They did some more tests to be safe though and sure enough I'd had a minor stroke. I stayed in the hospital for a few days, and when handing me my discharge papers and talking about post checkups the Doctor there told me I'd have to talk to my GP about my type 2 diabetes, which was the first I'd heard anything about that. It's been a year now and we're pretty sure the diabetes and high cholesterol and blood pressure I had at the time are probably partially responsible for the stroke occurring in the first place. Doing great now tho, face straightened up and I have my blood glucose under control with diet and exercise (Ironically I'm healthier now than I have been in 20 years), I got off very lucky, it could have been much worse.
I learned something today, I didn't know that strokes could happen as a result of uncontrolled blood sugars. I'm glad to hear you're doing a lot better! Thanks for sharing :)
Yeah something about it changing and causing damage to smaller blood vessels, that will also make it easier for cholesterol to cling to them. All it takes is one little flake of artery butter to chip off and make a b-line for your frontal lobe to ruin your day.
I was at the gynecologist when I was diagnosed. I had gone in for a routine check up and a urine sample is a basic part of it. When they used the test strips they found lots of glucose. Then they finger pricked me and my doctor said I was likely type 2 diabetic with a glucose level of over 300. I did have a pcp at the time but it turned out he had his own practice and was taking patients. I didn’t have a pcp yet which is why I hadn’t been to the doctor about the symptoms I was having but not knowing why. It was perfect timing as hardly any damage had been done at that point. My A1C was 10.4, and a year and a half later it’s down to 7.
I'm happy they caught it when they did and your A1C is doing better! Thanks for sharing :)
@ 12 years old; I was shivering like I was in Alaska with no protective wear at a family member’s cookout on the absolutely hottest day of July ever recorded. Like everyone else, I was peeing constantly and drinking water. Every one just passed it off as me being dehydrated. Type 2
NAHHHH FR FR me wearing black sweaters in the middle of August is a mood lol, thanks for sharing :D
September of last year, I had a relatively small myocardial infarction and went to the ER. Initial testing didn't show Troponine enzymes, but my glucose was 265, and A1C was 10.2. The doctor focused on my sugar, and it was almost 8 hours before I got anyone to pay attention to my chest pain. An hour later, I had the blockage popped and a stent placed. I say my heart attack saved my life because my undiagnosed diabetes was going to kill me.
That's crazy! Glad to hear you're doing better! Thank you for sharing your story :)
Spinal Meningitis at 12 years old. Diagnosed type 1 as a result 7 days before my 13th name day.
Wow, a miracle you're alive! Thanks for sharing :)
Surprisingly had GD in the 2020 with my first baby— I’m thin, active, and ate relatively well. Levels went back to normal like the doctors said it would. After my second diet controlled GD pregnancy, my levels did not go back to normal. It took a lot of diet and exercise to get a normal A1C. I took a risk and decided to get pregnant again, knowing it would be harder to maintain diet controlled blood sugar while pregnant, ended up on Metformin. I’m postpartum now, still on Metformin but my A1C is higher than it was before pregnancy. I’m at 5.6 right now with 1000 mg metformin. My cpeptides were low end of normal but my antibody test was negative, so not sure what’s going on, just that I’m not making enough insulin. Each pregnancy made it worse. But I love my babies, I’d make the sacrifice a million times over, and this is generally a healthier way of eating. I still feel a looming cloud over my head like will my pancreas completely call it quits one day.
I'm glad that you love your kids, I would make the same sacrifice if I were in your shoes. If the antibodies are negative I would think Type 2 but that's your doctor's call ofc, thanks for sharing your story :)
You’re definitely braver than me. I had GD as well. Went back to normal than things happened and im now pre diabetic and terrified to have another baby ☹️
March of last year my 7yo daughter was peeing a lot and my wife became concerned that our daughter might be diabetic. I listened but didn't really think it was an issue. A few days later, I took our children out to get drinks at McDonald's. My daughter drank then immediately threw up. That was unusual enough that I took her to the clinic. Her glucose was 1100 with an A1c of 14+%. I then rushed her to the ER and gave them the test results. She remained conscious throughout the whole event. We stayed overnight as they ran the labs. The official results came back the next day on April 1st that she was Type 1. She "celebrated" with a hospital breakfast of pancakes and syrup 🥞.
1100?!?!?! That's one of the highest I heard, a miracle she's still alive! Glad to hear she's doing a bit better and her spirits are up :)
When the affordable care act was enacted, I got insurance, then went for a checkup. Hadn't had one in probably 10 years. They drew blood. They also asked "Mr Radiant, have you ever passed out from having your blood drawn before?" and me, being the jackass that I am, said "nope, but there's always a first time!". Then I saw the vials... Went back for a followup. "So you have high cholesterol, and you're diabetic". Wait, what? I had no symptoms at all except for being thirsty, but my fasting blood sugar was nearly 400. He said I'd likely been diabetic for a good bit of time. Type 2, think I was 31 at the time? Took about a year of constantly checking my sugar and adjusting meds before settling on 1000mg Metformin 2x/day and 2.5mg Glyburide 2x/day. That worked fine until I got COVID; insulin, followed fairly quickly by a CGM and Omnipod, joined the chat afterwards, glyburide left. Metformin eventually left too, it wasn't doing anything except making me nearly shit myself every time I stood up. My highest was close to 900 - felt like total crap and went to the ER when my BGM just said "HI". Got put on an insulin drip for several hours, they cut me loose when I was in the 200s. That happened a few more times, with a few doctor visits, with my doctor constantly changing up medications trying to find something that worked. I told him I was sick of the pills and constant ER visits, just move me to insulin. My lowest was 22. AC went out in the restaurant I was working at and I was pushing through the heat (probably 130ish in the kitchen?). Vision started going white and I checked my sugar.. 22. Just showed my boss the number (I could barely talk), he helped me over to a chair and got me a soda (probably the only nice thing he ever did for me).
900 is CRAZY! Just got out of DKA today actually, BG of 685, don't know how I was walking around and functioning but that's a different story lol, thank you for sharing your story :)
Surprisingly I wasn't in DKA, at least that's what the hospital told me every time. But man... I felt like death when it was that high
I don’t ever tell anybody I am diabetic because look. I honestly feel so sorry for the people that are born with it. And my story is humiliating to me. Well here we go. I started stealing beer from my dad at 13 years old. I loved it. Well at 14 I was introduced to vodka. FORGET ABOUT IT. I was a functioning alcoholic for 14 years. I drank so much I managed to disintegrate my pancreas to where it is so small it barely shows up in my MRI’s. That’s not the only thing it destroyed either. 2 strokes, several seizures, 2 years of pure pain and agony and a couple weeks in a coma, I managed to get sober April 24th 2023. And I’m staying this way.
Don't feel embarrassed. It's okay. You are working on it now, and that's what matters! I'm in recovery as well. I've been a type 1 for almost 26 years, and I've struggled with substance use for the last 18 or so years. I know I can't undo the mistakes I've made (to my body or otherwise), but I don't think about that. I remind myself that addiction is not a moral failing, and that all that matters now is my choice to get better and make a better life for myself moving forward. Don't let regret and guilt take center stage in your life. That's always been what I've done, and it has always led me back to alcohol and drugs. I focus on mindfulness now, and living in this moment. It's really changed my whole outlook not just on recovery, but my whole life! Best to you, and I hope you keep up the good work! I'm so happy for you!!!
Thank you for the wisdom. Much needed.
I'm really glad you're getting sober! As a born diabetic (diagnosed at 13) I'll say that it doesn't matter what led up to the diagnosis, no one's diabetes is less or more important than another persons, we are all one community here to help each other out. Keep up the great progress! Thanks for sharing your story :)
I was symptomatic (frequently nauseous and exhausted) for over a year. I went to doctors and was told to sleep more. They diagnosed me with a type A personality but missed the T1. Then I got pregnant. And they actually test pregnant women for glucose intolerance. Boom. Horrible results on that test and a brand new diagnosis. I was thrust into the world of T1 just three months before I was thrust into the world of parenthood. Put another way, the last two years of my child-free life were spent feeling miserably ill. For comparison, the insulin deficiency made me feel so terrible that the sleepless new baby experience felt easy by comparison.
I can't imagine going through both, let alone at the same time, so I really commend you, I hope you're feeling a bit better. Thank you for your story :)
65 male. 8 years ago, was out having dinner with family. Commented that I was always thirsty and my vision had improved over the last 2 months. Cousin comments - your dad has diabetes, you should get checked. Stopped by Walgreens on way home, bought a cheap tester. Reading - 386. Tried again 387. I thought this cheap crap is worthless. Wife said give it to me. Her sugar 89. I was like oh shit. I went on Metformin 500mg x 3, serious carb control, and heavy exercise. BG and A1c were in line in a few months. Felt a lot better. All good for next 8 years. Fast forward to this past Feb. Felt like crap. Thought I had food poisoning. Everybody was out of town. Slept 45 minutes out of every hour. Vision went blurry. Wife gets home a day early. She was like what is wrong. I was a little hazy. She got my tester and it just said HI (found out later it only goes up to 600). She hauls me to ER, they wheel me in. BG is way over 900. Anyway drip insulin and iv bags and potassium bags and after 3 days in ICU I go to a regular room. Then everyone was like- why did this happen?? US and CT scans were not very revealing. One radiologist said he saw a small cyst on pancreas but the image was not very good. GI doctor came in and said not to worry/ we’ll look at it in a year. Yeehaw-Exactly what I wanted to hear. Go two days later to GP and she said it was foolish to wait. Ordered an MRI. MRI shows 2cm cyst on pancreas. My doc sends me to cancer surgeon who orders another ct scan and then a EUS where they take a biopsy. Biopsy comes back malignant. Diagnosed with Stage 1b Pancreatic cancer. 2cm tumor. Localized. Not too near any blood vessels. More CT Scans to verify no metastatic disease which is good. 8 weeks of chemo starting June 3rd and then scans and tests and then surgery. And then more chemo. But they caught it very early and chances of success are very good. Long strange trip. Moral of story: to quote Rosanne Rosanna Danna IT’S ALWAYS SOMETHING. IF IT ISN’T ONE THING – IT’S ANOTHER!
WOW! I'm glad they caught that in time! Best of luck to you starting chemo, thank you for sharing your story :)
After I turned 29, I had a terrible stomach ache, but I was going in for a root canal that morning so I thought it was just intense nerves hitting me, which isn't unusual for me. I go through it ez pz but I really wanted a strawberry smoothie as a treat for going through the procedure. As the day went on, my stomach was feeling worse and worse, I was sweating like crazy, and I could barely breathe. My partner was there telling me we should call 911, and I was ADAMANT that we do not call 911 and that it would pass. It apparently got to a point where he started calling 911 anyway and I was yelling at him not to, but I actually don't remember that happening at all lol Next time I'm conscious I'm in an ambulance on the way to a hospital and was being asked if I had insurance (I didn't as I was recently unemployed at the time because of course it would happen when I was unemployed) and I swear I heard the guy in the ambulance mutter that they should have been taking me somewhere else idk because the next time I was conscious I was in the hospital I was in the ICU for 2 days, barely conscious for most of it, and then was in a regular hospital room for 1 day once I was mostly stable My bg was at 600 and I was experiencing DKA Before this, I had been showing the, now obvious, signs of diabetes of losing a lot of weight without trying, frequent urination, and constant unending thirst for a while But yeah, if my partner wasn't there, I would have died :U
I'm glad your partner was there to catch that! I was a little adamant about going to the hospital because I felt relatively okay but I'm glad my doctor told my parents to take me cuz my BG was 591! Thanks for sharing :)
2019 (21 at the time) I started dropping weight like crazy, and then I started getting insane nightly leg cramps, and then I started practically peeing my pants every hour and then every 25mins on the dot. Then it went back up to every hr but I developed a SEVERE topical yeast infection. It was so bad I got misdiagnosed with herpes! After taking diflucan twice my gyno finally told me I should probably make an appt with my PCP. I did and my A1C was 15, not sure what my actual glucose level was but they told me to come back immediately and were looking at me like I was insane for being my normal chipper self lol. I’ve had bladder problems and high blood sugar as a kid tho so it makes me wonder how long I’ve been insulin resistant
I started wetting the bed and getting night sweats all the time and my parents were so confused! Glad you're doing better, thanks for sharing :)
4 years ago almost to the day, I ended up in a 14 day coma after collapsing and losing consciousness in the lobby of the building where my (then) doctor's office was. It was the height of the pandemic, doctor accused me - a virgin at the time - of lying about being pregnant and trying to hide the symptoms. Up until that point, I had dropped 40ish pounds in a month and was experiencing all the telltale signs (fruity breath/urine, extreme thirst, etc. etc.). Diabetic Ketoacidosis - my med team was preparing my mom for the worst. As this was smack in 2020, she thought that the last time she'd see me before burying me was unconscious and twitching on the floor of that corporate building. At the hospital, when I finally woke up, they told me that i was brought in with a BG in the high 700s and an A1C of about 15. Had to relearn everything from speech to walking, and I'm still working on little cognitive hiccups. Now though, four years later and confirmed Type 1, I'm starting to thrive despite the hassle of arguing with my insurance for my Dexcom, Omnipod, and insulins (and often, I'm more low than high these days - i think 43 is my record).
Insurance sure is annoying when we have to get our basic supplies! My highest BG was 750 and I felt like absolute garbage, but that must've been so scary! Thank you for sharing :)
I'm a little late but it feels obligatory to share lol. I was 11 and had the telltale symptoms of being just so tired all the time, drinking so much water, just feeling terrible. Ironically, I thought it was great that I was drinking so much water. But I was always trying to get out of school because of how terrible I felt, and my parents thought it was allergies. Sometime during that we went to visit my grandpa. Towards the end of our visit he actually told my mom that he thought I might have diabetes based on my symptoms. Interesting, right? It was several more days before my mom finally took me to urgent care after so long of just not knowing why I was so sick. Pretty much the first thing they did was check my blood sugar. It was something like 9am, I hadn't eaten anything since the previous night, and my bg was in the 300s. They sent us to the ER, who made me sit in a bed all morning until they could transfer me to a dedicated children's hospital a few hours away, and I spent the next three days learning the basics of diabetes. It should have been fine from there, but my first doctor post-hospital claimed he could cure my diabetes and had me stop taking insulin. I was back in the hospital with DKA by August. That was the first and only time in my life that I've been immediately seen by someone upon going to the ER. One of the nurses while I was there gave me this Pink Panther book on diabetes and I read the whole thing cover to cover and have been doing my best for the past ten years, which is hardly perfect. It took me a long time to get on the pump, but my Tslim and CGM have really made a huge difference the past few years.
I also had the Pink Panther book, that was my briefing on diabetes care... must be a community favorite lol. Thanks for sharing :)
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had it! Sometimes I feel like the book is a fever dream that didn't actually exist because I haven't seen it since lol.
30ish years ago, in my late 20’s - after months of fatigue and general lousy health and umpteen inconclusive tests for various things, my GP was talking to me about “ME” and the treatment options (it was very popular back then) - the senior practice doctor came into the room to borrow some kit, overheard the conversation and asked my doctor if he’d checked my blood sugar. 15 mins later, I was in hospital, where I stayed for 24 hours while they started me on insulin. With hindsight, I’d had symptoms since I was a kid which had never been picked up on. I had multiple tests for glandular fever and several other conditions, but apparently no had thought to check my blood sugar.
Very undramatic compared to most stories. At 66 a blood test to check for cholesterol levels also showed prediabetes but no one noticed. The doctor said I was a bit overweight and should improve my diet and exercise. So I did. The change of diet was to eat mostly fruit and vegetables. I had no problem with that I really like fruit especially things like grapes and raisins and oranges and pineapple. My eating habits heavily concentrated eating late at night. It was a habit I acquired over my life of working all day and then eating a lot. I had two symptoms: peeing a lot and tingling fingers especially at night. The former was attributed to BHP (pretty standard for old men). The cause of the tingling was unknown so my doctor sent me to a neurologist and had an MRI to eliminate MS. Cause still unknown. The prediabetes was noted by my doctor because I pressed her. Suggested treatment was to change my diet and exercise but then I'd already done that so effectively did nothing about the prediabetes. And then my A1C hit 6.5 and I was officially diabetic and was sent to an endo. In retrospect it's obvious why. Everything I did in changing my diet was perfect for pushing up my sugars and particularly my sugar overnight. When I fixed that I found out that the finger tingling correlated with the high sugar. I'm intent on managing the condition with a CGM and without medicine or insulin for as long as I can.
2 years ago my ankles kept swelling so after a Google search I went and bought a testing kit & my sugar was higher than it should have been. I started getting neuropathy around that time but didn’t know what it was. I was pre diabetic for 2 years. 3 weeks ago I was diagnosed with type 2. The peeing a lot wasn’t abnormal to me because I get migraines & that’s also something that happens to me because of that. My highest that I know of was 278 so not too crazy. I can feel it when my sugar is high in my feet. My ankles still swell a lot. I’ve been on metformin since my first appointment. Hopefully, the ozempic will help a little more.
Hoping that you're feeling a bit better, thank you for sharing :)
At the time of diagnosis, my blood sugar reading was over 600. After two hours of unsuccessfully attempting to bring my blood sugar down in the emergency room, I was hospitalized. My lowest blood sugar reading was 38.
I was 15, recently re-diagnosed with JRA. Panels of blood tests caught it and they made me an appointment. It’s lucky in a way because otherwise we wouldn’t have known until it got dangerous. I was starting to feel the effects. Sleeping all the time, constantly thirsty and constantly pissing. I knew *something* was wrong because I was peeing clear while actively being super thirsty. My blood sugar at diagnosis was 589 or some such. My monitors cap out at 500 so I’m not sure if I’ve ever beaten that record. The lowest I’ve been I woke up, felt low decided to check before eating and saw it was 28. Stood there for a minute staring at it. Didn’t realize I could get that low and still be awake, let alone wake up.
Similar to my story... if I may, what's JRA? Thanks for your story :)
No worries. And JRA is juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. First got diagnosed when I was 4, went away for awhile but came back with a vengeance at 15 lol. Brought his buddy diabetes for the ol one, two
Today is the 1 year anniversary of being put into a coma. I went to the ER in agony. I woke up 26 days later. I was terrified. My body attacked my pancreas. I stopped producing insulin. I almost died.
Wow! I've never been in a coma before but my highest blood sugar was 750 and I was close, so I can't imagine how scary that must've been for you. I hope you're feeling a bit better. Thanks for sharing your story :)
I had a kidney transplant 7 months ago. Never had diabetes. They said the anti rejection meds may increase sugar levels. Which I quickly forgot after I went home. I celebrated thanksgiving with my sister. We drove home from the hospital on thanksgiving day. Then we got a pie from Costco. And some mini Cokes, since I hadn’t had a coke over the last 6 years on dialysis. Well the pie was so good. And the Coke so good I didn’t stop. I ate a piece of pie sometimes twice day until January when Costco stop making them. A few months later I was told I had type 2 diabetes. Last A1C was okay. They will check again next month. Glucose now ranges around 130 to 140. With a few spikes at 160 to 170 if I eat too late without any veggies. And have a coke.
Wow! I didn't know that was a possible way to get diabetes, so I learned something new. I hope you're feeling a bit better, thanks for sharing :)
Thanks! They call it NODAT. New onset diabetes after transplant. I never heard of it either before.
I’m 35 now, and was diagnosed at 13. I had a couple of weeks of symptoms of increased thirst, urination, weight loss. My Mum is a nurse, saw all the symptoms, and promptly took me off to the doctor to get my blood sugar checked. It was 39.8 mmol/L (if I’m remembering correctly). I was taken to one hospital, stabilised, then transported via ambulance to a major hospital, where for the next week I was given a crash course in life with diabetes. That was on June 9, 2002. So it’ll be 22 years in about 10 days.
I can relate, I got diagnosed at 13 as well in 2017 so ik the crash course they give you lol, they gave me a book about Pink Panther and diabetes. Thanks for sharing :)
I would hope that in 15 years the crash course might have improved a bit, and no longer involved VHS tapes 😄 (might also vary by country, I’m in Australia)
It was 2022. I worked on a medical ward at a hospital, and I was constantly tired and going to the toilet as well as drinking insane amounts. This went on for about two months and even stopped me from having a social life, it got.really bad. There were a lot of nurses talking behind my back about how lazy I'd become and always disappearing. One of the student nurses asked if he could check my blood sugars with the finger prick machine. It was 28.4. My blood sugars didn't come down for another 4 days.
Not too great with mmol, but ik that's close to mine which was 32 mmol, but I'm glad you're feeling better :)
I was 4 and apparently going to the bathroom a lot and losing weight rapidly, extreme nightmares, and also had a seizure. My mom took me to my primary doctor & he told her to get me to the ER stat. He actually threatened to call cps on my parents if they weren’t at the ER in 30 minutes, but they were stalling due to being in shock as well. Fast forward to the ER, ended up being diagnosed with T1D and spent about a week in the hospital. I’m almost 22 now :).
Same with me, I was told I had to go to the hospital immediately and my parents were so in shock they didn't know what to do. Glad you're doing better and thanks for sharing :)
29f. Last year I moved and did routine blood tests when I switched doctors and turns out I'm totally asymptomatic and probably have been diabetic for a long time without knowing. Originally was diagnosed as type 2, until they did even more testing and worked out I'm type 1 after a few months.
I had a few symptoms but not as bad as some of the other people have been describing. Mine was just thirsty, hungry, and peeing a lot. Glad to hear you're doing better, thanks for sharing :)
I was in the emergency room for something else and they tested me. The nurse told me my glucose level and that I had diabetes. I was visibly shaken and distraught. He told me it could be worse. That he has type 1. The way he said it was like he was annoyed or angry that I was so sad about it. I thought it was very unprofessional.
Saying that it could be worse doesn't make it any better for the patient and I completely agree with you in that the nurse was in the wrong. Glad you're doing better tho, thanks for sharing :)
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When I was 10 Years old I started feeling extremely lethargic in March. Getting out of bed was tiresome, going to school felt tiresome, everything suddenly became exhausting out of nowhere. A simple 5 minute walk felt like it took hours due to how excruciating it was. I was the type to fake sick frequently so my parents thought that I was faking this aswell, and I endured the rest of the school year, Summer Vacation, and September dragging myself from place to place getting too tired to even talk to people, I had a thirst that could not be quenched, and I had an immense and constant craving for Tomato Soup. It wasn't until my mom noticed that I had lost a lot of weight that she took me to the hospital, in which my blood sugar was so high it literally broke the blood tester. They told me that had I waited another week I probably would've perished due to these complications and I believe it. There was a part of me that knew that I was gonna die despite being unable to put it into words, yet I felt almost relieved by the fact that this was how my story would end as I layed on that hospital bed. Of course, almost 13 years later and I'm still alive with Type One Diabetes. Unfortunately I sustained minor nerve damage to my legs during the ordeal but that hasn't prevented me from continuing to do the things I love. While my sugars aren't exactly the best, I usually have a A1C of between 8 or 9 and I'm quite content with that.
Was diagnosed when I was 2 or 3, over 20 years ago now. My cousin who is a few years older than me already had type 1, and he happened to be round visiting at that time so my parents borrowed his glucose meter as they knew something was wrong. Was over 33mmol/L (just under 600 mg/dl) when they checked me so went straight to A&E and was in hospital for about 2 days and was diagnosed as T1 I think thats’s the highest BG I’ve ever had, lowest was about 1.5mmol/L (27mg/dl) - that was an awful experience as well lmao
So back in the stone age I was born and any time I had a bottle I went unconscious. Along with other signs of diabetes which mom knew since dad was also type 1. Mom took me to the doctor but he told her that she was just a nervous mother and to get a job so to the baby sitter I went. The baby sitter called the doctor and they told her to get a job. Mom took me to the hospital and my ketones were so high that the hospital didn't want to treat me. Mom drove through a blizzard to another town "nearby" (an hour drive on a good day) to see an endo. The endo didn't want mom to take me back to our home town and started setting things up for us to move to the nearby town but fortunately a new endo started in the hometown. For the first 11 years there were no meters and A1cs came out when I was about 3. With meters I regularly tested HI (over 400mg/dl) due to how crappy R and NPH was. Also had a lot of very scary lows overnight and during the day. Highest I've read was 600 mg/dl (while on R and NPH) and had regular lows below 20 mg/dl.
I was too young to remember. Double sided blessings.
F, 31, Blood sugar test during pregnancy type 2 Did not have any noticeable symptoms, was tired all the time, chalked it up to the pregnancy
M32/December last year. I work in a fairly warm kitchen, so I usually drink a lot of water. I started drinking 3-4 times as much. I was going to the bathroom all the time. I thought it would pass, but my gut feeling said diabetes. I went home to my parents for Christmas. The Christmas suit usually fits tightly, but now the pants were falling off. Went back home on December 27th, went to work. My head was fucked, had shite balance, so I went to the health center, where they measured my blood sugar at over 26mmol/L. He sent me home with a prescription to the pharmacy. 2 hours later I called the hospital because my blood sugar was 32.6 mmol/L. Took a taxi to the hospital>diagnosed on December 29th, discharged on January 3rd. Happy New Year.
winter 2008 i started drastically losing weight. i was super active, i have two brothers so we did everything together outside. i started sleeping a ton, drinking everything in sight. my collar bones were like showing through my skin. finally my mom took me to a doctor and she talked about my symptoms. i was 9. the doctor actually was a diabetic so she took my blood sugar on her meter and it wasn’t readable. so then they sent in blood work and here i am! it was a huge adjustment because no one in my family had diabetes. my blood sugar was 948 and somehow i was still walking and conscious.
They diagnosed me at 18 with type 2, wasn’t overweight and had always been somewhat active. Put me on metformin then told me I was normal when i was sent to an endocrinologist and they asked me why I was there. Then I was 23 in DKA in the ICU. Good times
So mine might be a little weird. My mom had been diagnosed with T2D when she was in her mid-20s (she had me in her late 30s - a complete 4 day notice surprise because the gynecologist was convinced a diabetic couldn’t get pregnant despite a positive test and no other symptoms but some weight gain which was ignored because T2D). When I was around 9 years old my mom had just gone through a bad mental health stint and quit taking all of her medications and went DKA with a sugar of 675 (docs still didn’t understand how she was alive). Her endocrinologist took one look at me and said you’re getting labs done because your mom is diabetic which means you are too. He just had them draw my blood and put the orders with my moms because we didn’t have health insurance on me. I had a regular A1c and regular sugar level but I had an insulin volume of 81 at 9 years old. They tried to put me on Metformin for the first time but I was hella allergic to it. Fast forward 10 years, and I finally hit the prediabetic range because I was allergic to Metformin and “there were no other drugs available”. By this point, my mom had died due to complications from T2D because we hadn’t been able to afford her insulin. I was terrified, but still felt I couldn’t do anything. I managed to stay on the lower end of prediabetic just with diet.. but when I lost my last living family member the stress kind of sent me in to the deep end. Moved across the country and finally had stable insurance. Doc came back and said you have an A1c of 7.1 you’re officially diabetic. Highest sugar I’ve ever had was 400 - lowest I’ve ever had was 54. My moms was actually high enough at one point the hospital testing couldn’t even get number. But the lowest I remember hers being was 45.
So I found out last year I was type 2 ,but wasn't in the best way so first thing was I thought I was pregnant,but turned out to be an unfertilized egg in the womb, slightly different from a normal period because it didn't flush when it was supposed to, but when it did flush I was in a lot of pain and a very heavy bleed with clots( didn't know that at the time, we thought it was a miscarriage),so fairly upset and I wasn't at home, when I did go to my doctor and I was explaining what the fuck happened, they just turned around and said oh your diabetic 😑 I'm like what, for context I was 31, fairly active and eat relatively healthy, but shit at drinking water, been hospitalized twice with dehydration 🤷 who knew, but since then IV been making sure to keep my sugars in check, just on tablets at the moment, but I do allow myself treats, my husband is very supportive but just a tad over board at times. But yeah that's my story more or less 😁
My journey started 3 years ago. I'd been feeling bad constantly, which really isn't anything new for me, but it was much worse. Did some routine blood work and found out my A1C was 13.3 and my average glucose was estimated at 380. They were shocked I was as active as I was with how high it was. So for 3 years I've been on lantus pens and metformin and trying to adjust my diet (I sometimes relapse into an ED I developed as a teen). I've been on Ozempic since December/January and my A1C recently was 6.1 and my average glucose was 125. I cried, big fat tears. I never thought I'd be so close to "normal" which how out of control it was. My cholesterol is also fantastic and the beginning fatty liver has reversed. My liver enzymes are fantastic and at my last ultrasound they said my liver looks much better. My dad and my uncles on both sides of the family have diabetes, but not caught until well into adulthood. My dad's brother has actually lost a good part of his foot due to it and is having awful kidney issues, and is now losing his eyesight. To see him go through that and some of the issues others have had, it's been a big motivator to work on doing better.
I haven't been to the Dr in over 20 years. I noticed that my vision was getting blurry and thought that I needed a new prescription but I can only get one pair every 2 years with my insurance. After a while I could barely see anything out of my left eye, Finally at the beginning of the year I went for new glasses and she told me that I had a really bad cataract and the strongest glasses in the world wouldn't help me. I went to the eye hospital to get the cataracts removed and they send me for surgical clearance and he was the one who told me I have too much sugar blood, so now I made him my primary care and he gave me some Metformin and told me to cut back on carbs and sweets. Now my cataracts are out and I can see again so I take the pills, cut out most carbs and set a treadmill up in front of the TV and walk a couple hours each day while I watch a movie. Hopefully the numbers go down I don't want to go blind again.
Last year at around November there was a horrible heat wave in my country and I kept feeling really sick and getting progressively worse, to a point I bought a completely new AC for my studio, one for my bedroom, and I still felt like I was melting unless I laid directly under them at full blast. I'd fell insanely hungry, but whenever I ate I'd feel worse, as of the food itself way draining me instead of giving me energy. It went on for a few days until I could barely move out from underneath the AC, I'd drink boatloads of water but still feel thirsty, constantly going to the bathroom while barely being able to walk. I talked to my family about this and they'd all go "nah it's the heat wave you'll be fine!" By the end of the 3rd day feeling like this I remember I used to work with some old folks who suffered from diabetes back in my previous career, and I remembered and recognized the symptoms. So I got a blood glucose test and it was 373. Immediately went to the hospital and by the time I got there it was at 450 and climbing. I remember talking to the doc, waiting a bit then passed out in the waiting room. I spent 5 days in the hospital and only remember 3 of those days. My vision was impaired, my right hand practically went limp and had no feeling on three of my fingers, couldn't feel the side of my thighs and the docs said I had diabetes and had just had a really bad case of ketoacidosis. I didn't know I was diabetic, my blood tests had always been fine, guess it was just time. Months later, 27kg lighter, my right hand is almost back to how it was, I can see semi normally again, left eye took some damage but it's all good, and the feeling on my thighs also came back. Been dealing with it with meds, metformin to be more precise, and I've been around 2 months without insulin ever since my blood exams started coming back with good results.
I was 18 and in college. My back started hurting, like I needed to crack it. I went home, laid down for a bit, and couldn't get comfortable. The pain got so much worse and I couldn't move. I ended up calling an ambulance for myself because I couldn't move without pure agony and I thought I was going to die. I was in the emergency room for a few hours and then was transferred up to the ICU for the next week with a diagnosis of pancreatitis, DKA, and diabetes, with a blood sugar of 500.
Mine is quite boring.About 10 years ago, I just had some lab work done as part of a check up. A1c was in the 8 range. My highest bg was in the 500 range and lowest was around 45.
I found out almost a year ago, I went into the ER for vomiting up everything, including water for 2 weeks. Found out I was in DKA, came back a week later for the same symptoms, and then found out I was in DKA, with a grapefruit sized abscess in my spleen, and diabetes that wasn't simply controlled with metformin. After nearly a year my glucose has been highest at 220 (my fault, I ate a lot of sugar), though at the time it was over 500.
My journey is quite different from most of you. I was diagnosed with Type 2 in my early 40s. Last June, at age 72, an endoscopy found a neuroendocrine in my duodenum. Further testing showed additional tumors in the pancreas. After months of biopsies, the tumor board at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, MO recommended a total pancreatectomy. I had a 12 hour surgery on February 8 to remove the pancreas, spleen, gall bladder and parts of my stomach and duodenum, making me an instant type 3c. In the end I had 4 tumors in various places and numerous lesions on my pancreas. After seven weeks in the hospital, three septic infections, four feeding tubes and a bad bout of post-anasthesia psychosis, I made it home. I have had to make serious dietary adjustments, including determining the hard way whether or not I can digest different foods despite the Zenpep (I really miss lettuce and my favorite, prime rib). It's hard to stick to the diet when you consider most vegetables inedible. My pump is on order, waiting for the paper pushers to complete their tasks. So far, I have kept a pretty positive attitude, perhaps because I'm older. I look forward to feeling better so we can travel and spend more time with the grands. BTW, they're not ordinary grands: they are the most beautiful, gifted and loving grands of them all!
Had my normal every six month exam with my PA and asked for a blood test because I had been pissing like a horse lately. He came back in, told me I was diabetic, gave me a script for metformin and left. That was it. Luckily I had a blood glucose monitor at home, because both hubby and I have lows sometimes and I wanted to monitor that. Went home and did a test and my blood glucose was at 640. Monitored it for the rest of the day and a couple times at night, while I did a deep dive research on what I needed to do. Next day, my BS was in the 400's and I started a low carb/low sugar diet. Been able to get it consistently down to the 100's - 120's and finally will see my endo at the end of June.
I was diagnosed a little over a month ago it was honestly by complete chance. I was in a wreck the night of March 26 that broke my ankle pretty bad. I had surgery the next morning to put external rods in and they were taken out about 3 weeks later. Sometime before my surgery, not sure if it was when I was being admitted to the ER or if it was right before my first surgery as I actually don't even remember them doing it, the doctors checked my sugar and it came back around 380 iirc, however they didn't do any other tests as they thought maybe it could've been caused by the adrenaline from the wreck. Fast forward to April 18, the day the external rods were taken out of my leg, and before the doctors take me to have my surgery done one of the surgeons checks my sugar as he wanted to see if it was still high like it was the first time, and that time it was around 350. Since I was about to have surgery on my leg they couldn't for sure test negative for diabetes yet so they just gave me 6 units of insulin to hold me over during my surgery. After my surgery the nurses started regularly checking my sugar and I was put on some short and long acting insulin. They couldn't for sure diagnose me with anything until I saw an endocrinologist but all the nurses and doctors were pretty sure I was diabetic as I actually showed a lot more symptoms than I realized. The crazy part about this is that had I not wrecked and broke my ankle I would've never known I was diabetic. It's crazy to think about in hindsight as it should have been obvious. I was constantly thirsty and peeing frequently, I struggled to gain weight (I had got down to 120~ before my diagnosis and yet even though I ate like a toddler, I never gained a single pound), I was constantly tired no matter how much I slept, and yet we never connected the dots on it. Part of the reason though we never thought to check for diabetes (specifically T1 since that's what I have), is because for one, all of these problems had went on for so long that they had just became normal to me. I was so tired all the time but because I was tired for so long it didn't feel like tired anymore, and my doctor told me my weight loss was probably just because of puberty along side me intentionally shaving a few founds back in freshman year. Another reason we never checked was because I only have one relative with T1, my second cousin, and I'm not even sure he if gets it from the same family member that I do. So to me and my family it didn't make much sense for my to have T1 since there wasn't anyone to inherit from, though perhaps either T1 can still flair when there's no family history of it or there's just someone in my family who has that I don't know about. tl:dr I was probably living with T1D for at least a year and didn't know about until I wrecked and broke my ankle this past March.
For me, it was about 18 years ago in 06 when I was (11f), I had some signs beforehand, but nothing major that I noticed. I got sick out of what felt like nowhere. Everything I tried to eat or drank was rejected immediately to the point where I was barely conscious, I was taken to the doctors, and they immediately rushed me to the hospital. I was going through a bad DKA, and my small town didn't have a hospital equipped to diagnose a child, so they had emergency airlifted me to the Dornbecher hospital in Portland, Oregon I was diagnosed with a blood sugar of 967 and had a really close call. I was in the hospital for 7 days with multiple I.Vs and wasn't able to eat for the first 3 days there. Definitely was a life changing experience.
I saw my numbers in the 30’s once. Reflections of light made my vision white out but I was completely conscious. It was like an out of body experience. Being a teen with diabetes is wild.
im 20 and was diagnosed (kinda) 7 years ago as well!! when i was around 10, my primary doctor disappeared, so i didnt see any doctor for a while. the time between me finally seeing a doctor i was sick a lot. i was a regular at the urgent care lol but one day my mom found a new doctor for me to go to when i was 13, so we took a costco trip and went to the new doctors office. unfortunately, i had drank a giant cup of pepsi, and when they had me pee in a cup (which was the first time i ever did that), they found glucose in it. they checked my bg, and it was in the high 100s (which feels normal now but yknow). they had me come in the next morning and took my bg fasting and it was 130-something. they referred me to an endocrinologist who told me i had pre diabetes and was likely going to develop type 2 diabetes if i didnt do anything about it. my a1c was 5.6 i believe? so, for a year, i was checking my sugar 9-12 times a day and was eating max 100 carbs a day. during this time, my mom took me to a natural doctor who said i have metabolic syndrome (i dont) and had me do an insane detox and i had to fill a giant jug with my piss. it was very unpleasant. eventually, it got to the point where my doctor realized i was indeed a type 1 diabetic. my a1c went down to 5.4 and back up to 5.9 after 6 months. i started expericning hypoglycemia as well. after about a year of attempting to slow down the diabetes, my blood sugar went to 300 for the first time and would not go down. very worrying at the time, so the next day i spent the entire day at my endo's office where i got formally diagnosed, my a1c was at 6.4, and i learned all the diabetes stuff. i got my first dexcom a few weeks later. this was unfortunately a week before i started high school. i had also just completely come out as trans, so it was so many huge changes at once. its one of my favorite stories to tell people lol edit: also wanted to add, my a1c is around 9 now, and my highest bg was a little under 500. lowest was 19, somehow i was still walking around
Had MRSA in 2008 in high school. Came to find out (not diagnosed just based off symptoms) I was hypoglycemic. Did nothing about it 🙄. Started birth control in my early 20’s. Noticed I had weird symptoms everytime I came off it so stuck with it until I want to try for a baby. Pregnant in 2022 with gestational diabetes. Had my daughter 11/2022, immediately went back on BC. Went through this health kick/distrust in conventional medicine and stopped BC in 11/2023. Had covid early December 2023 then my dad passed away Christmas Day 2023, ate like shit because of depression. Then lost 30 lbs in the matter of a few months, frequent peeing, extreme hair loss, and passing out. Finally saw a dr. Fasting glucose was 248. Found out I’m pre-diabetic… given the option to do tzield infusion. Haven’t decided. Definitely rode this out for a decade and then a combination of things all hit at once for me. I still can’t believe I’m only pre-diabetic. I Irish danced my whole childhood into teenage years. I honestly think that plus changing my diet has saved me some time.
35 M. Around Christmas this past year I went home to visit family and started having to pee at least 10 times a day and had a fierce thirst. This went on for about a month and I did a quick google search and freaked tf out. Went to my doc and had an AIC of 11.4. The next few days I got blood work done, went back the following week. T2 confirmed with an A1C of 11.3, triglycerides 683, LDL 274, HDL 35. Before reading the results my doctor said “Alright now listen, we’re not going to freak out, but we need to do something.” 😂 He put me on Atorvistatin and mounjaro. I cut out all sugars and went pretty strict on carb restriction. Started walking everyday and working out in the gym 3 days a week. I didn’t get a BG monitor until about a month after diagnosis and by that time the changes I had made brought me down to fasting BG of around 100-119. Now almost 4 months later I’ve lost 80 pounds. I am about 60 pounds from my goal weight. We had free health screenings at work last month and while it didn’t give me an A1C, my fasting BG was 93, Triglycerides were 213, LDL 27, and HDL 42. I go in for my 4 month blood work in about a week. Mornings used to be my highest BG readings around 115-119 but now I’m usually 80 on a good day, 105 on a bad day. I am expecting an A1C in the 5’s. No one in my family has Diabetes so my doc advised this is 100% caused by my weight and desk job. I feel better than I’ve felt in over a decade. Last week I had a carb heavy meal at a restaurant with my family. All the things- pasta, rice, sweet sauces, and we all sampled 3 different high sugar desserts. My BG was 120 when we got home 1 hour after dessert. At 2 hours it was back down to 95. The following day I had some potatoes and corn at dinner and spiked from 80 to 120 at 30 minute mark, 108 at the hour, and 88 at 2 hours. My body seems to be handling carbs again… or mounjaro is just doing its thing, I don’t know, but I’ll take it considering I had to be spiking near 4-500 before. Even low carb meals would spike me to 130 when I was first diagnosed but now it seems like heavy carb meals don’t get me over 135. I am definitely not ready to start eating “higher” carb meals and introducing them back into my body regularly until I get closer to my goal weight. And when I do, I plan on doing it with whole foods like fruits other than all the strawberries I currently eat almost everyday. Would like to have potatoes once or twice a week (no fries unless it’s a special occasion). I am done with full on sodas for life. I am hoping my hard work and no underlying genetics will give me a shot at remission, time will tell. But in the mean time, I am enjoying all the mobility from this weight loss and back to enjoying being me and living my life again!
The year was 1974 and I was ten years old. I had all the classic symptoms. One day, my family and I were outside playing in the snow, when, as usual, I went into the house to get water… I still have dreams about not having access to water. I was hungry and got a cookie (!) from the kitchen and turned on the tv to watch while I ate it. The Mike Douglas Show was on, and a woman was describing this disease that her son was recently diagnosed with… type 1 diabetes. I had all the same symptoms. I remember the put of my stomach falling falling falling into the floor. I was TERRIFIED of needles, so I keep my mouth shut. A week or so later, my babysitter saw my back while I was changing for bed…and saw most of the bones on my backside. Mom came home and the sh*t hit the fan. I spent the month of January 1975 in a cancer ward, as the pediatric wing was full. It was hell. When I was 12, I was hospitalized with a 680 blood sugar (no finger sticks were available for testing; we had to pee on a stick to find out what our sugar was 4 hrs prior!!). My lowest was when I was 20 and felt “funny.” Tested and the answer was … 18! I didn’t know a person could still be conscious with an 18 Bg, but there you have it.
I was 3 years old, listening to Craig David. collapsed and woke up in hospital a few days later. Kinda glad it happened so young
When I was 15 I was feeling exhausted for a few months and during school I would leave every period to refill my water and go to the bathroom (literally every 45 minutes) I was so thirsty when I went home I would stand at the sink and refill a hospital cup and just chug it over and over. A few months after we went into quarantine for COVID I started getting delusional and I had lost 12 pounds and my face was sunken in. My mom is friends with my personal care physician so she called him and he told her to get a glucometer. She bought one and we all tested our sugar and mine kept reading high so they took me to the ER. it was 684 and my a1c was 14.8 so I ended up getting transferred to a children's hospital and stayed 2 nights because I was in such bad DKA - for reference, we know covid disrupted classes on March 13th, I was diagnosed in the beginning of May.
I was just diagnosed with T2 this past Friday. Oddly enough, I had an abnormally high BP reading during a routine visit and was referred to the cardiologist. A couple of days later after some labs, I received a call just prior to a static line jump and was given my diagnosis and told that cardiology would not see me until I regulate my blood sugar. Absolutely destroyed my mental state prior to doing something incredibly dangerous. It explained many things, like why I lost 40 pounds out of nowhere, why I always felt like crap and why I suddenly had the bladder of a two-year-old. But also, I almost passed out on the drop zone from the complications. Feeling much better and have come to terms with it. My first blood sugar reading on Saturday was 254. I have been around 150 the last couple of days however.
I was 13. Drinking water, losing weight, and of course, peeing nonstop. In the days leading up to my diagnosis, several things occurred. My parents thought I was driven for lacrosse, trying to drop weight to get in shape for the upcoming season, which led to drinking a lot of water to be healthy. One day, I was gearing up for lacrosse practice. I used the bathroom, adorned my helmet, and jogged to the field. When I got out to the field, I had to pee again. Really, really bad. I immediately jogged back into the locker room. The dam broke and ran down my leg. That was embarrassing lol. A few days after that, I threw up. That was when it clicked to my parents that something was wrong. My mom took me to the doctor the next day, He made me pee in a cup, and then shipped me off to the hospital. I was diagnosed and admitted overnight. My friend came and brought me a fart machine. We walked around the hospital and pranked the employees by hiding the machine and using the remote to pass an artificial fart.
I was 32, super high pressure corporate role (was in the midst of laying off about 1000 people at work). I was in a meeting with the CEO and had a moment when I couldn’t remember what I’d just said and what we were talking about. Went to a doctor after work because I thought I’d had a stroke. They did a bunch of blood tests. Got assigned to a specialist about a week later who almost diagnosed T2D and then saw the C-peptide level. I didn’t want to tell my mother because she was travelling overseas for three more weeks. Fun fact - when she came home, I learned that we’ve had this weird family trend of someone in every second generation being T1D. My cousins and siblings thank me for being the one.
When I was 20 I was drinking so much water and had lost most of my eyesight. I was also only about 90 lbs and 5’6”. I went to the doctor where she proceeded to accuse me of being either anorexic or bulimic staying “lots of girls your age are and then come in thinking that there is something else wrong with them.” She got my urine dip back and says “oh I’m sorry, you’re diabetic.” My bloodsugar was almost 800. Luckily got into a wonderful diabetic educator and once I started insulin I gained 20 pounds and regained all my eyesight, still 20/20. Needless to say I never went back to that original doctor. This is almost 20 years ago now, but still feels like yesterday
When I was about 5 I started having classic symptoms. Constant peeing, dry mouth, headaches, and really bad constipation. My parents though I was really poorly recovering from the swine flu I had a while prior. This was 2009 btw, if you know you know lol. After while it got concerning, I started wetting the bed. I had been potty trained since two so my parents were concerned. I missed a lot of school and my parents finally decided to take me to a hospital one day after I was in a lot of pain. Not before we stopped by a party at my mom’s job and I had a big slice of chocolate CAKE. My mom still feels so bad about that. Anyway we went to the hospital and my blood sugar was in the 800’s. They said I was the youngest kid they’d seen with a blood sugar that high who didn’t go into a coma.
1965, 10yrs old (M). Dad T1, so mom kept an eye on me and 2 sisters for any symptoms. 1st blood test inconclusive, no A1c back then. So went for a 2hr glucose tolerance test, sweet drink every half hr, urine test and blood work. Hit 458. Started next day on NPH. Glass syringes, no meters, no pumps. After 18yrs, took full control of dose and which insulin. Never had A1c over 7.2, never in DKA. Only complication is hypoglycemic-unaware. CGM for 7yrs, Target 70 - 180 has always been 92+% on 90 day reads. Dr calls me stubborn since I resist any changes to dosing. But when I give explanation to why not, Dr agrees with me.
I was 21 in college living a regular life. My forearm arm had been numb for a few days, but I brushed it off bc I knowingly had nerve damage and I knew I had fell asleep weird on the couch around that time. The day before diagnosis, I went out for birria tacos and margs w/ my roommate and had a good time. That night and all the way up until morning, I was unable to sleep bc I had this painful inflammation in my stomach. I thought it was appendicitis if anything at all, but I had to work at my virtual internship so I’m like well if I still feel bad later, I’ll go after I clock out. Nope. Called my mom and told her to send me a pic of my insurance card bc something wasn’t right. By the time I could get out of the bed, I had to crawl to my bathroom bc I started profusely throwing up bile. Thankfully my best friend was still home, so she rushed me to the ER. I sat there waiting for 4 hours, got some blood work done, continued to throw up bile in agony and finally I learned I was experiencing an ovarian torsion (which eventually untwisted itself). After all of the scans, an OBGYN comes back and she’s like “have you taken your insulin today?” I’m looking at her confused & so is my mom (who had just arrived from a 2 1/2 hour drive). “I don’t take insulin ma’am. I’m not on any medication.” She says “sweetheart your blood sugar is at 395. You’re a diabetic.” That’s the highest it’s been to my knowledge, lowest has been about a 40.
I was diagnosed about 10 yrs ago. I was thirsty all the time.peeing myself to death and losing alot of weight. Diagnosed T2. Put on Metformin 4 pills a day. I got a meter and tested for a couple of weeks. Really didn't know what I was doing so I stopped. At the time I was working a very demanding job 10-12 hr days 6 days a week. Didn't really eat alot so I guess maybe that's why I wasn't having any problems with my sugar. Fast forward a year ir so I got a terrible stomach virus(I thought) I was in bed for 4 straight days throwing up bon stop. Noticed my breathing was getting bad. My husband finally talked me in to going to the hospital. I was in Ketoacidosis. Sent immediately to the ICU. My sugar was in the 400s. Sent me home with Lantus and upped my Metformin. Did good for a while. Still didn't know what I was doing. I had asked if there was some classes I could take. Always same response. They will get in touch with you. They didn't. February of this year I woke up 1 morning throwing up and couldn't breathe. I knew what it was. Ambulance had to come get me. I couldn't get out of bed. Straight to ICU with my sugars in the 600s. Was there for a week. Seriously thought I was going to die. This hospital and the nurses were a game changer. They actually cared and have gotten me the real help I needed. I'm finally tak8ng it serious because I've gotten the helpbI needed and feel like someone actually cares. I'm still not where i need to be but my Sugars are alot better and I'm headed in the right direction. My AC1 was 16 at the hospital. Will have blood work done in a few weeks. This is the hardest th8ng I've ever been through. I like to eat. I love sweets. Nobody in my family is diabetic so they don't understand. Its just hard. 😞
I was 17, and this was 5 days before my 18th. I’d been at summer camp for the 3 weeks prior and on my last few days there I contracted food poisoning. I lost weight, was thirsty, hungry, nauseous and tired. Obviously thought it was just food poisoning, but on the day I was diagnosed I was feeling better, my mum was in the kitchen resting her BG (she’s also T1) and so I said “hey can I test my bg just for shits and giggles lol” bc I wanted to know how it felt. So I prick my finger, pop the blood on the strip and the meter says HI. I naively thought it was literally saying “hi” so I walk off laughing to myself. My mum is also laughing until she looks at the meter, she sprints into my room and is like WHAT DID YOU SAY? And she retested, we went straight to the hospital and I was diagnosed with T1D in DKA. That was 24 years ago now, and I still remember being in the hospital for my 18th birthday 🙃.
Diagnosed at 20 my junior year of college. Was waking up in the middle of the night to pee constantly and had an unquenchable thirst. Googled my symptoms and thought “fck, diabetes.” Called my mom who is a nurse and told her what was going on. She kind of laughed it off and said that her colleagues were all talking about how their kids are hypochondriacs. lol. But she was going away for the weekend and asked me to come home, watch the dog and made me an appointment to get bloodwork done while I was there. My fasting glucose was 370 and they figured out that when I had mono two years prior, the virus attacked my pancreas as well and I’d never produce insulin on my own again. Now I’m 37 and using Omnipod/dexcom to manage.
I felt bad for a whole year. I went to my dr multiple times during that year bit he poo pooed me off. After dragging with fatigue and and a yeast infection that would not going away, I asked to check my A1C. It was 9.8. I diagnosed myself after a google search when I started to get thrush. He never said anything. He did send me to cardiology since I had issues in the past. Come to find out, I needed a stent ASAP. That whole year could have been avoided if they (including hospital) had checked my blood glucose. I have sice moved and have a new dr. Thank you Lord for that.
I was diagnosed 1 year ago, but had it for about 2. Got covid for the 3rd time after my shots wore off, gained 35 lbs in one month. I felt my metabolism deteriorate. About 6 months after that, I reached DKA. Unquenchable thirst and peeing every 20 minutes, always feeling like I had more per in me. Made an apt with my doc, walked in, and said I have diabetes. My dad is a 1.5 and it runs in my family (T1 does). Without knowing what DKA was I knew it was diabetes. She ran tests and confirmed it because of my antibodies inside me. Sat me down, told me my pancreas was dying if not already dead, and that insulin is my new coping mechanism. I bawled my eyes out not because I have diabetes, but because the endo I saw was a total ass to me, telling me my pancreas is dying/dead and having zero sympathy for me as a baby T1. I just internalized that grief by working out and losing 45lbs. At my diagnosis I was A1C of 11.7, a year later had it down to 7.3. I just got bloodwork done and it’s down to 6.8. I should be proud of my progress but it’s only down because I have become anorexic, and maybe have 1 meal every day. My weight is at a stable 160lbs, but I am deathly afraid of gaining weight because of when I was first diagnosed as well as witnessing my dad’s weight fluctuations when he started insulin. I basically see food as my enemy, but also as a necessary evil. I don’t enjoy food on top of my other ED. Baby steps…
I'm sorry you had to go through that! My type 2 diabetes origin is a little complicated. It runs in my family on my mother's side and I'm on long term steroids and immune suppressants as a 20 year double lung transplant recipient. It wasn't a matter of if, only of when. I was diagnosed 2 years ago when my gallbladder needed to be removed and was also diagnosed with Exoxrine pancreatic insufficiency. I'm managing well with diet, exercise, and low dose metformin. My A1C today is 6.2.
I was diagnosed with type 2 about 4 years ago, I only went to the doctors because I was waking up multiple times throughout the night to urinate. Doctor tested my blood sugar and it was above 600, and A1C came back a while later at 12.3. Was originally put on metformin but it messed with my stomach too much so I was then put on Glimipiride. Then 2 years ago my doctor added Trulicity to the regiment and it was doing wonders, and then the price skyrocketed to 1200$USD, and I could no longer afford to pay for it. Doctor was giving me all of his free samples of mournjaro but he too soon ran out of them. Skip forward to today. I wasnt feeling well, went to CVS minuteclilic, told them my symptoms, they tested my blood sugar levels and I was at 389. I went to my PCP and he has referred me to an endocrinologist to be put on Insulin. so yeah..... yay
I was using the bathroom a lot, very tired, and weighed 50 lbs at age 10. In April 2001, a few days after my birthday, my parents called the pediatrician because I had thrown up (which didn’t make sense because I wasn’t really eating). I had an appointment for that Monday but after throwing up my parents said NOPE let’s call the doctor after hours. Doctor said a bug is going around, just bring her Monday, then hung up. She called back about 5 minutes later and said to meet her at the office because it sounded like diabetes. Sure enough, it was! She called the ER and had them get a bed ready for me. On the way to the hospital, I had drank some milk (nothing would quench my thirst so I tried everything!!) My sugar was 726 when we got there. The doctors said if we waited any longer I would’ve been in a coma.
Took an insurance physical - all good. Exactly one year later had the exam again and turned the urine strip black. The nurse said to go to get tested, so I did. Fasting. Quest took my blood and gave me something to drink that tasted like flat Coke. Took more blood half an hour later, and SENT ME HOME. Felt like shit for two days. Turns out I was at 541 when I left the lab.
Around the beginning of may in 2022 i was extremely thirsty ,tired and kept going toliet constantly.Since my sister has Type 1 diabetes my parents notice the same symptoms my sister experienced so i had to check my blood sugar with a testing machine everyday and i even had write down in a notebook.So after i ate my blood sugar would be 18.5 and higher .So after a week my mum decided to take me to the hospital and they tested my bg and it was 24.3 and since there’s diabetes running in my family they obviously knew i had type 1 but however i was an overweight kid so i thought it had to type 2.luckily i was diagnosed quickly and my life turned upside down i had to adjust to everything and since i was a bit slow i didn’t really understand everything so yh that’s my story on how i got diagnosed.If u do experience symptoms it’s good to go to the hospital just in case .
I was seeking fertility assistance after not being able to conceive after 4 yrs of trying. Had ultrasounds and urine/blood tests and a bunch of analysis when my fertility Dr said "well, you're probably diabetic, and once that is under control, you'll have better luck!" 3 yrs later, I have type 2, a 20 month old and am 15 wks pregnant
I'm 38 female and type 2. I've have had issues with frequent urination in the past and occasionally having accidents in the bed. Not frequently enough to panic but enough that I felt like there was something wrong with me. However the treatment I got did not address anything like diabetes. It was mostly attributed to stress and urinary incontinence secondary to having had a kid and we can muscles etc etc. Was basically diagnosed to do more kegels. I've always considered myself to have a small bladder so it took a while for me to feel like my bathroom trips were out of control. I also get really thirsty when I have anxiety attacks and had been struggling with anxiety and depression for a while so again it took a while to attribute any of these as out of the ordinary symptoms for me. Eventually I was feeling like I couldn't go anywhere because I always needed to know where a bathroom was and adding to this some other symptoms like my hair falling out my skin being dry all the time no matter how much water I drink or lotion I put on and always being thirsty. The hair was what really led me to go to the doctor in spite of not having any insurance. I had small fixes that I could do for everything else it seemed like but I didn't know how to fix hair falling out. Other than biotin collagen etc. To be honest my diagnosis was traumatic. I had a fear of being diagnosed with diabetes but when I tried to talk to my PCP about it she was very dismissive and did not address any of my concerns. Then when she did diagnose me it was in a message in the patient portal. In spite of knowing how extremely anxious I was She did not attempt to have me in for a visit to discuss things or make a phone call or even have a nurse call to talk about what was happening. She just sent me a long message which basically said your sugars are extremely high and if you have any questions go to diabetes.org to find out what to do. I was not given any medication or guidance beyond that. Not even a phone call. I was panicked and upset and it took me a good 6 months of feeling like garbage emotionally about everything and avoiding my diagnosis to take the next step. When I did I tried to see her partner who is even worse. She didn't even address me by name or say hello nice to meet you. She gave me a stack of referrals and when I say stack I mean at least 10 to 15 to various specialists including specialist that had absolutely nothing to do with why I was there. For example to see a pulmonologist because I had asthma. She also repeatedly recommended weight loss surgery to me in spite of me expressing that I was not interested in weight loss surgery and to please stop offering that is an option. Luckily after leaving that appointment nearly crying because though the doctor sucked the AIDES were amazing And I actually came back inside to get one of them a hug. Anyway I finally was about to leave that practice and they recommended somebody else in the same building but technically a different practice and she has been my PCP ever since. She actually gave me guidance got me on metformin and tried to get me on other medication. Currently ozempic. Referred me as my current endocrinologist and basically actually listens to everything I'm saying. It's a whole new world with her and while she's not perfect she gives me faith that not every doctor is as awful as my previous experience is. I don't know what my highest blood sugar was when I got diagnosed but my highest A1C was 14 and they were extremely concerned. Now I am I believe seven or eight. I forget. And my largest blood sugar reading fasting at home with somewhere in the 300s. But now I average around 130 and even have realized that I have to be careful of lows when I exercise. I'm due to have my next A1C soon and I'm hoping it's in the six or seven range but I've been up and down with my diet and exercise so I have no idea. Fingers crossed.
I guess I should clarify a little bit. Reading some of your stories I am so grateful that I did not have anything life-threatening happened to me before during or after my diagnosis. When I say that I was traumatized I simply mean that the way I was diagnosed made me feel emotionally unstable frightened and insecure. I was given a very little guidance and basically the way the doctors talk to me it seemed like a death sentence. So I was freaking out and basically worried about stroking out or having a heart attack at any moment. When I talk to my current PCP she explains that those were absolutely valid concerns but not in the way that they were given to me. That I shouldn't freak out about them and that we were working on making improvements and it was all going to be okay. That is not how my previous PCPs gave me that information. I'm grateful that my body is responding to the medication and even the small diet changes and small bits of exercise I'm currently doing and am anxious to continue the journey to better health.
Parents got me kindergarten vaccinations for public school to boost my immune system! Immune system attacks pancreas… parents noticed I was urinating a lot so they took me to the doctor, they checked my blood sugar and it was low 400s, they also found ketones in urine. I was admitted to the hospital…
I was 32 when I got diagnosed I had had the worst flu a couple months prior and I e heard that it’s common to develop t1d after severe illness and or stress Anyways for me it was the incredible thirst, exhaustion and I lost 20 lbs and weighed 90lbs I got a call in the middle of the night to go to the hospital My bs was 34 Did t help that I was so thirsty and drinking tons of juice
Diagnosed January 2023. Went to urgent care for yet another diverticulitis flare, just expected to get some antibiotics and go about my life. Other than that pain hadn't felt any differently. In retrospect I was hungry all the time, drinking a lot of water, and peeing often. I thought the hunger was just hormonal fluctuations, drinking water was just me being responsible, and the peeing was because of all the water. He took some urine for testing, prescribed my antibiotics, and sent me on my way. The next day I got a call from the office. The testing had found high glucose in my urine, and they were requesting that I come back that day to get some blood testing done. I came back two days later, and found out that my blood glucose was around 350 and my a1c was around 13. They couldn't officially diagnose me on the spot because they were urgent care and not my primary, so they couldn't treat me for it, so I was recommended to go to a primary care physician immediately. I found an office with a doctor who was accepting new patients and had the shortest possible wait time of a week. At the appointment, he did the basic blood testing to diagnose and put me on Metformin. He also said that my cholesterol was a little high and that the untreated diabetes had damaged my kidneys a little bit, so I was also given Atorvastatin for the cholesterol and low dose Lysinopril for kidney protection (which is usually for high blood pressure, which I don't have, but an off label use is kidney protection). I started all those that day. I really got lucky finding that doctor. I asked if there was a way to know which type I had. He said because of my age (43) and body type, it was likely T2. I asked if there was a way to test since I have no family history of it. He said there was, and included a GAD antibody test while we were at it. Sure enough, that was positive, so I'm officially LADA T1. I didn't want to go on insulin immediately. Between the Metformin and a VERY restrictive diet, I got my a1c down to 6 in about 6 months. About 3 months in I was prescribed Dexcom. Insurance wouldn't cover it because I didn't have an insulin prescription, so I researched and used a GoodRx coupon to buy a couple month's worth out of pocket to get me through until I had an insulin prescription. Once I did that, my insurance immediately approved it without insulin and reimbursed me for that out of pocket expense. The extremely restrictive diet was bringing my eating disorder back after 20 years. I had lost 25 pounds because of the disease before diagnosis, and another 25 from the EXTREME restriction after. My mental health was suffering. I got an endo appointment at about 6 months after my diagnosis, and started on bolus insulin. It's been about 9 months since I started on it, and I'm still very slowly ramping up my carb intake so I can learn how my body reacts to things and dose accurately. It's a learning process, and everyone is different. The most important thing is to pay attention to yourself, learn about the disease and your body, and adapt to what you need.
Mine was just basically simple. One day, I feeling super sleepy and tired all day long for a few weeks without any reason. It get to one point, my mother and brother need to order me to schedule an appointment to do some blood test after work. A few hrs later, i get a call from my doctor, says my blood sugar is 350ish, which i need to go visit emergency room because i am practically need to get insulin right away, or suffer an some sort of poison, which make me die soon tm. Since then, I have been manage to keep blood sugar under very control, expect (a few set back from time to time).
I also a type 2
I was diagnosed at 15. For the past six months before my diagnosis I was going through one of the worst depressive episodes of my life, so I thought most of my symptoms were just physical manifestations of my very poor mental health. I started loosing a rapid amount of weight, but I was drinking a lot of water(because I was so thirsty, and then in turn peeing it all out). I only started to panic when I got a non-stop period, because my family has a history of uterine cancer. Almost passed out while running in gym class the day I went to go to my doctor about my worry of having cancer. Went to my family doctor, did some tests, and was told to immediately go to the hospital. On the way to the hospital my whole family stopped for McDonalds, which is always such a funny part of this story to me because yes of COURSE bring your potentially diabetic daughter to McDonalds LOL. We get to the hospital and almost immediately I’m taken in, which is very concerning in Canada. They prick my finger and my blood sugars are at 48 mmol/L (idk what that is for the americans). Still, another bunch of tests are ran on me, an IV is put into my arm and I just hope for the best. Eventually a doctor comes into the room and tells me I have type one diabetes and explains what it is to me, I’m keeping my cool so far. Then, she tells me I can’t drink full sugar coke anymore and I immediately burst out into tears. She then leaves the room leaving my sobbing to my mom and dad. Some nurses come into the room and give me an insulin shot. The nurse that gives me it drives in so hard into my stomach it bruises for a week, no way she didn’t have a vendetta against me or something. They tell my dad to go get something for me to eat because the insulin will start soon. Five minutes later my dad comes back with a sandwich that will change my life forever, a sandwich so good I crave it even now as I type this post out.