How were you diagnosed?

[beveykin]

How were you diagnosed?

I was 6 when I was diagnosed, my mum thought that i was trying to get a day off school! Anyway to cut a long story short, she called the doctor and I was rushed into hospital to have my appendix removed. Fortunately more tests were done and my appendix is still in tact!:smile:

[Cinnabon]

i WAS 9, JUSTHAD THE CHICKEN POX, and was very thin after such a sickness, and the normal reactions; thirst, bathroom.. ect. Anemia was the first thought, NOT!

My dad took me to a doctor where they ran Blood tests and asked for me to be taken to the infamous "Miami Children's Hospital" where they confirmed it.

[EdnaDeel]

I had an ulcer to come up on my eye
and they run a bunch of test and found out my sugar was 687

well actually I had gestational diabetes before that and it went away
The dr told me I would probably get the bid D in my 40's
boy was he wrong , Got it when I was 25

[DeusXM]

I was 14 and, to put it crudely, looked like a Jew in Auschwitz. I was like a walking skeleton. I was also always phenomenally thirsty, although oddly enough I never felt bad or tired.

One of the crazy things that still brings me out in cold sweats when I think about it is what I used to do to treat that thirst. The summer I was diagnosed, I got a real taste for Lucozade.

Yeah, exactly. There was me, running with a ridiculously high sugar as it was, and then I was drinking liquid sugar to treat the symptoms.

I booked myself into the doctors because I decided that being 5' 8'' and weighing 6 stone simply wasn't healthy. Obviously diabetes was mentioned and it looked pretty obvious that I was diabetic. I was given some blood tests and booked in for an appointment for a week later.

The next week, I went out and played football with a mate for a bit. Then I went to the doctor that afternoon, they did a quick urine test and my life was never the same again.

All I really remember is just how fast everything seemed to happen. I was in the doctor's for half an hour, then I went home to pack (now thoroughly confused) and an hour later I was sat in a single room on the children's ward answering a few questions. I stayed up until midnight watching 'Last of the Mohicans' on the TV in the room before turning in.

The whole week is basically a total blur, although I never, ever felt frightened during the whole time. It did become pretty clear though that my diagnosis was unusual in that I'd gone to the doctor intentionally - everyone else my age tended to end up being diagnosed after passing out.

I cried once for a minute when I was discharged and got back home but even then it all felt a bit theatrical - I cried because I felt I should be crying, rather than because I really needed or wanted to. I've always been like that - I've never really appreciated the significance of anything that's ever happened to me. That was the one and only time I ever cried about it.

Because frankly, although I clearly possess a huge ego and like to get all preachy about what happens if you don't treat your diabetes, I honestly think I just don't care enough about myself to elicit an emotional response.

[Funnygrl]

You probably developed that taste for lucazode since your body was craving the carbs so badly, since it was getting none from lack of insulin.

[lgvincent]

I got up too sick to go to school one morning. I remember feeling really bad and not wanting to go. I had been drinking lots of water, urinating a lot, and it seems like I was eating just about anything put in front of me but losing weight pretty fast.

[Eri's mom]

Eri lost a LOT of weight, yet did eat a lot, drank a LOT, and started wetting the bed to the point where she would go through both boxspring and mattress and leave a puddle on the floor(she was potty trained around 2 and NEVER had an accident...EVER...b/f this.)...she was 6 at the time.
She had lost more than 10% of her body weight, and she look pathetic.
She was always tired, etc...
She was unofficially dx'd on New Years Eve '99/'00, and was officially dx'd on 1/3/00...sent to Tampa's All Children's Hospital...bg's were over 1000 and she was not admitted. We were there for 4 hours w/ a crash course in diabetes management and were sent on our merry way...life definitely changed at that point. After 3 months(from dx) of being extremely hi...she plummeted and started w/ major seizures....you could set your clock to it and even w/ trying to prevent them, they'd still come on, or she'd be in shock and look catatonic.
It was horrid...especially the day we found out b/c right after she was dx'd, we found out my (then) 35/36 yo bil was just dx'd with liver cancer.
Bad day.

[Will]

How were you diagnosed?

I was 6 when I was diagnosed, my mum thought that i was trying to get a day off school! Anyway to cut a long story short, she called the doctor and I was rushed into hospital to have my appendix removed. Fortunately more tests were done and my appendix is still in tact!:smile:

I was diabetic for years before I was diagnosed at 7. The doctors told my mom she was crazy because they kept doing finger sticks and my bg was fine at the moment, and she didnt know any better.

I was at a friends house and her and I sat down and ate a whole Key Lime Pie. My mom picked me up and took me to the doctor an hour later, and my BG was 713.

I was sick for years before the idiot piece of trash doctors figured it out.

[MagsRM23]

I was also diagnosed at age 6, in 1992 (does anyone else find it strange that so many of us were diagnosed at 6?). When I look at pictures pre-diagnosis, there is clearly something wrong with me. My face is very pale and my eyes are dark, and though I was a small girl (and still am), I am incredibly small. My parents started to notice the warning signs: losing weight, eating and drinking a ton, especially Libby's Juicy Juice boxes (I don't know why I remember that), a bit lethargic, etc. So, when we got back from vacation in August, they took me into the doctor, and that night I was checked into the hospital. I remember a lot of random things about being in the hospital for a week. I know I got to wear normal clothes because I wasn't "sick," just on the IV and being educated about diabetes. I remember being proud of myself for not crying when the initially drew blood for analysis. I also remember the large foam cups of ice water the nurses were constantly giving me to bring my 800+ BG down, and they'd put stickers all over them. I remember running from the nurse who was coming to check my BG one day -- I hated finger sticks. I ran into the elevator, went down to the gift shop, and hid. I also tried to buckle myself into my dad's car after playing in the park because I wanted to go home so badly. I rode a little car around the children's wing. I also still have a bear that was given to me in the hospital; I still sleep with him! One or both of my parents stayed with me the whole time and lots of friends and family came to visit and gave me presents. Still, it was very traumatic now that I think about it. I just wanted my carefree childhood back, but as we all know, life hasn't been the same since.

-Maggie:)

[Will]

I was also diagnosed at age 6, in 1992 (does anyone else find it strange that so many of us were diagnosed at 6?). When I look at pictures pre-diagnosis, there is clearly something wrong with me. My face is very pale and my eyes are dark, and though I was a small girl (and still am), I am incredibly small. My parents started to notice the warning signs: losing weight, eating and drinking a ton, especially Libby's Juicy Juice boxes (I don't know why I remember that), a bit lethargic, etc. So, when we got back from vacation in August, they took me into the doctor, and that night I was checked into the hospital. I remember a lot of random things about being in the hospital for a week. I know I got to wear normal clothes because I wasn't "sick," just on the IV and being educated about diabetes. I remember being proud of myself for not crying when the initially drew blood for analysis. I also remember the large foam cups of ice water the nurses were constantly giving me to bring my 800+ BG down, and they'd put stickers all over them. I remember running from the nurse who was coming to check my BG one day -- I hated finger sticks. I ran into the elevator, went down to the gift shop, and hid. I also tried to buckle myself into my dad's car after playing in the park because I wanted to go home so badly. I rode a little car around the children's wing. I also still have a bear that was given to me in the hospital; I still sleep with him! One or both of my parents stayed with me the whole time and lots of friends and family came to visit and gave me presents. Still, it was very traumatic now that I think about it. I just wanted my carefree childhood back, but as we all know, life hasn't been the same since.

-Maggie:)

That makes me want to cry, it sounds exactly like me... well, I wasnt a girl but you know :girl:

[ngueld]

I was 12...pretty much the same symptoms, i was carrying water around with me everywhere and had this white foam building up in my mouth from dehydration. After fainting at basketball tryouts, the next day I was too sick for school so I went to the doctor, then the hospital, got the blood tests and my blood sugar was 55. I had no clue what diabetes was. i just remember thinking...ill never be able to eat sugar again but i think im ok with that.

[psilocybin]

thirsty...frequent bathroom trips...tired all the time..

i then decided to go to the clinic who tested my bs. told me to rush to the hospital my sugars are through the roof..so then i spend a week in the hospital

[jen_slc]

It was the eve of my 13th birthday and I was in England visiting my dad around Xmas time. We were playing Monopoly on one of our last nights together before flying home in two days. Unbeknownst to me, my mom had been watching me for 3 months and was worried about my symptoms (eating like a pig, losing weight, thirst, bathroom). She relayed it all to my dad who finally decided after my 10th glass of Ribena in an hour and my 5th trip to the bathroom in half an hour that he was taking me to his doc - he tested my urine and very unfriendly-like announced "you've got diabetes, go to the hospital". They made me fast for 24 hours and the next day when I returned, on my birthday, they tested my bg at 270-something and admitted me. Needless to say I missed my flight home. Not a good week at all but at least I was still functioning pretty normally and hadn't passed out or anything, having only been considered "borderline" diabetic in the 200s. The funny thing I remember is on the trans-Atlantic flight over to London, I kept asking the flight attendants for more drinks and more ice to suck on and daydreaming about swimming in pools of Ribena! :laugh:

[poodlebone]

I was 19 and in college. In mid-March 1987 I started feeling run down and unfocused so I dropped one class. I didn't feel any better and just felt more tired each week. By early April I was using the bathroom a lot more and drinking more. By the end of the month all I wanted to do was drink, I could barely move because I had no strength and I ended up sleeping in the bathroom so I wouldn't have to try to walk there every 10 minutes. On a Friday my mother called and made a doctor's appointment for me, for the following Monday. That weekend was the worst of my life and all I could do was lay on the floor and hope to die. My father took me to the doctor that Monday, not sure how I made it the few yards from the car into the office, and I was seen quickly. I still remember the worried look on the doctor's face when I told him how I'd been feeling. he asked for a urine sample (no problem getting that) and I assume he used a Ketostick or something similar. He told me to get to the ER right away and not to stop for anything. He wrote a letter asking them to admite me right away. I still had to sit in the waiting room for what seemed like an eternity, though it was probably a half hour or so. I spent the whole time at the water fountain or in the bathroom. I know they did a fingerstick in the ER, which the meter couldn't read. They got me a room really fast and I was brought upstairs and spent the next 8 days there. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything for several days and all I wanted was a few gallons of water. I was amazed at how much better I felt by day 2 or 3.

[Will]

I was 19 and in college. In mid-March 1987 I started feeling run down and unfocused so I dropped one class. I didn't feel any better and just felt more tired each week. By early April I was using the bathroom a lot more and drinking more. By the end of the month all I wanted to do was drink, I could barely move because I had no strength and I ended up sleeping in the bathroom so I wouldn't have to try to walk there every 10 minutes. On a Friday my mother called and made a doctor's appointment for me, for the following Monday. That weekend was the worst of my life and all I could do was lay on the floor and hope to die. My father took me to the doctor that Monday, not sure how I made it the few yards from the car into the office, and I was seen quickly. I still remember the worried look on the doctor's face when I told him how I'd been feeling. he asked for a urine sample (no problem getting that) and I assume he used a Ketostick or something similar. He told me to get to the ER right away and not to stop for anything. He wrote a letter asking them to admite me right away. I still had to sit in the waiting room for what seemed like an eternity, though it was probably a half hour or so. I spent the whole time at the water fountain or in the bathroom. I know they did a fingerstick in the ER, which the meter couldn't read. They got me a room really fast and I was brought upstairs and spent the next 8 days there. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything for several days and all I wanted was a few gallons of water. I was amazed at how much better I felt by day 2 or 3.

Its amazing how different it can be. Your scenario is like mine but Mine went on over a few years. Its scary that it can all happen that fast.

[ToddyC]

I guess I was a late bloomer -- I was 19, just at the end of my sophmore year in college. I had lost a decent amount of weight but I had attributed that to it being baseball season at school, so I was pretty active with that everyday. Then, literally over a weekend, I got a bunch of symptoms -- went out on Friday night and couldn't get enough liquid -- kept drinking soda most of the night (of course, regular soda). I then had a game the next day and drank almost a whole 12 pack of soda (regular again) by just after lunch. I told my family about it that night and my mom said to keep an eye on it because we had some history of diabetes in the family (both my uncle and grandfather have it) -- I then woke up the next morning and couldn't see -- everything was blurry....went to the hospital and was tested and told my sugar was over 800...been on daily injections since.....well, until I get my pump on tomorrow :)

[shoop99]

I remember the night before, I was constantly drinking water and going to the bathroom every 30 min. I asked my dad about it. He told me not to drink so much. ok a normal response. That next morning i had to go on a 2 hour bus ride to a basketball game. Knowing that I couldnt make a full two hours w/o going to the bathroom at least 5 times, i asked my mom if we could get up early and go to the docter so maybe he could give me something to make me stop peeing. (doctor told me confidently it was probably a urine infection) well 2 hours later i was laying in the mental case room in the hospital (no more rooms left) with no tv or anything..just a bed and a chair where my mom sat the whole 7 HOURS!!! untill they drove me in a ambulance to ecu childrens hospital.

[poodlebone]

I guess I was a late bloomer -- I was 19, just at the end of my sophmore year in college. I had lost a decent amount of weight but I had attributed that to it being baseball season at school, so I was pretty active with that everyday. Then, literally over a weekend, I got a bunch of symptoms -- went out on Friday night and couldn't get enough liquid -- kept drinking soda most of the night (of course, regular soda). I then had a game the next day and drank almost a whole 12 pack of soda (regular again) by just after lunch. I told my family about it that night and my mom said to keep an eye on it because we had some history of diabetes in the family (both my uncle and grandfather have it) -- I then woke up the next morning and couldn't see -- everything was blurry....went to the hospital and was tested and told my sugar was over 800...been on daily injections since.....well, until I get my pump on tomorrow :)

Todd,

I was also 19and a sophomore in college. At my part-time job we had a soda machine (Pepsi products I think) and the soda was really cheap. I was going to the soda machine for a can of Pepsi 10 times a day. Before I felt like I wanted to die I was thinking I just had a cold or something, so I was also drinking loads of orange & apple juice. There's absolutely not diabetes of any kind at all in my family so nobody recognized my symptoms.

Congrats on your pump! Are you getting hooked up tomorrow or is it just being delivered?

[ToddyC]

Todd,

I was also 19and a sophomore in college. At my part-time job we had a soda machine (Pepsi products I think) and the soda was really cheap. I was going to the soda machine for a can of Pepsi 10 times a day. Before I felt like I wanted to die I was thinking I just had a cold or something, so I was also drinking loads of orange & apple juice. There's absolutely not diabetes of any kind at all in my family so nobody recognized my symptoms.

Congrats on your pump! Are you getting hooked up tomorrow or is it just being delivered?

I get hooked up. I've actually had the pump for about a month, but I've been having to travel a bunch for work the past month, so I've waited until that was over to get hooked up.

I noticed in your previous post that you were also 19 when diagnosed. It was at almost the same time as me, but I think I was a year before you -- mine was in '86, I think you said you found out in '87.....cool.

[camjen1]

I had diagnosed myself!! I was watching one of those commercials that had all the symptoms listed and I told my Mom that I had every symptom. She shrugged me off and said it didn't run in the family. I didn't go for it so I asked my boyfriend's monm to test me since she was a T1 and sure enough my blood sugar didn't even read because it was so high. I called my mom at work and she told me to come in and get some blood drawn (she was a nurse at a hospital) and the results came back within the hour. I entered the hospital with nothing and left with a bag full of meters, insulin and syringes.

[VanDamage]

i was dxd last sept 6, i been and losing 5 lbs every other day and cramps at night.i lost 48 lbs in 2 1/2 weeks and was an idiot because i just refused to goto the doctor. i looked liked death and all my friends pleaded with me to go to the doc's.i was like wtf too cause the sun was so bright and seemed so dam close like i wass blind cause my sugar was so high.and my urine you could smell all the way up the street,. so i went to a walk in clinic and they couldnt fig it out till i was ready to leave and they did a test and it waas 492 and said you need to goto the hospital and the rest is history!

[Dewey]

It was two weeks before my 10th birthday....My mom thought I was being a brat cause when she'd take us shopping, I constantly had to stop to get a drink or go pee....Little did she know what really was going on. It wasn't until my grandmother came to visit that I was checked. My grandmother noticed I'd lost weight everywhere except my stomach (Figures! :****mate: lol) and that I was pale in color. So my mom took me to the doctor, who sent me to have labs drawn. My sugar was 400, so in the hospital I went (for two weeks) and the rest, as they say, is history, lol. :D

[amccrazgrl]

It was a new weeks before my 13th bday that I was dxd. Before I was dxd I went from like 120lbs to 80lbs at 5foot 2 inches. I drank and slept all the time. The dr's ran every possibe test and one of the last ones they checked was diabetes. I'm like hello mom/grandma both have it. They day before I went in I had a nice mountain dew. Then the next day I came home from school and mom told me and we went back to the dr. I got to stay in the childerns floor of the hospital which was a blast bc I could wear my regular clothes.
Ten years later here I am and I have always had A1C's around and under 7.0 most of mine were 6.5. Now I'm pumping. 5.7 5.8 and 5.9.

[parrotletzoo]

I was 9 when I was dx'd. My mom was type 1 and recognized the symptoms. It was january and I kept coming in from playing int he snow. I'd come in, take off snowpants, coat, hat, scarf, mittens, boots, drink drink, drink, pee. get dressed and a few minutes later the same thing. My mom said "you're drinking too much. you have diabetes!", to which I replied "I'm not thirsty anymore". but that didnt work. She tested my urine for glucose, called the dr and we went in that day. After my appointment we went straight tothe hospital and I was admitted for a week. I didnt leave the hospitlal until I could draw up and inject my own insulin. I remember thinking it was a waste of a perfectly good orange to practice on them! I also got a lot of cards and someone sent me money so I went to the hosptial cafeteria and bought myself some ice cream. Bad me. lol the other thing i remember about the hospital was using the iv stands like skateboards and racing up and down the hallways on them. good times. ;)

I think because my mother had diabetes I wasnt so afraid of injections and everything else. I was sad about not being able to drink grape soda anymore.

[sixuntilme]

I was almost seven and diagnosed at my before school physical.

I don't remember too many symptoms. I don't remember feeling crummy or sad or much else, for that matter. From what my mother tells me, my bloodsugar was only about 214 mg/dl.

But I do remember being asked to pee in the cup.

And I remember the stupid clown wallpaper at the doctor's office and the sign reading "If you sprinkle while you tinkle, please be neat and wipe the seat!"

I was sure to wipe the seat. :proud:

[buzzborne]

I was diagnosed aged 11 around easter time.. had been at school (boarding) for 2 wks before was allowed home and told my mum i was always thirsty and goin to the loo... my lessons were 40mins long and i was up and going to the loo/gettin a drink bout 4 or 5 times a lesson. I also had the weight loss and was reallllly tired and gaunt.

Mum did a urine test and then my dad was came up to me and said we were goin to the Dr bcoz we think u have what I have got (I didnt have a clue wot he was on about ... didnt even know my dad was diabetic!) so went off to the Dr bloods were 34.4 an then went to the hospital.. was there from sat-monday (over mothers day) and missed a school trip to france a week later :(

[Simon]

At 37 I was gradually drinking more and peeing more. I had been tested for diabetes about 18 months before so I assumed it couldn't be that. Things came to a head after a holiday in California where I'd stop at a McDonalds to use the loo then buy a coke because I was so thirsty. An hour down the road and the same again, and again. McDonalds did very well out of me that holiday. When I got back my parents were horified at my weight loss (down to 8.5 stone from my usual 10). The insisted I go to the doctors as they suspected the big D. A urine test confirmed it but I then had to wait 8 weeks for a hospital appointment to go on insulin.

[jeggeman31]

I was dx'd at age 19 as type 2 after a foot DR did a blood test prior to a minor surgery, and thrown on pills for 10 years. I had an old school DR who figured I was not a kids any longer, must be type 2. My Dr did not do blood work, and did not push me to check my BS at home but once or twice a day. When I did check it it was anyplace between 200 and 400. I seen my DR 4 times a year to get my scripts refilled. I moved in 2000 thus making me find a new DR. Told my DR I was type 2 and he also started me on pills. I got sick in 2002 and lost about 30 pounds and had a BS of 500 plus when I went into the emergency room. My dr then moved me to insulin and still said I was type 2. I found this site in Jan or Feb of 2005 and heard all this talk about ENDO'S. First time I had ever been told about an endo. Went to an endo and he told me I was type 1. Took me off the oral medication and changed my insulin. He then went ahead and put me on the pump after I decided it was time for it. He sent me to my FIRST EVER CDE and I was taught carb counting. The endo I hated, he would pick a fight with me about the way I logged my blood sugars for him to read. I went on the hunt for an ENDO that I liked and found one. She did a full work up of blood work and told me that I was Type 1.5. I love the Endo I have found. My A1C have not been better under her care.

[mark-TN]

Well a lot of it is pretty fuzzy as it was over thirty years ago and I was only 10 at the time, but I will do my best to recollect. It was towards the end of the summer in 1974. I do remember the constant thirst and urination. I would drink anything I could get my hands on. I would drink tons of milk straight from the carton standing at the open refrigerator. I would stick my head under the faucet and could never get enough water. I would pee every 20 minutes or so. It seemed like my bladder filled up quicker than I could empty it. The other thing I remember is wetting the bed which was an absolute nightmare. I would wet the bed 2-3 times a night. I hid this from my parents for more than a month. A lot of times I would catch it before it soaked much more than my BJ’s, but sometimes I did not and everything would be soaked. I learned to sleep on a couple towels to try to contain it. Some nights I was so exhausted that I would have dreams of finding a bathroom and proceed to use it not realizing I was dreaming until feeling that awful sensation. I’d jump up and get to the bathroom for further relief and a 5 minute drinking spree with my head under the faucet. I quickly learned to automatically wake up and go to the bathroom and I started consciously trying to drink as little water as possible. This worked for a stretch of time and I avoided wetting the bed for a little while, but as I got sicker and more exhausted I soon started to not wake up all the time. One morning my mom finally caught me and I confessed everything to her. I remember how understanding she was. This was such a relief because I had been so ashamed and demoralized. We were at the doctor that day. I spent a week in the hospital. I practiced on an orange (I remember drawing juice into the syringe and shooting it across the room) and was giving injections by my 2nd day. One evening they purposely let my sugar go low so that I could learn the symptoms and how to correct it. Although my mom never told me this at the time she thought the doctor was going to say I had cancer because I was so sick and scrawny looking. My family knew nothing about diabetes at the time, so to her the diagnosis was a relief. I was just happy that the insatiable thirst and the constant urination were finally over with.

Mark

[am1977]

Well, mine's sort of a long story :rolleyes: and I'm sure some here have already heard it, but...

I started working at a pharmacy in my town, at the time. I started noticing little things. First off, my throat felt really dry and parched. Didn't think anything of it, just started to drink more. From there other little things started popping up... my thirst got worse, I was drinking liters of water a day and diet soda. Then, I also was running to the bathroom :vroam: all the time, I was achey, I was exhausted, and I was loosinig weight without even trying.

At the time I was only working part time, so had no health benefits :(. I kept putting off going to the doctor...until I knew I couldn't any more. I basically felt like sh*t. I called my PCP, who after hearing some of my symptoms, told me that I needed to be seen. So that Friday I went it. When she saw me, I think she basically knew what was going on... but she tested my blood sugar (which read HI) and tested for ketones. Soon after she told me I needed to get to the hospital, where I was admitted over night. I received a crash course in Diabetes 101 and was released the next day with my head spinning (in confusion and from being overwhelmed).

That's basically it in a nutshell. It wasn't a fun time in my life, but somehow I did survive...

[corwin]

I was 29, a month before my 30th b-day. For 2-3 months I was drinking constantly, my desk at work had at least 5-6 empty water bottles at the end of each day. I also started to wake up at least 3 times a night to go to the bathroom and drink more. My girlfriend thought it's because I'm in love :) I was also craving sweets and eating anything with sugar I could get my hands on, still I lost about 5KG. I didn't really want to go to the doctor, I don't like hospitals and I tend to think that my body is good enough to fix things on its own, I was also feeling physically fine. If it wasn't for the family pressure I would have waited and probably pass out.
I went to a doc appointment and he did the finger prick, it came hi, so he told me I should go early the next morning (I refused to go at night knowing I'll have to spend the night there) he also told my girlfriend that if I'm getting worse in any way she should get me to a hospital asap. The next morning I was at the hospital for 6 hours, getting all the information and toys. The following day I went back to work with my syringe and test kit in a small bag. I spent most of the day reading online about diabetes and I found this great forum.

[DeusXM]

Anyone else feeling like a bunch of veterans recalling their army days?

[Mich]

Well, I just could say "ditto."

I've read my story in every one of your replies. I had just turned 13 and had been sick, skinny and getting skinnier, thirsty (bathroom) and exhausted for about three months. I was in 7th grade and had a gym teacher who thought more exercise would cure me. The year was 1960. My mom had taken me to the family doctor and I actually lay down on the couch in the waiting room and began to fall asleep--I was that close to DKA.

The doctor sent my mom to the drugstore for NPH and Regular Iletin, injected me at the office and sent us home. Within a day, I had rebounded with an amazing low and went to the hospital. I spent a few days in there trying to understand everything they were telling me and then came home again.

My mom followed instuctions amazingly well, leveling off my mashed potatoes with a knife and scooping out the two tablespoons of peanut butter for a sandwich. I hated it. We followed the Exchange Diet, which I memorized. (Here I could insert the horror story of sharpening needles and testing urine--but hey, I'll skip it.)

I spent most of my time hungry and worried until I found how much ability to eat depended on my activity level. After that, I (out of sight of my mom) experimented. By a few years later, I had stumbled onto MDI and at about 18 or 19, was injecting four or five times daily. I was still using the Busher Automatic Injector, which helped with my dislike of needles and made my injections quick and relatively painless.

I finally stopped using the injector as the needles grew shorter, when I got a meter, I took 6-9 injections daily. I continued like that for years. In the late 70's when my father-in-law, who was diabetic surgeon got a pump, I got a close up view. It looked like a small brick with a syringe and tubing attached. He had so many problems with kinking tubing and failed sites that I put off pumps until the beginning of this year. Shame on me for doubting.

I started pumping at the end of January and have had the best control of my life. I thought the needle length of the sets would be an issue after those short little syringes, but not so. I have a few minor complications after 46 years, but keep a close eye on everything and have had a career, family and lots of fun over the years.

Mich
Cozmo Pump with Cozmonitor

[sofaraway]

one day in october/november of 1999 (i was 14)i felt really thirsty and had been drinking alot all day, so I decided to do a urine dipstick test (my mum is diabetic and we had soem in the bathroom), and it came out positive. I was really scared and didn't mention it to anyone, i did a few more over the next few days most of them positve. my mum noticed that some had gone and asked who had been using them, so i owned up. she tested me on her meter over that weekend and results were around 6-10 mmol/l.

So went to the doctor on the monday morning, who said ti was nothing to worry about to was just my puberty and my hormones. mum convinced her to do a fasting blood sugar. the blood tubes were broken on the way tot helab, so went again and then they mixed up the results. so eventually i got referred to the childrens department of the hospital and went in for a GTT at the end of december.

went in to the clinic to see the consultant on the 7th feb (day before my 15th birthday) to get the GTT results and the diagnosis. had blood taken on that day and send for genetic analysis.

so was about 4-5 months from presenting to my GP with mild symptoms to getting a diagnosis. had my mum not been diabetic and pushed the docs, it would have probably been a few years later that i was diagnosed, and might still not have been.

[kidvid]

I diagnosed myself the day after Christmas, 2005. I had visied my MD three times in the preceeding couple of months complaining of thirst, frequent urination, weight loss (10% of total body weight) vision so bad I bought glasses, super-gross case of Thrush, skin rashes, weakness, etc. I finally just bought a BG meter and booked another appt. to show him. He agreed with my findings. I had a 500+ on the meter at the last appointmant - he put me on a Type 2 diet, Glucophage, and booked me 2 weeks later with a CDE. The guy is an idiot, but the situation taught me that only I can be held responsible for my health. I'm a freakin' diabetes health commando now.

Joe

[Kyle]

Well for me i am 19 right now and it is 3 weeks before my 20th b-day and 2 months before my wedding. I started noticing some odd syptoms that you all know very well (thirsty, frequent tryps to the loo, and so on) so having a history of the D in my family (uncle and grandpa) i did a web md search and after seeing i was hitting every symptom i found this place jeggeman hooked me up with a monitor. That has been a month ago and since then after every meal have spiked up to the 170-180 range and have had 2 readings over 200 and one of 284 i made an appt with the dr that he recommended and soon we will know for sure. so as for now i have no diagnosis but it looks like i may soon be a member of the pancreas resistance movement.

[Nejeda]

I was six at the time and the whole family thought I had the flu, but I slept three days straight, I couldn't eat, etc. So, my father, whose mum was a diabetic, decided it was time to take me to the hospital. I lost a total of 15 pounds in a week and spend three weeks in Children's Hospital of Pitsburgh... thats the long and short of it.

[KickStart101]

By our old Family Doctor and his big book. :) Actually I was
only 3 yrs., so I don't remember and never asked. It couldn't
have been very eventful. I'm pretty certain I was not put in
a Hospital after he dxd. me. I think my Mom was just watching
for symptoms since my 2 older Brothers had been dxd. at 4 yrs.
and 4 1/2 yrs. I do remember my first needle in the butt however.:hmpf:

[Shellbelly]

I was dx at the age of 18 months. Not sure how the hole thing went down but i know i was in the hospital for a while....even on christmas day but thats ok fred and barney came and saw me..heehee. I was in a coma with blood sugars in the 1800's

[sugarfree76]

Anyone else feeling like a bunch of veterans recalling their army days?
...seems a thousand ages ago. I was in this dogfight in Laos. Wind, rain...it sucked.
(j/k)

I had just started sixth grade. I was SICK. I couldn't produce saliva (highly dehydrated. went to the bathroom 7x / hr, drank like a madman, lost 30lbs in 1 month)
Did I mention that I was SICK?
One morning, my name was announced over the intercom to come down to the main office. There, my mom was waiting for me. Told me to get my stuff because I'd be gone for the day. She took me over the doctor's office. Sure enough.....
We went to the hospital straight from there. My sugar was nearing 700. I was there for the week. The kicker: it was the week before Halloween! &)*#$&!!#^#~!:playingba

[cybershurl]

I was diagnosed in the car park of a grocery store. Fatigue had lead me to do some research in the 'Prescription for Nutritional Healing'. The hairs on my legs had all fallen off and this was the indicator that diabetes was involved.
Then I met my friend, Bill, a T2, in the car park and asked him about it. He took me to his car where he had a meter. We tested and got 225 at 5.00 in the afternoon.

[TxTechKimmy]

Same story here! I had just turned 8 (2 days before) and Happy Birthday, you get to go to the hospital! Luckily, with diabetes in our family, my mother knew the symptoms and took me to the doctor right away. Like many of y'all, just a few hours later I was packing for the hospital. I'll never forget the panic my mother had because we just HAD to get all of my Girl Scout cookies that I sold delivered before I checked into the hospital. That is one of the memories that sticks in my mind the most. That and learning how to give shots on an orange.

[Alene]

I was 11. I don't think I went to the doctor, my mum just had a blood test arranged for me. I went to the lab, and stayed home from school the next day. (I thought I was tired from lack of blood, but it was my high blood-sugar.) My mum came home from work early, I was lying on the couch. She told me I had diabetes... I didn't even know what that meant at the time. I thought it was something like pnemonia (I had that the year earlier). So I went to the hospital. I was there for 2 weeks. I only cried once, when both my inner arms were bruised almost down to my wrists and the nurse came in again trying to take more blood... at that point I was really ready to go home.

[Sharps]

I was 19, working a summer job after my Freshman year of collage. I was working in a warehouse working in convayer motors. I was constantly taking water breaks and bathroom breaks but didn't think much of it since I was in a hot, dusty warehouse. One Saturday I had a dinner at a steak house and I went to the bathroom before leaving the house, had to go again before being searved and couldn't make it home w/o going again. My Parents began suspecting diabetes because I have a grandmother w/ T2 and a cousin w/ T1. My parents called my aunt (the mom of the T1) and we went to her house and checked myself on my cousin's meter (580). It being Sat night we didn't want to go to the ER so my ant gave me a shot of R and we went the next AM. The docter gave me a Rx for insulin and sent me home with a follow up apt with his CDE 2 weeks later :banghead: :stupid: . Needless to say I found another Dr quick. I was surprised they didn't hospitilise me to teach me how to treat myself but i guess they figured that since my Dad took alergy shots we could make it on my on. The strange thing is that for a few weeks after being dxed I didn't need my glasses (perfect vision). Too bad that didn't last

[ticklebug]

I was 34 years old. I kept running to my PCP for golf ball sized boils that kept growing on my breats. My doctor freaked out when he saw the first one. (Just when you think that doctors have seen everything lol - I've never seen a doctor's face so perplexed and grossed out!) When they kept coming back time and time again, I asked him, "What can I do about this?". He said that it was either one of two things: Either I would have to get surgery to remove the sweat glands or that I could possibly be Diabetic. A finger testing was done on me right away and my bg's were close to 300. He advised that bg is supposed to go up anyway with an infection, but not that high. He was almost positive I was Diabetic, but wanted to be sure and had me come to the office once the boil drained by itself and was gone (I refused to have him lance it) for a fasting blood test. There, my bg was found to be 220. I never did find out what my AC1 was, but he had told me that from the AC1 that I was definately a Diabetic and that I could have possibly been Diabetic for quite some time. I was dx'd as Type 2 and put on Metformin immediately.

(I find it most interesting that doctors that I had seen before him never mentioned anything about Diabetes to me. I guess that's how to determine a good doctor from a bad one.)

I had complained to him about possibly being either pre-menapausal or menapausal and told him all of my symptoms. My blood test results showed that I was normal. My PCP had explained that it's quite normal for untreated Diabetics to have irregular menstral cycles in addition to all the other symptoms I had discussed with him. My liver was also looking shady and my white blood cell count was high. These symptoms were, at that time, all attributed to Diabetes.

Once I began taking Metformin, I lost A LOT of weight, my periods started coming back, the boils never came back, my nausea went away, and I began being able to get out of bed in the mornings. I generally felt more energetic and more motivated. It is also interesting to think that I had been treating my nausea with COCA COLA!!! I had just been making matters WORSE! :tongue:

However, approximately a little over a year later, I gradually started to feel bad again. I have several doctors, at this time, giving me test after test after test. They are looking me over from head to toe to try and figure out what is wrong with me.

I wrote more about this here:

http://www.diabetesforums.com/introductions-announcements/10760-type-2-has-come-join-fun.html

But back to the bright side again.... I still feel better now than I did before I was officially dx'd and treated for Diabetes. :D

I never did get upset or scared about having Diabetes and there is a reason for this: There was finally a solution to a problem that had been going on for too long. I keep telling my loved ones... "I ain't skeeerd of nothin' - so long as they fix me". And, of course, I'm working as humanly hard as I possibly can to work at it with them. In my opinion, it's TEAM WORK!

[ticklebug]

I had diagnosed myself!! I was watching one of those commercials that had all the symptoms listed and I told my Mom that I had every symptom. She shrugged me off and said it didn't run in the family. I didn't go for it so I asked my boyfriend's monm to test me since she was a T1 and sure enough my blood sugar didn't even read because it was so high. I called my mom at work and she told me to come in and get some blood drawn (she was a nurse at a hospital) and the results came back within the hour. I entered the hospital with nothing and left with a bag full of meters, insulin and syringes.

No lollipops? J/K

Nobody knows your body and the way you feel more than you do, but the last thing on a parent's mind is to face up to the fact that their kid may be sick. Kudos to your mom for taking action fast! And to all the other mum's here. :)

[grace girl]

I was 32...started having all of the usual symptoms...severe thirst, constant bathroom trips, tired, yet I couldn't seem to sleep. Then I started losing weight. I kept rationalizing all of these symptoms...but my Mom put it all together one day when I told her everything I was going through. My step dad came by the next morning and checked my fasting sugar (he's type 2) it was 260.
I went to a Dr who checked my sugar with a meter and told me I had type 2, lose some weight, take this pill, follow this diet. Six months later I went into denial and stopped taking the meds, stopped the diet. All of the symptoms returned, and I lost 60 pounds in nine months.
I looked at myself one morning and wondered what was going to happen when I had no more weight to lose, so I went to another Dr. He suggested that I was type 1, and I recall thinking he was crazy. I didn't know you could get type 1 as an adult. He ran the tests, confirmed it, and put me on Humalog Mix, which made for the worst 4 years of my life. No control, horrible highs and lows, and a Dr who decided that I just didn't care.
So, once again, I found a new Dr, and he sent me to an endo just this month for the first time. The endo says it's type 1.5. 1, 1.5, it's all the same, I think.
Now I'm doing the whole MDI thing, and getting better all the time.
It took long enough.

[ticklebug]

It was two weeks before my 10th birthday....My mom thought I was being a brat cause when she'd take us shopping, I constantly had to stop to get a drink or go pee....Little did she know what really was going on. It wasn't until my grandmother came to visit that I was checked. My grandmother noticed I'd lost weight everywhere except my stomach (Figures! :****mate: lol) and that I was pale in color. So my mom took me to the doctor, who sent me to have labs drawn. My sugar was 400, so in the hospital I went (for two weeks) and the rest, as they say, is history, lol. :D

I literally drove everyone crazy with my constant potty visits. And still am to this day.

[steph1]

I was 24 when I was diagnosed. When I was diagnosed, I remember putting 8 sugars in my coffee before walking to work. I remember my legs felt so heavy (from all the sugar) that I could barely walk. I kept losing weight although I was eating tons of sugar. I was so thirsty at night that I was dreaming of drinking...and one day as I held myself up at work because I felt so weak, my boss told me to go to the doctor immediately (I guess I wasn't looking too hot). My levels were so high that the glucometer couldn't even give me a reading.
I had read about Diabetes when this was happening, but I thought it could never happen to me. Boy was I wrong. My life has also changed drastically since then. I miss the Freedom!

[JacquiS]

I was in the hospital with a severe asthma attack. The initial bloodwork they did showed the high BG. They came back when they got all of the blood work results and asked me if I'd forgotten to tell them I have diabetes!!! Guess if I hadn't had the asthma attack the diabetes would still be running amok in my system and I'd still be exhausted all of the time without knowing why.

[ticklebug]

I was dx at the age of 18 months. Not sure how the hole thing went down but i know i was in the hospital for a while....even on christmas day but thats ok fred and barney came and saw me..heehee. I was in a coma with blood sugars in the 1800's

Holy Freaking Cow! You are so dang lucky to be alive!!!! :albertein

[Lex4153]

My story is a little longish. This was when I was 12 going on 13.

I had had a routine check up at the doctor's and they took the usual urine sample. They called later and asked when my last menstrual cycle was because they found some sugar in it. I had just finished it so they suggested coming back in in accouple days to redo it. The doctor was located right by the airport so when I was on my way to visit my day in another state (parents are divorced if you didn't catch that), we went a bit early and stopped off to give another urine sample.

After the flight, as soon as I stepped off the plane, my dad and stepmom looked so upset. No one was smiling and happy to see me. It was as if someone had died! No one explained anything to me and they drove me to some sort of blood testing clinic where they did a finger prick. My blood sugar was somewhere in the 300's. They told my dad to take me to the hospital immediately. I was too stunned to cry and barely knew what was going on. My mom wanted me to come straight back home so she could be with me but my father insisted I stay there. I, apparently, had no say. The doctor had called while I was mid-flight to tell my mom I probably had diabetes.

I remember the diabetes educators coming into my hospital room and showing me how to take the shots. They did a little presentation for me and then asked, "You think you can do it?" I shook my head and said, "Nooo!" All the staff and my family laughed. My dad still brings it up to this day and we chuckle about it.

I never cried about it. I never got depressed. I was too stunned at first to feel anything, just kind of soaked it up and accepted it. I think I liked all the attention everyone gave me. But it was funny because all these people were fussing over me like I was sick. I had to be wheeled everywhere in a chair and people treated me like I was dying. But I felt perfectly normal!!

I stayed overnight at the hospital. That morning was my 13th birthday! I remember the hospital staff had put, "Happy Birthday, Alexandria" on the top of the print out of the hospital's food menu for the day. I stayed in the hospital three days before being released. It was the only time I've seen my father cry. He was so worried.

Turns out, I felt normalish because I was Type 2, not Type 1. The doctors kept telling me I should have felt really sick. Didn't know that I was Type 2 until accouple months ago.

[SueM]

I was 4 1/2 at the time and started to reach for the taps in the kitchen sink and filling glasses and downing the lot.
At the 2nd go off doing this my Mum took me straight down the Drs and asked them to do a urine test as she thought I was diabetic. The DR told her not to be so silly and stop being an over protective mother :mad:
But said to bring in a sample if it made her feel any better.
Being a nurse my Mum had had the foresight to take a sample in with her.
That same Dr then said a thousand sorry's to Mum and drove the pair of us to the hospital in his car.(Dad was on duty as a fireman).
I'm a 3rd generation type 1 so it was expected.
All this happened over 41 yrs ago. I still remember the stay in hospital to this day.

[Gangrel]

I was 7, and we were at the Ice Capades of all things! That's when I started going to the bathroom every 10 minutes, and wanting a drink every 5.

The next day my dad and stepmom phoned their doctor and told them to take me to the ER right away...... and the rest is history, 23 years and counting.

All for watching those **** Smurfs skate! ;)

[bittersweet]

I was 6 and was lathargic with constant thirst and bathroom stops and fever too. went to the doc and after a bunch of tests he sat me in the room and told me i had diabetes i remember saying "nuh uh, you do" then he said "well son, do you know what that is?" he proceeded to explain then came the months of medicine changes and frequent doctor visits and the rest is history as they say

[condensr]

I was 19, just living on my own, and started to have all the classic symptoms except fatigue. This went on for a few months, actually, till it got to the point I was drinking so much water I was giving myself cramps. I didn't have a doctor at the time, but a family member recommended one for me, and I went in.. They checked and I was "Hi" (> 500 on that meter.) Told me the news, asked me to inject myself right then and there, so I did. They then called up a nearby CDE to arrange for me to pick up a meter and learn how to use it. I was put on a sliding scale, and sent home on my merry way with insulin (N and R), syringes, and a Onetouch Basic. (I soon upgraded to the profile).

Never was hospitalized, never have been so far. No one besides myself has ever administered insulin to me. Up until I went on the pump and had a bad site, I had never had ketones test positive either.

[UpNorth]

Well, as everyone can see, i was diagnosed in 2004, it was just days before my 19th birthday. Passed my drivers licence test just weeks before diagnose (was probably high as a kite when doing the driving test), had all the classical symtoms for a while (some weeks), thought it was just another "camel period" (i could get all D symtoms sometimes years before diagnose, but my bsl was normal everytime i went in for a test), thought it was due to stress about the driving test but couldn't understand why it just got worse and worse after i had passed the test. Finally decided to call my doctor one morning, went there minutes later and had a fasting sugar of over 20mmol/l. Took my first insulin shot minutes after that and was hooked up on an IV for a couple of hours while getting all the information i needed. Thankfully i already knew quite a lot about D since i was T3 before being diagnosed with T1... Read a lot about D just because i thought it was interesting, and useful to know what to do if a D around got problems with bsl's. I wasn't admitted to hospital or anything, just spent a few hours at the doctor's office. Didn't cry or feel depressed, still haven't and it's been 2 years in october :P Actually D has made me become a stronger person and i'm not at all sad about living with this disease, not even when i think about the fact that i'll have to live with it for the rest of my life...

[AGMSD]

I'm 30 YO and I can't tell how I was diagnosed because I was born with it...:burnout: ... I just hear my family talking about it sometimes when :argh: they don't find anything else to talk about...

[butterflykisses]

I was laying in bed watching a morning news program..I think the Today Show...and they were talking about diabetes the symptoms, including some less recognized, like itchy skin, especially the legs...as my legs are CRAWLING! Not to mention I had all the classic symptoms, urination, weight loss, exhausted, etc. They gave the ADA web address, I read more about it and was sure I was diabetic. I called and made an appointment with my doctor the next day. He was sure I WASN'T diabetic, I was 32 at the time, to old for the then stereotypical type 2 and too old to be type 1. He was sure I had a thyroid problem...guess they can have some of the same symptoms? Did a fasting first, can't remember what it was or the A1C he did afterwards, but he was very surprised. No other tests were run, started me on diet and exercise...assuming i must be type 2 I guess, and I quickly progressed to insulin...within a year, year and a half, with glucose not being in any kind of control until going to insulin. Didn't see an endo until years later, diagnosed type 1, probably type 1.5 LADA.

[Lex4153]

I've never heard of someone who was born with diabetes. Is that uncommon? Is there a reason why that happens or is it unknown? Sorry for my ignorance but I find that really interesting.

[AGMSD]

I know... my mom always tells me that I never stopped drinking milk and water when I was born so she took me to hospital and when they checked my blood glucose was 395... I just recall when my dad used to give me the shot and then something to stop me from crying :bawling: ... I really miss him he died two weaks ago.. :(

[am1977]

I know... my mom always tells me that I never stopped drinking milk and water when I was born so she took me to hospital and when they checked my blood glucose was 395... I just recall when my dad used to give me the shot and then something to stop me from crying :bawling: ... I really miss him he died two weaks ago.. :(


I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your Dad :(... But know that he is still with you, watching over you, and he'll always live in your heart! My most sincere sympathies...

[Catareta]

Hi there,

My story is similar to Jim's... was dxd as T2 with PCOS, but now changed consultant dxd as T1.5....

Was poorly during last years at Secondary School, flunked my exams etc... doctors ruled nothing out; blamed it on puberty and stress. Then on a SJA duty, an off-duty paramedic told me I might have diabetes.. did a check and it was 17.8mmols so sent me to the GP...

Was on diabetic diet for a month, and BS was 10-17mmols.. so metformin inititated until I saw the diabetic team at my hospital.. 4 years later now on Humalog and Lantus... and feeling better already..

[lgvincent]

I know... my mom always tells me that I never stopped drinking milk and water when I was born so she took me to hospital and when they checked my blood glucose was 395... I just recall when my dad used to give me the shot and then something to stop me from crying :bawling: ... I really miss him he died two weaks ago.. :(

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. It does hurt very much to lose someone you love but the love he had for you will last forever. Share it with others and it will grow and in time reach everyone in the world.

[Just_Plain_John]

My onset was weird - I'm 44 and was just diagnosed T1 in April 06. I have a 2nd cousin on my mom's side who had the same thing occur, so in my case it's weird but apparently hereditary (her mom and my grandmother are sisters).

I went to the ER with extreme shortness of breath (hyperventilating) and feeling very very run down. I was so dry-mouthed I could barely talk because my lips were sticking to my teeth ! Full-on acute DKA with the bonus package. My blood was highly acidotic, and I was huffing off enough ketones to run a refinery. Upon reflection, I should have recognized the symptoms, at least a couple of them - I had quite a few.

My glucose was 409 and my A1c was 12-point-something. I spent two days in the ICU on insulin IV, and another 2 days in "medium care" getting stabbed every few hours for blood work, insulin, glucose readings, etc.

After release I got a great education program (a 1 hr session, then a 8 hr class the next week), so I was able to get under control pretty quickly. My last A1c was 6.9, so that was a nice improvement over just 2 months time.
I'm lucky to have a great endo and a primary care doc who specializes in D.

[HelenM]

I have a 2nd cousin on my mom's side who had the same thing occur, so in my case it's weird but apparently hereditary
Thats interesting, I was 52 and within a year a cousin in his forties was also diagnosed with type 1 so perhaps not so rare.

[spring]

Lot of people dxd around their birthday! Was the same case for me.

I was 10 (in grade 5) about to turn 11. Again, the classic symptoms, particularly the thirst. I too ended up drinking a lot of sugary stuff (I remember begging my father to buy me one of those orange-syruped Mcdonald's drinks on our way to Girl Guides). I was never hungry, except for watery things like peach jello. My friends found my ability to guzzle a four litre jug of milk highly amusing. ;) I was always a bean pole, but I'd lost an extra five or so pounds and weighed 60lbs. (not sure how tall I was at the time.. I'm now 5'8" but I was obviously much shorter ten years ago ;) ).

I recall sitting in class, fantasizing about liquid. I would draw eyes crying in the margins, taps dripping, and used to try and determine which five beverages I would take with me to a desert island. :hmmmm2: I was urinating more than was usual, but not as much as some people on here report. I'd always had a giant bladder even when I was small, so it was strange that I was peeing more than 1-2 times a day. I couldn't understand why I could no longer make it through a whole school day without using the bathroom, and I got up once a night like clockwork to pee as well. That's what really made my parents think.

I remember feeling tired, and spitting that white foam onto my finger tip to show to my friend (who responded with Ewwww :p). I recall asking her if she didn't think that was strange. My mother's famous for diagnosing neighbours and family members, and with her handy mayo family health book, he diagnosed diabetes too, and a week and a half shy of my 11th birthday took me down the street to a type one neighbour (also interesting how many people here were able to test their bs before hitting the doctors!) and it of course read 'high'. I didn't get why we were going to the hospital (my sister just called from the living room as we prepared to leave "at least you know what it is!" I think that was the only point I cried. Just quietly for a second while I tied my shoes.)

I protested at Emergency and felt embarrased for taking up the time of Dr.s who should be treating what I figured were 'real emergencies'! "But but.. I'm walking, talking... I could play sports right now if you asked me!" My Dr. just laughed and said he could smell the ketones on my breath. I tested at 55mmol/l (or 990) and was told that I had two choices - I could stay now for a few days and get to go home, or I could go home now and come back in a coma and stay for a couple months. They put me in the intensive care ward across from the nurses station and between two dieing elderly people on ventilators. My mum slept on a cot next to my bed the first night, and the nurses came in every hour and a half to test my bs.

I was there for almost a week, and when they felt I was in the clear, I was flown down to Children's hospital in Vancouver for a few more days in the hospital and some training, dieticians etc. I remember many things about it like what they packed for me to eat on the little plane (strawberries and cream and a yogurt) and the pregnant sixteen year old on a stretcher next to me, hooked up to an IV. My parents drove down which took an extra four hours. My bed wasn't ready when I arrived so I had to wait alone for the four hours in the lobby. A crabby woman gave me a colouring book (but um.. I'm almost 11!) and a pencil (how does one -colour- with a pencil?)

There was another girl there with me for the training parts at Childrens who had been sent home -twice-! by doctors when her mother took her to the hospital, brushing it off as the flu (until she came in unconscious Xp)

I got back a day before my 11th birthday, and just in time for the end of spring break and the start of class - didn't miss a single day of school!

[sviskan]

I was diagnosed at 16 years of age in january 2000. I was at the doctor getting birth control pills, only to find out that there was sugar in my urine sample. Fortunately my doctor is also my fathers doctor, and so because my father also has diabetes, she (the doctor that is) sent me straight to the hospital. I have been told my bg was around 600. Before I left the doctor she asked me about the usual symptoms, and I answered that I did not have any of them. Thinking about it now I see, I had all the symptoms. I left the classroom many times an hour to pee and at the same time I filled my bottle with water.

[gettingby]

I've never heard of someone who was born with diabetes. Is that uncommon? Is there a reason why that happens or is it unknown? Sorry for my ignorance but I find that really interesting.
I remember when I was doing my pump research, reading in the product info I had requested from one of them (can't recall which one now) about a baby who was put on a pump not long after birth. It was the only reason the baby survived. So, I guess it is possible to be born with it.

[Keezheekoni]

My story is not very interesting... All while I was growing up I knew there was a possibility that I'd get diabetes. My dad's side of the family has only one person who never got it. When I was pregnant with my son (bad teenager me, I was 16) I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Two years later, pregnant with my daughter, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Six years later, pregnant with my daughter, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Three years later, pregnant with my daughter, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Seven months later, at an appointment with my internist, I mentioned that I was still checking my bgs and they were high. She did an A1c and it came back at 6.9. I was diagnosed as Type 2 and went onto precose. Then switched to metformin, eventually put onto Humalog and Lantus.

Went through my fifth child's pregnancy on insulin, slowly increasing the dosages of Humalog and Lantus. Had my daughter and still had to be on the higher dosages...

Found a new internist, with our insurance change, and she did a full workup on me. Decided to up my insulins even more... Fast forward 2.5 years, I ask her if I can be put onto a pump. Now I'm going through "the process" of getting a pump. :P

I also had some labwork done at my last appointment with my internist that concluded that I'm not Type 2, but Type 1.5 LADA.

Rikki

[Rebecca]

I was 3 years 3 days old when I was diagnosed. I remember eating cake and ice cream for my birthday, and the next thing I know is a week later.
Medical records state my blood glucose was 1768..
I do not know much about my diagnoses other than eating bday cake and then waking up a week later.
This was way back in Feb 1978 (almost 29 years ago)

[lennybruce]

39 yrs. old. never sick in my life. I'd been feeling crappy for a couple weeks. Thought is was the flu. My tongue was hurting and the area of pain had moved around until it was too much to bear. Went to my doc, told him what's going on. He said "if i was a betting man, I'd say diabetes. Give me a sample and we'll see." I peed in the cup and the doc came back in. "My nurse is on the phone to the hospital, I am admitting you immediately." "Can we do this tomorrow? I have to get back to the office and finish some things up." "No, you are going now."

My A1C upon admission was 16. I had ketoacidosis so bad I was on a saline IV drip for 3 days. No family history for 3 generations. Type 1. Shocker. That was in 2/06. My last A1C was 5.9. I've kept on a 1700-1800 calorie a day diet. test 4 times/day. Hit my target weight, lift weights 3-5 x's/week. BP now normal, raised HDL, dropped LDL and lowered triglycerides by 125 pts.

healthier, happier and making it as best i can. the depression about the condition hits less and less. doing my best and getting through it all pretty well. single parent of 2 and an independent businessman. some days are worse than others and they always will be. but i am grateful for the ability and fortitude in getting through it.

good luck and happy new year to all!!!!

[lilituc]

I've never heard of someone who was born with diabetes. Is that uncommon? Is there a reason why that happens or is it unknown? Sorry for my ignorance but I find that really interesting.

Obviously I don't know if AGMSD has this, but there is a form of genetic diabetes found in infants called PNDM or Neonatal Diabetes in Infancy.

GENETIC TESTING FOR DIABETES PRESENTING IN INFANCY (http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/diabetesgenes/infantdiabetes/index.htm)

[JJeenn]

I recall sitting in class, fantasizing about liquid. I would draw eyes crying in the margins, taps dripping, and used to try and determine which five beverages I would take with me to a desert island. :hmmmm2:

Wow, I used to do the same thing. I was in grade 4 and clearly remember sitting at my desk while the teacher worked through a word problem with us. I can't remember what the problem was, but it involved jugs of milk. I sat there fantasising about how much I'd love a jug full of milk, totally fixated on that idea rather than the math.

My mom slowly pieced together that something wasn't right. I used to sit down at the dinner table and drink about four glasses of water, and still ask for more. I was active in sports at the time and during one swimming lesson the instructor brought me over and told my mom that I'd said I was too tired to swim, and I looked horrible so to take me home. Once I'd gotten dressed and walked out to the car my mom told me to walk in front of her, and then commented on how skinny I looked. Between not feeling well, the weight loss, and the drinking (and peeing, although she wasn't aware at the time that I got up multiple times during the night to use the washroom and cup my hands under the tap to drink as much as possible before going back to bed), she made a doctor's appointment.

At the doctor's office they mentioned it could be diabetes and called the lab to say I'd be coming over for some blood tests. We went and got the tests done, and on the way out I said to my mom, "I think I know why I'm so thirsty all the time. I think it's because my mouth is so dry all the time." as if that was the solution to everything! (I was so relieved that I was fianlly "allowed" to be so thirsty instead of having to beg for more drinks and be told I'd had enough.)

About an hour later at home my mom got a phone call telling us to pack and come to the hospital now. My blood sugar was somewhere in the vicinity of 40 mmol/l (720 mg/dl) and they told her on the phone that they were worried I might go into a coma, to convince her that I really did have to come NOW. I wasn't in DKA to my knowledge, but I spent the evening in the ER before being moved up to the children's ward. I stayed in the hospital for four days before being released on my mom's birthday (some present).

[nelly2605]

Drinking heaps(not diet,wasnt helping),toilet visits galore,losing weight,tired all the usual stuff I guess.

Was going on weekend away at 6.30pm the friday evening I went to drs.Nurse did b/s,14.8,I'll never forget that reading.Hospital for 10 days,I had lost 2 stone from 10stone to 8 in a fortnight.

[FrankDr]

39 yrs. old. never sick in my life. I'd been feeling crappy for a couple weeks.

Yep, same as me - Jan 06' @ 36 - never had anything worse than the flu my whole life. I waited a little too long, had to find out in the ER.

Life is much better - better than before Dx. I've also had many unexpected and wonderful things happen since. Life really is what you make of it.

Later -

[lilituc]

Oops, I forgot mine. It's long, but it's atypical. I'm not sure when it all started for me, but I can remember for years I would feel ill after eating lunch. This led me to cut way back on carbs and stop drinking regular soda and eating candy. I didn't think it was diabetes at the time, but I thought eating healthier might help. But things got worse gradually until 2005 when I couldn't stop falling asleep at my desk after eating lunch. I also felt...poorly. Then one night at a restaurant I ordered dessert (something I hardly ever did). 30 minutes after eating (and at home) I was on the floor, sicker than I could believe. I still don't know why, but my housemate, who's had Type 1 for 24 years, said, "maybe you're diabetic" and gave me an old meter. During that week, I had totally normal fasting numbers, but after meals I got readings of 110-180. Turns out I get sick and very sleepy when my bg goes over 130 and I still do. (So luckily even if I had "abnormal" numbers for years, probably it didn't do a lot of damage.)

Anyway, I was diagnosed with prediabetes. Then in March of 2006, Type 2 diabetes. Then none of the oral meds did anything and I just got worse until going on insulin in June. Finally, last month I made sure that LADA was written on my paperwork, i.e. I never had Type 2 diabetes. Before I went on insulin, I would get sick all the time and had constant fatigue and chronic aches and pains. All that chronic stuff went away! I had energy for the first time in years! I still have other chronic illnesses, but I don't feel sick and awful all the time anymore, and I don't get everything that goes around. I don't have an explanation for it, but things post-diagnosis have been so much better for me, it's unbelievable.

I just got my insulin pump and will be starting it on insulin in two days.

[tori~]

It stuck its head out in November 7 1964, I am the youngest of 7 and four of my siblings had the flu, when I started getting sick my mom thought it was making its rounds, I lost a bunch of weight and I was already a tiny kid.. but I was barffing like the rest of them but mine didn’t go away in three days like there’s did … then I started to wet the bed and mom took me in thinking I had a kidney infection… my doctor said he looked at me and knew…he too was diabetic, my bs was 777 but they think that I was born with it because I was always getting sick… never wanted to eat, my mom use to make me sit at the table until my plate was cleaned.. My oldest sister bribed me with a Skipper doll once… lol but I could drink up the Mississippi River… coke was my choice I use to sneak down our basement and raid the fridge of sodas… and get sick as a dog, but they thought it was from drinking too much soda, I’ll never forget my sister Deb who’s the closest in age to me by 5 years… came home from school and started to cry she knew what it was because it was Diabetes month and in Jr High school they did testing on them and talked about it… she came in and said Tori has Diabetes…
I think I was in Sibley hospital for two weeks or more, I know on our way home my dad took me down Pennsylvania Avenue
To show me the Christmas lights in DC I just know I didn’t know much of what was going on with me other then things were going to be different, I hid inside of a telephone booth the day my mom was coming to give me my first shot.. She pricked me each time she counted.. One… two… three…lol