Might I be diabetic or insulin-insensitive?

[hogweed]

I know the answer to this one – go to your doctor and get tested. But I have needle-phobia, so for me it’s a major undertaking... I am frequently incredibly fatigued. I mean, it feels like 20 years ago when I used to smoke dope – semi-stupefied, muscles like jelly, feel like I weigh 30 stone, just want to lie down. Mood’s reasonably OK.

Secondly, I am frequently very thirsty after eating anything, so drink enormous amounts of water (several pints a day) and pee a lot. I’m not sure I have any other symptoms.

I have had blood tests which included glucose, a couple of years ago, which didn't show any problem – but I've never had a Fasting or any other glucose test which required specialised procedures, like eating sugar , or starvation. Recently I bought some of those sticks that you pee on, ate a pile of chocolate, then tested myself after half an hour and an hour – nothing.

What does anybody think? I KNOW, if I saw this question on a forum, I’d say stop speculating, and go and get tested. Trouble is, I’m a recovering alcoholic... I used to get drunk to get a blood sample taken, but can no longer do that, so my fear of needles is truly awful. I expect I’ll manage it some day, somehow, but in the meantime any thoughts will be much appreciated.

I’m a 53-year-old male, weigh about 240lbs.

Thanks

[morrisma]

Thirsty, tired, peeing a lot - all classic symptoms of diabetes. Many of us have had a needle phobia but I felt so much better so quickly after my first shot, that I could never let that stop me. I was literally on my feet and running around full of energy within an hour of the shot after weeks & months of lethargy.

See the doc & face not just the needle but renewed life.
Mike

[xMenace]

Welcome.

Ya, get tested.

Advice for Newbies (http://www.mendosa.com/advice) is a great site. The big things are meds, diet (eat well), exercise (daily), and weight control.

I don't know how to help you with your phobia. You are not alone. They don't hurt if that helps. If you are D, they won't start you out on needles. You'll get pills and lessons on how to live with it.

Coming here was a great choice. Please stick around.

[Stuboy]

a quick Blood sugar test should reveal if your diabetic or not... and it's not really a "needle"... it's a very quick prick of the finger and you dont even see the pin that pricks the finger... i promise you it doesn't hurt. 5 seconds later you'll have a result!

If you are diabetic it's something you are going to just have to overcome... the alternative isn't good! Once you realse just how small the needles on insulin pens are and how painless it is im sure it wont take long to overcome your fear...

Good luck!

PS; this forum is great for advice and ANY questions you have, so dont go anywhere... stick around!

[princesslinda]

I was always quite nervous about having blood drawn, I hated to go to the doctor for this reason. However, if you do have diabetes, you need to know, and the only way to know is to have your blood drawn.

I'd suggest you explain to the person drawing your blood that your are extremely nervous about the blood drawn. I worked as a medical assistant for several years, and whenever anyone told me they had had a bad experience with a blood draw, i'd use a butterfly needle, which is often less painful (used a lot on children).

Hang in there....If someone had told me 2 years ago that i'd be injecting twice a day and testing my blood 4-5 times a day, i'd have never believed it. Now, I don't give it much thought at all. Bottom line, we all do what we have to do to have the best life possible.

I can assure that you can get used to the sticks...it just takes some of us longer than others.

[fgummett]

As Linda says, do let them know your feelings about the needle. For myself, I look the other way and think about something else... before you know it you're done :)

[Holly]

There are topical anaesthetics (available in drug stores) that can be applied to your skin an hour before a blood test is taken. I do sympathize with those with needle phobia (I don't like them either) but frankly the stress caused by "not knowing" is worse than the needle. I'm a nurse and I don't look when I'm on the receiving end. I do look when I'm on the giving end! Try some distraction techniques like clenching your other fist or imagining a lightbulb on a dimmer switch in your mind and turn it off.

[hogweed]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I WILL go - I jsut keep putting it off. Actually, I've just moved house and have to register with a new quack, so I guess it’s bit-between-the-teeth time... if they’d just DO it, suddenly, there and then, it’d be nearly OK except for me fainting and throwing up – but of course they make you make another appointment, which there’s then the opportunity to avoid...

One thing that puzzles me though – apparently the drinking is a result of peeing, which is a result of trying to flush the sugar out, which gives sugary urine... yet mine doesn’t register on the urine sticks...

[princesslinda]

You can still have elevated blood sugar and it not show up on a urine dipstick. Usually, blood sugar spills into your urine at about 180. That's why a negative urine test is not an accurate assessment in diagnosing diabetes.

An A1C on the other hand, gives a 90 day average blood sugar, so you can have a good indication of whether or not you have diabetes this way.

When blood sugar levels get too high, the kidneys flush out the extra glucose into your urine, which is why people who have high blood sugar levels need to pee more often and in larger amounts. Because you're losing so much fluid from peeing so much, you can get very thirsty...its a cycle that will improve once your numbers are closer to normal.

[hogweed]

Usually, blood sugar spills into your urine at about 180.

Aaahh... thanks.

I'll report back when I've had the tests done...

And thanks for all the sympathy about needles too!

[BriOnH]

How tall are you? Were you using Ketone strips, or glucose urine strips? You could even buy a cheap meter and do some home blood tests as well.

[hogweed]

How tall are you? Were you using Ketone strips, or glucose urine strips? You could even buy a cheap meter and do some home blood tests as well.

About 6' 2". It was glucose urine strips.

I think I have two problems – (1) the doctors, when I've suggested all this before over the years, have simply tested my blood sugar along with all the other things they test, and pronounced it OK (but I now know that more specific tests may be needed, like Fasting Glucose and Glucose Tolerance); (2) I’m a very very analytical sort of person, and HAVE to work things out for myself, so I keep trying to do so.

So it's just occurred to me, for example, that if the sugar doesn’t spill over into the urine till 180 or so, then why am I drinking and peeing... and if I’m drinking and peeing because of the sugar, it should show up!

I recognise you guys all know so much more than I, though, so I just don't understand it all yet. I WILL go and make an appointment with the new doctor...

[BriOnH]

So it's just occurred to me, for example, that if the sugar doesn’t spill over into the urine till 180 or so, then why am I drinking and peeing... and if I’m drinking and peeing because of the sugar, it should show up!



I agree. You are a tad bit over weight for you height. Though that depends on what percent of that weight is muscle. You do show signs of diabetic symptoms with the thirst and constant urination, but you are right, if it was because of diabetes you would see the glucose spilling into your urine.

You say you get extremely thirsty after you eat. Do you eat foods with large amounts of sodium in it? How is your blood pressure?

We can't rule out diabetes because you really should get a GTT, it's something you could do on your own. From what you say about the urine testing, which I assume you do frequently though, it doesn't sounds like that's the culprit imho.

I know you hate needles, but a simple blood panel, urine tests, and a physical could point out what's going on quite easily.

[princesslinda]

I can feel if my blood sugar is even slightly elevated....when I'm in the 150-160 range, I feel more tired....and I urinate more frequently. Even though a urine dip would show negative.

With my strong family history of T2 diabetes (mom, grandfather, grandmother, uncle) I always made sure to have my blood checked regularly. Unfortunately, I wasn't given an
A1C, just a basic panel that showed fasting blood sugar. This was always within normal limits. I work in a urology office, so I regularly tested my urine for sugar, not realizing how high it had to be to test positive. Since it showed up "negative" and my blood work was "normal" I didn't worry about it. Amazine how little you know about a disease until it becomes "personal."

Less than a year prior to diagnosis, I had a normal physical and blood work (though retrospectively I had symptoms of diabetes and an A1C would have probablyl been high had one been drawn).

[hogweed]

You say you get extremely thirsty after you eat. Do you eat foods with large amounts of sodium in it? How is your blood pressure?

Yes, I do have a bit of a "salt problem", and eat a lot of bread, which is high in salt without tasting of it. But I tried a low-salt diet once - it dropped my BP effectively, but didn't affect the thirst much. And it made all my food taste of wet cardboard, even after a month, so I couldn't live with it.

[hogweed]

I can feel if my blood sugar is even slightly elevated....when I'm in the 150-160 range, I feel more tired....and I urinate more frequently. Even though a urine dip would show negative.

Wow. That really sounds like it.

[hogweed]

Ah, I see. In the UK the test's called HbA1c.

I shall investigate.

[Tropo]

I was always quite nervous about having blood drawn, I hated to go to the doctor for this reason. However, if you do have diabetes, you need to know, and the only way to know is to have your blood drawn.

I'd suggest you explain to the person drawing your blood that your are extremely nervous about the blood drawn. I worked as a medical assistant for several years, and whenever anyone told me they had had a bad experience with a blood draw, i'd use a butterfly needle, which is often less painful (used a lot on children).

.

I've never been nervous having blood drawn...until now. It has always been a painless affair.

A few days ago I was down at a small clinic and the nurse dug in with a needle...no pain but no blood. She took it out and stuck it in again...this time it was very painful and she couldn't get enough blood. She tried the other arm...success at last after another very painful stick. I had bruising in both arms for about 3 days.

Talk about incompetance. I told the doctor if they can't teach the nurses how to draw blood I'll take my business elsewhere. I was really pissed.

[fgummett]

Talk about incompetence. I told the doctor if they can't teach the nurses how to draw blood I'll take my business elsewhere. I was really pissed.Sorry to hear about your bruises. Unfortunately where do you think those who are good at taking blood get the experience from..? I generally get my blood taken at the hospital clinic where that is what they do all day, so they are darn good at it :) Even so, I make sure to tell them in which arm the others have had most success in getting blood from me.

[princesslinda]

Frank is right, the only way to learn to draw blood is to practice. When I was in school, we practiced on each other...talk about scary, knowing the person sticking you was as inept as you were....we all got pretty good real quick!

I'm a difficult stick...and I hate needles...and I will only allow someone TWO tries, then they have to get someone else. After that 2nd stick, we're BOTH nervous.

[Tropo]

Frank is right, the only way to learn to draw blood is to practice. When I was in school, we practiced on each other...talk about scary, knowing the person sticking you was as inept as you were....we all got pretty good real quick!

I'm a difficult stick...and I hate needles...and I will only allow someone TWO tries, then they have to get someone else. After that 2nd stick, we're BOTH nervous.

Well, by the sounds of it, I've just been lucky in the past then. I've never had more than one painless stick to draw blood.

That's a good plan. If they can't do it in 2, I'll insist on getting someone else.

[mortis505]

Many years ago I was donating blood at Langley AFB. The Navy sent a few of its med techs up to help as a training exercise. The guy I got pushed the needle in too far. I reached over, grabbed his hand and pulled the needle out just far enough to properly get the pint. (Used to donate every 2 months.)

Since then, If they don't get a stick on the first try, I offer to do it for them. It lightens the mood in most of them enough to relax a bit and get it right. Those that don't take it as a joke, usually get replaced soon.

[xMenace]

A few days ago I was down at a small clinic and the nurse dug in with a needle...no pain but no blood. She took it out and stuck it in again...this time it was very painful and she couldn't get enough blood. She tried the other arm...success at last after another very painful stick. I had bruising in both arms for about 3 days.

Oh man. I remember as a teen a nurse tried in the same time sreemingly over and over and over with no success. I didn't faint but I was **** close. I had to lay down for awhile. For many years after that I was terrified of going and always asked for the big chair. They even laid me on a stretcher in one clinic as they had no comfy chairs. It was actually so bad I wouldn't even go see my doctor or endo each year.

I've since become impervious. After all the **** I've been through with my eyes, giving a bit of blood is nothing.

[hogweed]

OK... had the tests, but next time the doctor can see me is Friday week... good old NHS. I managed to get the nurse to tell me over the phone that my blood sugar WAS elevated (Glucose Tolerance Test, I think, though they did the HbA1c test too). She said the level was rasied by 0.8 - does that mean anythgin to anybody? Thanks again, Roger

[hogweed]

OK, been to see the doc for my results. Unfortunately there are other things wrong with me too, like liver damage, so I was a little in shock and probably forgot bits and pieces. BUT following the glucose tolerance test, he said my blood sugar was poorly controlled (I think it rose to 6.9 or something after drinking the peachy glucose). I’m not diabetic, but unless I drastically modify my diet/lifestyle etc, I will be.

So, having given up alcohol and smokes, looks like the sweeties and other treats will have to go too... :(

[Tropo]

OK, been to see the doc for my results. Unfortunately there are other things wrong with me too, like liver damage, so I was a little in shock and probably forgot bits and pieces. BUT following the glucose tolerance test, he said my blood sugar was poorly controlled (I think it rose to 6.9 or something after drinking the peachy glucose). I’m not diabetic, but unless I drastically modify my diet/lifestyle etc, I will be.

So, having given up alcohol and smokes, looks like the sweeties and other treats will have to go too... :(

I've experienced first hand elevated BG levels during a period of liver damage.

As a result of cholestasis of the liver I was experiencing FBS levels in the mid-200's. That's over 14 on your scale before eating. Now my FBS levels are normal to pre-diabetic with no medication.

[hogweed]

You can still have elevated blood sugar and it not show up on a urine dipstick. Usually, blood sugar spills into your urine at about 180. That's why a negative urine test is not an accurate assessment in diagnosing diabetes.

An A1C on the other hand, gives a 90 day average blood sugar, so you can have a good indication of whether or not you have diabetes this way.

When blood sugar levels get too high, the kidneys flush out the extra glucose into your urine, which is why people who have high blood sugar levels need to pee more often and in larger amounts. Because you're losing so much fluid from peeing so much, you can get very thirsty...its a cycle that will improve once your numbers are closer to normal.

Managed to retrieve a copy of all my blood tests (about 15 pages...) from the Doc's. HbA1c is 5.0%, so I guess that's good. Something REALLY weird though - there are 2 results for my fasting level – one on a page on its own (6.8, not good), and one on a page with Glucose Tolerance Test, which says 5.5 fasting, then 6.9 two hours after the glucose... They took my blood after the 12 hour fast, then 2 hours later, that’s all. No other sample was drawn at any time for a separate fasting test etc. What on earth does that mean!