Share your story - how were you diagnosed?

[Cookie]

I started to feel 'ill' about 3 weeks before I was diagnosed.

I was SOOO thirsty it was untrue. I drank bucketloads of anything and everything. I could honestly say I could have drunk a bucketful of water and still felt thirsty. Because nothing seemed to satiate my thirst, I ended up buying loads and loads of different types of juice (half of them full sugar drinks I have to say :whistling ) but nothing worked.

Then I started losing weight. It was literally dropping off me. In all, I lost 19lbs in 3 weeks.

I saw a sign in Asda for a free diabetes test, the week before I was diagnosed. I read the poster outside which gave a list of the symptoms and I could say, hand on heart that I had all of them.

I told them I had all the symptoms and they measured my blood sugar. The reading simply said 'hi' which the nurse said she had NEVER seen before. (I later found out that to get a reading of 'hi' on the meter she used, it has to be over 33.3 mmols. :eek: ) She then proceeded to say it was probably "nothing to worry about" and that I should mention it to a doctor next time I was there. She then said that the high reading was probably because I'd just had lunch - HELLO??! :mad:

Needless to say, about 3 days before I was diagnosed, I started being sick. Couldn't eat anything. Peeing like a bandit. Losing weight left, right and centre. No energy. Sleeping almost 24/7.

My mother in law popped round for a visit and she hadn't seen me for a couple of weeks, took one look at me and packed me straight into the car to take me to the doctors. My eyes were completed sunken and my face just looked so drawn.

Doctor tested me and basically asked my mother in law if she could drive me to the hospital, otherwise he would call an ambulance.

When I arrived at the hospital I couldn't walk as I had no energy so they had to get me a wheelchair! Spend 2 nights in hospital after they had diagnosed me with type one and that's my story!

(It's two years on and I still haven't written to Asda to make all this known to them, but I have a holiday coming up and will have plenty time to do it. Will also be writing to local papers, Diabetes UK, etc etc - the list goes on!!)

[LauRa Lu]

My story is very similar to yours. Except rather than a bucket of water I once contemplated drinking the water i'd run in the bath :eek: :whistling

I saw a doctor a year before I was diagnosed, and he told me I was high but that it was probably my breakfast. I told him I hadn't had any and he just said oh well you're fine :confused: so I left it at that.

My thirst got worse and worse, A year on I just got really ill. Went back to the doctor and he told me I had flu.. :mad: ...He calls him self a doctor???!! :p

I went away with some antibiotics, but just got worse and worse.

My vision vanished almost completely the one day, and my thirst was *huge*. That day It sudenly dawned on me what was wrong, It was obvious and had been for ages but It just never crossed my mind.

I went hospital and they confirmed it. My bg was 40mmol that day.

[KickStart101]

I don't remember being Dxd since I was only 3, I don't even remember a Doc's visit, I assume there was one, never asked. I remember for some
occasion earlier that my Godparents had brought me some liquorise(sp)candy
and a porcelain Baby Doll and a gold-cross with ruby necklace (was probably my 3rd Birthday) I remember seeing my Brothers eating food later that I wasn't allowed to eat. So I wished I could eat what they were eating. Sure enough months later I was eating the food they were eating(and believe me, it weren't that good...ugh). I do remember the first poke in the butt I got with the needle. It was okay, whatever. But I don't believe you's Laura
and Cookie got a Hi Testing and were just told it was something you ate??
Since so many people are getting Diabetes for many years now, you would think it would be a normal testing. It doesn't cost much and it sure would help in the extra millions of dollars to treat people before they are injured by Diabetes. I have mentioned the testings for hgh-risk to my Dr., my Hubbie's Dr. My Kid's Drs's and a few other Drs.s I have been to previously. I know it's not much but I would hope they would suggest this "should be common" test to their colleges(sp) so more would know sooner.

[UpNorth]

Well, i think it all started with a 9.3 mmol/l reading in march last year. It didn't bother me then but a few months later, in late august/early september, i started to feel something wasn't right. Could drink liters and liters of water and ran to the loo at least once every 30 minutes. But i wasn't too worried about it- i'd been like that b4 and simply thought it was just another camel period that would go away after a few days. It didn't go away, but got worse and worse everyday and my clothes started to get too big. Went to the doctor's in the morning on october the 14th, and had a bsl test done which came back a little bit too high :whistling it was 24mmol/l, in the morning, b4 breakfast. It is wierd though that i didn't have very high levels of ketones. :1eye: Only had a drip for a few hours, and learned all the basics (or most of it) through the day, and got home later in the afternoon :)
Must admit though, that my doctor wanted to send me to hospital, but i didn't want to if it wasn't 100% needed. "Just teach me what i have to know and let me go home, i promise i'll drink a lot of water and test a lot etc etc etc" I already knew quite a lot about D b4 i was diagnosed, used to read a lot of books a few years back, and did a 11 pages long assignment about diabetic cats when i had animal healthcare in my final year at upper secondary (was during that course i had that 9.3mmol/l test done- we were learning how to use a bgm). *grin*

[Cinnabon]

I was DX at age 9. I had the chicken pox and right after I continued to feel very sick. I lost a lot of weight. I would stand in front of the automatic water dispenser from the fridge at all times, day and night. Ants would come crawling around my toilet bowl.... LOL. Looking for something sweet.. Gee, I wonder what! ( sugar spilling in my urine, maybe!?)
My parents thought I had Anemia (I WISH) took me to a doctor and he ran a complete blood test on me. Sure enough, he called my father back and said I had to be admitted right away. My blood sugar at the time was 33.33 too. That was 22 years ago. I remember practicing on oranges before I was discharged from the children's hospital. I spent a lot of years in denial after that. My parents were not aware of the importance of taking a child to a psychologist causing me to suffer a lot of depression.


I agree with the fact that we have very advanced technology in today's time for the management of Diabetes, yet simple things such as testing for diabetes and the knowledge that comes with it, is still from the Flintstone's Era, unfortunately.

[Eri's mom]

Eri was dx'd when she was 6...over 5.5 yrs ago.
She was losing weight, was drinking continuously, going to the bathroom ALL the time...she even wet the bed, more than once a night...which she had NEVER done, not even while potty training...and not just on the top mattress...she would literally have a puddle through on the floor b/c it went through the boxpring as well.
Soooo, it was Dec. 31, 1999, good ol' New Years Eve Y2K(something usually happens on holidays w/ us ...)...and the docs just said, take her readings...which we did b/c my dad was there and he's a T2...well, HI, fasting, HI, the lowest we got it to go after she hadn't eaten for something like 15 hours(14 hours of sleep) was 575 or something. She was seen on January 3rd at her pediatricians and my husband called me at work telling me we had to go up to Tampa to All Children's Hospital, b/c Eri was just dx'd w/ diabetes. So I came home and we went up(when I got home he was in tears and on the phone, I told him it was ok, but his brother had just told him he was dx'd w/ liver cancer...he was 34 at the time...just a LOVELY day...not!!!)...so, we ended up at ACH...and they kept us in the endo's office teaching us things...we were there for about 4 hours and they sent us home.
I got to go back 3 days later to talk w/ the nutritionist(in Sarasota), and that was that. It took us for what seemed like EVER to see a reading down to at least 300's...I'm talking a couple weeks. Her ketones were like something over 11/12 when dx'd. I have NO clue as to why she wasn't kept longer and trained(then again, they said 11 other kids that day were dx'd w/ T1 as well)...so maybe that was it.
Now, after 5.5 yrs, Eri is starting the pump next month.
As you all know, we've been through a lot w/ her the past 6 months...hopefully the pump will help a little more...since she is STILL waking up in the mid/high 200's to 300's(after her NPH has been adjusted already numerous times since her last DKA)...
OK, wrote a novel...
Have a great day all...

[Amanda_Jo22]

Neat thread Cookie, thanks for starting it!

My story w/diabetes started the day I flew to Reno to sing in a high school all state competition. After singing, I was hanging out w/a friend when I noticed my arms had turned blue! I started panicking and me teacher just said "put on a jacket sweetie" :eek: We flew back that night and the next morning my arms were still blue. So my dad took me to the doc who said it was probably a condition caused by stress, but she was going to run a comprehensive panel to see if there was anything abnormal. We came in the next day and she said everything looked fine except my sugar was a little high, so she wanted to run a GTT. Did the GTT and got a phone call the same day to come back in, and on April 19, 2000 I got the wonderful news. The story should stop there...but it doesn't. My doc sent me to the only ped endo in town who dx'd me as a T2 (I was 90 lbs w/no family history of T2 and a family history of autoimmune disorders). I was put in glucophage and got extreme sick. One week before my next appointment, the endo left the practice and left us hanging. (In hindsight, this was a blessing). Found a new endo who took older peds (I was 16 at the time) and he correctly dx'd me as a T1 in a early honeymoon stage. I finally started on insulin and felt much better! I guess I was lucky because I never had any symptoms and they found diabetes very early. Although it brought it's own challenges because at first, I didn't fit the "profile" of a typical T1.

[camjen1]

I just happened to be watching a commercial about the symptoms. I realized I had every symptom mentioned so I called my mom downstairs and told her I think I hae Diabetes. She began to laugh and said nonsense it doesn't even run in the family. At that time I was seeing my boyfriend and his mom was diabetic. SO the next day I went and seen her and I told her all about the symptoms so she went ahead and tested me. She looked at her meter and said "Oh Sandi." The reading wound up being to high for her meter. I then called my mom and she told me to come to her hospital and she will test me there with one of the machines that reads higher. Well she tested me and I was sky high. One of the DR's there wrote up a couple of prescriptions and off we go to a very different life.

All in all I had lost a total of 67 pounds in a 1 month period.

[am1977]

I think this has been discussed here before in the forums, but it's always interesting sharing these stories.

Here's Mine ;) :

I was working at a pharmacy P/T when I started experiencing symptoms. First, I was thirsty...and the thirst got progressively worse. I would have a liter bottle that I would constantly refill. I would be exhausted all the time, even after getting a good night's rest, I started dropping weight, and my muscles started aching all the time (especially my legs). It got to the point where I couldn't really walk. I kind of limped along. I felt pretty crappy :( . However, I put off going to the DR. b/c I had no insurance at thet time. Finally, I couldn't wait any longer. I went in and I think she knew what was going on just by looking at me. She smelled my breath (for ketones) as well as did a urine test and also did a finger stick which read HI. She was going to have me go see one of her colleagues, but then they decided I should be admitted. So I went to the hospital, stayed for just one nite, and received a crash course in Diabetes Management 101.

The funny thing is the day before I was dx'ed I discussed with my Mom the possibitlity that I might be dealing with Diabetes. I really didn't know much about it, but I knew enough about the symptoms to question if that's what was going on. When I received the diagnosis, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It's one thing thinking about it hypothetically, then when it becomes an actuality. When I got home from the hospital the day after being diagnosed, I was so overwhelmed, confused, and scared. I remember hoping that I wouldn't wake up the next morning...that's kind of morbid, but that's how overwhelmed I felt. Now I realize how silly that is, b/c I know it's possible to live a long, healthy, and happy life as a diabetic.

[liz32]

Don't knowif this is for only t1 or not but here goes. I was doing the typical drinking all the time and peeing and not feeling right. What was different for me was that for roughly a year prior to this I had been dealing with wild mood swings. I was almost ready to go to the doc's for some paxel or other mood altering med so that I'd at least be pleasant to be around...I'm glad my kids are you and will likely forget this past year! The last straw was a day when I was literally unable to move off the couch for 9 hours strait. I had gestational diabetes and I had recently found out that my birthmother was T2 and my birthfather was T1 but I didn't really consider it to be diabetes..denial I geuss. I also thaught that maybe I had an overactive bladder. My CDE asked me if I believed that I had diabetes and I asked her what she meant and she said that alot of people live for years with denial and refuse to admit their diagnosis. It is a shocker, but it could be worse..I could have cancer or some other life threatening desease. I know that with the right management, I will live to a ripe old age. My kids informed me that it was ok that I was diabetic as they would be willing to eat sugar/sweets for me..they're so cute. Anyways, sorry for rambling...I guess this has been very theraputic. Thanks!

[Barb]

I found out in June of 1993 I was immigrating to Canada from the States and had to see an immigration Doctor that is when I found out..boy what a shock that was..I had no idea...

I had two of the classic symptoms tho but could explain each one a way..the frequent urination...I had a very bad yeast infection two months before I see the immigration Dr...my own Dr. told me I should be drinking lots of cranberry juice so I was.... well the more one drinks the more one pees...and that explained the constant thirst I guess as well.. I was also losing weight... I had just got promoted and my Job had me walking from one building to another sometimes four times a day..each building was about half a block a way..before the promotion I was sitting all day so I just figured that explained the weight loss... funny it now seems that was a life time ago

[Mick]

I don't exactly remember when I began to feel the symptoms, but I know I had had them for a pretty long time. I was something around 12 years old, I think it would have been the beginning of 7th grade, the year was 1964. I had been a "pudgy" kid--my mom called it "baby fat", but all of a sudden i began shedding it. All that summer before, I'd been sticking my face under the hose spigot and opening my mouth... I'd started eating like a shark in a feeding frenzy, 3-4,000 calories a day I'd guess--and still i went from 120 lbs. to 90, then 80... By the time school began, I was having a hard time keeping awake during class, woke up dozens of times every night to pee, was exhausted all the time, slept all afternoon, and began wetting the bed many nights. I knew something was wrong, but my parents had a bunch of other kids, one still in diapers, and they didn't seem to notice much.

By the end of the first semester of school, in January, I was faiiing several classes--I never got to any class on time due to running to the bathroom between every class, and then falling asleep in class, plus never completing any homework because I slept when i got home. But still my parents just assumed I was fine or whatever, excused all the stuff I was going thru as "growing up" or something... One day at school, I was seized by uncontrollable abdominal pains, and was sent down to the school nurse. I could not stand up straight, was in tears, and passed out several times. I was taken to the hospital ER, and admitted for "observation" They suspected appendicitis, and were correct, but during the admission tests, they found that I had a blood sugar of almost 1000, was severly dehydrated and malnourished. I also was going into septic shock, caused by the appendix having ruptured, but because of DKA was too sick to be operated on. They sent for a surgeon, but I slipped into a diabetic coma. By then--February 6th, 1965, I had lost half my body weight, had gone from 120 to 60 lbs.

I was in a coma for 3 days. They did operate, removed the appendix, which as I understand now, was a very risky trick--major surgery on a comatose, malnourished, dehydrated child in shock--back in 1965. I was in critical condition for several more days after coming out of the coma and spent almost a month in the hospital. I actually was much relieved to learn that I had an actual disease that I could more or less live with, that I was not going to die. I accepted the shots and all the restrictions gratefully, I suppose because I had come so close to dying from it. I had a LOT of school to make up, because by the time I went back in March, I'd basically missed the entire year. But because I began regaining some energy and some weight, I felt that I could and should work extra hard to deserve my second chance at life. I passed the 7th grade (barely), but did need to go to summer school to finish. By the time I celebrated my 13th birthday that summer (40 years ago this week!), I felt I had something very special to celebrate--my life, which was indeed a miracle. I've been celebrating that fact ever since.

Michael
T1 since 1965

[Jamie]

I don't ever recall having severe symptoms, but I was also diagnosed after appendix surgery. It was a during our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. I was at our cottage with my wife and kids when I became violently ill. After spending the better part of a day in bed, I asked my wife to bring me to the hospital because I knew there was something wrong. (she just about freaked, because I was never one to want to see a doc.) After being in emerg. for a few hours, I was finally diagnosed with appendicitis and was having emergency surgery at midnight. After the operation, I started to experience some complications and the docs started to order all kinds of tests to try figure out what was going on. (blood tests, CAT scans, ultrasounds, x-rays) and nothing showed up. (Since I was sick before going to the hospital and for about 4 days after my operation, I had nothing to eat - just my IV). After a week in the hospital I was discharged but still needed to be followed up with my GP. First test was blood work and the diabetes showed up right away. So I guess everything happens for a reason, if I didn't have appendicitis I could be one of those people that don't know their diabetic.

Jamie

[2Cert]

I was in the USMC when diagnosed. Started having symptoms right after basic training while on recruiter’s aid. They were not too bad but looking back it all makes sense now. Next I was sent to camp Geiger for infantry training school and the symptoms became ****! Always thirsty, always having to take a leak, and massive weight loss. I knew what it was because of friends who were diabetics and also a buddy in the same platoon also guessed that I was a diabetic. I had gone from 185 lbs down to 120 and would carry 4 2 liter bottles of water in my pack while out in the field. It was not unusual for me to drink at least 5 or 6 full ones each day! My training was nearly complete and if I could make it through my next duty would make it possible for me to seek treatment on my own. However, one day while in the field I passed out and from what people told me I was delirious when they tried to wake me up. I was carried back to where I could be picked up and taken to the hospital. After a doctor talked to me for only a minute or two he said "I think I know what it is but need to do a test". I wanted him to tell me his suspicions but he would not. Finally I told him "You think I have diabetes right"? And he just looked at me, smiled and started telling me that people are diagnosed with it every day and how treatment had come a long way.

Never had a problem accepting it and I guess that was because I knew it well before any doctor told me for sure. Now the violent low blood sugar reactions I had on the old beef/pork insulin made me sometimes wonder if living like that was worth it! But when I was finally changed to humulin those eased up a bit. And now with NovaLog and Lantus my control is good and have very few lows. Needless to say, after the diagnosis it was a short time before I was given a medical separation from the USMC.

[twocute64001]

The year was 1962 It was the summer I was 7 years old. I was thrilled that I was going into the 2nd grade. I was looking forward to all new school clothes, but instead of growing, my clothes seemed to be getting bigger. It was real hot and I didn’t feel like playing outside much, even the pool did not interest me, so I began reading Nancy Drew books and staying in my room. Actually I was sleeping a lot, but no one realized how much. My parents were just fascinated that I was reading so much and so advanced.

My Grandmother came to visit, and when she came she always made pancakes with lots of maple syrup for breakfast, along with a big glass of chocolate milk. After breakfast I used the excuse that I needed to clean my room to keep from going out to play. My grandmother found me a few hours later passed out on the floor. I have no memory of the ambulance ride, but remember that when I woke up it was a week later and my mom looked like heck sitting beside my bed. I hurt all over, like a truck ran over me.

Before the doctors thought of diabetes they had run all types of invasive tests, including a spinal tap that has left permanent back problems. The said I had a heart attack and my kidneys were shutting down. They told my parents I was dying and they did not know why. Finally a nurse who went to our church suggested they check my blood sugar. It was over 1500 mg. Doctors told my parents I would never see my 21st birthday, and that I would get severe infections, lose my sight and become an invalid before I finished high school. They told me that if it tasted good, I could not have it.

My mom panicked, she watched every move I made, everything I put in my mouth. My parents decided it would be safer if I went to a Catholic school where the Nuns could watch over me as closely as my folks did at home. This lasted two years and I was miserable. I was allowed no freedom, no treats and watched like a hawk. If I got sleepy to early I was rushed to the doctor, If I got a cold, life was suddenly on emergency status. Lucky for me, my dad listened when I cried about what I was dealing with and slowly things changed back to a more normal even keel.

We didn’t have glucose monitors back then to tell you how to adjust your insulin. Only doctors had such luxuries. Only doctors told you how much insulin you need each day, and when to take it, if due to what you ate, your insulin needs changed, there was no way to account for it. We also did not have the thin insulin needles of today. Shots hurt like heck! I remember the first monitors – they cost as much as my dad’s new car that year and were the size of a microwave. I remember Diet Tab when it was the only diet drink made. (it sucked) and cakes made with “sugar twin” cause it was all there was.

I remember most of all feeling different from the other kids, until one day when my dad brought me this silly blow up pink flamingo for our swimming pool. As he gave it to me he told me “You are the best kid any daddy could have” For some reason, that one statement meant to a 9 year old girl who felt her life was horrible – different is better!

My dad was my hero, he helped me through the rough spots. He died November 4, 2000, and he is still my hero! And at 50 years old I am healthy and productive and happy.

[lgvincent]

I was 10 years old back in 1968 when I developed it so I don't remember a whole lot. It's like a purple haze all in my brain, layin' in pain so seem the way, I feel funny but I dont' know why, excuse me while I kiss the sky . . . It's coming . . . back to me . . . now . . . All I remember is drinking a whole lot of water, I could never get enough, and urinating a lot. I also remember losing weight but I don't know how much. I don't remember being sick until I was diagnosed. The day I went into the hospital I got up and didn't want to go to school but I don't remember being sick the weekend before that. By the time I got to the hospital, I was very sick. They gave me several injections to try to stop me from throwing up and I was begging for more even though I had never cared for shots before that day.

[Erin]

My story is sorta boring. I had kidney surgery when I was six (or was it seven? I'm never quite sure) then during what should have been a normal post-op check up (maybe 9 months after surgery?) they did a urine test (you know with the dipsticks) and everything was fine, except for the sugar. They figured the stick had gone bad, retested it. Still the highest level on the stick. I felt fine, they sent me home, but said not to eat sweets, but scheduled a glucose tolerance test for the next day. Sure enough, the test results showed I had diabetes. My one question was "does diabetes come with an operation?" and once that was satisfactorily answered "no" I checked into the hospital, learned what there was to learn, and went on my merry way. (I will admit, it was harder on my mom than it was on me) So, 16 (16ish anyway) years later I'm still kicking.

[duck]

Great stories..I hope mine doesn't bore y'all...

Exam Week, Junior year in high school (early June 1990)...I had been feeling "weird" for a couple weeks, getting tired (and I mean TIRED) and being thirsty (and I mean THIRSTY) and peeing all the time (I felt like I had to go when I got done). So here I am falling asleep in class (all of them) and on the bus or in friend's cars, and only waking to pee...I stayed late after school one day to attend some extracurricular function, and I went to 7-11 to get a 64 ounce Big Gulp of regular Coke...I went back to the school office (I can't remember why) and as I finished drinking this 64 ounce Big HUGE Gulp, my thirst was worse than before. So I say out loud as my Principal walks by "What kind of disease can I have that I can drink this thing and STILL be thirsty?"

and this guy says over his shoulder "You could have diabetes..."

All the lights upstairs in my head went on. So I called my doc and he said come on by as soon as I could the next day.

I get there, and discuss my concerns with my doc. He said being hypothyroid increases my chances of becoming diabetic, but otherwise there was no reason to suspect it. I told him that mono was going around my school, and he said he would check that too. At which point duck said "Boy, I'd sure hate to have mono..."

My trusted family doc was going on vacation the next day. Duck gets home from school and hears the phone ring (through my sugar-induced stupor). I pick it up and the guy on the other end asks for me, I say I am me, and he says "Listen to me: This is Specialist 'so-and-so' from Dewitt Army Hospital--I just ran some tests on blood samples you submitted yesterday to Dr. Horn...You need to get to the hospital NOW." He went on to explain that he already called the doctor on call to review the results, but apparently he had never seen blood sugars that high in a living person before so he felt he had to make sure I was still alive...

My dad just got home, so I stumble upstairs to tell him what I just heard (and I am still out of it). He proceeds to get on the phone and tell this guy he is full of doo-doo, that I had hypothyroid and that was skewing the results. I hear this guy PLEADING with dad, to no avail. Then I hear dad say sarcastically "Sure, put your Colonel on the phone..." The doc on call had arrived. I could hear the urgency in her voice even though I was not on the phone. Dad argues and argues...Then he hands me the phone.

"Here, she wants to talk to you..."

"This is Colonel Ndhiry, I am the director of 'blah blah blah'...Young man, I am going to dispatch MP's or Fairfax County Police to come and get you, and consider charging your father with child negligence...blah blah blah..."

I told her to relax, that we'll come in, that dad is just protective...Dad takes the phone back from me and proceeds to yell at a full-bird colonel about threatening him...I finally calmed him down and said let's go, it's a quick test, right? And if he's right, he can tell her to shove it. Dad agreed.

Yeah. My blood sugars were just above 800. My blood was SYRUP, literally.

Dad felt soooooo bad, I've never seen him like that. Doc Ndhriy was really cool though, and my doc came back early from vacation to see me.

A year later, when I graduated high school, my principal handed me my diploma on the stage, of course. He looked at me and said "I don't know what to say..." and I said "Mr. Chieffe, you saved my life, that says enough."




(whew, that was long :confused: )

[ang]

i was only six years when i was diagnosed so i don't really remember alot. i do remember being really thirsty and having to go to the bathroom frequently. i also remember having a friend over to play and while we were playing i kept having to got to the bathroom and her saying "why do you have to pee all the time?" i also wet the bed in the night a couple of times which i hadn't done in quite some time. my mum is a nurse and picked up on the symptoms fairly quickly and brought home a urine test strip which showed sugar in my urine, but not alot. she called the doctor and he said to bring me in in the morning. so my mum says i have two diagnosis days, the day she dianosed me (with the urine stick) and the day after when i went into the hospital to see the doctor. i remember the next morning going to the hospital and fighting like a demon while they were trying to put an iv in me. i think it took like 4 or 5 people to hold me down ... i was six! i guess i was in the local hospital for a few days (3 hours from the nearest endo) because i remember getting cards made by my classmates and my aunts teasing me about all the cards from my "boyfriends". then we went to winnipeg to see the endo and i don't really remember much of that. but i remember fighting like crazy whenever it was time to a shot or a finger poke. guess i remember more than i thought i did!
i've always wanted to find out what my parents went through while all this was going on but it makes me too sad even just thinking about how tough it probably was for them watching what was going on with me. a few months ago i was on some diabetes related site and there was a picture of this little girl who had diabetes and i remember thinking "poor kid, she's so little!" then i read the caption and it said she was six years old ... just like me when i was diagnosed almost 20 years ago.

[archimeech]

-Christmas 1984 age 13 I was sick throughout the break
-January of 1985 Lost 23 lbs in 3 days, passed out in the hall of our house in the middle of the night
-spent 2 weeks in hospital gained the weight back
-have been figuring it out on my own ever since

[archimeech]

.......Yeah. My blood sugars were just above 800. My blood was SYRUP, literally.............




When I was 16, I went through a rebelious stage and wound up in the ER with a sugar of 1177. I was still lucid and moving around on my own, although in complete Ketoacidocis and hyperventilating. My body was literally trying to breathe the ketones out of my body.

[Lori M.]

I was diagnosed officially this past June 15th. It started with a tingling sensation in my hands and feet about a year ago and I didn't give it much thought since I was on my feet all day anyway. Then along in Feb or March I had a very bad case of dry mouth. I had to have a glass of water with me at all times, day and night and of course going to the bathroom every hour on the hour. That went on for 2 or 3 weeks then it seemed to go away. My eyes started getting blurry around the first week in April and it cleared up after a week or two. Then my mother was put in the hospital for high blood pressure on the Memorial Day weekend and they diagnosed her with pre-diabetes. The weekend before she went to the hospital my eyes started acting up again and I found myself taking my glasses off more and more to the point where I didn't need them, even to drive. Since mom was diagnosed, I realized I had alot of these symptons and when I got my mother's glucometer, I tested myself and had a BS of 382, so I hightailed it to the doctor and sure enough I have t2. The doc did a A1C test on me and it came back 11. He's got me on Metformin 500mg 2x daily and it started kicking in on Monday. My BS's that day didn't go above 115 and it hasn't gone much above that since, and my eyes seem to be going back to the way they were now, everything is getting blurry again. :eek:

[BJC411]

I guess that my mother in law diagnosed me about 6-7months ago, being the person that I am I didnt think anything of it. Well, about four months ago I startedto become more thirsty than usual, and I had lost about 30lbs since May. Well I went dirtbike riding for memorial day weekend and on monday I felt like ****!, and had started getting really thirsty and going to do # 1 alot, so I looked up my symtoms on the internet and they all pointed at diabetes! I made an appointment with the doctor to test for diabetes on wed, well my mother in law was right the whole time, I had type 1 and they said I should have felt so bad that I should have gone to the ER at least 2 weeks before memorial day. I think it did help me that I knew what was wrong because of the symtoms, so I am dealing with it pretty well. My bg levels are starting to even out now and I am feeling much better.(I still have tons of stuff to learn though and the people here have helped alot already! THANK U)

[Starlight]

I was diagnosed when i was 10 on mothers day in the year 2001. Throughout november and december (maybe even earlier) in 2000 i was experiencing all the symptoms of diabetes. Extreme thirst, needing to pee alot and all that. This lasted for a whole 7 months i guess. In that period of time i was loosing alot of weight each day. I went down to 25 kg (55 lbs). As time went on it became severe. I had orange fruity breath, severe dehydration and severe breathing problems. The only way i can describe the breathing problems was i felt as if each breath i took couldnt fill my lungs- it just felt as if there was a stopping point where there shouldnt have been one, and severe pain. I was always sleeping. Always. I'd wake up at least 2/3 times a night to go to the toilet and i'd stick my mouth under the tap drinking away for a good 10 minutes, occasionally i'd wake up and start vomiting. Looking back now i wasnt even myself- my state of mind was fumbled and its as if my body took over my thoughts. I was also in self denial and kept on saying to my worried mum no im fine. Im just drinking because its hot and its summer. It came a point one day when my mum couldnt take it any longer and took me straight to the doctors. Previous to this we had gone months and months before to the doctors and we described the symptoms. he said i may have diabetes. did he do anything? Nop. Anyway, we arrived at the doctors only to be rushed into an ambulance to the hospital. At that moment i was so severely sick i couldnt keep my eyes open. I slept the whole way and only awoke to the cold wind coming through of the opened ambulance door. I remember thinking "will someone shut that door, my god!" :eek:
well they took me throught and started tests, pocking me with all these needles- i didnt even care. I just fell asleep. They woke me up to tell me i was going to have my blood taken i was like "yeh ok, whatever" and went back to sleep. I felt no pain at all. I remember seeing my mum eat lunch and i was so jealous. The nurse told me i could eat in a few hours. Did they have to lie? i kept on waking up asking for some food but always the same thing i was told. After this i was transfered to another hospital. I was on 2 drips and could only have ice. No food for 3 days. On the fourth day i was so excited about getting to eat breakfast. For most of the days i just slept. I was there for around 4 days then transfered over to another hospital. When i got out of bed for the first time it was so freaky- i thought i could walk but i just fell over, i got used to the drowsy heavy shouldered feeling and could walk. For the 6 days i was at the hospital just sleeping, watching tv and talking to my mum,dad and grandparents. So yeh thats my story. I was released and diagnosed with having diabtetes associated with severe dehydration and severe ketoacidosis. Its really freaky looking back because the doctor said 4 hours to a day more would of had me in a coma or dead. Very scary since i didnt know i was so close to death and the thought of my parents finding me dead sometime is just...scary. so its now 2005 and im better. I still get angry over having it but theres nothing i can do. Its here to stay and the best i can try to do is have the best control.

[jdstein11]

I was working on a long-term out-of-town assignment where I'd drive 200 miles to Hartford, CT on Sunday nights and come home Thursday nights (I can tell you EVERYONE who works at the Windsor, CT Marriott). The nights can be lonely, and I hadn't worked out or run since my wife was pregnant with our first son (about 7 years ago), so I began biking and running in the hotel gym about 2-3 nights per week. During the day I began to get thirsty and peeing more often, but I figured it was due to how much I was drinking. I began losing weight shortly after beginning to work out, and I just thought it was due to "kick-starting" my metabolism again after being dormant for a while (I used to be an All-State athlete). Well, this all started in Feb. 2005 and, over the course of the engagement, I went from 203 to 178 pounds and was thrilled!

Amazingly, though, I was eating a lot of food, not all of it good, and kept losing weight! My wife gritted her jealous teeth while listening to me inform her that I had lost yet another pound while stuffing my face the night before, and I just kept right on going as if nothing was wrong. Towards the end of the engagement, I received calls to switch jobs and I figured that once I did and my new health insurance kicked in, I'd get an annual physical and casually mention to my doctor about the weird thirst and peeing thing.

I saw him last Thursday, June 16, 2005, and later that day he called my main office number, my secondary office, my home, and finally tracked me down on my cell phone, telling me that "my blood sugar level was a little high" and that he made an appointment with an endo at 8 AM the next morning, before he was supposed to see any patients as a favor. Me being me, I wasn't too concerned; I figured it was just a courtesy to check out some arbitrary abnormal reading. My wife being my wife, though, read between the lines, got coverage for her job and our kids and insisted she come with me, thinking this was serious.

I didn't think so, until the endo tested my blood and saw 363 and said, "Yup. You have diabetes". The words were still hanging in the air like a cartoon baloon when he turned around, rummaged in his closet and started pulling out what seemed to be an endless supply of boxes containing injector pens, test strip drums, a testing kit, needles, extra insulin, etc. I felt like I was picking up my books at the beginning of a semester, with someone just piling them on top of each other until I couldn't see over the top.

He tried not to overwhelm me with instructions, as he knew I was still a little in shock at being dxd as a T1 and put directly onto insulin therapy for the rest of my life, but I just felt the whole rest of the day was autopilot for me, just going through the motions and trying to remember 1/10 of what my doctor told me. I guess I still feel like this is all a dream and that I'll wake up soon and my kitchen cabinet will have normal things like flashlights, telephone books and pens, rather than boxes from all the major pharmaceutical companies.

As I know this is real and that it's not going away, I just have to sigh and test myself, because it's 9:20 AM and it's snack time!

[Pitzi]

Mine is a bit longer, and involves horror stories with Doctors.

I will never forget this year, it was 1994. I had a bad stressful event in my life. I was a huge boy, 16 years of age, 1.82m tall and weighed 73kg. I wasnt fat but just well built. I had always been a big young chap, who used to eat tons of foods especially sweets. anyways, back to the topic. I started losing weight. At first slowly and over a period of a few months. then all of a sudden I started feeling better again and gainmed weight. I thought what the ****, it must have been a virus, stress or something. After about 2 months, I started feeling unwell. dry mouth, 3-4 tiomes a nite going to the loo, drinking a lot of water, losing weight slowly. Yet i kept on going, hoping i would feel better. I now weighed in the high 60kg's.

It got worse, I felt constant hunger and craved sweets, the more I ate sweet things the worse I felt. I now reached a point where I would drink 6-8L of water a day, pee all night (sometimes in the bed!) and lost a lot of weight, I became a shell of a human being. Went to the local doctor one morning. he said he suspected Diabetes and made a blood test. It wasnt too high, 10.6 was the result i stll remember it. It was enough to diagniose me as a diabetic.

The idiot put me on T2 tablets saying that I was a type 2 diabetic. the tablets made me so sick that it was actually worse than just the diabetes.

I went to see another doctor, this time my blood test produced a reading of 17.1, oops big time diabetes. he suggested that I get into the local clinic and immediately go on insulin. Which i did. i dont know what the **** the did, but whilst in the clinic I was in constant hypo, actually one of the nurses told me they had almost lost me on a few occasions. After this futile exercise, the doctor said that he could not put me on insulin as I went hypo right away, he said I should just go on a diet and exercise (hello, I weighed a mere 58kg's and could hardly walk)

But i gave it a go. My weight increased to 62kg's in a few weeks, but the symptoms were still there and I wasnt feeling well.

I said enoiugh of this nonsense and my mother bought me a ticket to italy, I went and stayed over with her and the next week or so was spent under observation of a local well known Endo. Amost a year had gone past between my initial diagnosis and me seeing a proper doctor, not a local butcher!

He put me on Humulin Intermediate and I immediately felt like a human being again. Regained most of my weight, started eating properly and feeling/looking healthy. This lasted for 4 years. After which i experienced a lot of complications where my pancreas actually shut down all its functions. So now I am stuck on all kinds of medications to regulate the different pancreatic functions, have constant digestive problems and only weigh around 66-67kg's. problem is although the diabetes is very well controlled, I dont feel my old self anymore, and visually look not too well. All tests go through fine, but deep inside something inside me isnt what it should be.

The worst of it all is meeting up with people who knew me before. Everytime they react the same way "jeez what happened to you, you used to be a huge strong boy and now you are a mere shell"

Very saddening indeed. I just hope that a cure can be found for this evil disease someday..

Sorry for the long sad post.

[Spirit]

While pregnant at 32 with my first and only child, I developed severe toxemia and they had to take the baby at only seven months into the pregnancy by C-section. One of the scariest days of my life and my husband's. She was only 2.5 lbs, but healthy (thank God). The day after she was born, they wanted to give me white blood cells which I declined because of AIDS at the time. The doctor told me I had a 1 in 100,000 chance of AIDS and a 1 in 1 chance of living through the day without them, so I took them.

Six months later I was losing two pounds per week for no reason and had small sores like an allergy that would not heal. I had constant sinus infections, would go off of antibiotics and get the infection back the next day!! I was constantly drinking and peeing but figured that was all because of decongestants. Needless to say, I was terrified.

The doctor tried every test, then said she had one more, and took a fasting blood sugar test. She said, "I"m sorry, but you have diabetes". To which I replied, "Yes, thank God". To which she replied, "Does this appeal to you?" Once I told her what I was afraid of, she laughed.

The doctors figure the toxemia which an autoimmune disorder in which the body recognizes body organs as foreign objects and attacks them to preserve the pregnancy attacked and weakened the pancreas.

I'm not a perfect Type I, and not a perfect Type II, because the diabetes is the result of a damage to the pancreas. But because I have to have insulin to bring my sugars into tolerable range, they have always identified me as Type I.

Spirit

[Barcino]

I was 9, so I don't remember all the details but enough do stick out.

New school year starts, my mom buys me new school clothes in September. By late November they are falling off of me, and I'm drinking and pissing constantly. So, I go see the family doc one day after school and my sugar comes back at 400. "Well you know he did just eat a bag of candy-coated peanuts so it probably is just that." WHAT THE FU$% and they gave you a medical degree???


So 3 days later I go in for a fasting test. "We'll let you know tomorrow" they say. So my dear ol dad proceeds to take me to Denny's for a big 'ol pancake breakfast. His logic is that would be the last time I'd ever get to have pancakes. Syrup and all.

Three days later the fasting BG came back like 500 or so. My folks take me to their room and proceed to tell me that I'm sick, and cry like babies hugging me tightly while I'm wondering what the **** is going on? Next day, off the hospital I go. About 2 weeks before Christmas, and I'm stuck in the hospital with a bunch of old sickly people. They ask me how often I have a "BM" :dontknow: so my dad has to coach me on that one.

Practiced giving injections on oranges, while they almost killed me on an overdose of regular. I don't recall very many reactions since that felt so bad. Proceed to live under the general fear of my mother for the next 9 years or so. I remember when I finally got to do it all myself. Must have been hard for my mum.

The best thing about it though is that when I was in the hospital all the kids from my 4th grade class wrote me letters. I still have them to this day and they are hilarious. I'll have to share some of them here some time.

Cheers

[tryinghard]

Well I am an older Type 1--------------I was 26 years old and working when I passed out..when I woke up I was in the hospital...my sugar was 600! Okay I was a nurse should have seen the signs coming (loosing weight, peeing at night, thirsty all the time) but you know us medical people are the last to get tested

It has been a trial over the many years and have had problems but right now I am loosing more, exercising everyday and my side effects of being a diabetic are almost non existant at this point in time...

They had a hard time figuring out if I was a 1 or 2 but everytime they put me on the pills my sugars went through the roof.... :itsme:

[amccrazgrl]

well my story will be short.
it was during 7th grade when i found out i was T1. I started sleeping thru all my classes's and went from like 115-76 pounds. At this time I was still playing softball and was really drained. Everyone thought i looked bad and was anirexic(sp?) but that was not the case. In april at easter i went to west virginia to my aunt/uncles with my mom and brother. i slept all but oh 2-4 hours that i was there. my aunt/uncle had made me a basket full of easter candy which i would normally touch. well i didnt eat any of it. i had one bite of mash potatos that was like the size of a quarter. my aunt whos a cna said that something wasnt right. so when we returned home i got blood drawn from the dr's office. then we went home. the next day i went to school and came home and mom told me i was diabetic and i was sad/mad and left for the dr's and from there the hospital. that was 2 weeks before my 13th bday. i remember having so much fun in the hospital b/c i was still allowed to be on the kids floor. i even snuck out of my room one night but got busted visiting a friend down the hall.

[dpav]

My story started back in 1964. I had been of normal body weight and size for an 8 year old. after several weeks of feeling ill, and loosing so much weight I looked like a skeletin, I got even more ill.One Sunday morning my dad was going to church with my sister and brother, My mom had passed away years ago, so My dad gave me a box of chocolates to keep me company and he gave me a 7-up to drink to quench my thirst. none of us knew what was going on and my dad did not believe in doctors. When they had returned from church, I was already in DKA, coma. My dad with some convincing from my sister who listened to a neighbor who suggested I was to be taken to a hospital, finally took me in for help. When I got there they gave me a 50/50 chance of survival and my sugar reading was at 1200mg/dsl.
I spent the better part of two months in the hospital. I had my ninth birthday in the hospital and the extended length of time there may have been because they had discovered I had tuberculosis at that same time. I had to learn to use a glass syringe and a stainless steal needle. We used to sterilize all that stuff each day. We used U-40 insulin back then.
This is how I found out about diabetes.
Don

[CptHowdy]

August 11, 1985 - while driving home from work as a firefighter/paramedic I was hit head on by another car. The driver of other car had a history of seizures and was on meds for it,,he hadn't had a seizure for a couple of years so he "must be cured, right"? So it seemed an appropriate time in his mind to stop taking the meds.
Among the many bodily parts that were damaged my pancreas managed to be cut in half. Surgeon told me some weeks later that eventually the pancreas would not be able to produce enough insulin and that I would ( at some time ) develop diabetes.

Fast forward to 1999,,,
Went to an allergist for sneezing / stuffiness. This guy happened to be an allergist/endo ( weird huh? ). Long story short, I am allergic to dust and cockroaches ( dusty cockroaches send me right over the edge ) oh, and I have diabetes.

[debaroo]

My storey is pretty similar to most on here....it was around christmas time and i was drinking bucketloads as well, and getting up in the middle of nite to drink more and more....my father has type 1 diabetes so my parents new all the symptoms...took me to the doc on jan 21 at around 4pm was sent directly to the hospital for 2 weeks getting adjusted (they did that back then ) i was 12 years old

[Simons]

Hi All- Most of you have probably heard my "discovery" story before but here we go again.
In spring of 1943 I was 7 and having lots of troubles with tonsil infection. No blood test was done prior to surgery. I just never recovered after surgery. Stayed weak and tired. My mother was basically the one who made the doctor do a blood test. Oh yes i was a type 1. I have no idea what my blood sugar was but I never went into a coma.
So I have type 1 for 62 years now. Have lived through most of the D changes and improvements. I remember boiling so many drops of urine with something in it. Which just told the `degree of sugar in your urine.
Believe me we do have lots of improvements in D care now.
Simons