[clayman]

Hello, I am 19 years olf.

In this year's February, I was lethargic for a week but then got out of it, and a week and a half later, I was having irregular bowel problems and later that night frequent urination.
I didn't barely went to sleep and around 7 am I went to the emergency room.

They tested me for diabetes and I came back negative, I was relieved.
My heart was racing from before I got there, and until a while after I left. They suggested I have anxiety problems.

Today, my bowel problems are gone, only coming up about once a month, but I still have frequent urination constantly, and I have been getting "ghosting"/fading/after image/motion blur vision as well.
I have been getting tired sometimes on some days.

Could I have been misdiagnosed? Have I gone in too early to announce if I have diabetes or not?
I must mention my father had diabetes.

I am scared about this and I can't afford to go to the doctor to check right now.
I need advice.

It's weird because when I started, I was cutting back on soda and sugars and all so I don't know why I'd have diabetes.

[Mindstorm]

At your age it doesn't matter if you're pumping back 4 sodas a day or on the Atkin's diet. The causes of Type I diabetes aren't directly known, but it's thought to be a genetic predisposition to the disease that may be triggered by a virus or something else (I'll let somebody else get into that moreso).

As for your symptoms and whether or not you have diabetes:

Think you might have diabetes?

That's a good thing to read before jumping to conclusions. You're really going to need to go back to your doctor if you're worried about this being diabetes. If you're unsure, whether or not your symptoms are "bad" enough to justify the expense, then wait them out and see if they improve. If you have Type I diabetes, your symptoms will go from bad, to worse, to really very much worse, to holy **** how am I not dead right now.

It's a very rapid progression of symptoms and their severity and, if you were experiencing it now, you'd recognize most of the symptoms posted in that "so you think you might have diabetes" thread.

With the frequent urination and blurry vision, you might have an infection or something else as a result of your stress/anxiety problems. Statistically, diabetes should not be the first thing you leap to as an answer, even if your father has diabetes. Every case of diabetes is different, but I will say that when I was diagnosed in early June of 2003 I didn't have any symptoms that really popped up as warning signs of diabetes until late April of 2003. Before that it was far too subtle for me to figure out what was going on.

I suppose you should also clarify what you mean by "frequent urination". Pre-diagnosis many diabetics are absolutely driven to continue to consume water and fluids constantly. Urination is frequent and high in volume. It will wake you up at night and you will drink even more water then. If you want a quick litmus test as to whether or not you should look into this more, look and see if you have lost a significant amount of weight in the last many weeks (or since your last doctor's appointment). Again, the symptoms can vary a bit based on the type, and I'm just listing what is more or less type 1 diabetes symptoms (given your age and assuming a normal BMI, that's probably what you would get IF (that's IF) you get it. Another easy thing to look out for are yellow crystals building up on the toilet (around the top of the bowl). Pre-diagnosis, a diabetic deals with glycosuria and the sugar in their urine can form crystals on the toilet (I had a nice collection pre-diagnosis).

You're really going to need to go back to the doctor if only for the vision problems alone. Don't walk in there telling them you have diabetes, just tell them your primary symptoms and mention the hereditary history of diabetes (make sure to mention whether it's Type I or Type II). You could experience those symptoms with a number of diseases/viruses/whatever, and it's best not to lead on the doc in case it's actually something simpler (like a sinus infection or something).

[clayman]

Well it could be stress, but even when I feel calm I get symptoms.

I mean I got frequent urination and a rapid heart rate right after I thought I was having bloody stools.

Maybe I pushed my stress so hard that I have developed symptoms from it.
I've read 2 forum topics from random places of people listing off their symptoms of stress, and a lot of it matches up with my symptoms.

I really don't know.

My frequent urination doesn't build up crystals or anything in the bowl. It is constant, like quite a lot, every hour.
The more I drink, the faster and more of it comes around.

It is clear during the day, and when I go to sleep and wake up, I wake up with a pretty full bladder and 90% of the times it comes out yellow.

My vision isn't blurry, like I need a glasses upgrade, but I experience ghosting afterimages when I look away from an object/have my focus shifted.

Thanks for the reply it helps a little.

[Mindstorm]

OK, regarding the frequent urination: Do you feel as if you are dying of thirst and unable to quench said thirst? Simply peeing a lot and drinking water frequently as a consequence of this does not indicate diabetes. I do this when I have a cold. Pre-dx, however, there was this unquenchable thirst that almost felt like it was driving me to madness. Frequent urination and frequent urination with a savage, unquenchable thirst are symptoms that I would say are indicative of different conditions.

Also, though you "feel calm" you might not actually be calm. This is one of the things about anxiety disorder and depression (and I suppose a whole order of stuff like this) in that you may have had a build-up of symptoms over a series of months (or years) and it's just something you don't notice before because it's in your every day life. You should consider setting up an appointment to see a psych doctor if stress is a major factor in your life and you do not believe you'd be able to treat it with counseling alone.

I've read that the trails/ghosting images can be caused by high blood pressure, which you can easily associate with stress. Depending on how stressed you are it could also be a further side effect of not getting quality sleep at night (i.e. you're somewhat tired because you are suffering from severe stress, and this leads to you experiencing symptoms that you'd have if you missed sleep; stuff like hallucinations, sensory issues, etc). I would say that this is not a typical symptom that diabetics have pre-diagnosis. Generally we get blurred vision, but this is due to the effect of high levels of blood sugar on the eye. I can't say this rules out the possibility of diabetes, but this symptom would likely be a consequence of a different disorder (like freaking out about whether or not you have diabetes and worrying/stressing to the point where it affects your health).

TBH with frequent urination without an unquenchable thirst (and increased hunger and rapid and significant weight loss), and with your vision problems, I'd be more likely to suspect a urinary tract infection complicated by a lot of stress (maybe even anxiety issues). Even then, it might be nothing. You could be fighting off an illness or a low-level infection and you're stressing so much about your health that it's affecting your wellbeing in multiple ways.

Until you see a doctor you will not get an answer that is satisfactory. It sounds like you've been dealing with these symptoms for quite some time now, and if you were dealing with diabetes they would be getting worse at a fairly rapid pace. I think you can safely rule out diabetes, but it sounds like you have a real issue with stress that you need to deal with and it also sounds like your body might be fighting off an infection or illness that might justify another trip to the doctor.

[yannah]

I did have these same symptom in ER at your age when i was diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder just FYI.

[clayman]

My frequent urination seems like everything I drink comes right back out.

Sometimes I'm afraid if I'm not retaining all the water I need in my body.
I naturally drink a lot, and my drinking hasn't really increased more than I already want to drink.
I don't feel super thirsty, and my mouth isn't dry, besides when I get up from breathing through my mouth.

I think my blood pressure could be high though. It's easy to feel my beat.

I have been sleeping at awful scheduals, pretty much sleeping in the morning until the afternoon or sometimes at night.

Maybe this really is an anxiety problem.
Last year I have been becoming a hypochondriac, constantly checking my heart rate, worried about my health.
I started to do a little more exercising, but then at February I've been actually sick ever since.
Everyday I think about my health and I worry what is wrong with me.

I've been to the ER 2 times and a doctor's appointment once, and I still feel like they missed something.

Thanks for the help, and good luck with your diabetes.

[genie86333]

Originally Posted by clayman

I have been sleeping at awful scheduals

Last year I have been becoming a hypochondriac, constantly checking my heart rate, worried about my health.

Everyday I think about my health and I worry what is wrong with me.

I've been to the ER 2 times and a doctor's appointment once, and I still feel like they missed something.

Sorry about snipping away at your post, but I wanted to point out these things in particular - it sounds far from what a "calm" person would say - it sounds like you're under quite a bit of stress!

Also, if you're body is used to having adequate water, it's not going to retain large amounts (unless something else is wrong.)

[clayman]

I drink 2 to 3 quarts a day maybe 4, and I don't do anything really to sweat it off or anything.

I have been forced to move to a new house.
I know I'm stressed but I didn't know how much it's taking a toll on me.

[timeofseasons]

I'm also experiencing symptoms and know it's all caused by a health problem and not just anxiety ( which can be often triggered by a infection/ disease). Being 17 years old I'm not that surprise many resort to anxiety etc... I first did long research and came up with thoughts I may be celiac, diabetic, or some other disease. I began to go on a gluten free diet ( celiac) and notice improvements in my symptoms, but not completely. Now as I look on symptoms of being diabetic, I have so many plus more. So I can't just rule of being diabetic also, and think I possibly could have seen improvements due to my lower intake of glucose. As you don't know all my symptoms, I have no clue what all of yours are either but I do know changing to gluten free and monosodium glutamate free I've seen improvements.

[PrettynPurple]

before being diagnosed, I was sooooooo thirsty I would knock back 2-20 oz bottle of oj in 5 mins. I was drinking a 24oz bottle of water in an hour, at work I would get up 3-5 times an hr to go pee and i was getting up at nite every hr to pee, depsite not drinking anything 2-3 hrs before bed.

I was so tired I would take naps on my 15 min breaks and spent the 1st 3 hrs of working, falling asleep at my desk.

i always hungry, especially in the am after waking up.

part of me knows that i got diagnosed just in time before it got worse. but another part of me wishes i waited another couple of months more, so i could have lost another 20 lbs

[Marcia K in Fl]

Clayman

It sounds like you are anxious. Life is hard and at times scary. You are definitely on top of your symptoms but do not panic. You have youth on your side. You mentioned you did not have money, what about going to a public hospital or free clinic? Do you have any diabetic friends? If so, see if they will let you test yourself with their monitor a few times. That should give you peace of mind or not but you will know where to go from there. If you do not have any friends who are D. and you can't get supplies from dad I have read here that Wall mart has very inexpensive monitors and strips.

You need to set your mind at ease and you have to do whatever you can to do that-even if it means testing yourself!

I hope things look up for you!