Just because I think it is good to get stuff off your chest here is the story of how I found out I was a Type 2 diabetic. Buckle up it’s going to be a long one… Sorry!
Bit of a backstory, I have severe hayfever and would be prescribed steroids to help me when it was so bad. I do not have asthma and have never needed an inhaler, the steroids would help when I was wheezing due the pollen being so high.
Middle of June and there was a thunderstorm coming so the pollen count was very high. I had taken two steroids at lunch time because I was struggling. Felt fine 20 minutes later and carried on with the day. We had dinner at 5pm as usual by 6:30pm I had been struggling to breathe for half hour, I took two more steroids, this is the maximum I’m prescribed to take in a day and I’ve never needed more than two before.
Half an hour later and I’m still struggling to breathe, at this point I am getting scared. I called 111, they ask me to recite the alphabet but I couldn’t say more than 2 letters at a time before I needed to wheeze again. They offered me an ambulance but said I needed to get to A&E asap. While in A&E they decide that it’s not my hayfever and I must have an infection of some sort. An ECG of my heart and blood tests are ordered.
Two hours after the blood test and over four after eating and I get to see a Dr. She is concerned at my blood sugar levels as they at 12mmol/L they should be between 4-7 and should spike around 2 hours after eating before falling again. They do a finger prick test and my sugar levels have shot up to 18mmol/L. We talk and I tell her I had gestational diabetes with the twins so she asks if I might be pregnant and offers to do a test. I start panicking at this point.
I’m being told I either have Diabetes or I’m pregnant again, both are life changing! I’m not going to lie I was really starting to panic at this point. I have 1000s thoughts all running around my head at once – what would we do if we had another baby or how I was going to manage my diet if I was diabetic. I get sent home and told to contact my normal GP and arrange for a HbA1c test.
I get home for around 2am on Sunday morning, I hardly sleep due to worrying and get up first thing to take a pregnancy test…. It failed! I curled into a ball and cried until 6am when I could run to the local shop to grab another test. I took another tests that morning before heading to work and it was negative.
Phew! Well kinda… I now had an 8 hour shift trying to pretend I was ok but the entire time worrying about whether I was pregnant (figured I wasn’t due my period for another week so the test might not have picked it up) or if I had diabetes.
Sods law played a hand in my colleagues working with me that day, one was pregnant and the other a diabetic. I will be forever grateful to my colleagues who helped calm me down, I got a blood sugar monitor and checked my levels throughout the day. My diabetic colleague helped massively clear my head and explained so much to me. Everything at this point is screaming I have Diabetes.
On Monday I called the Dr who said it wasn’t urgent, the chances are the steroids caused the spike in my sugar levels and booked the test for two weeks later. Again the panic began. Could I eat normally or did I need to start limiting my sugary food? And how was I going to manage this with my ARFID.
The doctor said I wasn’t to worry unless my sugar levels went above 20mmol/L they were averaging between 15-18 at this point. I went into self destruct mode and comfort ate an entire medium pizza with a side of chips and nuggets 🤦🏻♀️ But I wasn’t done… Once the kids went to bed I inhaled half a tub of cookie dough ice cream.
My sugar levels spiked to 23mmol/L, success! The Dr would push forward my blood test and I would get some answers and the help I needed. Queue the panic again, I was home alone with three kids and having a hyper, I stupidly didn’t check to see how this would impact my ability to look after them. Step in Mum guilt just to make sure I felt truly horrible and like the worst person in the world.
After a terrible night, I called the drs and managed to get a blood test booked for the following day. They were still rather relaxed about it making me feel like my concerns and worry were not being acknowledged.
I have my blood test and while I wait a few days for my results it’s my birthday weekend. I had to pick up the most amazing cake from @GlassonburySugarCoated but would I be able to enjoy it or feel rubbish after eating it?
Typically my birthday meal was at an all you can eat Chinese restaurant, it was delicious food but I was very aware of how sugary and carb loaded the meal was. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to relax and enjoy myself. Thank goodness for great friends 😊
I got a phone call the following Monday to tell me I needed to arrange an appointment to see the Dr. I asked what my HbA1c result was and I was told it was 80 a quick search showed it should have been below 47!
Bye for now x
Share