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General health

Sweet smelling urine in teen - diabetes?

11 replies

NameChange1815 · 23/01/2016 20:57

I noticed that DD (13) has developed sweet smelling urine. She's not actually overweight (though she's not slim) but she does have a terrible sweet tooth, and access to pocket money which is all spent on sweet binging. I'm vaguely worried about diabetes, but I don't know anything about it, or whether there's anything else I should be thinking about. I've got a doctor's appointment for a weeks time, and I've also got some urine glucose testing strips from the chemist but I don't know what time of day to do use them to get a realistic result.

Does anyone have any good suggestions? I really don't have a clue whether I should be panicking.

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PollyPerky · 23/01/2016 22:28

How do you know her urine smells sweet?

The sweet 'pear drops' smell that is linked to diabetes is not a sure sign and at 13 she'd be more likely to have Type 1 than Type 2.

If you are worried you ought to take her to the GP tbh, and not mess around with your own testing.

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NameChange1815 · 23/01/2016 22:33

I am taking her to the GP, but the appointment isn't for another week. I know about the smell because it was noticeable from sorting her pants in the washing. I wasn't deliberately sniffing, it was noticeable from a foot away.

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sadie9 · 23/01/2016 23:24

Diabetes at that she symptoms would be constantly thirsty, increased urination and losing weight. Eating sweets nothing to do with it. Drinking litres of soft drinks every day all of a sudden, maybe.
She could have spilled a drink on her clothes? Best of luck with it

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NameChange1815 · 23/01/2016 23:50

It's weird. She's starving hungry, but I assumed that was just puberty, and not thirsty as far as I can tell. Not spilled drink, because it was just pants and more than one pair. No Type 1 in the family, grandma had type 2 in old age, brought on by an entirely ice cream based diet. I'm baffled.

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TheFuzz · 24/01/2016 00:07

Is she drinking and going to the loo a lot ?

Type 1 does not need any family history. My son was diagnosed 2 years ago.

We noticed sticky toilet seat and loads of drinking and weeing. Does the urine smell of pear drops. If it does this is a sign of ketone acidosis and is serious.

I would go to the pharmacy and ask for a blood test. They can do it there and then. Don't wait a week as it can be fatal if not picked up quickly. A simple test at any pharmacy will let you know what bloods are.

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TheFuzz · 24/01/2016 00:10

Type 1 is caused by an auto immune disease it has nothing to do with weight, diet etc as that's type 2 where poor diet is the cause and that happens in older people . Not kids.

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sadie9 · 24/01/2016 00:39

Could the smell be from some other product, some toiletry or other? Surely very low blood sugars would be causing mood swings and noticeable epusodes of unwellness. You could check it is from the wee by asking her not to flush loo the next time.

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NameChange1815 · 24/01/2016 08:44

She's 13, chronic mood swings and tiredness in the morning are part of the territory, but she doesn't seem unwell. I'll try and track down a local pharmacy that does blood tests (we don't have an Asda, Tesco or a Lloyd) or the alternative would be to get an emergency appointment at the docs. I think I will get her to do a urine test to start with, then at least I'll know I'm not imagining it.

Googling suggests that there is a (relatively rare) thing where your kidneys simply don't process glucose fully, and that it's harmless, so crossing my fingers that it's that.

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NameChange1815 · 24/01/2016 09:19

Did a test, and it came out negative (and didn't smell funny) so that's a relief that I don't have to whisk her into a&e for ketosis. Still baffled by what was going on .

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PollyPerky · 24/01/2016 12:00

I suspect it's nothing to do with diet.

Sweets don't cause diabetes. Being overweight and inactive in older life can and that's because the pancreas can't produce insulin.

Is she using any kind of perfume etc on her pants? Is she trying to cover up normal female odour?

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NameChange1815 · 24/01/2016 12:08

Not as far as I know. I think I'll pass it over to her to monitor if it happens again. She's a reasonably clued up girl apart from the sugar addiction (and we are talking massive binges). I do know that diabetes isn't simply caused by sugar overdose, but it just seemed so weird.