To think this is the start of type 1 diabetes

[NeuroSpicyCat]

Hand hold please.

My 13 year old son informed me tonight that he wet the bed last night.

This has never happened before.

His late father had Type 1 diabetes which started around this age.

My son also has a sore tummy (that comes and goes) and sore calves (that come and go).

He seems to have low mood also.

He's always been really thin.

My husband (his stepdad) is driving to A&E with him right now. I’m staying home with the other 4 children. (I can’t drive).

I’m autistic and scared. I’m so worried for him. AI said he is highly likely to be diagnosed given his symptoms and family history, and he’s likely to be urgently admitted to hospital.

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

Cool. It isn't an emergency, it clearly isn't an accident so going to the department for Accidents and Emergencies is not appropriate. We have a GP service for long term health issues. I'm sorry your practice doesn't great but if I was to phone in the morning we would get an appointment for this the same day.

How on earth do you know what people have in their first aid kits? You can buy a simple test kit for less and £15 they last a few years. Just as worthwhile item to have as a blood oxygen meter and plasters.

I have 2 daughters with Type1 diabetes - the elder diagnosed at 10. It was a very steep learning curve the first time, but both are healthy adults now. Try not to worry too much, there is lots of support and information out there

People who don’t have direct experience of T1 Diabetes need to just shhhhh. On this thread, on Facebook comments, in real life.

Not so improbable - blood glucose can fluctuate at the onset - hopefully he will be monitored over the next few months to make sure

Absolutely not true. Triage nurses can and do discharge patients after assessment if they decide that the condition is not serious enough to warrant A&E treatment. They can refer patients back to their GP, or more appropriate urgent treatment centres. They can also simply provide advice and send them home with instructions on self care.

On this occasion it was determined that DS should stay and see a doctor, as further testing may be necessary. And for those advising that they should simply have left, this can have repercussions as it’s noted on your records as self discharge against medical advice, and the hospital will take no action to follow up on you. If you return to A&E you will have to go through triage again, so what’s the point if you have been advised to stay for further assessment. There’s some truly terrible advice on this thread, verging on the bullying of a mum whose only concern was for her sons’ safety.

That's not really how AIBU works? If you ask if you being unreasonable you have to expect some people to respond that you are. There are plenty of medical categories.

Agreed. Its alarming how much misinformation is pn this post. Many think T2 is T1!

It’s everywhere and it really is so upsetting and in certain situations dangerous. Why can’t people just keep their mouths shut about things they know nothing about?

"AI says..." is not a reliable way to diagnose anything, it can be completely wrong!

Urine testing doesn't determine if it is a diabetes emergency considering the OP's son's family history. Diabetes 1 usually begins manifesting some symptoms during teen age years. Not all the classic symptoms have to show for doctors to take it seriously as a possible medical emergency. Family history and puberty are closer looked at. Doctors should be doing blood tests, and even if they are ok, the A & E should give a letter to the GP to have another lot of blood tests within the month.

I hope OP's son is ok and diabetes 1 is ruled out. But to make the OP feel guilty for taking her son to A & E considering how serious is the condition, is knowing nothing about it.

The glucose monitors last a few years, the test strips do not. They have a shelf life and are unreliable once they’ve passed that date. Unopened they last around 18 months. Once opened that reduces to around 3 months. My DH is provided with new test strips for the GP provided monitor every three months and the instruction is to dispose of any older ones left over.

I would say if you can phone your GP in the morning and get a same day appointment you are in the minority in the UK.

@NewishT1Mumbecause they’re idiots. It is no wonder people are still dying due to undiagnosed type one in 2025 with people saying things like that.

I only hope that social media is an outlet for the loud & ignorant and that the rest possesses adequate levels of critical thinking skills etc.

Otherwise humanity is doomed😂

My Caresenses strips last 12 months once opened and my current lot are 26/11 if not opened.

According to the Nuffield Trust in the UK 44% of doctors appointments are booked and attended on the same day. Considering that a considerable number doctors appointments are routinely booked for the future dates for follow up/routine reviews. This implies that the majority of the country has access to same day appointments when needed.

This. And even more reason for them not to leave A&E as some posters have suggested. A repeat blood test would be the norm and this would be communicated to the GP via letter - but if they left AMA the hospital would not follow up, so another opportunity for diagnosis would be missed.

Some dreadful advice on the thread, and posters with actual experience, including an endocrinologist, being dismissed out of hand in the frothing over OP daring to take her child to A&E.

Yes, they are booked by the many people repeat dialling from 8 to try and get one of that days slots. And if you live where it works like that and you don’t get through, they aren’t booked by you.

Just to clarify - I did not say do not seek further medical attention. I said that a well child doesn’t need to wait in a&e at 2am and they could return the next day.

20 years ago it we would not have been shaming a concerned mother for feeling that her child needed to be seen urgently. And, like I say, every medical professional that I know who works in the NHS says the same thing… you do not take chances with a child

Twenty years ago, I would still have classified this as a daft overreaction. And ‘you don’t take chances with a child’ is advice concerning babies and very young children who may be unable to describe what is wrong. By the time they’re 13, a bit of common sense should come into play.

Great cue for me to share this petition after a little girl sadly recently did pass away due to her T1 being missed.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/728677

Her family are fighting for it to be tested for more routinely. So many kids passed off as having a bug, UTI when actually they’re heading towards something really serious.

That's how my BF ended up in DKA and almost died - GP diagnosed symptoms as "hormonal changes" whomst he was "just" an undiagnosed T1D. Maybe OP panicked or maybe not but it doesn't hurt to check. T1D in parent(s) increases the risk for kids.

Quite so many people here seem to be confusing the idea of not going to Accident and Emergency when it is neither an Accident or and Emergency with not getting it checked out at all.

I think you're massively overestimating the amount of medical kit most people have at home. I've never come across anyone with a blood oxygen meter or a blood sugar test kit in a home first aid kit, other than those already diagnosed with relevant conditions such as diabetes.

I've never had cause to use a blood sugar monitor, and would have bought and thrown away a great many packs of test strips by now if I'd tried to keep them available and in date on the off chance I might need them one day. It would make no sense, as like most people I live in a city and could easily go to a hospital where, as the OP's experience confirms, a blood sugar test would be done immediately if there was the slightest hint of suspicion it could be an issue.

I think you're probably also overestimating most people's ability to interpret the results of such tests. If they're needed, you almost certainly need to be seen by a qualified medical practitioner.

And are they specifically face to face surgery appointments or telephone ? Because the norm where we are is to ring at 8am to secure a phone appointment with a GP in the first instance, with follow up either the same day, or at a later date - at the GP’s discretion. I would imagine that for statistical purposes an appointment counts as an appointment whether by phone or in person. Once the telephone appointment slots are filled we are signposted to other services. There are some GP appointments but these are not routinely offered unless there is good reason.

Even diagnosed and with constant follow up with doctors, strict diet and exercise, few people understand how serious is diabetes 1.

It's one of the biggest causes of kidney and pancreas transplants in young people when insulin no longer works and often get heart attacks or liver problems.

Some of you before talking crap in this thread should go to a transplant unit in one of your major hospitals to get a dose of reality.