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?

This.

I'm rather frustrated with the comments about the lack of understanding of the seriousness of type 1.

I'm fully aware of the impact of diabetes having had both type 1 and 2 in my immediate family, having seen DKA and having been a nurse in my younger years. Based on the information provided by the OP I feel it was a complete overreaction and am concerned at the blind faith in AI.

Yes, misuse of AI and/or misunderstanding its correct applications and limits seems to already be a huge problem for the general population. (Based on what gets said on MN at any rate)

How many times do you think they would have needed A&E if they’d not had a diagnosis and all the equipment and medication?

How is your son now OP, hope all is well

How are you today @NeuroSpicyCat? Tired, no doubt. How’s your lad?

I recommend 111, at least initially. Helps them triage. IME, they call back quickly when it’s likely urgent tests or treatment is needed.

But they booked him in at A&E, so they clearly felt his symptoms warranted running some checks. And given his late dad had diabetes, it’s understandable you were worried.

Well they were diagnosed because they recognised the actual symptoms and attended their GP in a timely manner.

During this appointment the appropriate tests etc were arranged, which followed with a diagnosis and equipment and medication.

So still twice.

It's great your family haven't needed A&E many times.

however, if you'd read the thread there are children still alive because their parents took them when they felt there was something wrong.

I will NEVER tell a parent to ignore their feelings & do not care, not even one small but, if they go to A & E & it wasn't necessary. FAR FAR better many go & it turns out to be 'nothing' than one child isn't taken because someone on the internet has made a parent too uncomfortable taking them.

Yeah, but people still won't listen because they think they know better.🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

Who would send them back to A&E. Don't blame people for the fact the MHS is fucked.

I'm sorry you were so badly let down, sadly, I'm not at all surprised.

please keep repeating your story on these threads because it may save a child's life one day.

I'm sorry about your son x

please keep telling your story, one day it might actually educate some people!!

im sorry to hear that, I hope she gets the best treatment possible xx

its scary how people prefer to dismiss things like this in children.

My Aunty died because her GP told her just to take some paracetamol. It didn't stop the aneurysm, funnily enough.

So? Are you unaware of how conversation works?

No, you don't just disagree with me. I'm not going over the whole thing again, it's there for everyone to see.

Don't try to lecture me when you can't even follow a conversation.

Agree with both of you whole heartedly.

This is getting silly now. Below is from NHS. Has also been my experience - the most recent when l fell and cut my hand quite deeply. Was triaged by a nurse, sent for X-ray, and eventually went through to see a nurse clinician who cleaned the wound, used surgical glue to close it, dressed it and gave instruction on signs of infection. I was there two hours. Never saw a doctor throughout the process.

*2. Assessment – Triage
Once you have registered you’ll generally be pre assessed before further action is taken. This is called Triage. The process is carried out on all patients attending A&E. Triage ensures people with the most serious conditions are seen first.

1. Treatment, transfer or discharge

What happens next depends on the results of your assessment. Sometimes further tests need to be arranged before a course of action can be decided. If your situation is not a serious accident or emergency, you may be sent to a nearby Urgent Care Centre, Minor Injuries Unit or referred to a GP onsite. This will reduce the waiting queue in A&E and at the same time allows you (the patient with the lesser injury) to be treated quickly as well. The waiting time target for patients in A&E is currently set to 4 hours from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. However, not all hospitals have associated Urgent Care Centres, which means people with minor injuries may have a longer wait until they are seen. In some cases you may be sent home and asked to arrange for a GP referral or you may be given a prescription and sent home. Either way, the Hospital will inform your GP that you have been to A&E. If your situation is more complicated, you may be seen by an A&E Doctor or referred to a Specialist Unit. For example, this could happen for eye problems, strokes or emergency gynaecology.*

I don’t care what you say to be quite frank, because you are clearly more hysterical than most about bed wetting. The fact of the matter is that the OP sent her son to Accident + Emergency because he wet the bed and she made the leap to T1 diabetes.
Enough people on this thread think this situation is ludicrous for me to know it’s not just me being ‘toxic’.

If OP had genuine concerns, then ringing the GP or taking him to a walk-in centre the next morning would have been more appropriate. He wasn’t unwell and he wasn’t exhibiting any dangerous symptoms, so it wasn’t an emergency.
Absolutely she should look into him possibly having T1 diabetes if it runs in the family, but using A+E in the middle of the night when it was NOT an emergency right then is one of the reasons why resources are being wasted on people who do not need them in that moment. I am fairly sure that I’d have A+E staff supporting my viewpoint, who are sick to death of people their wasting time and resources and taking them away from actual emergencies.

I am done with this ridiculous argument. I wonder if, had it been Covid times, OP would have taken her son to A+E for bed wetting. I doubt it.

Best of luck and I hope you’re wrong - try not to worry about the as yet unknown x

Go through your GP or 111 not AI.

The NHS is free at the point of use paid for by general taxation and National Insurance contributions.

Most people get more out of the NHS than they pay in over their lifetime.

Don't abuse the system by asking some random AI, go through the proper pathways and that is either your GP or 111 unless life threatening. That's what posters are saying, not ignore worrying symptoms.

In the UK, half of adults read at the level of a 9 - 11-year-old. They won’t be able to effectively deal with what AI tells them.

Call 111 or speak to your GP first, they can recommend next steps. Only go to A&E if it’s a real emergency. Posters are not saying not to access relevant health care including A&E but to use the proper channels so you know where to go.

If the NHS made an AI that talks in simple language and gives clear, easy advice, it could help people in th eifrst instance and ease the burden on 111.

Hysterical ? Really ? And none of what you’ve said here addressed what I posted.

I think the reason the OP hasn’t updated this thread is because all is fine and she feels silly for overreacting. If you are reading this OP, I think that maybe you need some help with your anxiety. Wishing you well

I think the problem is that more and more people are turning to google because they can’t get timely access to a GP. From some of the posts here you’d think you can just ring the surgery as and when you need to and speak to a clinician. This is just not the case. Here, you join the 8am scramble for an initial phone appointment, but if there are no appointments left when you get through you’re directed to other services - including A&E. And the walk in centres here are a disaster. Most don’t open until noon and only let people in a couple at a time, so you’re queuing outside for ages before you can even get into the building to register.

Since covid GP’s seem to have decided that this is the way they want to operate. Access to them takes time, so it’s not surprising that people are turning to A&E where it’s their best chance of actually being seen for something that is happening now, as opposed to in two or three weeks time via your GP when you’re either recovered, dead or something in between.

Nobody has dismissed. People have said he didn’t have the symptoms of diabetes. Which he did not and which was confirmed by a normal blood sugar. And that seeking primary care would be more suitable than A&E. Which it would have been. You’ll note that the poster you are responding to said her child has chronic kidney disease, for which the symptom was bed wetting. This is a perfect example of a condition that OP’s child could have, which would be best diagnosed through primary care.

They didn’t know his blood sugar levels without visiting the hospital and it was not worth risking his life to wait for a GP appointment