17 year old son, GP or A&E?

[Imamumgetmeoutofhere]

My son is 17, almost 18. For the last 3 days he’s been peeing a lot more than normal and drinking a lot more than normal. This morning I found him asleep on the sofa and he said he had been too tired to go up the stairs to bed, but feels ok in himself today, just wiped out.

I said take him to A&E as these sound like possible diabetes symptoms, husband think it sounds like a UTI and has done an e-consult and urine sample for him at our surgery.

Am I over panicking? Or should I be trusting my judgement and taking him to A&E?

Thanks in advance

Came across your thread and saw you were going to take your DS to hospital. I‘m so glad you did, my friend‘s teenage daughter had very similar symptoms and was diagnosed with Diabetes Type 1 in A&E.

Try not to think too much about what lies ahead - I am just so glad your son is in the best possible place to receive appropriate care. I hope you have support in RL and wish for your son to mend quickly.

Because at this age it will likely be type 1 and he would need specialist care

Well hopefully this thread will have made other parents realise the seriousness of what symptoms he was having and may save another childs life. Op when things settle i would also put a complaint into the gp surgery if you told them all his symptoms and supplied a urine sample and they haven't bothered contacting you because that should of been triaged better.

Oh I’m so sorry OP💐
What a shock it must be for your family. I hope the hospital are supporting your son (and you) as best as possible.

I’m going to hold my hands up and say when I read your first post I thought to myself “oh he should be fine, it’s been so hot that’s why he’s drinking peeing and knackered, surely he doesn’t need A&E”. So wow, I was very very wrong (and perhaps very ignorant). So thank you for actually educating me on this.

Wishing you and your son all the best. xx

Sympathies it's a huge shock and learning curve unfolding right in front of you all.

However, the changes in diabetes management over the past twenty years are huge. Diabetes tech is amazing and has truly changed lives and outcomes. I don't see a lot of type 1 diabetics in my current practice (anaesthesia) but when I do more often than not they are well set up on a pump and continuous glucose monitor and have excellent diabetes monitoring numbers.

I also have several friends and colleagues with Type 1 (we are all hitting 50-ish) most have been diagnosed since adolescence. No-one lets it define their life, one is a scuba diving instructor, another sails competitively and has done since university. All have responsible successful careers. Most are parents. All drive. None have yet racked up any of the long term consequences. Life does go on. It might just look a bit different for a while as you all get your head round this.

Well you could correct with a gentler tone … I’m not the only one to pick up on it.

If anyone is in doubt about how serious diabetes is, I was in hospital with my son on the high dependency ward. There were 2 teenagers on the ward with diabetes. Literally one step down from the sickest children in the region.

actually now I think of it there might have been one on the PICU too.

What an incredible mum you are, you knew something was off. Hope your son feels a bit better soon. Deep breath. You can do this.

You are incredible for getting him there on time.

So glad you took him in! The NHS is great and there is so much support for T1 diabetics now. I got diagnosed at about 9 and am happy and healthy, had two very successful pregnancies, traveled the world etc. Life is good!

Wishing your son the best x

Only just seen this thread, SO glad you took him in, from experience I know DKA can get bad very quickly. It's going to be a challenging journey for all of you to get your heads around 💙 I was diagnosed at 13, still mostly healthy 30 years on. There is so much amazing technology now to make diabetes management so much easier than it was. I hope your son gets a brilliant supportive team behind him. He's got you looking out for him, that's the most important thing 💙💙

@Imamumgetmeoutofhere massive hugs.

There are really good diabetes support forums for teens but don’t forget yourselves as well.
Give yourselves grace - it’s a hard diagnosis for parents as well. You’ll become an expert on sugars, pumps, glucose monitors and the million and 1 emotions that come with it.

You undoubtedly saved your son’s life by getting him to A&E. DKA is really serious but he is in the best place now. My sibling was diagnosed in his teens with Type 1 Diabetes (and he was also in DKA) and he manages it really well and lives a wonderfully fulfilling life with children and a successful career and lots of fun to boot. It is so overwhelming at first, and his life has definitely changed forever but he can do this. And so can you ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 well done for being such a good advocate for your son and trusting your gut. You saved his life.

I hope all the absolutely uneducated people take heed, and stop giving frankly dangerous advice on these sort of threads in the future.

Well done to all that did respond saying it was a medical emergency.
you may have saved this young mans life.

I've seen your update and I hope that he feels better soon. It is hard watching your child going through something as serious as this.

I wanted to come in to say 'Mum knows best' so always trust that Mum instinct.

Your instincts were right, but we are conditioned not to go to A&E unless a limb is falling off.

I imagine those of us who said to take him are either health care professionals or have first hand experience of diabetes.

you got him there, diagnosed and treated, he will start to feel so much better soon.

I'm guessing @takingitdown hasn't apologised for being a cunt yet. It's one thing to be wrong it's quite another to double down and be fucking insulting with it.
I'm glad your son is in the right place op. Good luck to him and you all.

Thank god you went to A&E. Sending lots of love.

I'm so glad you went to a and e. Good luck to your son and to you. He is lucky to have you and his dad looking out for him. ❤️

My DH had similar symptoms and went to the GP. They did urine test/bloods and he was immediately sent to A&E.
Triage (with GP letter) and sent to a different department and was diagnosed with diabetes. His was so extreme and quick onset that for several weeks they were unsure what type he had and was initially given insulin . Diagnosed with type 2 a few weeks in.and niw on low dose meds.

Your poor son! Good on you for getting him to a doctor when you did. You never imagine that such a lifelong dangerous condition can come on so quickly in a previously healthy, young person.
I hope he feels better soon and that he learns to manage his condition quickly before the challenges of uni/work life start.

He’ll be fine, OP. I’ve had T1 since I was 10 and am still complication free despite having gone through childbirth, uni and all kinds.

I can 100% say I haven’t missed out on a thing because of it. I have an insulin pump with a closed loop CGM and omg it is LIFE CHANGING!

Take any technology you are offered while he’s still young as it can be harder to come by as an adult!

This is awful advice. The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is absolutely an emergency, is life threatening, literally following this advice could be the difference between life and death.
Thank goodness the op ignored this dangerous advice

Your gut feeling was there op well done you. Hope your son is ok.

How strange to have this pop up at 17 though.

I just want to say thank you again to you all.

He wanted me to stay with him overnight but because he’s in shared ward I wasn’t able to but can go back first thing tomorrow morning and spend as much time there as I want and they will phone me overnight if anything is wrong.

We’re still not sure how long he will be in for but he seems to have picked up already and said he was a bit hungry earlier which is more like him.

All the staff have been incredible, both with him and with me. They even bought me a cuppa and a sandwich to make sure I was taking care of myself.

Weve been told he will likely be straight into adult diabetic services as he turns 18 in less than a month which makes sense as they won’t have to do the transition of care. Will be using a freestyle Libre sensor once he’s under control with the medicines he’s had today, but not decided if he will be doing injections or using a pump as they haven’t fully discussed this, and I think he will get an input once he’s been explained it all fully.

He’s also been offered the opportunity to speak to mental health if he wants it as it’s obviously an awful shock, both the diagnosis and how unwell he got and how rapidly.

Tomorrow as recommended by someone on here (sorry I can’t remember who) I’m going to contact school and ask them to contact the exam board as he’s just sat his a-levels.

Im off to bed now to try and get some sleep. My mind is whirling and I’ve got the worst headache I’ve ever had.