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

No definitely not. It’s more the leaving it three days, and as people are saying it can kill you, on which of those previous three days would it have become emergent.

I’m not blaming the OP; her son is more or less a grown man and could have asked to go to the doctor, it’s more a comment on all the posters who are saying that it’s an absolute emergency and are bitching at other people for suggesting the GP. If the son had seen the GP on day one or two would it have developed into a life threatening problem.

He’s in the right place thankfully. Hard news for you all. 17 is such a tender age, just starting out and then being hit with that. It’s a lot to take in for you all. Hopefully once the dust settles - it just becomes the new norm. I wish you all the best 🌺.

Yes it would have. He would just have been sent to A & E by the GP. Type 1 diabetes is incurable (although highly treatable). I have an 18 year old. People who know they have diabetes and are hypo/hyperglycaemic can be unable to make decisions or know whats going on. How would a 17 year old kid who a few days before was perfectly fine be able to understand what was happening? They don't suddenly turn into grown adults on their 18th birthday!

He wanted me to stay with him overnight
You know your grown up teenage son is feeling vulnerable when they ask this - poor lad.

Very glad he's OK @Imamumgetmeoutofhere , a great shock for you all. I hope he won't be self conscious if he wears an insulin pump, I've seen teenage girls wearing them and no one bats an eye - I think most people are aware of them and how amazing the technology is these days.

No shade at all - I hope everyone who doubted it was a medical emergency has learned to take such symptoms seriously. As I say, no shade because you don't know what you don't know, but he was very lucky and perhaps someone reading this thread will save someone else's life one day.

@takingitdown bet you feel stupid.

@Imamumgetmeoutofhere glad he is getting the treatment he needs!

As much as CGMs and pumps make things A LOT easier I don’t think we want to take away how difficult a life with Type 1 diabetes still is. I think people are guilty of thinking it almost takes everything away but it doesn’t.

I read an article yesterday about a woman who woke up next to her husband who was practically dead because his pump gave him too much insulin. Sensors fail. You still need to carry certain things anywhere you go and many many more things if you dare to stray more than a few miles from home and for more than a couple of hours. Going through the airport is a nightmare (more so with the tech). Constantly making sure you have enough of everything. Waking up overnight and checking ketones because for some reason their blood sugar has been over 18 for 2 hours. The annual eye screening and crossing your fingers for the results hoping there’s no diabetic changes.

Our life has changed massively since the pump but there is still so much to think about and I hate knowing one day this will all be on my child.

Most of my family have either type 1 or 2. It is very inheritable. You were right to go to A and E once he was showing signs of confusion.
It is manageable. And many people have it. People do seem to think it is the end of the world, but it really isn’t.
Ask questions to those who are medically qualified to deal with it. Think about what you need to ask. Note the questions down so you don’t forget any you want to know.
Diabetes websites are helpful too.

When my friend was diagnosed I seem to remember there being a period of time before she was able to be prescribed a pump where she had to self-inject before she became eligible. I think she had to be able to show she had the ability to manage it herself so she wouldn’t be solely reliant on a pump/sensor in case it failed. That was several years back, so may have changed now though.

This is what we’ve been told for my newly diagnosed son.

Glad he’s being sorted OP. You did great.

My DH prefers to self-inject, he feels he can fine tune his regime better than he would using a pump. He does use a CGM and it does play up sometimes, definitely need a backup. He uses sleep earphones so if the alarm goes off in the night it doesn't wake me.

But you have to be able to get an appointment. If diabetes is suspected, A&E is the best and fastest route to treatment because NICE guidelines say that a same day referral to hospital is needed anyway.

DKA is a life threatening complication of hyperglycaemia. 40 - 50% of children and young people with new onset diabetes present as a medical emergency with DKA because they have seen a medical professional (GP) within that week and hyperglycaemia has been misdiagnosed. A&E is absolutely the way to go, for that reason alone.

Diabetes comes in various stages of concern. I am diabetic so I do know. Most of my family are. Type 1 and 2.
If biscuits, cake etc have not sufficed and they are not okay A and E. If still showing confusion then A and E absolutely.

I would add if your teenage son is deteriorating in front of your eyes then take action. It wasn’t clear and the OP’s post arguably seemed played down.
Which is why many posters were advising GP.

My 19 year old has never been offerred a pump he was
diagnosed 3 years ago
He got a Dexcom within weeks of diagnosis but still not offerrd a pump
It does becone routine though
He doesnt go anywhere without his insulin and jelly babies.

I would say go as soon as you hsve symptons
We didnt realise how ill my son was and he collspsed in his bedroom thank god my dh had just gone to check on him just as he collapsed and shouted downstairs to call 999 its all a blur but the paramedics were there within minutes and did all the ususl obs and his blood suger was reading high the machine goes up to 40 so it was over 40
They stabilised him in the ambulance then blue lighted him and me to Aand E straight through to resus
He was in intensive care with in the hour
He was extremely lucky any later i dont think he would have survived .

I’m not sure what you’re suggesting here? If you think someone may be diabetic give them some cake or a biscuit to see if they feel better?! Undiagnosed type 1’s will have hyperglycaemia (very high blood sugar).

Sorry to read your update OP, I was hoping it was just the heat or a bug.

I am sure some other MNers can direct you to help and support.

And maybe now MNers will stop telling people not to go to A&E with serious symptoms.

If you could see your GP right away, that might be ok - although in this case they'd have probably called an ambulance anyway. But you can't, so you go to A&E.

Yes, I was baffled by that post too. "Cake or a biscuit"? WTF?

This is really concerning. You claim to have diabetes but you don’t seem to understand the basics of the condition at all. We’re talking about the onset of a new and previously undiagnosed diabetes. OP’s son was in DKA, which is a complication of hyperglycemia - high blood sugar. Severe lack of insulin prevents the body from using sugar for energy, blood sugar levels spike and the body breaks down fat too quickly, triggering DKA. The treatment for it is not sugar but aggressive insulin and fluids. Why would you feed him cake ?

And waiting until someone in DKA is deteriorating in front of you is a recipe for disaster. OP was clear about the symptoms and the response should always be A&E. Which is what most posters were advising.

Me too. I posted a bit upthread in reply. I actually don’t believe this poster has diabetes - if they do, they seriously need to educate themselves as to how diabetes works before they have a serious incident. And they definitely shouldn’t be posting advice that could be the difference between life and death.

I was going to urge you to go to A&E ASAP, so am so glad you did. This happened to a young relative, who was unconscious by the time she was seen. She's ok now too.

My 16 yo grandson was in critical care with DKA two weeks ago. He had been seen by a locum GP that morning who totally missed it. My daughter was so worried she took him to A and E where once he was triaged everything went at great speed. He is now with the paediatric team for management.

I just came on to say OP that we saw him this morning and he is like a different child, glowing with health and full of energy. He is regaining weight and is very cheerful. Best of luck to you and your family.