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

@gingercat02
I haven't seen an acknowledgement so I doubt you saw this:

CWigtownshire · Yesterday 20:25
I probably worded that wrong - not unusual for a young adult to have T1 diabetes but quite unusual to be diagnosed at that age, it's normally younger. My other son was diagnosed T1 at age 4 and died earlier this year in his 30's with diabetic ketoacidosis - so not something to be taken lightly hence the advice to go to A&E. I'm heartbroken.

Or this from @DareDevil223:

"The poor woman lost her son earlier this year. Maybe show some empathy and cut her some slack eh?"

An apology would make you and the OP feel better about your post. Just saying. 🌹

Exactly this. I don’t think a thread has made me so angry on Mumsnet.
Its bad enough posters telling the mother of a child in DKA it’s not an emergency but for some to say giving biscuits and cakes worked for their family member whilst saying they are diabetic themselves is jaw dropping.
Type 1 and Type 2 are to completely different conditions, having a non useless pancreas is something type 1’s can only dream of

So glad you got him looked at quick and he’s in the right place getting the help he and your family need.

Im type 2 diabetic so a different beast to T1 but want to echo advice on the thread to check out Diabetes UK, they have some really useful resources.

it will be a tough few weeks getting your head around the new normal but it will become normal and there is loads of support, tools and resources out there to help you all.

Take it easy, be guided by the medical staff for now and give yourself a chance to acclimate before delving into all the research. The most important thing right now is to get his baselines right, get into good habits around testing his levels and starting to track how his food and drink effects those levels so you can learn how to respond.

It absolutely 100% did not work for your relative.
Low blood sugar… fine.
High blood sugar caused by lack of insulin and leading to DKA (classic symptoms of which are sudden unexplained thirst, peeing a lot, weight loss), feeding that person biscuits and cake could be the final straw and actually kill them within hours. Ever heard of dead in bed?
There is no way what you said actually happened.
Just admit you didn’t know and made a mistake… stop doubling down on reckless advice that thankfully OP didn’t take.

I’d have asked her if she was posting from beyond the grave !!

I feel so bad for OP.
This thread is turning into a stark warning of the ignorance both she and her son are likely to face.
One of the hardest things about being type1 is the sense of isolation as we exist in a world that doesn’t recognise the true nature of what we live with every single day. We deal with life and death choices every minute of every day and yet some days it feels like we are surrounded by people who stubbornly refuse to accept our own lived experience.
I’m so sorry OP if this has left your head spinning but we are a community of fighters, we look out for our own, and hell hath no fury like a type 1 reading dangerous advice on the internet from people who clearly don’t know what that are on about.

Likewise. I actually felt a bit teary reading about the OP’s son and the fact he was in danger - I am so glad she trusted her gut. I’ve said it before but I am starting to think that mumsnet needs to start censoring some of these threads, which can be so dangerous and will undoubtedly deter some from seeking medical attention.

A really good paediatrician once said to me that “a mother’s worry is the first symptom I consider.”

Mums know. I just wish more of us trusted those instincts.

OP - hope that your DS is home from hospital and coping well with it all.

I'm type 2 but on insulin the weather can play havok with blood sugars, mine are a lot lower in the heat ,but the worry is hypos at the moment

@Tuiipthank you for asking. He so much better than he was on Tuesday. We came
home yesterday afternoon. He actually has a bit of colour to his cheeks and doesn’t look exhausted like he did before (which I put down to just finishing his a-levels, obviously now I know better but feel incredibly guilty).

Currently injecting insulin and like someone else said upthread, they are expecting him to do this for a certain amount of time and show he is competent at this before a pump will be considered.

District nurses popped in today to make sure things were going ok, and said they can come in daily as long as we need them which is pretty fabulous.

It’s been a sharp learning curve when it comes to food, especially as he’s quite a fussy eater but overall he’s taking it in his stride, just the one wobble in front of me the first night he was in hospital. He’s joined the diabetes uk forum and has been chatting and posting on there and seems to be a bit better about it all, now that he knows he will be able to live a “normal” life, just with a bit of forward planning.

My work have been great, have been given some paid time off rather than using holiday whilst we get to grips with it all but I have to go back Wednesday as we are very short staffed. Leaving him flying solo with his dad (my husband) which will be a good thing as he will need to get to grips with it all too without me hovering around.

You have all been so kind and full of lots of useful advice - thank you all 🙂

Make sure it is the Diabetes.org.uk not DIabetes.co.uk

Diabetes.org is a legitimate charity that advocates for people who have diabetes.

Diabetes.co.uk os a private company set up to sell low carb diets and programmes but masquerades as a legitimate diabetes website.

I’d get info from Breakthrough T1D.
They were amazing when my DD was diagnosed, they used to be called JDRF, and deal with Type1 diabetes

@Imamumgetmeoutofhere great to hear he is at home and taking an interest in “owning it”. My son was super hungry initially once he was on insulin, almost like his body was making up for lost time. He also had a period of tummy aches, which I understand some other newly-diagnosed t1s had - as ever, seek advice for anything unusual.
wishing you all the very best.

Great to hear that he is doing well OP. Your experience sounds quite similar to ours, including being a fussy eater. Also, feeling guilty because we had put our DS’ symptoms down to a growth spurt and him being naturally pale - but I think that many parents feel guilty after diagnosis for not realising previously and you really shouldn’t.

Glad to hear hes doing ok
I know its daunting at first but it will become 2nd nature to him my son was in DKA on disgnosis three years ago when he was 16 he manages it really well
Hes never been offered a pump btw ( previous pp said it s a bit of a post code lottery)
But he got a Dexcom a few weeks after discharge which was very reassuring for me.

I haven't commented on your post yet, but I watched it all going down. I was very worried when I saw people recommending the GP. I was so happy to read that you'd taken him to A&E and got him sorted.

I was on insulin as a T2 diabetic when I
Spent some time on steroids. It does take some getting used to but he will get there. Like you said, just a bit of forward planning needed.

So pleased you're home and he is doing well 😀