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

I agree i don't understand why mumsnet allows it nobody should be asking or giving medical advice online

I know 2 people whose diabetes diagnosis came after they fell into a coma as children. If you have a walk in centre, I'd go there rather than A&E but request an urgent blood test. Mothers instincts are often right, unless you are usually over anxious, I'd listen to them.

How do you know ?

Of course it’s a medical emergency. It’s highly suggestive of T1 diabetes and if the boy is in DKA it’s life threatening. This is such dangerous twaddle - why comment on things you clearly know nothing about ?

It takes ages to get to see a GP round here, and by the time they get round to tests etc, it would be much safer to get quicker treatment. If yours still does appointments quickly, fair enough, but ours now says dial 111/999 instead of ask for emergency appointments.

More dangerous crap. These are classic T1 diabetes symptoms and coupled with the tiredness could indicate he’s in DKA - which is life threatening. If you can’t add anything sensible, at least stop doubling down on your advice because it’s wrong.

So much awful advice on here. Op I am glad you have gone to A and E.
As pp have said, if posters are not qualified just advise the OP to ring 111 or eqivalent.
I frequently do that and I have nearly 40 years of nursing experience. But unless it is an obvious 999 call, it is better if someone gets triaged and directed appropriately.

No it isn’t. It’s A&E. He has classic symptoms of the onset of type | diabetes and the tiredness could very well indicate DKA, which is life threatening. You’re talking dangerous nonsense.

No they wouldn’t . They will send straight to A&E. However urine test and finger prick will diagnose diabetes , A&E is required to get insulin initially.

Trust your instincts OP. They are valuable- on the Paediatric early warning score tool which is based on observations and is used to identify and categorise how ill and at risk someone is parental concern is a recognised and independent trigger for escalation of care.

all of you saying go to the GP need to spend some time having a look into DKA and type 1 diabetes. He’s right in a risky age range and it can often be diagnosed via an emergency emission.

Still doubling down on the crap then ? You realise commenting on things you know nothing about can be very harmful ?

I‘m a nurse btw.

@takingitdown - what experience and knowledge do you have about diabetes? Do you have medical training or experience? Because the advice you are giving could literally cause someone’s death.

Drinking a lot, peeing a lot and being exhausted are three of the four classic symptoms of diabetes, and if the OP’s son’s blood sugar is too high, he could lapse into a hyperglycaemic coma and die.

If you are ignorant of a medical subject - and you do sound ignorant about diabetes - you should not offer advice.

Paediatric diabetes specialist nurse here! Realise I'm probably late posting this but he absolutely does need to go to A&E as this sounds very much like T1 diabetes. Unfortunately GPs still often miss T1 diabetes. Recent research has shown that around 50% of children that present in life-threatening diabetic ketoacidosis have been seen by a medical professional in the week prior and mis-diagnosed.
I hope your son is ok.

They would possibly do a finger prick blood sugar and ketones test, if it was out of normal range they would refer to a&e. They might skip the test depending on symptoms/ presentation.

edit- I’d go straight to a&e as in my experience the GP can miss things with diabetes. The doctor I saw didn’t event know how to do a ketone test when I asked for one. the nurse did it eventually and sent my daughter to hospital who did proper testing - they do take it seriously.

So much wrong information in this post. Plenty of people have explained why you're wrong about diabetes but I also want to add why you are wrong about uti, not everyone has these classic symptoms I had a bad uti a few years ago absolutely none of these symptoms what symptoms I did have was I had a complete mental breakdown, extreme exhaustion and it was finally picked up after I overdosed. Not everyone's symptoms will follow what a textbook says and this is why drs go to uni for so long and why random people on the Internet shouldn't pretend they understand medicine its dangerous

If in doubt go to A&E. They would rather see 100 teens without diabetes, than miss one with it.

And it's never a waste of time to go to A&E with symptoms. We're not talking about a cut finger. Plus the fact you'll actually see someone - unlike a GP - although they do tend to be better with children/under 18s.

OP, if it is type 1 diabetes, please look at this very recent treatment offer:

Do pharmacies test for diabetes?. My local one ( peak pharmacy) doesnt.

You would be wrong. Could be lots of things but the most urgent to exclude is Type 1 diabeted. If GP can see face to face today and test blood sugar thats fine but otherwise it is A&E for them to test blood sugar.

I would phone or email 111 and they will either send you to a walk in center tell you to go to your nearest a and e or arrange a ambulance if they think its serious.

GP.

Many people have had those symptoms (and some others), because of the intense heat. It's easy to become dehydrated and deficient in electrolytes.

Please encourage him to drink plenty of water, eat and drink things to improve electrolyte balance.

I hope the urine test comes back clear of infection and shows no signs of diabetes.

Please read the full thread and educate yourself on the seriousness of these symptoms

and in future do not comment on things you don’t know much about.

But he's passing excess urine. If he was dehydrated his urine output would fall.

Of course I could be wrong.
But he is likely to be showing signs of confusion by now if so.