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

Well done OP! You saved your boy x

I’m sorry you and your son are in our gang, I wish we could close for new membership.
It’s a steep learning curve but the tech has come on leaps and bounds. It doesn’t take it away but it helps.
I guess from this thread you can see that us Type1s, our loved ones and the professionals who care for us are a community of fighters.

A&E. In case the tiredness is ketoacidosis, which is an emergency.

Edit - I have just seen your update. Glad you have got him the treatment he needs

Oh thank god you went to A&E. In young people, as you have witnessed, diabetes comes on fast and hard. But treatment has come on an incredibly far way.

I second this. My son was one of the first to get this system and it's life-changing. Children are a priority but I believe they've rolled it out to adults now too (2 of my friends are also T1 and are on closed-loop systems).

My son has for the past 6 months had the blood glucose levels (HB1AC for the T1 nerds!) of someone without diabetes - it's staggering.

Well he was clearly in a lot of trouble today - OP's update shows that he had deteriorated by the time she drove there - struggling to stay conscious and slurring words. The hospital treated it as an emergency and rushed him straight in and he will be staying in hospital for several days.

Untreated T1 diabetes is always an emergency

We can’t expect everyone to know everything or even much about T1 diabetes but if you don’t … please just shhhhh.

I think and say this every single time on these threads. If you don’t know just keep quiet. Let those of us who do know talk.

Someone asking if a GP can’t just deal with it shows that people just don’t realise. Someone diagnosed with T1 will always require a hospital stay while they learn how to keep themselves alive. This isn’t a quick fix at the GP.

Oh OP, thank god you took him and I hope he gets well soon.

Some people on this thread need to take this as a wake up call to keep their traps shut on matters they are not qualified to give advice on.

Judgement on parking wars and family politics is one thing, this was in another league.

So glad you've got him to A&E and they've already diagnosed him and are on it. Yes, it's a lot to deal with. But he will, you'll support him, and he will be fine.

Hope he's feeling more like himself very soon. He's in the right place xx

Just to say solidarity to you OP. My 15 year old DS was unexpectedly diagnosed with diabetes on Sunday and has just got home from hospital. The only symptom he had was weight loss, the extent of which we hadn’t quite realised. He luckily narrowly missed going into DKA after I tested his blood glucose level on impulse at a diabetic relative’s house and the reading was higher than the meter could show.

I hope @takingitdown reads the OP’s update and realises how truly stupid and dangerous their advice was.

I’d like to think they might apologise, as @BillieWiper has done, but I’m not holding my breath.

This is the problem with GPs .. they dismiss things because you don’t fit the type. Always trust your instincts!

Sending you and your son a big hug ❤️ I know Type 1 is daunting, I have two cousins who have been diagnosed. One when he was around 7 years old, but his sister was older around 19. It is manageable but the adjustment can be tough.

I'm glad you took the decision to take your son to A&E, and although tough, you now know what's wrong and plans can be made going forward.

Welcome to the club none of us really want to be a member of. I’m 33 years in and the tech has improved so much, even over the last few years. It will be mind blowing at first but you will get the hang of it so please don’t panic. Wishing you and your son all the best.

Day one. New onset insulin dependent diabetes, which is what this instantly sounded like, is an emergency. People die from it if not treated in time. Fortunately the OP listened to people who know how serious it is. So her son will be okay. Most newly diabetic children/young people get very sick, very fast. Scary as fuck. Though thankfully there are very effective treatment algorithms, once we get our hands on the patient. This is not GP stuff.

Hi @Imamumgetmeoutofhere i just also wanted to add to the comments below. My beat friend was diagnosed at 18 and had to self inject when i lived with her. She's bow in her sixties had 5 kids and has amazing tech that reads her blood sugar and administers the right dose. You literally wouldnt really know she is leading and has led the fullest life.
Try not to worry too much xx

Sorry to hear the sad news, thank goodness for mum's instincts! I wish him a speedy recover in hospital and hope he can manage it going forward. Hugs.

Thank god you took him. Sorry this has happened to him

The teenage son of a colleague had exactly these symptoms and became very ill. It was of course urgent onset Type 1 diabetes.

My nephew was like this. The GP said it was down to him being tired & thirsty from boxing training. SIL wasn't convinced as he was so ill.
SIL phoned to tell us he had been blue lighted to hospital at 2:45am after he had been unable to be roused when she had a feeling to go check on him. And thank god she did
He was found to be in a very serious hyperglycemic state. He had diabetic ketoacidosis and his blood glucose, acid & pH levels were at life threatening levels as he was T1D and never knew it. The doctors and nurses acted very quicky and put a treatment plan in place for him. Their level of care and expertise saved his life that night. If she'd have taken the advice of the GP doesn't bare thinking about. Wishing your son gets well soon

For THREE DAYS? For pity's sake stop commenting on something you obviously have no knowledge or experience of.

What a relief that you got him there 'in time'. There's a steep learning curve ahead but he will soon learn how to look after himself. My DS who is only a few years older ended up in A&E recently for another reason. Shockingly, after eventually treating the other serious issue, they discharged him knowing that his blood glucose was around 30 and they could see that it had been very high for at least 3 months. Within a couple of weeks, he's almost back to normal and is managing well. The technology is brilliant! All good wishes.

Glad you took him to A&E. Was going to advise that as my niece (18) has T1DM and has ended up in ICU with DKA a few times, but saw it too late. It can be bloody fatal, so you don't faff about trying to see your GP. My niece has had it since 3 years old and her mum has it but it gets her down. It's a hard age to be diagnosed with it and it can hit boys harder. Diabetes UK and Breakthrough T1D may be able to point you in the direction local support groups. Hopefully for teens and young adults, and for parents and carers. Hope you are all okay x

Congratulations. If she’d followed your advice he could well have died.

That GP should be reported!

We are all so conditioned to Keep Calm and Carry On, aren't we?
Sometimes we need to post on a chat forum to get that push to seek medical attention.
This was one of those times.

Thankfully many astute posters replied giving correct advice: Get a medical opinion now.
Never downplay concerns for health. Even the most seemingly innocuous symptom or change could be significant. In this case, OP's son had a constellation of symptoms that alerted her and she did the right thing. 💐