Hi everyone. I'm 22, and over the last two weeks, I've developed some abnormal symptoms. I've had excessive thirst (which is very strange because my entire life I have not needed to drink a lot of water), frequent urination, nausea, as well as some dizziness and fatigue. My symptoms have become especially noticeable in the last few days. I should also mention that I've been slightly underweight my entire life, and there's no diagnosed diabetics in my family.

I definitely want to get a blood test done, but my medical insurance doesn't officially start until the 1st of August. I really can't afford to go in before then. What should I do in the meantime?

Until you can be tested for diabetes, reduce the carbohydrate intake, exercise a reasonable amount daily.

A balanced diet is best at this time. Avoid white foods, that is, potatoes, rice, pasta, sugar, sweets, regular soft drinks, etc. These will spike the bloodsugar.

I am not a medical professional.

You can get sticks in a drugstore which check for ketones in the urine, this would be a sign of very serious diabetes. Otherwise it shouldn't be too bad to wait a few weeks, if it gets worse go to an ER, your health is much more important than money.

Inquire among friends and family to see if they know anyone with diabetes. If they keep asking people to ask people you will eventually come across someone with a glucose test kit who will be willing to test your blood sugar. Test it fasting and 2 hours after you've eaten. In some ways the 2 hours after a meal is better because it gives a better idea how well you handle food (eat a moderate amount of carb - no twinkies, but not carb free either). 2 hours after a meal it should be less than 140.

Good luck.

Cora

Hi everyone. Thanks for the replies. I don't know how accurate this is, but I bought a urine dipstick test yesterday that tests for both ketones and glucose. After not eating for most of the day, the dipstick showed trace keytones, but no glucose. Since then, I've been negative for both glucose and ketones.

The increased thirst and frequent urination has persisted, and my nausea is very much there. It's at its worst in the morning and after I eat (I'm not pregnant for sure). I understand that the nausea might be a sign of GERD, but this doesn't explain the thirst. I'm at a loss again... I was so sure I knew what was wrong with me...

If you have ketones then your kidneys are producing toxins. This is not a good sign and you need to either rule out diabetes or get another diagnosis so that you are not damaging yourself. Do not wait two weeks to see a doctor.

Good luck to you!

If you have ketones then your kidneys are producing toxins. This is not a good sign....

She said "trace ketones after NOT eating for most of the day". AFAIK, ketones are always generated in the liver (NOT the kidneys) as a by-product of breaking down fats for energy. So trace ketones would be totally expected, because she wasn't eating enough carbs to supply her body's energy needs.

Sarah, Am I uninformed? :confused:

But, Anilorak, urine tests aren't very useful: blow the bucks, get a Ketone blood test meter. (Yeah, you will have to spend about $70 on the meter plus $40 on the strips.)

If it was me, with meter readings OK and not feeling or measuring a big change for the worse, I would try to avoid a Dr. visit and falling into the insurance trap of becoming diagnosed with a "pre-existing condition" before coverage starts. But it's hard to tell how bad she's feeling from an Internet Post, so I can't advise on this...
except to question "(trace) ketones are always bad news", and to point out that Ketone blood level tests are greatly preferred over pissing tests by those in the know.

So, it's the end of day 2 of feeling pretty crappy. This morning, I decided to cut down my water intake as an experiment to see what would happen. I had 1 glass of water in the morning with a half glass of milk. At dinner time, I had a can of soda and my grand total of times I had to pee: ONLY 6! (Um.. still higher than normal but a significant improvement on yesterday). I'm going to cave on the water thing now, because I feel incredibly thirsty after cutting back all day.

So I guess the frequent urination was caused by the increased thirst, and not the other way around. That symptom still bothers me, because like I said.. I'm not usually much of a water drinker. I normally hate water, and tend to get most of my hydration from food and occasional drinks like Sprite and milk. So for me to suddenly be guzzling water, as if it were 120 degrees out.. that's really stands out to me. That's how I ended up on this board in the first place.(from googling "excessive thirst.")

My major symptoms today were high levels of nausea and a headache. I've been suffering from increased headaches for about 2 weeks now (the behind the eyes kind), but today seemed to be a real kicker. My dip stick read negative for glucose and ketones today. Did I mention that my lips have been really chapped lately too?

So once again, I'm scratching my head. My paramedic boyfriend has told me that yesterday I had several symptoms of hyperglycemia. I just don't know what's going on with me right now. I'm kind of sensitive to changes in my body. Last year I was 100% sure I had appendicitis about 30 hours before the doctors would believe me and operate. (I was initially turned away from the ER and told that I had stomach cramps from eating too much Easter candy!) I'm not making any of my new symptoms up.

Rickst29, I hear what you're saying about seeing a doctor before my insurance starts and taking the risk of getting diagnosed with a "pre-existing condition." I don't know any diabetics 1st, or 2nd hand, and I'm holding off on buying expensive glucose or ketone monitors unless I see increased results on my dip sticks. 2 weeks isn't too much longer to see a doctor, especially since things aren't getting too crazy yet.

One more question.. are diabetic symptoms likely to randomly appear and disappear?

Thanks for all of your help guys!

One more observation/question...

I was throwing out the bathroom trash late last night, and I noticed that one of my used dip sticks hadn't made it all the way in the trash. Then I noticed that the test strip had turned magenta since I did the test. I peeked into the trash and saw that almost all of the dip sticks were now magenta. I know that you're not supposed to take color change into account after 15 seconds, or whatever the wait time is... but if the urine was truely negative for ketones, wouldn't it not change color at all? I wetted a test strip with plain tap water and left it overnight, and it stayed light peach in color. Does somebody know enough about chemistry to explain this to me?

"Pissing Papers" are a terrible choice for measuring sugar too. (Although your boyfriend's "severe high blood sugar" WOULD DEFINITELY result in sugar in urine, you may still have bG well into the diabetic range without spilling sugar into your urine.).

This week, you can buy a OneTouch "Ultra2" BLOOD GLUCOSE METER at Rite-Aid or Long's for $29.99. IIRC, they come with a bottle of 10 test strips right in the same box (and the finger stabber, and a bunch of lancets). So you don't need to buy anything else in order to get up to 10 tests done. And there's a in-the-box REBATE for $29.99, making the net cost ZERO, unless they require you to "send in your old meter" to qualify for the rebate. (Even if they do, 30 bucks for everything isn't a bad deal at all, BUY IT.)

At Walgreens, they are offering the Accu-Chek "Compact Plus" for $10 -- and this one also has a $10 rebate "in the box". (For only $10, why even bother filling it out?) But I don't know if this one includes a test-strip drum: if you need to buy 50 strips separately at $50-60, then the total cost will be much higher than the One-Touch. But you'll have 50 strips to play with, instead of just 10. If it's all-inclusive like the One-Touch, this one is cheaper and a bit more idiot-proof.
- - - - -

After you've got one, then try this: when you next drink a REGULAR (Sugared!) Soda: test BLOOD bG before drinking it, once an hour after drinking it, once two hours after drinking it, post your meter readings for all 3 times. (This constitutes an informal but decently informative Glucose Tolerance test.)

Do NOT attempt to test on your arm: use the SIDE of a finger (past the last knuckle). Make sure that the drop size is generous before you hold the strips down to suck up the blood. (People almost always waste a few strips learning how to get enough blood out of arm testing, and you don't have a lot of strips to waste. It's also less accurate.)

From what you say, I would guess that you've got a viral or bacterial infection... with UTI involvement. As I described previously, a small amount of ketone bodies is normal when someone doesn't eat enough carbs to keep up with their body's energy needs.

I have no idea how long it might take pissing papers to turn funny, INVALID colors after they've been wetted by a negative or slight positive test. It's been nearly 20 years since I've bought a package of pissing papers or strips for any purpose.

This sounds a bit like what's wrong with me.
I can't believe how many times I had to go today. Could this be a complication of some kind of virus?

first thing, do you drink coffee or caffienated beverages? (can't spell).
my hubby is 19 yr paramedic and i am EMT. with type 2, there aren't alot of obvious symptoms, but its different with type 2. i would wonder about the UTI, and also about iron. my sister still eats a bag of ice from the quick stop every day, she is always thirsty, not type 2 doc said but anemia.
i've gotten off the metformin, just exercising, water, good diet and rest periods. i feel better than ever and am losing wgt too. have my family on this diet.
i know that drinking sodas make people thirsty. its either the corn syrup or the caffiene or both.
i was watching the people coming into the docs office. i don't want to sound paranoid but its looks like a vicious cycle. diagnosis, meds, more side effects, more meds, more health issues..looks like a scam.
i take cinnamin but stopped the chrominum tabs and vities as i was getting plenty in diet. at 43 i do take calcium daily. i have a goat and she is out for breeding now but when i have her milking i drink all the goat milk i want with no increase in numbers. we buy fresh organic pork and beef from area farmers, have lost of fresh fruit and vegs either in the garden or the freezer. we pay 12$ a month for a water dispenser and use about 4 bottles of week at 1.25 a bottle.
i gave up coffee but am now allowing myself one cup a day.
you can stay healthy in spite of your doctor!
*grin*

Hi everyone. I'm 22, and over the last two weeks, I've developed some abnormal symptoms. I've had excessive thirst (which is very strange because my entire life I have not needed to drink a lot of water), frequent urination, nausea, as well as some dizziness and fatigue. My symptoms have become especially noticeable in the last few days. I should also mention that I've been slightly underweight my entire life, and there's no diagnosed diabetics in my family.

I definitely want to get a blood test done, but my medical insurance doesn't officially start until the 1st of August. I really can't afford to go in before then. What should I do in the meantime?

If there is a chance you have diabetes you really can't afford not to go. Find a clinic that works on a sliding scale. Diabetes left untreated can and will lead to far worse problems. Until you can get it checked I do suggest that you drink plenty of water. That can help flush the excess sugar from your blood. The frequent urination is due to the fact your drinking more. Also, the higher your glucose (sugar) level the more fatigued you will feel. I have never felt the nausea so I can't comment on that. I have have experienced the dizziness when extremely fatigued.