So...Could I have diabetes?
 

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I'm 17, almost 18. I'm about 5' 11" and I weigh about 200 LBs. I have a decent amount of body fat(it was measured at about 16% during wrestling season a few months ago.)

At my worst I weighed 250 LBs. I lost 60 Lbs in approximately 7 months(gained some back after wrestling season).

Anyways, last week I was having some weird appetite problems. I had about a 30 hour stretch where I had no desire to eat at all. After that my appetite was back to normal. My appetite is all over the place, some days I can eat non-stop, other days I am barely hungry at all. My girlfriend joked that I might have diabetes...I'm kind of worried this could be the case,

There's a history of it in my family. My aunt and my grandma(both on my dad's side) have it, and I believe a few people on my mom's side had it. Looking through the symptoms, I feel like I have a few.

Frequent urination, definitely.
Excessive thirst and extreme hunger, at times. I usually blamed this on my physical activity(boxing, running, etc) but even when I have a rather lazy day I can still be quite hungry. when working out, I get very, very thirsty. I attribute this to the fact that I sweat profusely.
Unusual weight loss, not so much. Like I said, I lost 60 LBs in 7 months last year(from February to September of '06, but I dieted and worked out a lot)
Increased fatigue. I am tired ALL THE TIME. My friends make fun of me for it, but I'm always tired. Today I woke up at 11:30 AM, and at 2:15 I felt ready for a nap.
Irritability, at times. I feel like there is external factors for this more often than not (IE hunger, fatigue). Not too often am I irritable for no apparent reason
Blurry vision. I have this, but I wear contacts. I always thought my prescription was slightly outdated. I also don't really know how blurry we would be talking here. If anything, I feel like my vision is more fuzzy than blurry.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I'm kind of worried, I really don't want to find out I have diabetes. I am planning on boxing rather seriously, and it would really suck if this stopped me from pursuing my dream.

If I do have diabetes, would kind of effect would it have regarding my boxing training? Would I still be able to box? I know Adam Morrison has diabetes and he's been successful playing college and NBA basketball. What effect does diabetes have on athletic training?

Yeah so I have a lot of questions I guess and most would be better for a doctor, but I figure there are some doctors here, and there are bound to be some diabetics here that could help.

Please don't just tell me "go to a doctor", I'll probably go in a week or two(I'm kind of scared what I'll find out, to be honest), but for now I just want OOT's input. On this note though...if I DO have diabetes, how much harm could I be doing to myself by not seeing a doctor ASAP?

Thanks a lot.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

Diabeetus. At least [censored] spell it right.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

[ QUOTE ]
if I DO have diabetes, how much harm could I be doing to myself by not seeing a doctor ASAP?

[/ QUOTE ]
There is absolutely 0 reasoning behind avoiding a doctor's visit. You need to go now so that the doctor can evaluate whether you're just on the road to diabetes or already there. If you're on the road, then you need to change your fatty ways, fatty. Really though, clean up your diet: go visit the health and fitness forum and take a look at what other people are eating.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Diabeetus. At least [censored] spell it right.

[/ QUOTE ]
You know, I wasn't quite sure how to spell it the way Wilford Brimley pronounces it. Thanks for clearing that up.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

the biggest sign is a huge increase in thirst. your body isn't processing sugar, so it responds by increasing water take to flush the sugar out. another sign is significant weight gain in a short period of time.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
if I DO have diabetes, how much harm could I be doing to myself by not seeing a doctor ASAP?

[/ QUOTE ]
There is absolutely 0 reasoning behind avoiding a doctor's visit. You need to go now so that the doctor can evaluate whether you're just on the road to diabetes or already there. If you're on the road, then you need to change your fatty ways, fatty. Really though, clean up your diet: go visit the health and fitness forum and take a look at what other people are eating.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmm I definitely have weight to lose but I wouldn't really consider myself a fatty. Right now I'm working on losing about 35 LBs. I'm overweight but I'm not a huge slob. I eat pretty healthy, almost never eat fast food and garbage like that.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

[ QUOTE ]
On this note though...if I DO have diabetes, how much harm could I be doing to myself by not seeing a doctor ASAP?

[/ QUOTE ]

if you become incredibly lethargic, you could go into a coma. that's if your blood sugar reaches 1000+. on that note, it's better to go into a coma with excess sugar in your system, than not enough [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

your wieght, isnt really excessive, 16% which, who knows how accurate the reading is, isnt crazy fat, and 200 @ 5 11 isnt huge. Whats your diet like?

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

Uhhhhhh.....no.

A significant weight LOSS over a brief period of time may indicate diabetes - fat people get type II diabetes due to insulin resistance, but it's a long term problem.

Try the poor man's test - go out in the back yard and piss on the patio - if flies swarm around your urine, there's a lot of sugar in it.....


MM MD

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

Lol. Actually, the poor man's test is tasting your own urine. Tastes sweet? Diabetes. This is actually the way docs tested a LONG time ago. Fairly unlikely that you have diabetes just based on what you told us. I'd give it something like 15% chance you do, 85% you don't.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Uhhhhhh.....no.

A significant weight LOSS over a brief period of time may indicate diabetes - fat people get type II diabetes due to insulin resistance, but it's a long term problem.

Try the poor man's test - go out in the back yard and piss on the patio - if flies swarm around your urine, there's a lot of sugar in it.....


MM MD

[/ QUOTE ]


did the op lose the weight on purpose, or did it just happen? does this matter?

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

If he just started dropping weight like crazy for no reason, that's a strong sign of possible diabetes.

Of course if he made an effort to lose weight on purpose, then there probably isn't a connection.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

[ QUOTE ]

Try the poor man's test - go out in the back yard and piss on the patio - if flies swarm around your urine, there's a lot of sugar in it.....


[/ QUOTE ]
Gives new meaning to the phrase 'sweet pea'

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

[ QUOTE ]
your wieght, isnt really excessive, 16% which, who knows how accurate the reading is, isnt crazy fat, and 200 @ 5 11 isnt huge. Whats your diet like?

[/ QUOTE ]
I think I eat pretty well...Usually don't eat breakfast. When I do, it might be some oatmeal, an instant breakfast-type drink, a Nature Valley granola bar, rice cakes(with peanut butter), something to that effect.

For lunch I usually have something like a turkey or tuna sandwich. Along with that might be some pretzels or some Sun Chips.

Dinner can be pretty much anything, depending on if I'm at home, if I'm out, or if I'm at my girlfriend's house. If I'm at home it's usually whatever my mom makes, usually some kind of chicken or something pretty easy to make.

If I'm out I'll usually get either Subway or Chipotle. I try to stay away from Chipotle as much as I can but that usually doesn't work out to well.

If I'm at my girlfriend's house it's almost always something healthy. Her dad is a chef, so the food is amazing. Lot of chicken and pasta over there.

When I snack it's pretzels, peanut butter crackers, rice cakes(with peanut butter), Sun Chips, anything like that.

I guess that's pretty much it, unless I'm forgetting something. As far as liquids go, I rarely drink soda. Water, flavored water(Propel or the Powerade water), the occasional Gatorade. I just recently started drinking that Arizona tea, but I probably won't be drinking that too often.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

To the people asking, I made a conscious effort to lose weight. From February to about October I was losing weight. Once I got down to my wrestling weight, I was just trying to maintain my weight. After wrestling I was not actively trying to lose weight, just maintain and stay in shape. The last month or two, when I started boxing, I began working on losing 35 LBs, for boxing.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

You can test yourself for diabetes, google "Glucose Tolerance Test". You'd need to buy a blood sugar meter, some test strips, and some lancets (to prick your finger with). I did this test on myself a while ago (results were normal). This may or may not be cheaper than going to a doctor depending on your insurance and the cost of these items (which I do not recall).

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

A guy on my wrestling team in high school had diabetes, so I imagine you can still box.

Re: So...Could I have diabetes?
 

I know a heck of a lot about diabetes. My wife is diabetic Type 1 (body no longer producing enough or any insulin). She had symptoms and was diagnosed in her 20's.

I was diagnosed type 2 (body producing insulin, it's not working well enough). This was short lived for me. It was induced by a cocktail of drugs during a long hospital stay. Once I got out and back on my feet my blood sugars returned to normal and now I'm not on any diabetic drugs, whether insulin or actos like oral drugs. This is similar to what pregnant women sometimes go through.

When you go to the doctor, they'll have you come in with 'fasting blood sugar'. ie: you need to fast overnight or for 12 hours. They'll prick your finger and use a normal diabetic meter. Takes 5 seconds. They want your blood glucose level to be at 100 or less. Anything over about 100 or so but less than 120 will be a wait and see deal called pre-diabetes. They'll instruct you on diet and exercise. btw, anyone with a meter and test strips can do this test for you.

Over about 120 (or doc might be conservative and say 116 or something) and you have some something going on and it could be diabetes. That's not to say you will always be that way. There are other things that can be going on related to the liver, pancreas, and other blood chemistry things. Usually this is not a big deal at all and can be treated easily.

Over 120 they may want to take blood and do an A1C test. This test tells you what your blood sugars have been like over the last few months or so. A good number is around 5. A bad number is over 7. Different doctors will look at these numbers differently based on lots of things including your weight, age, and lifestyle.

Anyway, the most common symptoms are unexplained weightloss and frequent urination/thurst.

On frequent urination, you can rule out fluid intake easily enough. People with this symptom can cut off drinking fluids early in the evening. Go to bed. And still have to get up a couple times or more during the night to pee.

I'm not a doc, get the blood sugar tested. Diabetes is a long term problem, but in the short term very low blood sugar or very high blood sugar can be extremely serious, even deadly. Moderately high or very high over the long haul creates all the big complications ... limb loss, vision loss, heart problems, circulation problems, impotence, etc.

Most common symptom of too low blood sugar: fainting, passing out
Most common symptom of extremely high blood sugar: chaos. Coma

I'm not a doctor, but PM me if you want.