A lesson learned well
My story started in December 2005 when I started to feel frequently ill for no explainable reason. I shrugged it off as a “virus”, yet the symptoms became severe and I realised that something was seriously wrong. The symtoms included severe cramps in the legs, intense thirst, frequent and copius urination with an unpleasent chemical odour, skin rashes, profuse sweating and finally vomiting, and a metallic taste in the mouth.
To cut a long story short, I suffered a minor heart attack and was rushed to hospital. I was then advised that my blood glucose level was dangerously high (>35) and I needed to be treated immediately. I was also advised that my blood pressure rose to 265/120 in the ambulance while I was unconscious.
In the period prior to my hospitalisation I suffered constant pain and sleepless nights that drove me to the point of madness. Every day I would drag myself of to work in a woeful state of fatigue and misery. I was frequently aggressive and illogical in my dealing with people. I was hospitalised for four weeks where I underwent angioplasty and insulin therapy. After my release from hospital I was trialed on diamicron and metformin to control my blood glucose.
As time passed the drug therapy failed to maintain the glocuse effectively and I was switched back to Mixtard30/70. Becoming a diabetic has resulted in a dramatic lifestyle change of which I have had no choice. The consequences of not maintaing my condition are now frightfully apparent to me after a bout of acidosis in November 2006 that made me painfully aware of just how precarious my situation is.
I feel very strongly that had I not left my treatment for so long the outcome would have been less severe. My period of intense suffering and the damage done to every one around me could have been averted. I urge everyone who has the slightest doubt to get checked for diabetes before you suffer the miseries that I have.