The nurse calls me back (finally) as she sits me down and begins her check-list. I tell her my symptoms as she retrieves a blood sugar meter to check my glucose levels.

I remember her asking, “Does diabetes run in your family?”

I didn’t know. I never had too. A few minutes and a finger prick later, we had our answer. I had no idea that I was living the past several months high. And not in the drug sense. My blood sugar was over 600 —no wonder why I hurt all over.

Checking your blood sugar with a finger stick is an important part of controlling diabetes. It’s actually the only way for me to find out what my blood sugar levels are (hence its name). It’s useful for keeping track when your numbers are under control and when they aren’t.

When you are high blood sugar, also known as hyperglycemia, there’s an excess of glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream. This means you ate something carby (something like pizza), and as a result, you’ll need to inject some insulin. When you are low blood sugar, also known as hypoglycemia, there’s too little glucose (the body’s main energy source), and as a result, you’ll need to eat (or drink) something.

What different fasting blood sugar levels mean (before meals):

A few minutes go by and before I even know what’s happening, I’m being admitted as a patient at the Braxton County Memorial Hospital. Several tests later, I was officially diagnosed as a type one diabetic with an A1c of 14 (more on that below).

As I get comfortable (or at least attempt to), a nurse comes in to educate me on my new life. It was all just too much. My head was spinning (to say the least).

Stuck

I learned another crucial component to keep track of diabetes is through a blood analysis called the “Hemoglobin A1c” test —often abbreviated as “A1c.” The test is a measure of what your average blood sugar levels have been over the past 3 months. It is thus a very powerful tool to gain an overall sense of how well diabetes has been controlled.

To give you a sense, an A1C level below 5.7 percent is considered normal. If you’re not a diabetic, chances are you’d fall in that range. An A1C between 5.7 and 6.4 percent signals pre-diabetes. If that’s you, consider consulting with a doctor to discuss your options, proactively. Finally, type one and two diabetes are diagnosed when the A1C is over 6.5 percent.

What different A1c levels mean:

Remember, I was 14. Ugh. The nurse leaves and I’m alone for a few minutes. I remember rearranging my IV cords and making my way to the bathroom —at least I had my own room. I recall looking in the mirror and thinking, something like, holy shit I feel like death. I wish I’d just die. And for the record, I looked like death too.

I felt like a wandering corpse with nothing left. Everything the nurse had just spoken about was running through my head at lightning speed. I felt like I’d never been able to enjoy eating again. I thought my life was over. She said I was lucky. If I had waited another week to come in, I would have been in a diabetic coma.

Diabetic ketoacidosis, also called DKA, is a serious complication of diabetes that occurs when your body produces high levels of blood acids called ketones. The condition develops when your body can’t produce enough insulin.

Insulin normally plays a key role in helping sugar (glucose) —a major source of energy for your muscles and other tissues —enter your cells. Without enough insulin, your body begins to break down fat as fuel. This process produces a buildup of acids in the bloodstream called ketones, eventually leading to diabetic ketoacidosis, if untreated.

I mean listen to these symptoms

• Excessive thirst
• Frequent urination
• Nausea and vomiting
• Abdominal pain
• Shortness of breath
• Fruity-scented breath
• Confusion
• Weakness or fatigue
• High blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia)
• High ketone levels in your urine

I had every single one of them and still, no one, including myself, knew how sick I really was. How’s that for an invisible illness? What I’m getting at is, recognizing the symptoms of type one diabetes is critical. It’s literally a matter of life and death.

Still Standing

Although type one develops gradually, as the body’s insulin production decreases, blood glucose levels can become dangerously high, once insulin production is outpaced. Symptoms may develop rapidly and can be mistaken for other illnesses such as the flu, even by doctors. A misdiagnosis can have tragic consequences.

Here’s what you need to look out for:

Frequent Urination: If you’re constantly running to the bathroom, your kidneys may be trying to rid your blood of excess sugar, resulting in an increased need to urinate.

Extreme thirst: Increased urination can then result in dehydration, which will leave you feeling more thirsty than normal.

Increased appetite: If you’re suddenly hungry all the time it may be because your body isn’t able to get proper energy from the food you’re eating.

Unexpected weight loss: Along the same lines, if your body is losing sugar in your urine instead of absorbing it, you may lose weight without even trying.

Fruity or sweet-smelling breath: This occurs when you have a high level of ketones in the blood, which can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis (what I described above), if left untreated.

Drowsiness: If your body isn’t making enough insulin you won’t be able to get the energy you need from food. This can make you feel hungry and —understandably —lethargic.

I say all this because if you know what to look out for, you can actively do something about it. Don’t wait like I did. If you’re not feeling normal, chances are, you aren’t too far off. Because if you listen to your body when it whispers, you won’t have to hear it scream.

xoxo,

macey bee