The Critical Importance of Recognizing Diabetic Ketoacidosis Symptoms #27

The discourse presented within this episode of DiabeticReal delves into the intricate and often perilous nature of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a profound concern for individuals grappling with diabetes. The host, Deborah, articulates her personal experiences and reflections on DKA, underlining its life-threatening implications. Through the lens of a poignant article recounting the tragic loss of a brother to DKA, she emphasizes the critical need for awareness and timely intervention when confronted with symptoms indicative of this condition. This narrative not only elucidates the gravity of DKA, often underestimated by many, but also seeks to foster a broader understanding applicable to all individuals facing life challenges, thereby transcending the confines of diabetes alone.

"You can't just say, "Oh, I'll dress it next week...," because next week you will be dead." 

Deborah, 05:41

Deborah further engages the audience by recounting her own encounters with the healthcare system, particularly highlighting the necessity of adhering to one’s internal guidelines when it comes to health crises. She shares a personal policy implemented with her husband regarding hospital visits, which serves as a safeguard against the dangers of neglecting persistent high blood sugar levels.

• The episode emphasizes the importance of recognizing the seriousness of diabetic ketoacidosis, which can indeed lead to fatal outcomes.
• There is a strong warning against dismissive attitudes from medical professionals regarding diabetic ketoacidosis, highlighting the potential consequences of negligence.
• The episode discusses a structured plan of action for dealing with prolonged high or low blood sugar, emphasizing the importance of hospital visits when necessary.
• Listeners are reminded to remain informed and proactive about their health, particularly those living with diabetes or caring for someone who is.

Deborah's candid sharing of her emotionally charged experiences aims to empower listeners, especially those with diabetes, to prioritize their health and seek immediate medical assistance when needed. The episode concludes with an urgent reminder that ignoring symptoms can have dire consequences, reinforcing the episode’s core message about the importance of vigilance and immediate action in the face of medical emergencies.

Chapters

• 02:10 Finding Balance in Life
• 02:36 Understanding Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA)
• 05:57 Understanding DKA and Emergency Responses
• 10:10 Understanding DKA and Personal Experiences
• 15:23 Urgent Care Protocol for Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Episode Resources

• Sudden death due to [DKA] following power failure of an insulin pump [Science Direct Research Paper]
• My Brother Died From DKA [BeyondType1 website]
• Medtronic Diabetes (Minimed)

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Episode Transcript

(04:24):
Hello, everybody, and welcomeback to DiabeticReal, the podcast
about basically findingbalance in life. Yes, it is about
diabetes and it is, well,quite a few stories about my life.
Deborah, your host. But I'dalso like to think that it's more
than that. And regardless ofwhether or not you have diabetes,

(04:45):
in fact, I hope it reachesbeyond that because I believe that
we all have challenges in lifeand it's about finding that balance
and finding how we can dealwith those challenges. But you know
that, right? You know myregular listeners, my regular subscribers,
and you already know that. Solet's get down to business. The last
couple weeks, I've beentalking about Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

(05:10):
And one of the articles that Icame across during the research for
those episodes was an article,and I'll link it in the show notes,
and the title was My BrotherDied from dka. Now, it's not necessarily
that surprising. It doeshappen. People do die from dka. But

(05:35):
of course, it got myattention. I wanted to read it. I
wanted to read about somebodyelse who had experienced dka. I don't
mean. Okay, that soundsmorbid. I didn't mean it that way.
I'm not. It's obviously a sadstory, and it was a very sad story.
It did bring tears to my eyes.But so many times I talk to people
and they don't know what DKAis, or they think, okay, high blood

(05:59):
sugar, no big deal, it doesn'treally kill people. It's not that
big. So, you know, my thoughtwas, finally somebody does realize
the seriousness of dka. Sothis is somebody who understands
where I am coming from andsadly has lost a loved one. So I

(06:22):
want to see what this authorhas to say. I read the article, and
the author is also a type 1diabetic in addition to her brother
who died. And I don't want toruin it for you. You could go read
the article. But the thingthat struck me was how preventable

(06:43):
it was. And I'm not sayingthat in a matter of guilt or shame,
the subject of DKA needs to betaken seriously. And when I was reading
that, it was sad to think thatthis poor gentleman, as well as his

(07:09):
family, this poor gentlemanthought that he had a stomach flu
or another form of flu. So hedidn't take it as seriously. And
this is a type 1 diabetic. AndI understand that because I've been
there, done that, and that isa risk that Type one diabetics run
into. As far as not taking thesymptoms of Diabetic Ketoacidosis

(07:34):
seriously enough to dosomething about it. You have a small
window where you can get helpand need to get help, whether that's
for yourself as a type 1diabetic or for somebody else that
you come across who is a type1 diabetic who is suffering from

(07:55):
Diabetic Ketoacidosis. It's avery small window, but that window
does exist. And you can gethelp, whether that's for yourself
or someone else, but it needsto be acted on immediately. You can't
just say, oh, I'll dress itnext week, because next week you
will be dead. If you're thattype 1 diabetic, I guarantee you

(08:19):
can't survive in DiabeticKetoacidosis for an extended period
of time. How do I know that?Because I have been there, I have
done that and I survived.Again, thinking about that story,
I recall actually not too longago, probably only five, eight years

(08:42):
ago. I don't remember theexact year, but it wasn't too long
ago when I went to er and myhusband and I have this policy. It's
something that we implementedlater on, but it's like this plan
of action. If I'm low bloodsugar too many days in a row, and

(09:03):
the number that we use isthree, if I'm low blood sugar three
days in a row, I go to ER. IfI'm high blood sugar three days in
a row,. I go to ER. Now, Idon't mean, you know, if I'm sitting
there eating jelly donuts andthen I'm high blood sugar, there's
an explanation for that. Imean, if I am doing everything I'm

(09:25):
supposed to. So in otherwords, I'm an insulin pump wearer.
As a type 1 diabetic, I havechanged the site, maybe even changed
the site twice. I have doneeverything I am supposed to do according
to pump therapy. I have noteaten more than I'm supposed to.
I have followed everything toa T, and my blood sugar is still

(09:48):
twice as much as it's supposedto, or it's going way beyond what
it is supposed to and I'mspilling ketones. If it's three days,
I need to be in the hospital.If it's even actually, if it's even
more than that, I've hit dka,I need to be in the hospital. That
is the answer. As far asDiabetic Ketoacidosis. Now, the low

(10:09):
blood sugar one is I used tohave what's called, and I think I've
shared this with you before,what I called 17 days. There were
times where I would eateverything under the sun and I would
still, I would stop theinsulin flow and my blood sugar still
drop. It almost act like allof a sudden my pancreas started working.
That's a topic for anothertime. That is not Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

(10:31):
That is completely somethingdifferent. But we had the same rule
that if I kept dropping,mostly the concern was because my
husband would be gone on theroad driving and if I was home alone
and my blood sugar keptdropping. And at the time we did
not know that I was epileptic.So we thought I was going into seizures

(10:53):
from the low blood sugar. Andas we found out from the doctor,
after going into seizures, youjust simply go dead, you know, from
low blood sugar. So since thenon the insulin pump, I also have
a sensor so it senses the lowblood sugar, it automatically stops
the pump. So I don't havethese like three days of constant

(11:16):
low blood sugars that I justsimply don't have that problem anymore
because pump therapy. Thankyou, Medtronic formidymed technology.
We're doing really well.Again, that is actually a different
discussion. So we're talkingabout Diabetic Ketoacidosis here.
Anyway, so I was saying aboutfive to eight years ago, we went

(11:39):
to the hospital according toour policy. I had passed the three
day mark, I had doneeverything that I was supposed to
do and I was still runninghigh blood sugars and spilling ketones.
The doctor yelled at me. Hesaid, why are you taking our time

(12:04):
coming here for high bloodsugar? It's probably nothing. I'm
a people pleaser. I don't likeit when people yell at me. I, you
know, I start to cry. I gottasay, I start to cry. And I thought,
oh no, I'm taking up theirtime, I'm spending their money, what
am I doing? And there was anurse there and he came to me, said,

(12:26):
he whispered, he said, don'tlisten to the doctor. He said, he's
a jerk. I was like, well,whatever I'm thinking, that's the
nurse that's saying that. Hesaid, do not listen to that doctor.
He said, my sister had type 1diabetes. She had the same problem

(12:49):
three days she died becauseshe didn't go to the hospital. He
said, your policy of going tothe hospital of 3 days Diabetic ketoacidosis
is right on target. You needto do that. Don't listen to the doctor.

(13:10):
Well, sadly I have not beenback to the hospital according to
my policy. Technically, Istill have that policy, but, you
know, it's that subconsciousthing. You don't want to go to the
doctor and be all that. So,yes, I'm sharing that story with
you and that wasn't theintended story. I haven't even gotten
to the main story of thepodcast. But I am sharing that with

(13:30):
you because if you're a type 1diabetic out there, do not let a
jerky doctor like that tellyou you should not go to the hospital.
If you don't go to thehospital when you're in Diabetic
Ketoacidosis, you're going toend up unfortunately, like the nurse's

(13:52):
sister and dead or like theunfortunate brother in the story
about my brother died fromdka. So there's always going to be
jerks out there. There'salways going to be some medical professionals
that are ignorant and I'mgoing to say lazy and just don't

(14:15):
want to deal with somebody whoneeds help and tell you that, sorry,
you're too much bother, andthey could actually be sued for,
in my opinion. But I'm not anattorney, so, you know, check that
out for yourself. But medicalmalpractice, as far as telling you
to go home if you're in DKAand you go home and die, hey, check

(14:35):
that one out with an attorney.But no, no, no, don't try that out.
I don't want you dead. So I'mjust, you know, I'm just throwing
words out there. But anyway,let me go back to my experience with
dka. Why I know this isserious. Actually, better yet, I'm
going to let you percolate onthat one because I want you to realize

(14:57):
the seriousness of DiabeticKetoacidosis and that we cannot go
around listening to people sayit's not serious because you will
end up like that person in thestory. So take some time. If diabetics
are in your Life, if type 1diabetics are in your life, or if
you yourself are a type 1diabetic, think about that one. And

(15:19):
I will see you back here inanother episode of DiabeticReal.
And I will share my story withyou about Diabetic Ketoacidosis and
my brush with death. Thanks.All this is Deborah signing off in

(15:41):
DiabeticReal.