Regarding death of Casey Johnson

Gerri- Me too. Diagnosed as BG1200. 1st Gen Diabetic

I’ve been in Dka twice since diagnosis too. Even at numbers as low as 400. Throwing up, weak, muscles ache. Got to the point where I couldn’t walk because it hurt too much. I couldn’t breathe because it hurt too much. Blood felt like it was on fire and heart burn so bad that I could taste it in my mouth (even though i typically don’t get heartburn at all) I had to be carried into the ER- and I’m not the kind of girl who cries over anything.

Horrible.

I agree with Gerri DKA IN ICU no fun at all LOL I am in the same club as Gerri dx’ed 1 1/2 years ago at 52 type 1 in ICU DKA only bs of 672 and a1c of 13.2 not to bad. She had that diabetes eating problem, forget the name. You know not taking insulin to loose weight. They think she came home intoxicated (wow I spelled that right LOL) and passed out.

I think most of the time DKA is for newly minted diabetics. As it is the result of being wildly out of control. Also, yea, failing to have insulin on board is going to result in it. Also, failing to have enough insulin on board will result in it. The trick there is to not have enough insulin in board to cover the bare minimum metebolic needs, that will result in a deficit of glucose bing converted to energy because the available insulin cannot keep up, which will result in the body needing to get the energy from fat, which means making ketones, which with elevated blood sugar and lowered blood Ph pushes you into being diagnosable with DKA. The really nasty part of that being, that it would take a lot longer and be therefore more hellish to get there.

Also, on the whole aches and pains part of DKA. First there is the lower blood PH, that can dip a lot and fast turning your blood fairly acidic, which is just no good… Also, along with the low PH blood the higher your blood sugar rises the less efficiently red blood cells will move O2 around your body. This will cause all kinds of muscle aches and fatigue, as you are perpetually in oxygen debt, like you just finished sprinting a mile.

Iroseland,
That is really helpful to hear the explanation and makes sense to me. Can you tell me if there are weird tastes you get in your mouth as well when this happens? Thanks, J

A sweet (some say it smells like acetone) taste in your mouth could indicate ketosis. If you’re very concerned, you can always go to the drugstore and buy keto-stix to measure your ketone level. If it’s high, go to the ER. That’s pretty much the drill.

Judith, get some ketostix and check your urine. My doctor told me to always have some in the house. You have to keep an eye on the expiration date, though, and replace pretty often (they’re not cheap). If you have high BG and moderate to high ketones, go to the ER. I’ve had to do this a few times when I was sick with a stomach viruses and couldn’t keep any food or water down (not DKA, yet), body breaks down fat and makes ketones and if you combine that with dehydration and high BG, it’s very dangerous situation that can escalate quickly. When your blood gets ketonic (pre-DKA), you need LOTS more insulin to get your BG down (not exactly sure why). I realized that once when my pump become disconnected during the night and so I had no insulin for a good 8 hours… I was vomitting constantly and couldn’t get my sugar down. I felt so awful that I don’t remember a weird taste in my mouth (hard to tell when you’re throwing up and can’t move), but I’ve heard that you have a fruity smell to your breath in DKA.

Oh yeah, if you have ketones, drink lots of water. If you can’t keep it the water down, definitely go to the ER.

Thanks, Beth and Kim, as I continued thru yesterday not keeping even water down, I went to the ER. I will look into getting ketone strips. I saw where they have A1C test kits as well now. J

My tongue swelled too and the taste buds felt “burned off” …I was hallucinating when my husband just picked me up and drove me to the ER. I remember the nurse saying to the doctor that I looked like a severe case of anorexia. I had no electrolytes or minerasl left in my body, liquid potassium every hour on the hour…yeck. Bad bad memories!

Some young girls use diabetes as a tool to lose weight or stay thin. A very dangerous thing to do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabulimia

Thanks. I ended up in the hospital Friday night and then crashed again and spent Sat. night there. I am starting by drinking liquids it’s just my body doesn’t want it so have to take baby steps. It’s the road to recovery and I am sure it will pick up shortly. Nannyfairy, I am 56 and not a young girl. I had two girlfriends spur me on when I started losing wt. for health and wanted me to join their size 0 to 2 jean club as they have eating disorders and it got carried away. I got help and on the road to recovering. Thanks for concerns. J

Hi Judith: I am so sorry about your having to go to the hospital, and I hope you are better now. Take good care of yourself! Were you in DKA? How high have your blood sugars been?

Caught it before it went that far but it wasn’t fun. I was so flat they couldn’t get a line in me. I have cotton balls with tape all over my hands and arms. I also had no potassium in my body. I am tired after doing this twice this weekend but feeling better. Thanks, Melitta.

So sorry, Judith. I’ve had the same from dehydration. Ugh, those potassium horse pills. I had to take those in addition to what was given IV.

Diabetes didn’t take her life, she took her life by not managing her disease!

DKA can come on suddenly & people don’t always realize how sick they are. They think they’ve got the flu, or they do have the flu & BG gets dangerously high.

Amy,
I don’t think we should judge as none of us would know the facts except for her. I am also a Christian and chose to not speak about deceased people when they are no longer around to defend themselves. Judgment is like life - what goes around comes around so beware of who you judge! J

Gerri,
Yes, they woke me up to give me those and hadn’t been able to keep even water down. It took forever to get them down. The ones that I got filled have the silica around them like a capsule. I haven’t seen those before. I used to chew the big ones but they taste so bad. Thanks for the understanding! :slight_smile: J

How did you diagnose DKA-I have been sick for the last week especially since I started on the PING-do you just test your urine for ketones?? the last time I went into DKA was 25 years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter. Could it be that I have been in this state since my sugars have been running from 250-499 recently and then dropping into the 50’s??
Audrey

Consistently high ketones with consistently high BG is cause for concern regarding DKA. Typically with DKA there’s dehydration, often vomiting & extreme fatigue. But, I wouldn’t wait for the vomiting. If my BG was that high, I’d go to the ER pronto.

Have you spoken with your doctor about your Ping? Something is off for you to be that high & then drop low. Have you been correcting with injections?