Why am I swelling up? (thyroid? Diabetes?)

[LaughingHyena]

I'll try and keep the background brief. I've been feeling really tired and just not right for quite a while, periods have been lasting much longer than usual and I have had no end of colds.

I went to the doctors and they did a whole load of blood tests. It turns out I have type 1 diabetes. Spent a couple of days in hospital getting my blood sugar levels down and now have insulin to take 4 times a day. It's been a week and my blood sugars are not too bad, though not yet that stable either.

However I've had lots of swelling. My ankles were a bit swollen in the hospital but we all assumed it was because I was having lots of IV fluids and not being able to do much.

The last few days I have been getting really swollen ankles, legs and tummy. I even had to loosen my watch on Tues as my arms were starting to swell too. It goes down a lot over night but is coming back each day.

The hospital have sent of more blood tests but I haven't had any results yet. My original Thyroid function test was normal but they are running a more detailed one. The only other thing I can think of that has changed is having some artificial sweeteners, which I would normally avoid. I've stopped again to see if they are the issue. So far it's made no difference.

Any other new diabetics had this reaction?

Any other ideas what it might be?

[lil_miss_understood]

I hate to ask, but have they tested your kidney function?

[LaughingHyena]

I've had urine tests for protein, keytones, and I think something else all of which were fine. Are there any other kidney function tests I should be asking for?

After more googling I have found a few reports of people reacting this way to starting insulin in most of them it went away of it's own accord within a couple of weeks. For now I'm crossing my fingers that that's what it is, I;m still swollen by the end of the day but not as much.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by LaughingHyena

I've had urine tests for protein, keytones, and I think something else all of which were fine. Are there any other kidney function tests I should be asking for?

After more googling I have found a few reports of people reacting this way to starting insulin in most of them it went away of it's own accord within a couple of weeks. For now I'm crossing my fingers that that's what it is, I;m still swollen by the end of the day but not as much.

I can't think of any others but my knowledge is second hand. My foster mother had diabetes complicated by kidney disease and that is my only experience with someone going on insulin and then suddenly retaining water, like you describe. That doesn't mean that it is your problem, of course, that's just my only experience with it.