First off, I just wanted to apologise to everyone for not
posting for a while. I am afraid my blog has been a bit neglected in the last
couple of months. My Mummy
duties have taken a priority.
During the Summer of 2017 one of the blogger babies had a
head injury, which resulted in him needing his head to be glued and stitched.
Since then, Blogger Baby has been fairly poorly and a bit
of an enigma.
His symptoms were:
·
Extreme thirst (polydipsia)
·
Passing large amounts of urine, even at
night (polyuria)
You could expect that with extreme
thirst that the urine output would increase. And Separately these symptoms wouldn’t usually have me worried
but when you include that he has suffered since the head injury
·
Ketonaemia
(burning fat instead of glucose.)
·
Dehydration
– despite his thirst
·
Tiredness
·
Irritability
·
Unexplained
Weight Loss
Excessive thirst can be difficult to recognise in
children who are too young to speak. Signs and symptoms that could suggest
diabetes insipidus include:
·
excessive crying
·
irritability
·
slower than expected growth
·
hyperthermia (high body temperature)
This resulted in many trips to the GP and Paediatric Ward
at our local hospital. Following
numerous tests and blood samples we finally received a diagnosis this week.
Diabetes Insipidus
Diabetes Insipidus
(DI) is a rare condition where you produce a large amount of urine and often
feel thirsty, it isn't related to diabetes mellitus.
Because DI is so rare there is very little literature that
is easy to follow. It was because of
this I thought I could share what we know and what we have learnt.
DI is not Diabetes Mellitus however, it does share some of the
same signs and symptoms.
The two main symptoms of diabetes insipidus are:
·
passing large amounts of urine, even at
night (polyuria)
In very severe cases of diabetes insipidus, up to
20 litres of urine can be passed in a day.
Diabetes
insipidus is caused by problems with a hormone called vasopressin (AVP), also
called antidiuretic hormone (ADH). In
diabetes insipidus, the lack of production of AVP means the kidney can't
make enough concentrated urine and too much water is passed from the body.
In rare cases, the kidney doesn't respond to AVP. This causes a specific form
of diabetes insipidus, called nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
People
feel thirsty as the body tries to compensate for the increased loss of water by
increasing the amount of water taken in.
There are two main types of
diabetes insipidus:
·
cranial diabetes insipidus
·
nephrogenic diabetes insipidus
Through this article we are going to concentrate on
Cranial DI. Cranial
diabetes insipidus occurs when there's not enough AVP in the body to
regulate urine production.
Cranial diabetes insipidus is the
most common type of diabetes insipidus. It can be caused by
·
damage to the hypothalamus or
pituitary gland – for example, after an infection, operation, brain tumour or Head Injury.
In about one in three cases of
cranial diabetes insipidus there's no obvious reason why the hypothalamus stops
making enough AVP.
And
luckily treatment isn't always
needed for mild cases of cranial diabetes insipidus. You just need to increase
the amount of water you drink to compensate for the fluid lost through
urination.
If
necessary, a medication called desmopressin can be used to replicate the
functions of AVP.
There is
a complication that can occur, as diabetes
insipidus increases water loss in the urine, the amount of water in the body
can become low. This is known as dehydration.
Rehydration with water can be used to treat mild
dehydration.
Severe
dehydration will need to be treated in hospital.
If you would like to know more
about Diabetes Insipidus please contact me
and I will support you as best I can, if you have concerns that your child or loved
one has Diabetes Insipidus please contact your GP.
#Diabetes #DiabetesInsipidus
#Awareness #NeverGiveUp
Top
Influencers of Diabetes on Twitter @vic_pallares @mangelesprieto @escpacientes
@cristinatejerap @saludand
It is important to raise awareness around dementia, older people's care and the crisis the UK faces to Adult Social Care. It is equally important to promote good care and good care practices.
My aim is to make as many memories as I can through living as to live is the rarest thing in the world most people simply exist.
I deserve to win because my journey through dementia is personal and having gone through the stages of grief for the life I could have had I am now celebrating the life I got.
