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How do they know?

SueJB

SueJB

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,325
Location
Heaven
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
cold weather
Hi everyone,
A quick question and probably very simple. How do the medics know if you're type 1 or 2? I suppose I'm asking because I don't really believe I've got diabetes type1 (head in sand perhaps) and ignorantly think it might be better to have type 2. I'm in what I discover is commonly called the honeymoon phase but none of the docs has ever used this term. What do you all think? Thoughts appreciated.
 
As far as I know they test for the level of insulin production, and also for anti-bodies which indicate that your immune system is attacking your pancreas and destroying your beta cells. However you can still be T1 without antibodies showing up in the tests.

There are reports of people being able to extend the "honeymoon period" through strict diet and exercise but I have no idea how common this is.

I think the make an educated guess based on age, weight and a number of blood tests. Then wait a year to see if they were right.
 
SueJB said:
Hi everyone,
A quick question and probably very simple. How do the medics know if you're type 1 or 2? I suppose I'm asking because I don't really believe I've got diabetes type1 (head in sand perhaps) and ignorantly think it might be better to have type 2. I'm in what I discover is commonly called the honeymoon phase but none of the docs has ever used this term. What do you all think? Thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...

I think it down to a few test that their can do like GAD test,c-peptide test, family history, age, obesity and most important is your respond to medicine ( type 1 or 3C will not respond to most anti diabetic medicine).

I think if your GAD is positive and c-peptide is low or negative then type 1
other than that the doctor may put you as type 2 but 1.5 and mody will look like type 2 also.
ahhhh i think i may need to get a medical degree soon.
 
LittleGreyCat said:
As far as I know they test for the level of insulin production, and also for anti-bodies which indicate that your immune system is attacking your pancreas and destroying your beta cells. However you can still be T1 without antibodies showing up in the tests.

There are reports of people being able to extend the "honeymoon period" through strict diet and exercise but I have no idea how common this is.

I think the make an educated guess based on age, weight and a number of blood tests. Then wait a year to see if they were right.
Click to expand...
I'm beginning to think it's all guess work and the stock phrase I keep being given "We like you to take ownership of your diabetes" is a bit of a cop out isn't it? All the information I've found about the range to keep my BG is from this website. I had to wait 3 weeks before they said type1
 
Gabrielle_Tai said:
I think it down to a few test that their can do like GAD test,c-peptide test, family history, age, obesity and most important is your respond to medicine ( type 1 or 3C will not respond to most anti diabetic medicine).

I think if your GAD is positive and c-peptide is low or negative then type 1
other than that the doctor may put you as type 2 but 1.5 and mody will look like type 2 also.
ahhhh i think i may need to get a medical degree soon.
Click to expand...
Thanks
 
@SueJB

The only way you can find out is to ask for print outs of all your blood tests at diagnosis and since diagnosis. These will tell you what tests you had and what the results were. You can then maybe judge for yourself whether you are T1 or T2 or somewhere in between.

As you are in England it is worth asking your surgery if they put test results on line as they were asked to do before May 2016. Most have done this, but some haven't. If your surgery has done this, then you can ask how to register for it.
 
It all largely guesswork by the GPs. By default you are labelled T2 unless you end up with DKA in hospital or insist on the two T1 tests - GAD and c-peptide. If you are overweight with high blood sugar then T2 is good guess. If you are very slim and have lost weight recently without trying then T1 is more likely. If you're like my diabetes GP who said I needed to lose weight when I was stick thin and he didn't even look at me you realise how robotic some GPs are :)
 
@SueJB, let's be radical. If you had Type2 instead of Type1 we would be telling you to reduce your carbs as much as possible, test often, and adjust your insulin to what your body is doing. Remember doing so also works well for Type1........

As to how the doctors tell. If you had very high BG but your AC1 was not very high, then it points to Type1, DKA is uncommon in Type2, then there are a few tests that are only positive for people with Type1 but not everyone with Type1 test positive. The doctors can also check if your body is making any insulin, but lots of people with Type1 make some of their own insulin for the first few months/years.

So there is no way to prove 100% that someone with Diabetes does not have Type1, but often it can be proved 100% that someone has Type1.
 
SueJB said:
Hi everyone,
A quick question and probably very simple. How do the medics know if you're type 1 or 2? I suppose I'm asking because I don't really believe I've got diabetes type1 (head in sand perhaps) and ignorantly think it might be better to have type 2. I'm in what I discover is commonly called the honeymoon phase but none of the docs has ever used this term. What do you all think? Thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...
Your ketones on diagnosis would suggest T1D
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-and-ketones.html
Geoff
 
I was misdiagnosed by the GP as type 2 due to being in my 40s. After ending up in A&E due to my blood sugars remaining in 30s and ketones being v high the consultant said anyone presenting with high ketones should be assumed type 1 and treated as such - irrespective of antibody tests.

As it happened I came back positive on 2 of the antibody tests, but they take a while to come through and I would have died waiting for them.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
@SueJB

The only way you can find out is to ask for print outs of all your blood tests at diagnosis and since diagnosis. These will tell you what tests you had and what the results were. You can then maybe judge for yourself whether you are T1 or T2 or somewhere in between.

As you are in England it is worth asking your surgery if they put test results on line as they were asked to do before May 2016. Most have done this, but some haven't. If your surgery has done this, then you can ask how to register for it.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I din't know this was a possibilty so I'll look into it and see what they say
 
Daibell said:
It all largely guesswork by the GPs. By default you are labelled T2 unless you end up with DKA in hospital or insist on the two T1 tests - GAD and c-peptide. If you are overweight with high blood sugar then T2 is good guess. If you are very slim and have lost weight recently without trying then T1 is more likely. If you're like my diabetes GP who said I needed to lose weight when I was stick thin and he didn't even look at me you realise how robotic some GPs are :)
Click to expand...
Yeah, I sometimes get that impression but have to say my doc was great when I said I'd lost 17k, down from 67 to 50 and could easily drink a bathful of water. I'm ony 5ft so drinking that much wasn't easy
 
ringi said:
@SueJB, let's be radical. If you had Type2 instead of Type1 we would be telling you to reduce your carbs as much as possible, test often, and adjust your insulin to what your body is doing. Remember doing so also works well for Type1........

As to how the doctors tell. If you had very high BG but your AC1 was not very high, then it points to Type1, DKA is uncommon in Type2, then there are a few tests that are only positive for people with Type1 but not everyone with Type1 test positive. The doctors can also check if your body is making any insulin, but lots of people with Type1 make some of their own insulin for the first few months/years.

So there is no way to prove 100% that someone with Diabetes does not have Type1, but often it can be proved 100% that someone has Type1.
Click to expand...
What is AC1 and DKA?
 
Circuspony said:
I was misdiagnosed by the GP as type 2 due to being in my 40s. After ending up in A&E due to my blood sugars remaining in 30s and ketones being v high the consultant said anyone presenting with high ketones should be assumed type 1 and treated as such - irrespective of antibody tests.

As it happened I came back positive on 2 of the antibody tests, but they take a while to come through and I would have died waiting for them.
Click to expand...
Hope you're OK
 
SueJB said:
What is AC1 and DKA?
Click to expand...
Was AC1 meant to be A1C? if so it's your HBa1C blood sugar level. DKA is Diabetic Keto Acidosis a very dangerous condition where you have high ketones and high blood sugar. The blood starts to become acidic and you can die very quickly. It can occur in undiagnosed T1s or T1s who don't take their insulin.
 
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