Am I type 1 or type 2 ? Maybe LADA?

[vasyop]

All right I am a 17, 1.73 m (5.7 feet) tall guy and had about 64 kg (141 pounds) last September when school started and I kinda stopped to go to the gym(kinda my only source of exercise) while still eating a lot of that refined past under a lot of stress (parents and such) and basically guess what happened.
2 months later I got a 300 mg/dl reading after ~1.5 months of polyuria and polydipsia and dry mouth.

My doc gave me insulin(20 units of humalog right away, 30 min later 100 mg/dl).Nice blood sugars over 2 days but spiky.I started learning a lot about diabetes. Suggested a low carb diet to my doc, she said I need food to grow.(I don't know how carbs make you grow so yeah).

Got off insulin 2 days later(and have been for ~six months), got on a low carb ( ~100 grams a day) diet: salads, soups, diary, nuts,seeds,and very little fruit.Started exercising (cycling ~25km each 2-3rd day with ~18km/hr average).
Works like a charm.(usually 90mg/dl before meals and 120 1 hour after and 100 ish 2 hr if not after exercise, in which case I am completely below 100 1hr after). I notice that If I stop exercising for 2 days I get slightly higher readings(peaking at around 140 in the morning when I heard it's worse). Recently, I got into 80s and 70s before meals after going a little hardcore on exercising.(~35 km 2-3 day 20km/hr average).

Got worried ~1 month back when I started getting eye floaters(asociated with diabetic retinopathy).I know they are common but still worried. what do you think ?

Do you think this is a honeymoon period or that I'm type 2 ?

 

[AlexMBrennan]

I started learning a lot about diabetes. Suggested a low carb diet to my doc,

Evidently not; even the most hardcore low carb advocates realise that it doesn't work for T1 - even if you eat no carbs, your liver can make more than enough glucose to fuel your body through a process called gluconeogenesis and guess what, you need insulin to cover that glucose.

From what you have said, T1 seems more likely than any alternative (young, normal weight, sudden onset), and what you describe sounds like a textbook case of honeymoon; exercise makes insulin (both injected and produced by your pancreas) more effective, meaning that you will be able to make do with your declining insulin production for longer.

Got worried ~1 month back when I started getting eye floaters(asociated with diabetic retinopathy).I know they are common but still worried. what do you think ?

If you are worried go see an ophthalmologist; however, if diabetic retinopathy hit after six months of nearly perfect BGs you'd expect to see waaaaay more cases than we do.

 

[CollieBoy]

Do you think this is a honeymoon period or that I'm type 2 ?

Treat it like a honeymoon period and when it gets to~50 years then admit it may be not
Keep a close eye on your BG in case the honeymoon ends.
Re the floaters - see an ophthalmologist ASAP - if only for your peace of mind.

 

[vasyop]

Evidently not; even the most hardcore low carb advocates realise that it doesn't work for T1 - even if you eat no carbs, your liver can make more than enough glucose to fuel your body through a process called gluconeogenesis and guess what, you need insulin to cover that glucose.

Even so, I say it's better on a low carb, I don't see what's wrong with it.

 

[Daibell]

Many T1 still have some islet cell function so the need for low carb varies and it also helps avoid weight gain even when on insulin. It sounds like you may have progressing Late onset T1 and insulin will be needed in the future. Do keep an eye on the sugar levels

 

[Spiker]

even the most hardcore low carb advocates realise that it doesn't work for T1

What??

Do you mean that a T1 can't low carb and thereby come off insulin? Well nobody ever claimed that. But low carb works brilliantly for T1. And the most hardcore low carb advocate is a T1 who has been low carbing for 40-odd years, and made it into his eighties.

 

[Spiker]

Do you think this is a honeymoon period or that I'm type 2 ?

It's hard to say. It's an exceptional honeymoon period if you have had no insulin in 6 months and still getting BG of 80. All that exercise would not help much if you weren't producing insulin. I would get C Peptide and GAD tests done, and don't assume either way until those are done.

Did you lose weight, or gain weight, prior to diagnosis? If lost, probably T1, if you gained, probably T2.

 

[vasyop]

It's hard to say. It's an exceptional honeymoon period if you have had no insulin in 6 months and still getting BG of 80. All that exercise would not help much if you weren't producing insulin. I would get C Peptide and GAD tests done, and don't assume either way until those are done.

Did you lose weight, or gain weight, prior to diagnosis? If lost, probably T1, if you gained, probably T2.

I don't see the point of a GAd or C peptide other than compare it to another taken in the future to see how it is going.
There still is a lot of insuluin otherwise I wouldn't get hypoglycemia sometimes when I exercise 1 hr after a meal. (when the insulin levels are higher and the resistance is lower) which makes me further think I am type 2.My grandpa was type 2, some chinese doctor told me I was type 2 just by looking at me with telling him anything.

There is also this thing that I was never a fat guy even when I was very young and I am sure I didn't have any diabetes.I could eat sooo much sugar and never got fat unless I started to exercise or even just stay outside a lot.I remember this one time when I was a kid and I went to my grandma's and they fed me like crazy maybe double I was normally eating and after a week I didn't weigh a gram more because I didn't go outside at all.Then that same summer I went to a camp and they made me walk soo much and I enjoyed it and when I got home my mother was like "Look at him, he a barrel, What did they give you?!!".Same thing 2 years ago when I started the gym. I should also mention that when I am under a lot of stress I lose weight and man I WAS before diagnsis, but to finally answer your question : yes I did lose 5 kg (9% of body weight) in 2 months.

So anyway I kinda hope I have t2 but I am expecting the worst.
Thank youfor all your replies. Let me know what you think guys.

 

[Spiker]

If you have a low C-Peptide and a very high GAD then you are likely a T1 honeymooning. If you have a high C-Peptide and a low to nil GAD then you are probably T2. That would be the point of doing the tests now.

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[Spiker]

Your weight history in childhood and immediately pre-diagnosis is more suggestive of T1, but again it's not clear cut.

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[Daibell]

You could have the two tests or just wait and see how things go. At the moment your diagnosis could go either way T1 or T2. Don't worry too much if you do turn out to be a T1. Insulin is not as bad as it was for our parents and does enable you to eat reasonably freely. T2 normally avoids the insulin but you may have to be more careful with the carb intake.

 

[Spiker]

However, to repeat, normalising after a couple of days on insulin and staying that way for six months without insulin would be a truly incredible T1 honeymoon. So I lean towards T2. Or maybe you have one of the other types that are neither T1 nor T2. Did you say if you are taking any meds at all?

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[vasyop]

No meds.

Now that I think about it, LADA makes more sense than anything. I'll do the GAD and C peptide along with an A1c probably on Saturday. I'll post the results as soon as I can.