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Slightly confused

D

Dave Metric

Member
Messages
18
Type of diabetes
Type 3c
Treatment type
Insulin
I've just come off a call with my pancreatic surgeon and I asked a question about which type of diabetes I have as it's never really been confirmed. It came on really rapidly over 2 months and they suspected pancreatic cancer initially. Got admitted with DKA and they managed to rule out the cancer but hinted at pancreatic atrophy. This is where it gets more complicated. My FET was normal and I don't need to take Creon or the like to sort digestion but do need largish doses (55-60 units daily) of long acting insulin to keep things managed. Today he said that I've not really got type 3c but it's not really type 2 either. They're not really sure why my pancreas has atrophied. Feels odd to be in this sort of mid state. Has anyone else had this?
 
That's a difficult one @Dave Metric . I would have said Type 3c , but your pancreatic surgeon said not. Who am I to go against your specialist's opinion. I still think 3c. If the destruction is not autoimmune related then it's not Type 1. You are left with Type 2, which is a category they put people in if they don't nowhere else to put them. It's a catch all category even though you don't fit neatly in Type 2 . Quite a few members here don't fit in the Type 2 category but you get stuck in that category anyway. :banghead:
 
Dave Metric said:
Today he said that I've not really got type 3c but it's not really type 2 either. They're not really sure why my pancreas has atrophied.
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If your pancreas has atrophied and if this has caused your diabetes, have you asked your pancreatic surgeon why it would not be T3C?
 
Antje77 said:
If your pancreas has atrophied and if this has caused your diabetes, have you asked your pancreatic surgeon why it would not be T3C?
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I think his reasoning is that my FET was normal so my pancreas is still doing something rather than totally failed. It does seem to have stopped producing insulin though as I tend to trend high rather than low unless I keep on top of things. The rapid onset tends to point more towards 3c too. I suspect it's a very academic conversation between experts but for practical purposes I'm calling it 3c
 
The trouble is, in the UK T1s get much better diabetic tech than T2s, so it's better to be given the "subset of T1" diagnosis than the T2 one.

Are you getting a cgm on prescription @Dave Metric ? (I suspect not if you are still only on long acting insulin.)
 
EllieM said:
The trouble is, in the UK T1s get much better diabetic tech than T2s, so it's better to be given the "subset of T1" diagnosis than the T2 one.

Are you getting a cgm on prescription @Dave Metric ? (I suspect not if you are still only on long acting insulin.)
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Because I'm fully insulin dependent (part of my diagnosis happened by being admitted for DKA) the hospital diabetes team included CGMs in the full set of items to be prescribed by my GP when they wrote to them. I'm also prescribed fast acting insulin too but I'm managing to not have to use that much to keep in range. Having had to adapt to a number of health challenges over the years, I've not found this as hard as I was expecting but I'm not being complacent and some foods etc still catch me out.
 
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