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Am I Type 1 or Type 2

J

jallsop

Active Member
Messages
41
While browsing round the site I thought I would ask a question that has been puzzling me for some time - am I T1 or T2? My diabetes was brought about by high dose steroids to treat an inflammatory bowel disease which destroyed my pancreas. From what I have been told I am producing no natural insulin so I inject. However, reading various stuff it would seem that I would be classed T2 Insulin Dependant rather than T1 which seems to apply only to those who are diagnosed much younger (I am now 49) and basically their diabetes is genetic.

Not desperately important to know ... just curious!

Jackie
 
It's probably immaterial what class of diabetes you have, as long as the treatment works. If you have no insulin production of your own, then technically, you are probably a T1. Anyway that is how your condition presents. T2s are generally insulin resistant and T1s don't produce insulin. Sometimes T2 progresses and the beta cells ( insulin producing cells, of the pancreas), "burn out" from over work. that person is now effectively T1, despite starting out as T2. that's why our transatlantic cousins are adding more numbers for different vaarietions of diabetes.
 
Thanks for that hana. Now it makes more sense to me! I'm not bothered in that if anyone asks I just say I am an insulin dependant diabetic and that satisfies most consultants. I have read lots of explanations of the different types and none of them really seemed to fit me. Now I know why ... it seems like I am somewhere in between the two explanations. Thanks for the clarification. Now I will be able to explain it all a bit better to people!

And you are quite right to say it doesn't matter. Now I am off the horrid drugs that gave me such weird blood sugar levels, I seem to be well controlled. Which makes me very happy. :lol:

Jackie
 
Hi Jackie,
You sound very similar to me. If you haven't read any of my previous postings, I was told I was Type 2, 5 years ago. A few weeks ago I saw a specialist who, within a few minutes of talking to me, told me he thought I was LADA (Late onset Type 1.) I have been on insulin for 4 years. I was on a steroid inhaler before diabetes diagnosis (prescribed incorrectly for asthma, which I didn't actually have). The diabetes specialist I saw recently says he does not believe diabetes can be brought on by steroid inhalers but I guess I'll never know.
I'm really struggling at the moment with the changeover from Novomix to basal/bolus but as hanadr says, whichever type you are, getting the correct treatment and keeping readings level is THE most important thing,though I know just how frustrating it is to not be sure of your "Type".
 
Strictly speaking you probably aren't either. Steroid diabetes is a recognised condition in its own right. Usually it is temporary, but it sounds as though in your case the damage caused by the steroids was so severe that it is permanent. In terms of treatment, you are probably pretty close to a T1 (i.e. you don't make any of your own insulin).

It is simplistic to classify diabetes into just two types - there are many more. The ones that I am aware of are: Type 1, Type 2, LADA, eight different types of MODY (both LADA and MODY are sometimes called Type 1.5), gestational diabetes and steroid diabetes. It is just that T1 and T2 are far more common than the others. However, as Hanna said, it really doesn't matter what it is called so long as you have a treatment protocol that works for you. Incidentally, although you are right in thinking that T1 is usually diagnosed in young people (often children), that isn't always the case. The oldest known newly diagnosed T1 was 93!
 

Thank you so much for that. You are right - I produce no insulin at all. And the damage is permanent. I was on high dose steroids for nearly 2 years and it certainly done its damage. I didn't know that T1 could start so late in life. See, you learn something new every day!! :lol:

Jackie
 
jallsop said:
I didn't know that T1 could start so late in life. See, you learn something new every day!! :lol:

Jackie
Click to expand...

FWIW I've read that Adult Onset Type 1 is about twice as common as Childhood Onset

mind you, I read that on the internet so I don't know how accurate that is

I've also met not a few Type 2s who can trace symptoms right back to childhood, so the old classifications are somewhat bogus

Also I've read that Type 1 is actually increasing at a faster rate than Type 2 though it's still only around 10% of all diabetes
 
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