High titers GADA

[seblish2000]

Hello everyone

I'm new to this forum and relatively newly diagnosed. I was diagnosed as Gestational DM in 2016 and 2018 in both of my pregnancies, which went away both times. At that time I tested positive for GAD antibodies tested and they were very high (greater than 250 IU/ml don't know the actual number).

Forward to 2024 Jan, my glucose levels becoming Higher and officially diagnosed with LADA....any repeat the autoantibodies still high titers of GAD positive and I was reading about high titers for GAD is also associated with neurological disorders Which is freaking me out and panicking right now although I don't have any overt symptoms except of course my anxiety. Does anyone have similar situation and should I refer myself to neurologist??

thanks for your help.

 

[h884]

Hello everyone

I'm new to this forum and relatively newly diagnosed. I was diagnosed as Gestational DM in 2016 and 2018 in both of my pregnancies, which went away both times. At that time I tested positive for GAD antibodies tested and they were very high (greater than 250 IU/ml don't know the actual number).

Forward to 2024 Jan, my glucose levels becoming Higher and officially diagnosed with LADA....any repeat the autoantibodies still high titers of GAD positive and I was reading about high titers for GAD is also associated with neurological disorders Which is freaking me out and panicking right now although I don't have any overt symptoms except of course my anxiety. Does anyone have similar situation and should I refer myself to neurologist??

thanks for your help.

Good Morning seblish2000

I would advise you to speak to someone from your Diabetes team about your concerns. I was diagnosed with LADA about 10 years ago. I have not experienced any neurological issues.

Hope you get some answers

 

[Vectian]

Hello everyone

I'm new to this forum and relatively newly diagnosed. I was diagnosed as Gestational DM in 2016 and 2018 in both of my pregnancies, which went away both times. At that time I tested positive for GAD antibodies tested and they were very high (greater than 250 IU/ml don't know the actual number).

Forward to 2024 Jan, my glucose levels becoming Higher and officially diagnosed with LADA....any repeat the autoantibodies still high titers of GAD positive and I was reading about high titers for GAD is also associated with neurological disorders Which is freaking me out and panicking right now although I don't have any overt symptoms except of course my anxiety. Does anyone have similar situation and should I refer myself to neurologist??

thanks for your help.

Hi. Firstly 250 is not that high, mine is somewhere over 2000 (2000 is the max they can measure). I have read quite a bit of research on this. The neurological disorders are extremely rare. Stiff person syndrome affects 1 in a million people, and they usually have extremely high titers of 10,000 or more. The others are more rare than that, so statistically pretty unlikely.

Interesting you mentioned anxiety, what I also discovered is that the GAD antibodies attack GAD, which is used in your body to create the amino acid GABA. So anyone with GAD antibodies has low GABA levels. GABA is not only important in maintain pancreas function, but is also one of the major regulators of anxiety and your body's natural counterbalance when a real or perceived threat subsides. So having GAD antibodies removes the thing that controls anxiety in "normal" people.

 

[Vectian]

Hello, I know this is an old post but I had the same worries while reading about GAD antibodies! Mine are at 1848.

I've been referred to a neurologist just to be safe and my appointment is in October. I do experience neurological symptoms but it's unclear at the moment if this is due to a neurological disorder or my unstable blood sugar levels.

There's no harm in asking to be referred to a neurologist even if only to put your mind at rest but I wouldn't be worried at all with a result of 250!

Mine were above the maximum recorded (2000) so could be anywhere above that. It's worth remembering that the neurological disorders from gad antibodies are very rare, stiff person is something like 1 in a million and the others even less. High titres doesn't really mean anything, mine was very high and I have had no meds at all for 10 months with all metrics in non diabetic range.