Highs and Low - Of Diagnosis

[LADA4u]

I was diagnosed just before Xmas 2022. Santa really knocked it out the park this year!

I had all the symptoms. Thirst, frequent urination. Dropped 20+lbs in 4 months. I wasn't sure what was going on, but had a clue. Saw my doc, tested and found out my A1C was at 11, Ketones "large" but no acid. T2 apparently. I immediately started Metformin. I ramped up to max dose quickly - GI been damned! I changed my diet, continued exercising and dropped 5 more pounds to 165. My numbers plummetted from a high of 495 down to average of 150. Then I saw a specialist. She raised some flags, did some tests. After a month of slowly coming to terms with T2 and all I could do to control/stabilize, I learned last week that I have LADA.

So back to the internet.

And now I'm scared. This is a different animal. One of my nurses actually said I'm in the "honeymoon" period - still making insulin, but it will slow to a halt. ****** honeymoon.

I started tresiba yesterday. Used it wrong first two times. Seems I got my "fast acting" and "basal" meds confused. Yikes.

I feel like I'm in limbo. Not a honeymoon, more dead-man-walking. I can continue with my "healthy" choices, or I could just enjoy normal life a little longer until everything gets turned upside down. I'll probably do both healthy food, exercise, and an occasional binge.

Has anyone here been misdiagnosed as 2 only to learn later that you're 1? Very strange period. Glad I found the forum.

 

[EllieM]

Welcome to the forums @LADA4u

Unfortunately because 90% of diabetics are T2 then most doctors assume that adults diagnosed with diabetes are T2. After all, they'll be right 90% of the time. That means that if you are in fact T1 (or MODY or T3c, there are multiple types) you have a good chance of being misdiagnosed T2 first.

The good news is that the treatment for T1 diabetes is very much better than it was when I was diagnosed as a child 53 years ago, so T1s are living longer and healthier lives all the time. (My T1 mother, dagnosed in her early twenties in 1955 lived till she was 78).

My recommendation is to make sure you always carry sugar (or equivalent) for hypos. Remember learning about T1 is a gradual process, you don't have to get it right all the time.

And finally, as your profile says US, I'll point out that many/most of the forumites here are measuring their bgs in mmol/L whereas you'll be using mg/dL. Just multiply or divide by 18 to change between units.


Once more, welcome.