This can be really confusing, because diabetes is a complex disease. In fact, it isn't really a disease at all - it is a symptom which can be caused by a number of conditions. Moreover, it is a simplistic generalisation to divide diabetes into just two types - in addition to T1 and T2 there are several other rarer forms of diabetes, and there are many variations of T1 and T2.
In simple terms, T1 is an insulin deficiency (i.e. your pancreas looses the ability to produce enough insulin to regulate glucose) whereas T2 is insulin resistance (i.e. the insulin that you have no longer works effectively). As for how anyone can tell the difference between T1 and T2 then in the early stages, the only real way to do this is what is called a C-Peptide test. C-Peptide is a substance that is produced as a part of the insulin production process (what biologists call a precursor), and T1 diabetics generally have little or no C-Peptide. T2 diabetics will generally have higher than normal levels of C-Peptide because their pancreas has to work harder to produce enough insulin to keep up with the demand of an insulin resistant body.
When your doctor said that you are "in the middle" of T1 and T2, then he or she could have meant several different things by this. People who have had undiagnosed T2 for many years, sometimes develop a condition that is quite similar to T1. This is because if you have high levels of BG for a long time, the pancreas tends to degenerate and eventually it will cease to be able to produce enough insulin for you to survive (at which point, the only treatment is insulin therapy - exactly like a T1). Alternatively, you could have one of the rarer forms of diabetes. Both MODY (Mature Onset Diabetes of the Young) and LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) are quite distinct from T1 and T2, and are sometimes dubbed Type 1.5.
My guess (and remember this is just a guess - I don't have full information) is that your doctor suspects you have MODY. This is quite often confused with T1, but it doesn't progress in the same way. Even this is a rather substantial simplification - to the best of my knowledge there are at least eight different forms of MODY! However, all of these result in an insulin deficiency (like T1) - but the onset and progression of the condition is somewhat different. MODY does tend to run very strongly in families, and there are known to be genetic associations with both lupus and hypothyroidism.
I suggest that you talk about all of this with your doctor - you should ask what your actual diagnosis is (and don't accept anything vague like "in between T1 and T2"). Take a notebook and write down what you are told (if there are unfamiliar words, ask for them to be spelt out). Don't worry if you don't understand everything, you can look it up later or ask for interpretation on here.
Sorry if this all sounds a bit complicated - I am afraid that biology is like that! :? :wink:
