I was fit and healthy....now I have type 2

This must be a confusing time for you - I am glad you are getting the Type 1 tests, its good to know where you stand. However, as others have said, whatever type it turns out to be, there is a way to treat it.

As for food - grains (including flour, i.e. bread etc), root vegetables (like potatoes, etc), rice, legumes (e.g. lentils) are all high in carbohydrates, so these should be restricted. Fiber can still be had from eating green leafy veg like broccoli, kale, asparagus, etc (which are all great being low in carbs). Delicious things are still on the menu though! Cheese, eggs, bacon, fish, broccoli (I love it with a good prawn stir fry, really soaks up the sauce better than rice!).

These are the ideal ranges for blood sugar, but you won't hit this immediately. It took me a good few months to get there!

Good luck, it takes time to get the hang of it, but you will!

Sgathach said:

I got my results... original hba1c was 11.8 and now it is 12.1 within a week.
my c peptide was at 0.8
Doc says combination, 1.5 so on the way to 1.
Been told to continue the drug i was given to lower bloog sugar and been given a prescription for longterm acting insulin, he said 10 units which he said is low dose.
Cause of the language barrier I am still figuring everything out. I dont even know how to inject.
I kinda just broke down at the docs into tears, how am I meant to deal with this I cant even fix it with diets. Can i continue to exercise? I dont feel i can deal with all this, like I just can't....i...
This will only get lower and lower in level and I'll have hypos if i eat a snack or whatever....sorry I'm super lost

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Hello,

I'm sorry you're so lost at sea right now. I'll tag @Antje77 in, I think she's the one to help you along here. Type 1.5 is what this is called, because it has symptoms of both type 1 and 2, but it's not going to change to T1. (There's a T3c as well, and, and, and...... More varieties of diabetes than we know what to do with.) Type 1,5 is also known as LADA, https://www.diabetes.co.uk/type15-diabetes.html with some more info behind the link.

If kids get diagnosed with T1, they learn to deal with it. Just becomes part of their life, they don't know any different except for what they see from their healthy friends. (Issues with it usually come in puberty though. So no get out of jail free cards for them either.) When you're older its harder to change your life around, and it seems insurmountable, because we lose some mental flexibility along the way, and know exactly what it is we've lost.

You'll get a grip on this. Just don't expect yourself to get everything exactly right overnight. I can't help with the injecting, but others here will know. As for hypos when you eat a snack... You hyper after a snack. Your blood sugars don't drop, they go higher. So keep your snacks low carb for the moment.

Like I said, it takes time.
Hugs,
Jo

JoKalsbeek said:

Hello,

I'm sorry you're so lost at sea right now. I'll tag @Antje77 in, I think she's the one to help you along here. Type 1.5 is what this is called, because it has symptoms of both type 1 and 2, but it's not going to change to T1. (There's a T3c as well, and, and, and...... More varieties of diabetes than we know what to do with.) Type 1,5 is also known as LADA, https://www.diabetes.co.uk/type15-diabetes.html with some more info behind the link.

If kids get diagnosed with T1, they learn to deal with it. Just becomes part of their life, they don't know any different except for what they see from their healthy friends. (Issues with it usually come in puberty though. So no get out of jail free cards for them either.) When you're older its harder to change your life around, and it seems insurmountable, because we lose some mental flexibility along the way, and know exactly what it is we've lost.

You'll get a grip on this. Just don't expect yourself to get everything exactly right overnight. I can't help with the injecting, but others here will know. As for hypos when you eat a snack... You hyper after a snack. Your blood sugars don't drop, they go higher. So keep your snacks low carb for the moment.

Like I said, it takes time.
Hugs,
Jo

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Hi Jo, my understanding is that type 1.5/lada is classed as type 1, just a slower form. My Consultant refuses to use these terms actually, just says 'It's all type 1 and that's that'! I definitely agree though there are so many variations between all types. x

Hi, just wanted to send you some hugs. It’s so overwhelming isn’t it, I absolutely understand. I was recently diagnosed late onset type 1 and have an appointment this afternoon at hospital to be shown how to inject etc, I imagine I start insulin tomorrow so we can be insulin buddies. I’ve been posting over on the LADA bit - I imagine I’ll be asking a lot of questions there! Keep strong, I know I’m crying so much just now but so grateful to have the support here xx

KK123 said:

Hi Jo, my understanding is that type 1.5/lada is classed as type 1, just a slower form. My Consultant refuses to use these terms actually, just says 'It's all type 1 and that's that'! I definitely agree though there are so many variations between all types. x

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Learning all the time. Thank you!

Please be strong. Lets fight together

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HSSS said:

Do you know why the first dr said definitely type 2? Have they done actual tests to rule out type 1? Very fit, young, losing weight are not typically type 2 alarms.

what medication have they put you on?

if it is type 2 then yes diet can do a lot to help but I think that needs confirming not asusming.

edit triple crossed with the above. I’d add antibody tests to the list of requests too.

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Not so sure about that. I'm a T2 and one of the first symptoms I noticed was losing weight unintentionally. It can happen.

Crocodile said:

Not so sure about that. I'm a T2 and one of the first symptoms I noticed was losing weight unintentionally. It can happen.

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I did say typically not always. Out of interest were your diagnosis scores extremely high? How long ago?

A lot of those that ultimately turn out to be type 1 (beyond childhood onset) or especially LADA are initially misdiagnosed type 2.

HSSS said:

I did say typically not always. Out of interest were your diagnosis scores extremely high? How long ago?

A lot of those that ultimately turn out to be type 1 (beyond childhood onset) or especially LADA are initially misdiagnosed type 2.

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I was diagnosed about 4 years ago. I wasn't unwell and actually felt pretty good. Just before diagnosis I had some odd symptoms that I couldn't understand. Firstly, I was constantly getting the prescription for my spectacles altered. I'd get my new glasses and find that after a few weeks they weren't working and had to get another pair of lenses fitted. The pattern revealed that my eyes were actually improving. Normally one would say that's great. Secondly, I weighed 107kg with a BMI of 32. I was trying to lose weight but only slowly. Based on my kj intake I'd calculated that I should lose 0.5 kg per week. In past weight loss attempts this was always accurate but I was losing weight at five times this amount. Normally one would think that this is a fantastic diet and continue. Thirdly, my wife said one night that I seem to go to the toilet a lot. I just shrugged it off and said that I drink a lot. I actually thought that I peed a lot because I drank a lot but as turned out it was the other way around. I drank a lot because I peed a lot.

All these things happened at the same time. I wasn't concerned and felt good. Three things all at the same time that didn't quite add up. I saw my GP and told him that I have to keep getting new glasses, I'm losing weight much faster than anticipated and I piddle a lot. Is there anything to worry about. He grabbed my finger, took a blood sample, measured it and almost fell off his chair. He said it looks like I'm a diabetic. You could have knocked me over with a feather, My spot bg was 22.5 and my fasting level the next day was 15.5 and HbA1c came back at 9.5 %. He put me on metformin and made an appointment with the dietician and diabetic clinic. I asked him how these things indicate diabetes because he seemed to know instantly. He told me that I pee a lot because my kidneys are working overtime trying to flush all that glucose out of my blood since my cells aren't using it. Some thing wrong with my insulin system means that the cells don't take up my insulin or my pancreas isn't making enough. He went on and said that I'm not getting any energy from glucose so I'm using the fat stores in my body instead and that's why I'm losing weight. He then explained that high blood sugar can cause the lens in the eye to swell and since I'm long sighted it changes the focal length of my eye bringing the image closer to my retina instead of behind it. All made perfect sense when explained.

Needless to say that the clinic was about as useful as the bottom half of a mermaid. The dietician was a little better and my GP has been fantastic. Both told me to look on the web for a diabetic support group and I found this place. Today I'm 88 kg, blood sugar normal and HbA1c between 5.4 to 5.8 all thanks to the realisation that carbs are the enemy. This group has been really good for me at least.

LADA is type 1, just when you get it as an adult it generally happens at a slower pace. 40% of type 1's are misdiagnosed as a type 2 at first.

Pretty much the title of 1.5 isn't used any more, at least in the US, I think it was bandied about as to differentiate the slower progression, but in the long run there is no difference and the progression time can vary in young or old so 1.5 is not that useful of a label.

Type 2 is completely different from type 1. Type 1/LADA you end up not making insulin because your body attacks the cells that make insulin and type 2 you have insulin resistance. A type 1 can develop insulin resistance, it's just not that common to do so. As a type 1/LADA you still make insulin for a while, sometimes up to 8 years plus which is one of the reasons it is misdiagnosed so often. Diet and exercise, medications can seemingly work at first because you still make some insulin. And diet and exercise cuts down the need for insulin hence that helps the confusion over thinking it's type 2. The period of still making insulin is called the honeymoon period.

But thirst, weight loss are more common for a type 1 than a type 2. And when a type 1, you can reach a point of not making enough insulin you can feel pretty lousy fast. You just don't have enough insulin to handle food at some point.

The only way to know if it's type 1 is to get a c-peptide test to see how much insulin you are making and an antibody test to see if you have the antibodies. On a C-peptide test a low normal or below normal is a sign of type 1, a high normal or high is a sign of type 2. A positive on the antibody test is a sign of type 1. In a few rare cases a type 1 can still not have the antibodies tested but not make insulin.

When things don't make sense I always like to make sure people know they could be a type 1, not a type 2. I'm not saying anyone is, but just keep it in mind just in case. Too many of us are misdiagnosed for even long lengths of time. I was.