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New Type ?: we still don't know!

K

knowlestr

Member
Hi, just thought I would join in here. I tend not to post on 'social' media so this is all new to me, apologies if I have it wrong!

I have been watching some of the more recent posts of new diagnosis, and thought if they can then I can.

I had my 50th birthday at the end of January, mu biggest present was being told I had diabetes. I am guessing that I already had an inkling that I had diabetes as I managed to drop 2 stone through the month, clothes that I had not worn for 15 years I now fit into again. it is not as if I had a weight problem - only 16 stone or thereabouts, and am now back to 14ish 9as I was in my athletic youth. Happy days.

My diagnosis came off the back of health provider screening at work - my blood glucose was 33.3 (the max the device could register, so may have been higher). Spoke to my GP and they advocated a trip to A&E, which I duly undertook. A&E took more blood then sent me upstairs to the diabetes clinic where I am now being assessed.

for meds I was started off on:
breakfast 1 Gliclazide, and 2 Metformin, which was then upped to 2 Glic, and about 10 days later introduced Empaglflozin., and for supper 2 Glic and 2 Met. Last week I had the morning Glic cut to 1/2 , then yesterday after a visit to the diet nurse it has been removed altogether.

Issue is that by all accounts I am not presenting as a typical type 2 - which is what they think I am, but with the removal of the Glic, is that paving the way for a Type 1 diagnosis as I understand that if T1 then you should not have Glic.

just to confuse matters further I have had additional bloods taken for LADA(?) testing.

all quite confusing, but I am more a glass half full person at the moment.
 
Hi and welcome. It sounds like Late onset T1 is possible. Gliclazide is often prescribed before going onto insulin as it helps the pancreas produce more insulin which would be lacking. When insulin becomes necessary then the Gliclazide becomes redundant. I've been down that route. There is an argument to start insulin earlier and then perhaps the Gliclazide isn't needed. I suspect you are being given the two tests for T1 i.e. GAD for anti-bodies and c-peptide to measure your insulin output. If you have been able to reduce the Gliclazide and presumable now have reasonable blood sugar it implies you either aren't T1 or are in the honeymoon period where the pancreas is fading but still produces some insulin. You may, of course, have another flavour of diabetes.
 
Hi and welcome!

Glad you are getting the extra testing so that you should have a definitive answer. And it sounds as though you are in good hands.

Welcome to the club.
 
Welcome!

There are a ton of reasons on why your values and meds are the way they are. I'm a type LADA, I was on oral meds for almost 2 years including gliclazide, but my pancreas struggled to keep up with the insulin demand and I was put on insulin and taken off gliclazide.

I don't know why you were taken off it - you could be a type 1/LADA with advanced beta-cell death where the gliclazide doesn't make a difference, or you could be a type 2 whose pancreas isn't functioning well enough anymore to have the gliclazide have any effect anymore. Basically the same result, but from different causes. Or maybe the Metformin itself is enough and you don't need gliclazide to begin with?

Lots of potential reasons! I hope the blood tests clear things up for you soon. In the meantime, do you have any other questions we can help you out with?
 
Hi @knowlestr .. and welcome
I'm new here (Feb 17th) and I don't know enough about diabetes (yet) to be able to comment on your situation. What I can say, though, is that you have joined an extremely welcoming, informative and friendly forum .. so, ask your questions and you can be confident that you will get the answers that you need
 


Your story up to this point is identical to mine last year when I was diagnosed (I also broke the glucose meter...mine just said HI...)....except I'm 45 and I lost 3 stone in weight...the weight just dropped off and I had blood ketones but not DKA. Consultant put me straight on insulin. (I'm so thankful for that as it gave my pancreas a day off and BG has been good so far). My GAD's went missing in the post so they claim - Type 1 confirmation, Far from happy about that...but all concerned say I'm Type 1. So far it's been easy street (or honeymoon so I am told) but it won't last. You need GAD result to prove it one way or the other..
 
Hi, and welcome I'm glad to hear you're getting the testing done which should tell you the type you have. It's possible you've had diabetes for some time undiagnosed as well. I'm type 2 myself although I no longer produce much insulin at all so oral meds don't work on me either. So at this stage you could be any type until you get the results you won't know. Hopefully you can see your numbers coming down soon though. I wish you the best.
 
Hey all, I guess I should have introduced myself first - told you I was new to this 'social media' stuff. I am Richard.

thanks for the responses, all very helpful and encouraging. Back to see the Specialist this week where hopefully the Blood tests results will be available.

my fun is trying to keep the BG levels up, tonight they are 4.8, last night 4.9. I am being told that this is good, but then again am being advised that I should aim for 7-8 before bed, it has not been that high at night since 16 Feb! so what to do? feed and raise it, or leave it and see what occurs? have had to have a few additional feeds today in order to raise the levels to make it ok to drive - down below 5 routinely during the day, finding this all quite confusing, but the glass is still half full!

if and when I get my result I hope I will get some clarity
 

It sounds like your med dosages may possibly be a bit high for you. Hopefully your doc can help you get the right dosages. And yes my endocrinologist told me not to go to bed on less than 8 either. I try and stick to this and it usually works a treat for me with the numbers in the morning. To do this I just have a small snack about an hour or so before bed... usually small amount of carbs with a protein of some sort.
 
Mep, just to make matters more interesting, I didn't have anything last night, so went to bed on a 4.8, but woke up with a reading of 5.6. I am, and continue to be an anomaly to my doctor and nurses
 
Well, there you go. Met with the Doctor this afternoon. GAD test results were back and it was all positive. "Positive" , Great I thought, and then thought again and again. Ok, so Type 1 LADA it is. SO now I know, it is time to move on and manage it before it tries to mange me.
 
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