Newly diagnosed possibly LADA/Type 1

[tpaz]

Hi everyone,

So after 11 or 12 years of being diagnosed as type 2, I got news yesterday that I'm actually type 1. I was at an appt with a diabetes nurse, when she looked at my anti-bodies results from a couple of months ago and asked my endo Doctor (who happens to occasionally work out of the local diabetes clinic) to come in and speak with me.
She was super busy and I maybe had a 30 second conversation with her. She let me know that the test result came back positive, I was type 1, am making very little insulin and to move up my appt with her office so she can get me started on insulin. And then 'woosh' she was gone. I was in shock. (Although I should say she did come back later to make sure I was ok and not upset)

The nurse did a great job of calming me down and answering questions off the top of my head, but I still find myself confused. I regularly test in the 4-8 mmol region. I've been on Metformin since August and it seems to be working. She mentioned that I maybe in the honeymoon period, but I've had a diagnosis for over 10 years! How is that possible?

Is there any warrant in me asking to redo the antibody tests? They took almost 2 months to get the answer back. Should I just accept this and move on? I display classic symptoms - thirst, frequent urination, my eyesight has worse over the last couple of years, but why am I testing in an ok range? My last A1C in feb was 6.3.

 

[andcol]

Why would you not accept the antibody test and want a new one. You have had a long honeymoon period and you may be able to extend it longer before you move to being completely insulin dependent.

Accept it and I would suggest keep doing what you are and just go with the flow. No reason to stress because it will not help.

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. If you had the GAD antibody test it will show whether you have any antibodies but not your current level of insulin production. The c-peptide test does that. LADA can take many years to come on fully. It took me about 8 years. So your insulin may be going down very slowly and I believe some people with the antibodies never do lose insulin production. It sounds like you don't need any insulin yet and even before that, Gliclazide is often prescribed to stimulate the pancreas. Try to get time to talk to the GP/endo.

 

[urbanracer]

Hi everyone,

So after 11 or 12 years of being diagnosed as type 2, I got news yesterday that I'm actually type 1. I was at an appt with a diabetes nurse, when she looked at my anti-bodies results from a couple of months ago and asked my endo Doctor (who happens to occasionally work out of the local diabetes clinic) to come in and speak with me.
She was super busy and I maybe had a 30 second conversation with her. She let me know that the test result came back positive, I was type 1, am making very little insulin and to move up my appt with her office so she can get me started on insulin. And then 'woosh' she was gone. I was in shock. (Although I should say she did come back later to make sure I was ok and not upset)

The nurse did a great job of calming me down and answering questions off the top of my head, but I still find myself confused. I regularly test in the 4-8 mmol region. I've been on Metformin since August and it seems to be working. She mentioned that I maybe in the honeymoon period, but I've had a diagnosis for over 10 years! How is that possible?

Is there any warrant in me asking to redo the antibody tests? They took almost 2 months to get the answer back. Should I just accept this and move on? I display classic symptoms - thirst, frequent urination, my eyesight has worse over the last couple of years, but why am I testing in an ok range? My last A1C in feb was 6.3.

Hi @tpaz,
Regarding your eyesight, it wasn't that long ago (I checked you posting history) that you were reporting testing at 16+ so if you had those glucose levels for a while it may have brought on some mild retinopathy - have you been screened yet?

I'm not sure why you'd present with classic T1 symptoms when your average glucose levels are low but the presence of GAD antibodies strongly supports the diagnosis. You could of course have something else causing this so it's important to discuss it with your endocrinologist when you get an appointment.