Newly Diagnosed Type 2, not overweight and 26 years old

Hello!

I'm new here and I just want to say "thank you!" I've learned so much from this website and especially the forums.

I was dealing with a miscarriage last month, and on some blood work my blood sugar was found to be around 450. They called and had me return and recheck my glucose. It was around 550 and my a1c was 11%. I had been feeling poorly, tired, hungry, thirsty, and short of breath for awhile, but I assumed it was from all the changes my body was going through with being newly pregnant and then miscarrying. Before this I had lost about 20 pounds without really trying and had been feeling off for a couple months. Again, just chalked it up to changing hormones and stress. Doctor put me on metformin (full dosage) which made me feel really sick so I've stopped taking (currently don't have health insurance or a doctor as I've recently moved and I know I should have gotten cleared first but I needed to feel human again) and my numbers have been in a decent range still (my fasting has gone up a bit from 100 mg/dl to 120 mg/dl and my after eating is between 120-140). I just was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on me being younger and not extremely overweight (I could stand to lose 5-10lbs but don't really want to lose more) if I should be looking further into my diagnosis or if I should feel good about the type 2 diagnosis since my numbers have improved so quickly with my low carb diet. I've just read a lot about a lot of indicators that don't make sense with type 2- not being overweight, being semi-active, losing weight without trying before diagnosis. That being said, my grandma has type 2, along with 2 uncles. And I have a cousin who is type 1, so I know it runs in the family.

Thanks for any insight or reassurances. Also- working on getting into a Functional Doctor program soon!

@Antje77 Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for your kindness! I will ask for those tests when I get sorted and to a doctor. Additionally thank you for the chart. I definitely had a little conversion calculator up when looking through other things but didn't think to update my numbers so it'd be easier for others when I posted. Again, I truly appreciate you responding! This has been quite a scary diagnosis and brought on some serious anxiety about what else could be wrong, etc.

EllieM said:

@taylordiane, The issue here is that if you have T1 (which is a distinct probability given your symptoms) and your blood sugars run too high again, you can get diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which is lethal without insulin and will require a trip to A&E if you progress that far.

T2s can often control their condition by cutting down on carbs, but T1s need insulin.

Good luck. I'm very sorry about your miscarriage but be aware that if/when you decide to try again diabetics can and do have successful pregnancies, though they have to do more work to keep their blood sugar levels under control.

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Thank you so much for that encouragement regarding pregnancy. It's definitely been on the forefront of my thoughts, but most of what I've read has been encouraging. Also- I've read about DKA a bit and had I believe 2+ ketones noted when I was diagnosed but they didn't really say anything about that. So definitely something I'm going to be active about!

Brunneria said:

Hi and welcome, good advice above on seeking further testing.

One thing I will say about the Metformin - you have stopped it because you had gut problems, yes? After being put on the 'full dose'. Well, most health care professional have the gumption to tell people to start gently. One tablet for a week or two, let the body adjust to that, then add a second tablet, more adjustment, and so on. It can take weeks to work up to the 'the full dose' whatever that is.

So while none of us should be taking a medication that ties us to the bathroom, it can be worth going through a bit of mild gut adjustment in order to see the benefits of Metformin. As a drug, you will find it gets a mixed press. Some people can never tolerate it. Some take to it like a duck to water. And others simply need to work up to it gently. The benefits, if you can tolerate it (most people can) is that is lowers blood glucose readings a little, lowers insulin resistance somewhat, and may (this is still being researched) have long term benefits to hearth health and longevity.

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After a couple of days off of it my numbers have been a bit higher- My fasting was more like 95-105 and now more like 125-135. So I know it was helping at least with my liver (I believe from what I read that was the case). It was just hard to feel like feeling nauseous constantly, tired, and belly cramps were worth it. However recently I've thought of trying just a smaller does like you mentioned doctor's usually do in the beginning and seeing if my body handles that better, as I have noticed it helps a bit at the very least! Thanks so much!