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significance of weight loss ?

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mistee71

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Hi, i have noticed that there seems to be a lot of meaning behind the diagnoses if you have lost a lot of weight before being diagnosed. Can anyone tell me why that would be please? Why does it matter so much to your diagnoses whether you lost weight?
 
Hi mistee,

Generally speaking, I think weight loss before diagnosis tends to be taken as a sign of a lack of insulin, as seen in type 1 and type 1.5(LADA). Again, generally speaking, type 2s tend to have the opposite problem - too much weight caused by too much insulin.
 
Thanks for that slimtony. I've been going over things in my head about my diagnosis and about the things I've read on here. From the start of my symptoms to being diagnosed then going into hospital all happened within 2 months. It was very quick. On diagnosis my sugars was 27. I had also lost nearly 2 dress sizes in that time to not that i'm complaining. As i was leaving the doctors office i casually mentioned the weight loss and he looked at me funny and repeated " you've lost weight as well"? He didn't say anything after that though. Also when i was addmitted to hospital they found keytones. None since though. I mentioned to my doc about type and he said they dont test to find out type.
 
mistee - what type have you been diagnosed with then? you certainly sound t1 with the v high reading of 27 & losing 2 dress sizes??

a friend's dad was diagnosed as t2 and just told to take tablets with meals. he lost a huge amount of weight & my friend was v concerned about him, his readings were so high and he was wasting away. i told her to make him go back to his DSN and question whether he was t2 or could he be t1, he did, the DSN said he was t2 as he was in his late 50s (t1 is often referred to as juvenille onset because can come on in youth, not always tho - my mum got it @24, me @26. sure there are others on here to add to the stats). he carried on doing as he was told and steadily lost even more weight. i told my friend to get him to go pester and insist for more tests & help, this went on for the best part of a year, and finally he was diagnosed as being a t1. after settling into an insuline regime he put some weight back on and felt the best he'd felt for a long time.

he was in his late 50's so they were reluctant to look further. i know recently my experience of a few 'health professionals' who haven't really differenciated between t1&2, but they are very different. i often know more about my condition than the dr's & nurses at my practice - so i have little trust for doc's who won't investigate further.

for the record, at the time of my diagnosis i was 26 and had lost about 3 stone, was thirstly alot & weeing lots, was starting to get v tired too (thought my gym regime was responsible for all this). had been dismissed from 2 diff dr's with recurring boils on face (caused by excess sugar) & recurring cystitis & thrush (again, sugar) - they just said come back if it continues. when i got some results back from a yearly health check i took through private health care, the letter said seek medical advice. so i did...got into a diabetes clinic & got a meter, my glucose readings were hi 20s. sometimes at the start there is a 'honeymoon phase' where the pancreas is winding down and still produces some insulin so can look like you're not 100% not producing insulin (if you see what i mean!?).

interested to see what happens next with you...i'm saying all this presuming you've been diagnosed with t2? apologies if i have got wrong end of the stick!
 
I have been diagnosed type 2. Went to see the doc after so mant symptoms, he took out his blood monitor and done a prick test there and then. It registered 27.2 and he said that was why i had all these symptoms " your diabetic ". I asked what type that would be as my aunt was injecting insulin ( not sure what type she was but had to inject around her meal times ) and he said type 2. Because i was slim when i saw him ( slim coz the weight loss ) he said it was hereditary rather than the weight issue. I now have panreatitis due to gallstones which probably puts extra strain on my pancreas. Somethings make me doubt I'm type 2 but then this week i have been changed to januvia and that seems to be working well. I just dont know what to think
 
Hi. I had the same problem when diagnosed having lost weight quickly and never been overweight. My GP at the time just said you are Type 2 and that was it. When you are in your 50s many docs just guess you are a straight Type 2 and don't realise/accept that there are many DB variants. Had a 'discussion' with my new DB GP last year and heard the same mantra i.e. you are either Type 1 or Type 2 and that's it. The reality is there are many DB mechanisms even beyond LADA etc and many professionals still stick to 'either you are T1 or T2'. Although treatment flow-charts may be the same for all DB types, starting Metformin for an underweight person is probably not very useful, as the NICE charts recognise, and assuming all older patients are insulin resistant, overweight, T2s merely delays the optimum treatment. Fortunately I was put onto Januvia at my last review which has helped but insulin is probably not far away. There are many T2s on insulin which illustrates the sheer range of 'Type 2' DB conditions in the over-50s and I believe more note should be taken of weight at diagnosis.
 
As everyone knows who has read about me, i have had a feeling that i have LADA rather than type 2. There is some things that doesn't quite add up with me that makes me type 2. Today I,ve been looking up on psoriasis as mine is really itchy today and have been looking for some home remedies i could try. I didn't know till now that psoriasis is an auto immune disease which makes it more likely for me to have it. I have only had psoriasis as long as i have been diabetic. Thought I'd give my docs a ring but they closed for staff training :lol: unbelievable. It really annoys me when a doc just asumes things without checking. Whether I'm type 1 or 2 isn't the point. They really are messing with peoples lives. If starting insulin as soon as makes a difference, the docs have just shortened that chance. :evil:
 
hope you've got a glucose meter?? and are regularly testing your blood sugar? i'm sure you know this from this forum, but just in case...test in the morning when you get up, before meals and 2 hours after, test frequently at the mo because you need to get a picture of what's going on. it won't help that high BS will prob be making you feel ******, tired & irritable. if your levels are high (anything above 9) you know there's a prob, but you are already on meds so maybe they'll help, but really high - 15+ and you need to shove the info you are collecting under the nose of an expert.

please don't worry that you are running high at the mo, it takes a long time for high blood sugar to do any damage (from my understanding anyway) the more you test, the better the picture you'll get of what's going on.

do forgive me if i'm teaching you to suck eggs, i haven't seen any other recent posts from you & i am assuming you are very much in the dark. i'd rather share my opinion and maybe possibly be of help than shut up & say nothing. you are welcome to ignore me! i won't take it personally!!!
 
Its not just a lack of insulin that can cause weight loss, I was diagnosed T2 and lost weight prior to diagnosis. I assume that if your insulin resistance is high enough you do not get enough take up of insulin into your cells so muscle and stored fat is then burned as fuel.
 
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