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T1 or T2 confusion

S

steveis36

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
PLEASE CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG!

I know someone who says shes a T1 however after hearing that her bloods were upto 32mmol i find that quite bizzare.

When i asked her what she ate she replyied "i had a bad day of eating ****"

Her lowest is about 9mmol

Surely if she is T1 the this would be the other way round?

And it seems to me she more T2.

What do u guys think?

Thank
 
Well if she is T1 and has been eating without injecting, 32 is easily possible.
And if she fears going hypo maybe she is trying to stay at 9 or above, or tehre could be various reasons why 9 is her lowest.
I know when I was younger and not really looking after myself I'm pretty sure my numbers were not good either
 
steveis36 said:
Yes
I thought t1 was very low bs and have to have sugar to hand in case bloods drop too much.
Click to expand...
The very low BS in T1's is caused by the insulin we have to take to keep our sugar levels from skyrocketing as we do not produce any of our own. In other words the low BS's are not caused by the T1 diabetes, it is caused by the treatment for the diabetes.
 
So really to control everything its pretty much the same as T2.
You watch the medication and really watch what u eat?
 
steveis36 said:
So really to control everything its pretty much the same as T2.
You watch the medication and really watch what u eat?
Click to expand...

Not entirely. When you eat you have to try and match the amount of insulin you need with meals to what you are eating. In that respect you do 'watch' what you eat because the aim is to balance it with the insulin. Apart from that you need insulin between meals too (basal insulin), this is aimed at keeping you steady throughout the day as even when you are not eating your body releases glucose into the system and your levels rise without this basal insulin. Even when you really watch what you eat, the use of insulin adds a whole new level to management because you are trying to do the job of your pancreas, it is the lack of insulin that can send your friends levels up to over 30 (easily) and it is too much insulin that sends the levels plummeting. This is a very BASIC account but there is plenty more online if you want to know more. Just to add, it's probably not a great idea to assume your friend must have eaten 'something' bad to get levels so high, my Mum could eat a jacket potato and without insulin her levels would easily shoot up to the high 20s.
 
Ok
Ummmm so was your mums bgs very low to begin with without medication?
 
My consultant (lovely lady) put it like this: "Your pancreas has stopped producing insulin. Think of insulin as the key that unlocks the energy in your cells, where the carbohydrates you eat store their sugar. Without the key - the insulin - your body cannot process the sugars in the food you eat, so your blood sugar goes up, and up, and up but you are getting no energy out of that food whatsoever.

Nearly all foods contain carbohydrates - all sugars, all wheat based, starch based foods. When a T1 eats those foods, they have to match the carb content to the amount of insulin they take, so that they process the carb and don't simply have sugars building up in their blood."

(That ignores the need for the background - basal - insulin but that is another story),

So yes, what your friend/relative says is right. Nearly every T1 is diagnosed with blood sugar at some truly appalling figure. Our blood sugar goes low when we have more insulin in our body (injected) than carbs for it to deal with. At those times we munch carbs in some form to take our bloods back up again.
 
steveis36 said:
Ok
Ummmm so was your mums bgs very low to begin with without medication?
Click to expand...

Sorry Stevie, I'm not sure what you mean? My Mum was a type 1 on insulin so was never without medication. Do you mean was her glucose level low before shooting up to the 20s? Yes, many times.
 
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