T1D No Insulin in a Year Until Now..

toripf said:

Ohhhhh! I see, that definitely makes sense. I took the advice just to see and had a 30g carb snack with 15g sugar and checked about an hour & 30 mins later and my BG was 87.

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87 is very good It sounds like you very well could be honeymooning.

I recommend doing the occasional after meal test though. That way you can spot things changing in good time Choose a carby meal eg breakfast cereal and milk, and test before youneat and again two hours after the start of your meal.

A middle of the night test is also a good random one to do, just to keep an eye on your blood sugar over 24 hours.

As you've probably noticed, people here are using different blood sugar units. This is because the UK uses a different unit from the U.S. Here's a link to a handy converter:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-sugar-converter.html

Impossible, if you are type1 and you have not taken Insulin for about a year then you would have died months ago.

Bogusman said:

Impossible, if you are type1 and you have not taken Insulin for about a year then you would have died months ago.

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Unusual, yes.

Impossible, no. As I'm sure you are aware, type 1 happens when the immune system kills off the insulin producing beta cells. But this beta cell death doesn't happen like the flick of a switch, one day insulin, the next day none. It happens over a period of time. The period when a type 1 has residual insulin production (because some of their beta cells are clinging on) is known, colloquially among the type 1 community (it's not really a medical term) as the honeymoon period. Some type 1s have a pretty strong, prolonged honeymoon period and can even come off insulin during this time. Although, obviously this should be done only under guidance from the medical team and close monitoring of blood sugars.

Type 1s with slow onset - so where it takes a while for the beta cells to die off - are known as type 1.5 or LADAs (again, not entirely sure these are recognised medical terms). Not all 1.5/LADAs are off insulin. They might be on basal only, or just smaller doses.

Unfortunately, no matter how long it takes for the beta cells to die off, the residual beta cell function will tail off eventually and insulin will be required.

toripf said:

I am a type one diabetic and I haven't taken insulin in about a year, but today I ate a lot of sugar, more than normal, and so I decided I should take some. I took four units (normally what I took after a carb heavy meal) and I feel okay, but will I BE okay? I checked my BG and it was 97. I'm just curious and scared.. I have really awful anxiety about death and medical issues so I may just be freaking myself out for no reason.

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You will be find. 97 is not low its actually a great no. try to stay above 80 and below 180. this is the range recommended for type 1 diabetics. I am a type 1 diabetic and have been taking insulin for 10 years and have had lows in the 60's and high's in the 300's and I am still alive,,so don't worry just watch what you eat and drink and you will live a happy joyful life.

If the OP drives it is dangerous to do so without blood sugar testing. In UK driving under the influence of drink or drugs, including insulin, I believe can get you banned from driving or lead to accidents due to impaired judgement...

toripf said:

I am a type one diabetic and I haven't taken insulin in about a year, but today I ate a lot of sugar, more than normal, and so I decided I should take some. I took four units (normally what I took after a carb heavy meal) and I feel okay, but will I BE okay? I checked my BG and it was 97. I'm just curious and scared.. I have really awful anxiety about death and medical issues so I may just be freaking myself out for no reason.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app

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How are you ok without insulin? Even if I don't have insulin as soon as I get up (without food) my bm will be 11 after an hour (1 mark of fast acting keeps it within normal range until it is time for normal dose & food). Do you have residual insulin in your body? I notice you are a newbie, so c/b honeymoon effect, but when I was diagnosed type 1 (54 years ago, aged 8 weighing 2 stone) I would have died had I not received insulin within the next 2 days (my mother was told). GP s advice to my mother: to feed me more........no wee test.......he believed children didn't get ill (I was told by a hospital doc)....never heard such rubbish!!!! His advice just made me worse & I was literally starving to death even though I was so very hungry and never stopped eating!! I just don't understand how you can go without insulin--what does your doc say????

prancer53 said:

How are you ok without insulin? Even if I don't have insulin as soon as I get up (without food) my bm will be 11 after an hour (1 mark of fast acting keeps it within normal range until it is time for normal dose & food). Do you have residual insulin in your body? I notice you are a newbie, so c/b honeymoon effect, but when I was diagnosed type 1 (54 years ago, aged 8 weighing 2 stone) I would have died had I not received insulin within the next 2 days (my mother was told). GP s advice to my mother: to feed me more........no wee test.......he believed children didn't get ill (I was told by a hospital doc)....never heard such rubbish!!!! His advice just made me worse & I was literally starving to death even though I was so very hungry and never stopped eating!! I just don't understand how you can go without insulin--what does your doc say????

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prancer53 said:

How are you ok without insulin? Even if I don't have insulin as soon as I get up (without food) my bm will be 11 after an hour (1 mark of fast acting keeps it within normal range until it is time for normal dose & food). Do you have residual insulin in your body? I notice you are a newbie, so c/b honeymoon effect, but when I was diagnosed type 1 (54 years ago, aged 8 weighing 2 stone) I would have died had I not received insulin within the next 2 days (my mother was told). GP s advice to my mother: to feed me more........no wee test.......he believed children didn't get ill (I was told by a hospital doc)....never heard such rubbish!!!! His advice just made me worse & I was literally starving to death even though I was so very hungry and never stopped eating!! I just don't understand how you can go without insulin--what does your doc say????

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You are definately type 1 (as I am.............)????

prancer53 said:

How are you ok without insulin? Even if I don't have insulin as soon as I get up (without food) my bm will be 11 after an hour (1 mark of fast acting keeps it within normal range until it is time for normal dose & food). Do you have residual insulin in your body? I notice you are a newbie, so c/b honeymoon effect, but when I was diagnosed type 1 (54 years ago, aged 8 weighing 2 stone) I would have died had I not received insulin within the next 2 days (my mother was told). GP s advice to my mother: to feed me more........no wee test.......he believed children didn't get ill (I was told by a hospital doc)....never heard such rubbish!!!! His advice just made me worse & I was literally starving to death even though I was so very hungry and never stopped eating!! I just don't understand how you can go without insulin--what does your doc say????

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I am also a T1 who doesn't take insulin for a couple a months now. And it was my doctor who told me to stop taking insulin as I kept having hypos. In june, my C peptide was 1.06. And I do have GAD antibodies (800+). My BG levels are fine most of the time and I test more like 6 times a day.

I think in general it all has to do with the age of diagnosis. Adults (or young adults) tend to still have residual beta cells when diagnosed, as opposed to children.

@toripf Enjoy your honeymoon period .

//Andreea\\ said:

I am also a T1 who doesn't take insulin for a couple a months now. And it was my doctor who told me to stop taking insulin as I kept having hypos. In june, my C peptide was 1.06. And I do have GAD antibodies (800+). My BG levels are fine most of the time and I test more like 6 times a day.

I think in general it all has to do with the age of diagnosis. Adults (or young adults) tend to still have residual beta cells when diagnosed, as opposed to children.

@toripf Enjoy your honeymoon period .

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I was diagnosed 27 years ago and had Insulin straight way, no honeymoon period for me, I didn't even know about ' a honeymoon period' until I read about it on the forum a while back. I was diagnosed at 31.

Robinredbreast said:

I was diagnosed 27 years ago and had Insulin straight way, no honeymoon period for me, I didn't even know about ' a honeymoon period' until I read about it on the forum a while back. I was diagnosed at 31.

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I didn't say that ALL adults diagnosed with T1 have a honeymoon period. I am sure that there are also T1 diabetic children who can be honeymooning. There is no definite rule I just noticed that more (young) adults have it.

And it can be both a blessing and a curse. My husband thinks I'm no longer a diabetic as I don't inject insulin anymore .

Probably misdiagnosed. Simple blood test would clarify things.

toripf said:

I am a type one diabetic and I haven't taken insulin in about a year, but today I ate a lot of sugar, more than normal, and so I decided I should take some. I took four units (normally what I took after a carb heavy meal) and I feel okay, but will I BE okay? I checked my BG and it was 97. I'm just curious and scared.. I have really awful anxiety about death and medical issues so I may just be freaking myself out for no reason.

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Hi @toripf, Jealous of your lack of needing insulin! If you take insulin, or more insulin than you would normally, then keep checking your sugar levels for a few hours afterwards to make sure you don't drop too low. If you start heading too low have some fast acting carbs to correct it. If your blood sugar levels are good then you're doing the right thing.