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Type 2 now found to be Type 1

A

AnnJohnston

Well-Known Member
Messages
80
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I was diagnosed as type 2 nearly 10 years ago with most of that being well controlled despite my ignorance of my illness. However 18 months ago my sugars started rising for no reason and nothing brought them into the normal range. My consultant decided to check for antibodies and it turns out I'm actually type 1. Ive been trying to educate myself about type 2 diabetes and carbs online and on here for about 6 months and I've had a great diabetic team who put me on insulin in October. Just waiting to see diabetic nurse again and a date for my dafne course. Now trying to get my head round type 1 after months of reading up on type 2. At least I'm not starting from scratch this time though.
 
Hi @AnnJohnston To be honest I think you have already got your head round it as you've had to understand carbs and insulin already, it's really just a new name for what you already have. DAFNE is a great course for understanding everything and it will help you that your team will monitor your insulin over the week so any adjustments to either insulin or your doses can be done then. It is important to know as you are insulin dependent so it's a good job your consultant checked and you do know for sure now ;)
 
Yeah most of the stuff I'm reading is sounding familiar. I'm definitely not freaked out the way I was when I was originally diagnosed. I'm actually pleased to have a reason for why my sugars suddenly went haywire.
 
Hi Anne, I thought that type 2 could not turn into type 1 or is it just really rare for this to happen? What was your consultants opinion on this if you don't mind me asking?
 
It looks like Ann was misdiagnosed and was actually Type 1 all along @Johnjoe13 Such a misdiagnosis isn't uncommon sadly. Many people who develop Type 1 as adults are automatically assumed to be Type 2.
 
azure said:
It looks like Ann was misdiagnosed and was actually Type 1 all along @Johnjoe13 Such a misdiagnosis isn't uncommon sadly. Many people who develop Type 1 as adults are automatically assumed to be Type 2.
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Thank you Azure, this is what I thought but what threw me was the length of time being nearly 10 years? I've seen the honeymoon period mentioned and i'm thinking this must have been an exceptional one of those for it to go unnoticed, but like the lady says it was well controlled and most likely missed.
 
Yeah I was well controlled up until 18 months ago. I know the gap for lada isn't normally as long but i like to be different lol. As a wee update I've ordered think like a pancreas and started the Bertie online course so thanks again both
 
AnnJohnston said:
Yeah I was well controlled up until 18 months ago. I know the gap for lada isn't normally as long but i like to be different lol. As a wee update I've ordered think like a pancreas and started the Bertie online course so thanks again both
Click to expand...

Well an excellent job controlling things for so long :) I really hope the same success for you in this new challenge as T1, and wow what a great attitude to all of this
 
Thanks @Johnjoe13. I've found that staying positive and getting good information the best thing although I do have my stress outs the same as everyone else.
 
AnnJohnston said:
I was diagnosed as type 2 nearly 10 years ago with most of that being well controlled despite my ignorance of my illness. However 18 months ago my sugars started rising for no reason and nothing brought them into the normal range. My consultant decided to check for antibodies and it turns out I'm actually type 1. Ive been trying to educate myself about type 2 diabetes and carbs online and on here for about 6 months and I've had a great diabetic team who put me on insulin in October. Just waiting to see diabetic nurse again and a date for my dafne course. Now trying to get my head round type 1 after months of reading up on type 2. At least I'm not starting from scratch this time though.
Click to expand...
I was diagnosed with Type 2 30 years ago. Now on insulin and metformin. I thought once a Type 2 is always a Type 2, even after progressing on to insulin ! Type 1 is onset of diabetes at early age.
 
Mony said:
I was diagnosed with Type 2 30 years ago. Now on insulin and metformin. I thought once a Type 2 is always a Type 2, even after progressing on to insulin ! Type 1 is onset of diabetes at early age.
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@Mony Then you're a Type 2 on insulin :)

If you read the thread, the OP was misdiagnosed.

Type 1 can occur at any age eg the PM Theresa May developed it late in life. It is not just a childhood problem.
 
Mony said:
I was diagnosed with Type 2 30 years ago. Now on insulin and metformin. I thought once a Type 2 is always a Type 2, even after progressing on to insulin ! Type 1 is onset of diabetes at early age.
Click to expand...

Early age? I was 54 yrs old at the point of diagnosis.
 
@Mony I was misdiagnosed as a type 2 aged 32. I've just had my bloods retested and it turns out I'm type 1. You can be a type 2 on insulin as my dad is but not in my case. While a lot of type 1s are diagnosed at a young age you can be diagnosed at any age.
 
As usual a bit confused, so I'll ramble a bit.
T2 diagnosis falls into two camps; full (even over) insulin production with insulin resistance or low insulin production again often with insulin resistance.

If the over producers can kick the insulin resistance then as long as they haven't damaged their pancreas in the mean time they may be good to go for ages.

Now the under producers; it isn't clear if these are mainly over producers burning out or if the pancreas is in a slow decline due to other issues such as immune system problems.

If the pancreas is in a slow decline and eventually cannot produce enough insulin even for the most controlled diabetic then effectively is the patient little different from a T1 with a much faster onset?

I wonder how many T2s are tested to confirm the T2 diagnosis, or if the testing is only done once (like the OP) they finally have to go on insulin.

If the latter, could there be a substantial cohort in the nominally T2 population who are very slow onset T1s?

Come to that, does it really matter?
Is the treatment the same anyway?
Or is there something different which could be done if T1 was diagnosed much earlier?
 
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