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Unexpected Diagnosis

A

aseriesofunfortunateevents

Active Member
Messages
28
Hey everyone,

I recently had a blood test and have been diagnosed with diabetes (17mmol fasting, 95 HBA1C).

I had the blood test following some recent rapid weight loss and I was surprised with the diagnosis. I'm 30 years old, male, 188cm, 72kg so i thought i wasn't at risk. I've been told to go to A&E on Monday as that will be the best way for me to get into the system.

I'm not really sure what I should be changing diet wise as i'm generally pretty healthy. FreeStyleLibre have a 2 week free trial that i've just signed up to. Once that gets delivered i can start seeing how my body responds to different foods. I think I need to avoid losing weight as my BMI is 20 at the moment.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do in the short term dietwise? Or has anyone with a health background gone through something similar. I still need a test to determine whether i have type 1 or 2.
 
Hi @aseriesofunfortunateevents , welcome to the forum.

Glad to hear you're being send to A&E tomorrow, so treatment can be set in motion quickly.
aseriesofunfortunateevents said:
Does anyone have any advice on what to do in the short term dietwise?
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I wouldn't do much diet wise before tomorrow except avoid sugar and don't eat large amounts of bread/potatoes/pasta/rice, as that will make your blood glucose go even higher.

Good thing you signed up for the free trial of Libre!
I think the best thing you can do before tomorrow is not too much, it will make a big difference if you're T1 or T2.

Please let us know how it went tomorrow, and please come back with all your questions!
Good luck!
 
Welcome to the forums @aseriesofunfortunateevents (I love your user name by the way.)

I am guessing (because of your age and weight loss( that they will want to do the tests for T1 diabetes, and if you are T1 the weight loss will probably be due to lack of insulin and you should find you put it back on once you are injecting insulin...

If you are T2 it may help if you reduce the carbs in your diet. (T2s are intolerant to carbs.) If you are T1, and therefore short on insulin, reducing carbs may also help the symptoms a little while you wait for insulin, because then you will need less of your own insulin to keep you going. (100 years ago, before the discovery of insulin, the only treatment available for T1s was a very low carb starvation diet, which kept them alive longer.)
The risk for an undiagnosed T1 is diabetic ketoacidosis or DKA
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/diabetic-ketoacidosis/
If you get those symptoms before Monday morning then you should ring 111 and/or go to A&E early, as DKA is a medical emergency. (Note I don't know whether you are T1 or T2, it's just that if you are T1 DKA needs immediate treatment. Some T2s are thin, some T2s lose weight at diagnosis, so you really need those tests.)

aseriesofunfortunateevents said:
I'm 30 years old, male, 188cm, 72kg so i thought i wasn't at risk.
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Though many T2s are overweight, some are thin, though the risk is extremely genetic ie do you have T2 relatives.
We still don't know what causes T1, it's only mildly genetic, and it seems to be a question of bad luck when people get it.

And just to confuse matters, there are a few other rarer types of diabetes out there, which they will test for if they don't think you are T2 or T1.

Good luck for Monday.
 
I was diagnosed last year at the age of 40 after a routine blood test. Very similar stats to yours however a BGL of 26 so sent straight to A&E from the GP even though I felt perfectly fine. Ended up spending 3 nights in hospital and came out with a diagnosis of T1D. I was very lucky it was caught when it was. It was only in hindsight the symptoms I did have became obvious.

I am assuming your GP has tested for Ketones?

I would be completely cutting down/removing carbs from your diet until a treatment plan is developed. Also keep up the exercise and try not to stress (easier said then done).

Good luck!
 
Credit to your medical practice for getting you over to A&E rather than automatically assuming you're T2 because of your age.

I definitely wouldn't binge on anything sweet or especially high carb (pizza) before tomorrow.

Let us know how you get on
 
Hi. I think it's highly like you are a LADA i.e. Late onset T1. There are two tests for that. Keep the carbs down and have enough Fats and Proteins to keep you feeling full. You will almost certainly need some medication
 
Thanks everyone, so i went to a&e. They did a blood test and it turned out i was in DKA so i got treatment very quickly. I've got my insulin and now waiting for the antibody test to determine whether i'm type1 or 2.
 

Get tests done for C peptide which will determine what type of diabeties you have, I heard that type 2 can be put in remission with diet change and excercise
 
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