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Unsure... still.

A

Andy41

Well-Known Member
Messages
51
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
In early January, after being thirsty and lethargic for a couple of weeks, a nurse tested my blood glucose level. It was 27. I was advised to go to a and e after a ketone test and there was diagnosed with t1, possibly LADA as I'm 41 and from that day on have had levemine morning and night and novorapid before meals (3units). My symptoms have disappeared and I'm feeling good but today, for instance, I forgot to take insulin before a large Big Mac meal. When I got home my blood sugar was 11 but without taking any insulin, it was back down to 7.5 an hour later and 4.2 before I ate dinner. Doesn't this all suggest that I have insulin that works in my body. I tested positive for gad antibodies but negative for islet antibodies. Is all this necessary is what I suppose I'm getting at.
 
Sounds to me you're LADA if you're diabetic with positive GAD antibodies. I have family history of Type 2 (possibly Type 1 as well, not sure) and GAD positive but not diabetic (just pre-diabetic). So wondering if I cross the line, do I get doubley blessed with both??

@Ian DP & @LucySW
 
May be that your body is just spurting out the dregs of insulin that it can....
 
Hi Andy
Sounds very much like you are LADA (in the honeymoon phase of T1). I was diagnosed T2 18 months ago (BG levels around 30, keystones, in hospital,overnight). Then after a positive GAD test, diagnosed T1 / LADA 15 months ago.
I am not on insulin. I control my BG levels through low carbing. I eat around 36g carbs per day. My BG levels now are better than they have been, ever, since diagnosis. Average pre breakfast BG levels are under 5.0. I very rarely go into the 6s at 2hr after meal testing. This is all down to low carbing, and having sufficient insulin making beta cells remaining.
Apparently we should have around 3 million beta cells, I have no idea how many I have remaining, 1 million? A few thousand? Who knows. It will be the same for you... You obviously have some remains beta cells. Many experts believe that your remaining beta cells can be saved by keeping blood sugar levels to below 7.8. There are some clinical trials that have indicated this.... But it is still an unknown area, and many say this is not true. My feeling is it is true. Thus I try to keep my BG levels well below 7.8. Dr Bernstein (a eminent diabetes Dr with his own practice in USA) says to keep BG levels at 4.6 fasting and 5.6 2hours after eating. When this has been done, he has seen patients keep their insulin making beta cells for many, many years, and thus keep in the honeymoon period for a long long time. His book diabetic solution is a very interesting read (kindle and iBooks at around £5.00). If you are concerned about the health effects of eating low carb high fat, then another good book is Trudi Deakins 'Eat Fat' book. £10 on Amazon. A good starting place if you decide to go down the low carb route.

If you brows the LADA section of this forum you will find lots more interesting posts on LADA. My own 'blog' is 'Can I Prove the Drs Wrong'..... Started because my consultant said I would be on insulin within weeks.... That was 15 months ago! Link here http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/can-i-prove-the-drs-wrong.53061/
 
Hi. Yes, you are LADA with GAD anti-bodies. You probably still produce some insulin like I do but that doesn't mean you can give up injecting it. You can certainly reduce the insulin to the minimum you need at present but don't forget that your insulin output will probably decrease as the years go by; mine did from age 60 for 8 years or so. Just get the Levemir right as it may well be already and then only inject enough rapid to match the food based on the ratio you have already worked out. I don't inject at breakfast as the carb level of 30gm isn't worth it and the spike is below 9. BTW despite many splitting Levemir I don't. I take a daily shot at night and the Levemir morning peak caters for some of the breakfast carbs. That way I reduce the number of injections by one and avoid taking a morning rapid before driving which makes life safer. Thnk about it and discuss with the DN as necessary.
 
To echo the others you are LADA but be very cautious about dispensing with insulin altogether. Ian has done it but it takes a lot of discipline. A more moderate approach is to use a combination of moderating carbs and using injected insulin, to keep your BG in a good range.

At the moment, while you are evidently capable of handling some carb loads on your own, every time you use insulin it is taking pressure off your very stressed pancreas and quite possibly extending the life of your own insulin production, a precious thing that is really worth protecting as long as possible.
 
Hi Andy
Just to make it clear, I have never been on insulin. I agree with Spiker and Daibell, in that you are better taking insulin and having normal BG levels than no insulin and high BG levels. Your healthy insulin making beta cells will likely stay around much longer with normalised BG levels and insulin than high and not. I don't think there is anyone here that has started taking insulin then stopped.
But LADA can be very unpredictable, so if you low carb, you never know, unlikely but you never know.
 
Andy,

I'm another LADA. I tried to get my BG down to true normal level without insulin but couldn't (and tried for much too long). I was disciplined. It wasn't enough. (For some it is, for some it isn't.)

1) You may get away without insulin for a day or two, but wait and see. If your levels go up, I really would recommend taking it, for the reasons Spiker set out. Insulin tends to move several days later.

2) You could always eat and dose to your meter. Find out the minimum insulin level that works for you. And do sport to maximise your insulin sensitivity.

Personally, I've found that insulin is not the terrifying thing I expected it to be. So far Im lean and taking small doses. It's quick to use, and above all, it *relieves me of worry.*
It's completely painless. I want true normal blood sugars, or as near them as I can get safely, and insulin is the only way I can get them.

I love my insulin, in fact. It's a life-saver.

Lucy
 
Thankyou for your replies. You've calmed my mind again, although I think I am still in a bit of denial about having this and the relatively easy time I'm having justifies this denial. I'm a teacher and there's a child at my school (type 1)who is constantly having hypos and once collapsed in front of me. That is what I was expecting but instead I find myself eating anything I like and my bg levels being quite stable. From what I understand, the insulin I'm taking will, in effect, prolong this stability.
Thanks again
 

I would 't say insulin would prolong the stability....eating wisely would prolong the stability.....
 
donnellysdogs said:
I would 't say insulin would prolong the stability....eating wisely would prolong the stability.....
Click to expand...
.....And thus keeping your BG levels at normalised levels, which many experts believe to be 4.6 fasting and 5.6 2hrs after breakfast.
 
Yes , I think that's right. That's my experience too. Okay DD, yes, eating sensibly too. That stability is really worth having! Full T 1s don't have it. Keep it!
 
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I'd advise having a read around on the Type 1.5 LADA forum.
 
LucySW said:
Yes , I think that's right. That's my experience too. Okay DD, yes, eating sensibly too. That stability is really worth having! Full T 1s don't have it. Keep it!
Click to expand...

Type1's can have excellent results too!!! We're not all ups and downs!! Lol
 
donnellysdogs said:
Type1's can have excellent results too!!! We're not all ups and downs!! Lol
Click to expand...
Totally! I'm one too (just not out of honeymoon yet).

Edit: I meant that *easy* stability is sth fully fledged T-1s don't seem to have - where your system does it for you.
 
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Andy, I meant to say, Have a read around of the posts on the T 1.5 / LADA forum. We tend to have similar stories.

In fact I did say that somewhere, but evidently not here. Hmmm - where is my brain this morning? Anyone seen a lost-looking master brain flying around without its owner?

Bemused.
 
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