Which Type

[Cobra3164]

Hello all just registered. My question is what type of diabetes do you think I have. Here is the outline of what happened to lead up to diagnosis hope this helps.

Approx 4 weeks ago I was admitted to hospital with extremely painful pancreatitis, the pain in mid stomach started a week before and became so bad I couldnt tolerate it anymore. Before that I was leading life with normal diet and sweet stuff (I miss it) I did drink alcahol in mid to high quantities, which was never wise, hence after some time of drinking it caused the onset of pancreatitis. The hospital failed to test me before leaving for diabetes. About 4 days after being discharged first thing I noticed was that my long distance vision, which was good before then was out of focus, I dismissed it as I was very fatigued. Upon walking home I have to climb a short hill which has never been a problem for me, I found about halfway up I ran out of breath and energy and had to rest before continuing. I now have a daily constant thirst that cannot be satisfied, and my trips to the lavatory are almost every 30 mins. Another symptom was that I find myself running out of energy about 4 to 5 hours after rising in the morning and have to sleep to feel better. In 4 weeks I have lost at least 14Kg in bodyweight and it continues to decline.

I have ben to my GP and have to wait 4 weeks to see endochronologist, my current routine is to cut down majour on sugar in my diet and low fat diet to stop another onset of pancreatitis. I have stopped alchol and am now on nicotine replacement to stop smoking. My GP is going to take blood next week to get a peptide test done, on blood sugar tests my results have been high and there is glucose in my urine.

I hope that there is enough information to help a good reply will be looked forward to. Thanx for reading. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Simon

 

[xyzzy]

Hi Simon and welcome.

Afraid no one here can answer you what Type question as we're not doctors but here's some general info.

Type 1 usually occurs when people are young say around 25 and younger. The symptoms of peeing loads, thirst and weight loss and blurred vision can all be indicators of this.

Type 2 usually occurs when people are older say 40+ You do not need to be horribly overweight to be Type 2. In Type 2 you normally aren't seen to loose weight before diagnosis but all the other symptoms can be similar to Type 1

There are other Types of diabetes that are rarer but one of the most common is one called LADA or Type 1.5 This is an adult version of Type 1 that comes on gradually overtime. T1.5 can occur at anytime throughout adult life and is sometimes not spotted or misdiagnosed as T2.

The c-peptide test you mention is used to determine what type you are. If it comes back negative then you are most likely T2 if it comes back positive then they will use that as a definitive indicator that you are T1 or T1.5. If you are diagnosed T1 then you will need to go on insulin as it means your pancreas has stopped producing any. If it comes back that you are T2 then the problem is a bit different. In T2 you may well still be producing a good amount of insulin but your body is not using it correctly. This is called insulin resistance. T2 can be treated with a range of medication but many of us on the forum treat it by adjusting our diets. The key thing is to realise its not just about sugar but about carbohydrates. Sugar is just one kind of carbohydrate and others most notably the starchy ones (rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and cereals) will make your levels rise nearly as badly so we limit those to keep our blood sugar levels safe.

I hope one of the Type 1's or 1.5's can give you a bit more advise on what to do until your results arrive.

 

[Snodger]

When you say your blood sugar results were high, what sort of numbers were you getting?

It sounds quite Type 1 like to me, but at this stage I wouldn't even worry about what type it's called - if you are losing weight at that speed, you are thirsty at that level, and your vision is going, you need to get treatment now, not in four weeks. GPs are used to seeing Type 2s, because the vast majority of diabetics are Type 2. They can therefore sometimes not realise that they need to move a bit faster when they encounter someone with other types of diabetes.

Go back to the doc and say you need urgent help - or take yourself to A&E, if the doctor won't refer you faster.
In the meantime, try and avoid eating carbohydratey foods and sugary drinks, and make sure you keep drinking water. For the moment, I wouldn't worry too much about the high fat/low fat thing. That's quite possibly important in the longer term, but you need to get your blood sugar down now!

 

[phoenix]

As the previous poster said we are not doctors so this is just to add some information.
For convenience diabetes tends to me lumped into 2 categories, T1 is usually (but not always) caused by an autoimmune attack. It is categorised by very little or no insulin production and a tendency to diabetic ketoacidosis because of this.
T2 covers a a wide spread of conditions, people may may make some insulin but not enough and will usually have a degree of insuin resistance. The spectrum is wide .
There are however lots of other conditions/causes of high glucose levels ie diabetes and technically, though often not in practice, they are neither T1 nor T2.
One of these causes is diabetes that is acquired by damage to the pancreas

Any process that diffusely injures the pancreas can cause diabetes. Acquired processes include pancreatitis, trauma, infection, pancreatic carcinoma, and pancreatectomy (67,68). With the exception of cancer, damage to the pancreas must be extensive for diabetes to occur.

http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/philip.home/ ... m#ExocPanc
Whether you have to be treated by insulin and or oral medications may depend upon how much insulin your pancreas is capable of producing. ( c peptide)It may also depend on how insulin resistant your cells are.


So you may actually be neither T1 nor T2 .It is of cause also possible that your diabetes is T1 and would have occurred irrespective of the other conditions. T1 can occur at any age.

Whatever the category the right treatment is really important and if you are having very high glucose levels, losing weight fast etc then as Smidge says you may need treatment for it now so contact your doctor.

 

[Snodger]

Whatever the category the right treatment is really important and if you are having very high glucose levels, losing weight fast etc then as Smidge says you may need treatment for it now so contact your doctor.

Smidge? Snodger! :shock:

 

[phoenix]

oops, sorry