T1 or T2... feeling blue

[Sunshine81]

I've just got my antibodies results back and they are all negative. Not sure why this is upsetting me so much. I'm a black, healthy weight 40 year old when diagnosed 4 weeks ago. Started insulin within 48 hours of diagnosis (basal bolus) after a rapid uptitration of gliclizide did nothing to my BMs 26->33. Still on metformin and now taking 1.5g a day, which is starting to allow me start to reducing my basal dose. I think it may be due to the idea of me thinking T1/LADA not my fault, but T2 somehow is. I could just cry. Sounds silly but I got my medical alert necklace all sorted, but it says T1 as that's what they thought I was... but now I just don't know.

 

[Inka]

Hi @Sunshine81 I remember reading that a percentage of people with LADA don’t have any antibodies at diagnosis. Has your consultant assessed your results? And did you have a C Peptide test done too?

 

[Sunshine81]

I haven't had my C peptide done yet. Waiting to speak to my consultant. In my rational mind, I don't understand why this is bothering me so much.

 

[Inka]

I haven't had my C peptide done yet. Waiting to speak to my consultant. In my rational mind, I don't understand why this is bothering me so much.

Any uncertainty or unexpected result can make someone feel unsettled. I think that’s normal. My advice would be to acknowledge your feelings but to a) wait to hear what your consultant thinks; and b) focus on the important bit - controlling your blood sugar.

Type 1 is nobody’s fault, and Type 2 often has a genetic component so that’s nobody’s fault either.

 

[Aristotle_T]

I haven't had my C peptide done yet. Waiting to speak to my consultant. In my rational mind, I don't understand why this is bothering me so much.

Welcome to the unwanted team no one wants to belong to. What was your finger prick number? Mine was 31mmol and I was producing ketones up to 2.5 with no ketoacidosis. I was instantly placed on insulin while my anti bodies test came back negative and C peptide shows I am producing insulin. I get to know people of black origin which I am do have what is called ketones prone Type two, Your beta cells would shut down for sometime and with the use of an external insulin for a few days it would activate itself back. I was diagnosed on 26 December 2021 with an HBA1c of 85mmol(10%) having been going to pee more frequently than usual and feeling thirsty always.

Within 1 month I have dropped my HBA1c to 61mmol(7.8%) going low carbs and no matter how I tried to cheat on carbs I haven’t gone above 7.8mmol, I had a sharwama last Sunday and the hugest spike I got was 7.8mmol, sorry to say I self fund the libre sensor 2, while confirming any suspicious number with the glucose meter on my prescription. I would be meeting with my DN for my 6 monthly diabetes review appointment in may.

 

[Sunshine81]

Mine was 29 and ketones were only 0.6. My Hb1ac was 153 when diagnosed. The reason I went to my GP was that I was getting a lot of non specific abdominal pain, as I had just gotten used to the excessive thirst and peeing.

Aristotle_T , are you still on insulin? I find that my sugars spike quite impressively if I have a carb heavy snack. I'm on metformin too.

 

[Aristotle_T]

Mine was 29 and ketones were only 0.6. My Hb1ac was 153 when diagnosed. The reason I went to my GP was that I was getting a lot of non specific abdominal pain, as I had just gotten used to the excessive thirst and peeing.

Aristotle_T , are you still on insulin? I find that my sugars spike quite impressively if I have a carb heavy snack. I'm on metformin too.

I am not on insulin any more,I only used it for two weeks. Try to cut out carbs and fast in between for like two weeks in order to heal your beta cells. What type of food do you eat presently ?

 

[Sunshine81]

I have eaten a mainly plant based for over 2 years now, so lots of vegetables, whole grain carbs, pulses and soya. If I cut out carbs completely, I would really struggle. I don't want to restart eating animal products... but will definitely try a bit of fasting. Not sure I could do 2 weeks of fasting though.

 

[Pigeon]

My hba1c was 18, finger prick was 20, don't think I had many ketones either, but I was always assumed to be T1, they said because I was slim. Further tests were never mentioned! Your levels at diagnosis sound very high, I would think a T2 would not go that high at first?

I think if you need insulin you need it, don't try to avoid it as it will make you feel much better! A healthy diet is important too, but I would struggle to cut out carbs in an extreme way.

Hope you feel better soon, and get some clarity.

 

[Aristotle_T]

I have eaten a mainly plant based for over 2 years now, so lots of vegetables, whole grain carbs, pulses and soya. If I cut out carbs completely, I would really struggle. I don't want to restart eating animal products... but will definitely try a bit of fasting. Not sure I could do 2 weeks of fasting though.

Your food is filled with high carbs. You need to minimise this as soon as possible. Here are what I feed on
Morning Greek yogurt with blackberries or eggs
Lunch ; I don’t eat it
Dinner , omelette, boiled eggs, cauliflower rice or Mashed with home made curry , grilled fish or meat, low carb pancake ,

 

[Aristotle_T]

My hba1c was 18, finger prick was 20, don't think I had many ketones either, but I was always assumed to be T1, they said because I was slim. Further tests were never mentioned! Your levels at diagnosis sound very high, I would think a T2 would not go that high at first?

I think if you need insulin you need it, don't try to avoid it as it will make you feel much better! A healthy diet is important too, but I would struggle to cut out carbs in an extreme way.

Hope you feel better soon, and get some clarity.

You can have high numbers if you have ketones prone type type 2 and this kind of diabetes is spectacular to the black ethnicity. I had 31mmol on diagnosis while all anti bodies came back negative with C peptide showing I am producing more than enough insulin. The issue here is that the beta cells shut itself up for sometime and would wake up with treatment from exogenous insulin for few days. The world health organization have named this sort of diabetes as type 1 B .

 

[helli]

Your food is filled with high carbs. You need to minimise this as soon as possible. Here are what I feed on
Morning Greek yogurt with blackberries or eggs
Lunch ; I don’t eat it
Dinner , omelette, boiled eggs, cauliflower rice or Mashed with home made curry , grilled fish or meat, low carb pancake ,

If @Sunshine81 is confirmed to have Type 1 or LADA, the low carb diet is not necessary (although some people with Type 1 prefer to reduce their carbs in order to reduce the margin of error with insulin dosage.

@Sunshine81 I think any diagnosis of a serious medical condition is scary. It is often compared to the five stages of dealing with grief. The first stage is denial and the second is anger.

As @Inka says, type 2 is commonly genetically based so something which may be difficult to avoid and not your fault.

Take care and be nice to yourself.

 

[Sunshine81]

Your food is filled with high carbs. You need to minimise this as soon as possible. Here are what I feed on
Morning Greek yogurt with blackberries or eggs
Lunch ; I don’t eat it
Dinner , omelette, boiled eggs, cauliflower rice or Mashed with home made curry , grilled fish

or meat, low carb

Your food is filled with high carbs. You need to minimise this as soon as possible. Here are what I feed on
Morning Greek yogurt with blackberries or eggs
Lunch ; I don’t eat it
Dinner , omelette, boiled eggs, cauliflower rice or Mashed with home made curry , grilled fish or meat, low carb pancake ,

My diet is 98% plantbased, so I'm not going to start eating eggs, meat, fish or diary on a regular basis. The occasional treat is OK, hence 98%.

 

[Sunshine81]

If @Sunshine81 is confirmed to have Type 1 or LADA, the low carb diet is not necessary (although some people with Type 1 prefer to reduce their carbs in order to reduce the margin of error with insulin dosage.

@Sunshine81 I think any diagnosis of a serious medical condition is scary. It is often compared to the five stages of dealing with grief. The first stage is denial and the second is anger.

As @Inka says, type 2 is commonly genetically based so something which may be difficult to avoid and not your fault.

Take care and be nice to yourself.

I will try and work on the self care.

 

[Leadinglights]

I will try and work on the self care.

I think you have to ask yourself why you are doing a plant based dietary regime, Is it for ethical or religious reasons or because you think it is more healthy. But sadly many foods which would be healthy options for non diabetics are not so if Type 2 diabetic as it is those carbs which were always thought to be healthy which people can't cope with.
If you are taking insulin then not so much an issue as you can adjust your insulin regime to take account of your meals but if not it does become a bit more difficult.

 

[Sunshine81]

I was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 33. There is good evidence that a plant based diet reduces rates of cancer. Following treatment I struggled with fatigue and myalgia, which resolved by 80% by changing my diet. As they say, if makes no sense robbing Peter to feed Paul. I need to do what's best for my body.

 

[Inka]

I have eaten a mainly plant based for over 2 years now, so lots of vegetables, whole grain carbs, pulses and soya. If I cut out carbs completely, I would really struggle. I don't want to restart eating animal products... but will definitely try a bit of fasting. Not sure I could do 2 weeks of fasting though.

You don’t have to - that’s……unnecessary, to put it politely. Nor do you need to eat animal products or cut out all carbs. In fact, a very low fat WFPB diet can improve insulin sensitivity.

 

[Inka]

I think you have to ask yourself why you are doing a plant based dietary regime, Is it for ethical or religious reasons or because you think it is more healthy. But sadly many foods which would be healthy options for non diabetics are not so if Type 2 diabetic as it is those carbs which were always thought to be healthy which people can't cope with.
If you are taking insulin then not so much an issue as you can adjust your insulin regime to take account of your meals but if not it does become a bit more difficult.

A plant-based diet is used by some people to treat Type 2. There’s a train of thought that says it’s specifically animal fat that’s linked to insulin resistance.

There are loads of studies on plant-based diets and their benefits. How Not To Die is a popular one but there are lots more.

Ethical, environmental, healthy, religious, delicious - plenty of reasons to eat a wholesome plant-based diet, even if you have diabetes.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

…and fast in between for like two weeks in order to heal your beta cells…

The issue here is that the beta cells shut itself up for sometime and would wake up with treatment from exogenous insulin for few days. The world health organization have named this sort of diabetes as type 1 B .

This wasn’t a type of diabetes I’d heard of, but was interested to read this WHO document

https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1233344/retrieve

Which mentions type 1b alongside ketosis-prone T2DM on page 16.

It seems to be normoglycaemia brought about by insulin treatment, rather than fasting that kick-starts the beta cells though?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 33. There is good evidence that a plant based diet reduces rates of cancer. Following treatment I struggled with fatigue and myalgia, which resolved by 80% by changing my diet. As they say, if makes no sense robbing Peter to feed Paul. I need to do what's best for my body.

I absolutely agree @Sunshine81

There is no one single approach that is right for everyone, and there are lots and lots of different menu styles and ways of eating represented on the forum.

We have some members who need to balance the requirements of various different medical conditions, which can make some of the ‘standard’ low carb choices (like meat, eggs or dairy) unworkable.

It’s great that you found such significant benefit in your pain and fatigue by changing your way of eating. And the fact that it also had a potential reduction in risk of cancer must be a bonus!

Not having clarity over your diagnosis must be very difficult for you. Hope the cPeptide results provide some clarity. The benefit of basal:bolus insulin is that it should give you the tools and techniques to balance whichever dietary approach works for you.

Let us know how things go, and be kind to yourself. Diabetes is a marathon not a sprint - and you’ve had a bit of a steep uphill section at the start!