Newly diagnosed but not sure on type yet

[BSP]

Hi All,

I'm Ben and recently got diagnosed with Diabetes at the end of May. There is a suspicion it's type 1 (I'm 33 and BMI current 25.7 but have lost weight over the last year.) but we are still waiting on antibody test to come back.

I found out I was diabetic through my ENG1 seafarers medical. They found I had high levels of glucose in my urine and was referred to doctor for blood test and my A1C came back as 114 mmol/mol. It was quite a shock as after the blood test at Doctors I was called same day and on saying I had lost weight was to come in for a urine sample. This was the next day and I was sent to the Care unit at the hospital with suspected DKA which luckily I didn't have. Care from Doctors, and the local diabetes team has been excellent and answered the many questions I have.

Been started on Gliclazide and Metformin which has got my levels down and have been keeping them mostly in range (3.9-10) the last month when testing with the blood glucose meter. I'm trialling a CGM to see what different foods to do my levels and if any food spikes the levels I will know to avoid.

Some Macular swelling was found in an OCT scan at the opticians today (Noticed a floater in eye.) which wasn't there when I had my normal eye test (and OCT scan) at the end of May when I was diagnosed. I've been referred to the eye doctor for follow up and hoping it won't progress or settle down as the treatment steadies my blood sugars.

Thanks for reading, I have a lot to learn and some adjustments to make to manage this.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi All,

I'm Ben and recently got diagnosed with Diabetes at the end of May. There is a suspicion it's type 1 (I'm 33 and BMI current 25.7 but have lost weight over the last year.) but we are still waiting on antibody test to come back.

I found out I was diabetic through my ENG1 seafarers medical. They found I had high levels of glucose in my urine and was referred to doctor for blood test and my A1C came back as 114 mmol/mol. It was quite a shock as after the blood test at Doctors I was called same day and on saying I had lost weight was to come in for a urine sample. This was the next day and I was sent to the Care unit at the hospital with suspected DKA which luckily I didn't have. Care from Doctors, and the local diabetes team has been excellent and answered the many questions I have.

Been started on Gliclazide and Metformin which has got my levels down and have been keeping them mostly in range (3.9-10) the last month when testing with the blood glucose meter. I'm trialling a CGM to see what different foods to do my levels and if any food spikes the levels I will know to avoid.

Some Macular swelling was found in an OCT scan at the opticians today (Noticed a floater in eye.) which wasn't there when I had my normal eye test (and OCT scan) at the end of May when I was diagnosed. I've been referred to the eye doctor for follow up and hoping it won't progress or settle down as the treatment steadies my blood sugars.

Thanks for reading, I have a lot to learn and some adjustments to make to manage this.

Welcome to the forum, brilliant you have had such good treatment so far.
Ultimately your treatment plan moving forward will depend on your diagnosis whether that is Type 1 or turns out to be Type 2 as how they are treated will be different.
I hope your eyes settle, often eye issues are a result of high blood glucose but also if blood glucose drops quickly as a result of medication and dietary changes but I'm sure they will be checked and treatment if needed, many people get floaters which either disappear or the brain gets used to them.
Hopefully your diabetic team will be in touch with the test results soon but those tests can take a while to do./

 

[Inka]

Welcome @BSP 🙂 Did the do a C Peptide test as well as the antibody test? Those tests do take a while to come back, which is frustrating. Did you have ketones in your urine test?

If you are Type 1, then you’ll be able to eat a normal diet. Type 1 is all about insulin and not diet. I hope you get the test results back quickly. Gliclazide is a Type 2 drug.

 

[mashedupmatt]

Hi @BSP and welcome to the forum - unfortunately the auto-antibody tests do take ages to come back which is annoying - but it sounds as if your healthcare team are covering all bases, which is great - they should do a C-Peptide test too as @Inka has mentioned too to see how much home grown insulin you are producing - glad you have found us 🙂

 

[BSP]

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies.

C-peptide was done as well and was told results were good, that’s all I’ve been told on that except it’s not the most accurate test at the beginning.

I believe ketones were in urine then they tested for a couple other things before phoning the hospital and sending me there. There wasn’t any ketones in blood. Told me it’s likely type 1 then sent me to get a glucose meter, test strips and Gliclazide from the chemist on my way home.

 

[Lucyr]

Some Macular swelling was found in an OCT scan at the opticians today (Noticed a floater in eye.) which wasn't there when I had my normal eye test (and OCT scan) at the end of May when I was diagnosed. I've been referred to the eye doctor for follow up and hoping it won't progress or settle down as the treatment steadies my blood sugars.

Sounds like you’ve reduced your blood sugars too quickly which has caused the damage to your eye. Hopefully it doesn’t progress too much.

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @BSP I am glad that you have found us.

There is a lot to get your head round at the start, and it will be easier to manage once you know your diagnosis. Certainly the signs seem to be pointing to Type1, and it is good that they are testing so thoroughly. Do keep a watch on ketones as if it is Type 1 these can rise and you would need to get treatment urgently.

Some people do experience problems with their eyes at diagnosis as the tiny blood vessels are affected by the high glucose levels. These often recover as the levels return to normal.

Let us know how you get on and do ask any questions that arise. Nothing is considered silly on here.

 

[BSP]

Thanks for the welcome all.

I had read about the reduction in sugars being too quick can cause this but it's still better off in long run. It's been referred to Eye Hospital urgently and optician said vision is fine just now. Hopefully as everything else settles down they will as well.

I was given a glucose and ketone meter so have been checking if blood sugar level has got over 13.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too.

Really good that they are being thorough and testing you for Type 1 as that sounds likely. Sorry to hear about your eye issues and I hope they are able to assess and monitor without it needing treatment, but if it does, there are many people here who have benefitted from laser and injections, so hopefully having caught it early they will be able to stop any progression and perhaps effect some improvement.

As regards ketones, you generally only test when levels are persistently mid teens or above for several hours, rather than just when your levels spike above 13, say after a meal, other wise I would have been testing every morning for the first few months after diagnosis. To be honest in 6.5 years of diagnosis, I haven't tested ketones "in anger" .... just in curiosity when test strips were going out of date.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @BSP

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Hopefully your results will come back as soon as possible, and give a good indication of the way forward.

Hoping too that any changes to your eyes are temporary and connected with the rapid improvement in BGs after your treatment started.

 

[Duncan Mackay]

Hi All,

I'm Ben and recently got diagnosed with Diabetes at the end of May. There is a suspicion it's type 1 (I'm 33 and BMI current 25.7 but have lost weight over the last year.) but we are still waiting on antibody test to come back.

I found out I was diabetic through my ENG1 seafarers medical. They found I had high levels of glucose in my urine and was referred to doctor for blood test and my A1C came back as 114 mmol/mol. It was quite a shock as after the blood test at Doctors I was called same day and on saying I had lost weight was to come in for a urine sample. This was the next day and I was sent to the Care unit at the hospital with suspected DKA which luckily I didn't have. Care from Doctors, and the local diabetes team has been excellent and answered the many questions I have.

Been started on Gliclazide and Metformin which has got my levels down and have been keeping them mostly in range (3.9-10) the last month when testing with the blood glucose meter. I'm trialling a CGM to see what different foods to do my levels and if any food spikes the levels I will know to avoid.

Some Macular swelling was found in an OCT scan at the opticians today (Noticed a floater in eye.) which wasn't there when I had my normal eye test (and OCT scan) at the end of May when I was diagnosed. I've been referred to the eye doctor for follow up and hoping it won't progress or settle down as the treatment steadies my blood sugars.

Thanks for reading, I have a lot to learn and some adjustments to make to manage this.

Rather similar starting events as myself - loss of 10kg, high blood glucose levels (over 40 mmol/l), A&E visit (saline drips plus insulin infusion), eyes blurry, frequent peeing, etc. Initially diagnosed as T2 and placed on Metformin and Gliclazide. Non-responsive to the latter. Given my age, also CT pancreas scan which was clear. I'm guessing at your age your GP is not concerned about a pancreatic pathology.

Re-diagnosed as LADA and so now on a daily basal insulin injection which is working well. For me cutting out high glycemic carbohydrates and regular weight training are also requirements to control blood glucose levels.Taken about 9 weeks from initial bad symptoms to feeling so much better. Eyesight remains less good for now, but hopeful for improvement.

I hope that your journey to better health is as rapid.

 

[BSP]

@Duncan Mackay
Glad you are feeling better quickly and I hope your eyesight improves.

Regarding the high GI foods I've noticed cereal is spiking me badly then it comes crashing down before lunch. I'm using Freestyles CGM trial at the minute to see how the levels are fluctuating.
Had my cereal yesterday and it went from 6 to 11.5 an hour later then back down to 6 after. Tried Strawberry and fat free greek yoghurt today and <2mmol spike but an hour and a half later was touching low 4's so some wholewheat toast and butter helped me stay steady until lunch without a spike. Think I'll give cereals a miss for just now. Going to try an overnight oats style breakfast with fresh strawberries and see how that works.

 

[Duncan Mackay]

@Duncan Mackay
Glad you are feeling better quickly and I hope your eyesight improves.

Regarding the high GI foods I've noticed cereal is spiking me badly then it comes crashing down before lunch. I'm using Freestyles CGM trial at the minute to see how the levels are fluctuating.
Had my cereal yesterday and it went from 6 to 11.5 an hour later then back down to 6 after. Tried Strawberry and fat free greek yoghurt today and <2mmol spike but an hour and a half later was touching low 4's so some wholewheat toast and butter helped me stay steady until lunch without a spike. Think I'll give cereals a miss for just now. Going to try an overnight oats style breakfast with fresh strawberries and see how that works.

Thanks for your good wishes.

For breakfast I have either Weetabix or apricot filled shreddies with some raspberries or blackberries. Seems to not unduly affect my glucose levels. Your overnight oats idea sounds good.

 

[Skater P]

Hi @BSP I went through a similar path not being 100% sure but suspecting T1D, got the tests back and sure I'm T1, I'm also on basal (long acting) and bolus (fast acting) insulin and generally happier than I was in the before times.

I do a mix of overnight oats and granola with various fruits and almonds, it does end up at about 60 grams of carbs all told.

...and it's blackberry season here so lots available for free if you have a little time.

 

[BSP]

Hi all,

Got an update on my eye check at the hospital and all good. There’s a slight thickening of a section of the Macula. To be sure I'm to go back in 2 months for another scan to compare and see if it has changed or is steady.

Medicines haven't been so great this week with me getting lows after dinner and in evenings so my Gliclazide has been lowered today to see how i get on.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thanks for the update @BSP

Glad the eye-check news was positive, and that they’ve adjusted your meds to reduce the risk of lows. 🙂

 

[BSP]

I've now dropped my evening Gliclazide completely (On advice of the ANP at my Doctors.) and just have 40mg in the morning before breakfast. It seems to have settled my levels at night with them fairly steady in the 5 to 6 mmol range from after dinner to morning.

Been experimenting with breakfasts and currently greek yoghurt, berries, flax seed and crushed nuts is working well. I barely notice a rise in the cgm line having this. Going to try omelette, eggs and bacon and some surreal lower carb cereal to give me some options hopefully. If I don't snack in morning then can get down close to 4 mmol by lunch. With a snack I'm sitting at 5. I'm going to ask about dropping the morning Gliclazide in a week or so if everything seems steady. I would like to be off it before I return to work due to the hypo risks.

I've been trying to monitor carbs/Kcals through a food diary and find how different foods affect my glucose levels and make sure I'm eating enough. I've been struggling to get near 2500Kcal some days which has led to some unintentional weight loss but still in healthy BMI zone, I'm making an effort to eat more and try different things.

Hopefully I will get the results back this week of the outstanding blood tests. I've managed to get most things set for returning to work start of September with a medical booked for end of August. The ANP is going to do a A1C before this as that will be 3 months since diagnosis and treatment started. It will hopefully be used to show good control for my medical.

It's been a couple of months with a lot of ups and downs, and I feel like I'm starting to (slowly) settle into the lifestyle changes. Thanks for all your comments and support here!

 

[Lucyr]

Going to try omelette, eggs and bacon and some surreal lower carb cereal to give me some options hopefully

I’d save your money on the surreal cereal unless you like the taste of way too sweet artificallly sweetened things.

 

[Leadinglights]

I’d save your money on the surreal cereal unless you like the taste of way too sweet artificallly sweetened things.

Your recommendation of the M & S grainfree fruit and nut granola was much appreciated as it is a very nice addition to my Greek yoghurt and berries and at 9g carbs per 100g is the way lowest I have come across that is good and doesn't taste artificial or like sawdust.

 

[BSP]

I’d save your money on the surreal cereal unless you like the taste of way too sweet artificallly sweetened things.

I’ve bought a trial pack earlier today that was on offer in Holland and Barrett. I’ll try it but I’m not really a fan of super sweet stuff.

I will look for the m&s grain free fruit and nut granola as it sounds nice.