Hi...

[Jha19]

Been lurking a little while, thought I'd say hello.

Art At of October I Had a1c test done as doctor at practice suggested a possibility that the reason I'd gone might be connected to diabetes. Turns out her hunch was right and my a1c came back as 'very very high' (157) a couple of days later.

Referred to my local hospital's diabetes team. As I was away I ended up being checked over at another hospital first, who prescribed metformin and gliclazide. My team have since stopped the metformin and now on intermediate insulin twice daily which seems to be keeping things under reasonable control.

Big life change, but it's going ok overall.

As a fairly fit healthy 35 year old, they're not confident in diagnosing type without antibody test confirmation, and a little bit of a mix up over blood tests, they've had to be reordered, so still waiting on that...

 

[Kaylz]

Hi there and welcome to the forum 🙂

I hope you get your GAD and C-Peptide results as soon as, if Type 1 your intermediate may keep you going for a while but a basal/bolus regime (a fast acting taken before each meal and slow acting taken once or twice a day) is by far more flexible and easier to manage

I was diagnosed a week before my 25th and had been working away fine during the day and admitted to hospital and diagnosed that evening, I went straight onto a basal/bolus regime while they waited for my results which confirmed their suspicions anyway
xx

 

[Jha19]

I felt a bit of a fraud presenting at a&e and being admitted to a medical day unit when not feeling at all unwell, but now I understand a1cs, bg levels and ketones a lot more I can see why my diabetes team at home wanted me to get ketone levels checked urgently (they had suggested a walk in service, but neither we visited seemed inclined to help). My blood glucose was in high twenties, but ketones were only 0.1.

The consultant I saw recently suspects T1 and still producing some insulin. The twice daily intermediate seems to mostly work well enough for now (with a lower carb diet, cutting out a lot of snacks). I'm sure basal/bolus will happen in due course if t1 is confirmed, but more things to carry, work out and yo remember...

 

[Kaylz]

I hadn't felt unwell at all, I went to nurse for a fasting finger prick in the morning as they had done blood tests which showed a raised hba1c, it was high so asked to go back to see a doctor in the afternoon, she tested my urine and I had ketones so I was sent to hospital and hooked up to a sliding scale

There isn't really a due course for Type 1 diabetes, most of us go through a phase of still producing some insulin known as the honeymoon period but the sooner you are diagnosed Type 1 the better in regards to starting proper treatment for a Type 1, its a lot of change but I wasn't allowed home from the hospital until I showed I could inject myself and everything
xx

 

[Jha19]

I was surprised when the dsn at local hospital didn't get me to practice injecting before sending me off to the pharmacy with a prescription for insulin kwik-pens. The first time I injected myself was a little bit of a challenge mentally, but thankfully my other half is very supportive and also works as a healthcare professional.

 

[MrDaibetes]

Welcome to the forum. Hope you find it useful & remember no question is silly.

 

[Jha19]

Had an appointment with dsn last week and the antibody tests were negative, so doesn't help determine type conclusively. She talked about other tests , I am assuming C-pep , but that it might be too early to do that in my case and get a definitive result. I've got a consultants appointment booked in ,so I'll see what comes up then.

They did a hba1c though ,and looks like it's down to 65...

Also waiting on eye hospital appointment following my routine screening showed 'signs of diabetic maculopathy'

Edited to fix autocorrect deciding I had neuropathy rather than maculopathy.

 

[Kaylz]

Also waiting on eye hospital appointment following my routine screening showed 'signs of diabetic neuropathy

I think you may mean retinopathy? neuropathy is a different thing affecting the nerves in your body not your eyes. what exactly did the letter say?

in my 3 years of diabetes I have never had an annual screening as I got my first problems (diabetic macular oedema) less than a month later and then proliferative retinopathy less than 2 years in so I've never been discharged from the ophthalmology department at the hospital
xx

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Likely to be GAD and other antibody checks, though CPep would indicate how much insulin you are able to produce, which is a pretty helpful confirmation. Not at all unusual to be diagnosed with T1 as an adult (50% of cases are dx older than 18). Or you may have the more slowly developing autoimmune LADA.

glad the insulin is working well initially. You may want to ask about a more flexible insulin regime if the checks do come back T1/LADA

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Jha19]

I think you may mean retinopathy? neuropathy is a different thing affecting the nerves in your body not your eyes. what exactly did the letter say?

Probably a phone correction , or maybe human error , but I mean maculopathy. Letter said 'signs of diabetic maculopathy'. The hospital appointment is three months after referral ,so I'm hoping that's a sign it's not too concerning ,but I am worried my sight is affected.

 

[Jha19]

Likely to be GAD and other antibody checks, though CPep would indicate how much insulin you are able to produce, which is a pretty helpful confirmation. Not at all unusual to be diagnosed with T1 as an adult (50% of cases are dx older than 18). Or you may have the more slowly developing autoimmune LADA.

glad the insulin is working well initially. You may want to ask about a more flexible insulin regime if the checks do come back T1/LADA

Welcome to the forum!

Been here a little while, just updating story here rather than a new thread . My hospital team do seem to think it'll be a late / slow developing T1, but I'd love to know, so I can be doing the best to look after myself , e.g. Whether I should be reducing carb intake further if it's T2.

In one way it's good that my dx hba1c was so high as practice nurse immediately got in touch with hospital team. If it was lower, I suspect the practice would've not sought advice and I'd be assumed T2.