Ketones in blood type 2

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thanks for sharing your experiences @Paul Goldie and welcome to the forum.

Sounds like ascary experience! Glad the paramedics caught it in time and A&E sprang into action.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @MrsDiabetes

Glad you have joined us. problematic ketones are more often associated with T1, and some T2s won’t produce ketones even at quite high BG levels - but yes, as you can see ketones can happen in T2, and their presence alone is not a reliable way of telling T1 from T2 with any certainty.

 

[helli]

Sorry to read of your scary dka experience @Paul Goldie .
Your current testing and injecting regime sounds pretty much like a typical Type 1 basal bolus regime. To be honest, four finger pricks and four injections per day is on the low side. I was doing 10 finger pricks and six or seven injections for more than a dozen years until I switched to an insulin pump and CGM.
Don't get me wrong, I'd rather not have to prick and jab but I wouldn't describe having finger pricks of steel and a stomach like a pin cushion. In fact, apart from the rare bruise, my stomach looked the same as any other and my finger tips were normal.

However, given your experience, I wonder if you have LADA rather than type 2.

 

[rebrascora]

@Paul Goldie

I would echo what @helli has said above. I think it is possible that you were never Type 2 but perhaps a slow onset Type 1 like LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) and you suddenly reached a tipping point where your remaining beta cells were insufficient to cope and this may be why your HbA1c suddenly shot up.
The important thing is that you are now on an appropriate insulin regime, but you might ask about Type 1 testing to clarify your situation. Like helli 8-10 finger pricks a day were necessary for me to manage my levels and up to 16 a day when I wanted to do some detailed testing plus a minimum of 5 insulin injections a day because I have a split dose basal insulin but add in corrections and it could be as many as 8 if my levels are not behaving and I need lots of corrections.
Not sure if you are aware but you can inject into other sites like your thighs and buttocks and upper arms. The tummy area and arms are quickest to absorb so best used for your meal time insulin (NovoRapid) and I use buttocks and thighs for basal insulin and rotate each day, so buttock morning basal, thigh evening. That way my tummy doesn't get overused and become at greater risk of lipohypertrophy (fatty lumpy deposits which can cause problems with insulin absorption.