LADA

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LAK76

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Type 1.5 LADA
Hi
I have just been diagnosed with LADA and feel I need some support and advice. I’m emotionally and physically drained and don’t know where to start with managing this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
First many of us are in the same position. What medication have you been prescribed? I assume you have had recent blood tests including an HBA1c test - what was the reading? Your blood sugar may continue to increase over time months/years depending on it's current state. You will need insulin at some point if not already using it. This will normally need to be the Basal/Bolus regime (two insulins). LADA is essentially late onset T1 so follow the advice given to T1s bearing in mind it may not have progressed fully yet
 
I was told I can type 1 about 3 weeks ago but the antibody results have just come back diagnosing LADA. I’ve been on novorapid and lantus but my sugar levels have been dropping giving me hypos. Nurse is sorting a prescription for metformin and I’ve to continue with lantus and my correction doses.
 
LAK76 said:
I was told I can type 1 about 3 weeks ago but the antibody results have just come back diagnosing LADA.
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LADA is a "varient" of Type 1. I think some docs avoid using the term. as I understand it, LADA is TYpe 1 diagnosed as an adult which comes on slower than it does for children.
Do you know why the nurse has prescribed Metformin? It is usually a drug prescribed to people with Type 2 or those with Type 1 on high doses of insulin which does not sound like you if you are going low
 
helli said:
LADA is a "varient" of Type 1. I think some docs avoid using the term. as I understand it, LADA is TYpe 1 diagnosed as an adult which comes on slower than it does for children.
Do you know why the nurse has prescribed Metformin? It is usually a drug prescribed to people with Type 2 or those with Type 1 on high doses of insulin which does not sound like you if you are going low
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I don’t know. It was a telephone conversation. I’m hoping to see my diabetic nurse next week and she can explain it better. I don’t see the consultant until January.
 
@LAK76 this was me in August - I definitely feel you on being emotionally and physically drained. I’m on Lantus and NovoRapid too. Have you been given an insulin to carb ratio to follow or are you injecting a set amount of NovoRapid at each meal? I’ve been very fortunate that whatever calculations my GP did regarding my ratios and Lantus dose have been pretty much spot on. I’m doing so much better now than I was in the summer. I hope you’ll start to feel better very soon too. Keep reading and posting here - I have found the information and shared experiences so helpful!
 
Do you have a continous glucose monitor (cgm) eg libre 2 yet, or are you finger pricking?
If you haven't a cgm yet, i'd suggest you ask for one.
As for your feeling drained, you will, we've all been there, it does get easier! At first i felt mentally rubbish, and phyicallytoo, but you will start to feel normally again soon.
 
LAK76 said:
I don’t know. It was a telephone conversation. I’m hoping to see my diabetic nurse next week and she can explain it better. I don’t see the consultant until January.
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Sorry for more questions but I wondered if your diabetes nurse is part of your GP surgery or whether it is one from a dedicated diabetes clinic.
I ask because, typically, the diabetes nurses attached to GP surgeries are very focused on type 2 and have little experience or knowledge about Type 1. This could explain why she has suggested metformin.
I would push to see a diabetes clinic based team as soon as possible. Otherwise you risk missing out on kit that is available to people with Type 1 such as the CGM @Tdm mentioned and necessary expertise without which you will struggle to manage your diabetes, especially with Christmas on the way,
 
I’m under the specialist diabetes nurses and consultant. I’ve got Libre which I’ve had since my discharge 3 weeks ago. It’s been mentioned about having a pump in the new year.
 
Hi again. I agree that having Metformin with insulin is unusual but not a problem. I take Metformin as well mainly because my previous diabetes nurse wanted me to stay on it due to it's other protective properties; it's your choice. Don't stay on it if it gives you problems but I'm fine with it. Are you still taking the Novorapid as well as the Lantus? Be prepared to take appropriate small doses if needed to stop the BS going up but as you were having hypos the dose you were taking was probably too high. The nurse should should you how to adjust the Novo dose to suit the carb content in each meal called -carb-counting. The NHS tends to keep newbies on fixed doses for far too long which can result in hypos or high BS
 
LAK76 said:
It’s been mentioned about having a pump in the new year.
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Wow. As far as I know, that is pretty early for a pump.
I love my pump. I hated it when it broke and had to revert to injecting. But I knew what to do with injecting and what my dose should be because I had been doing it for 12 years. I am not suggesting anyone needs to inject for so long but I do know technology can break so we need to know how to manage without it.
For example, I love the idea of hybrid closed loop but I know CGMs can have “funny turns” so need to be able to manually calculate my basal insulin and I need to be able to carb count because the closed loop is not going to be able to compensate for my mistakes if the cgm fails,

I don’t want to put you off an insulin pump but going through time with manual approach helps understand what the automation is doing so you can take over if necessary. And necessity is never when you are calm and have loads of time to work it out,
 
Welcome to the forum @LAK76

Feeling overwhelmed and knocked sideways is perfectly natural in the beginning.

Do you think it might help to have a background reference of information to get you started?

Lots on the forum have found these books very helpful to refer back to:

Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas - considered to be the 'bible' for children and young people on insulin regimes. Don't be misled by the title - this book is relevant to people of all ages!

Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner - A practical guide to managing diabetes with insulin

And there is also the Learning Zone (orange tab in the main menu) which is packed with bite-sized modules you can work through gradually.
 
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