Newbie, Hiii

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Jacko999

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Hi

Totally new here. 30 years old , Recently had to have a few H1Ac blood test things and it’s looking like I’m going to be diagnosed with diabetes. Unsure as to what type. My blood levels were through the roof though to say the least.

To say I’m not terrified about this is an understatement, just worried as to what the implications are now. I drive for a living and for obvious reasons can’t afford to lose my job

Other than that Hii
 
100 I think. It all didn’t really make sense to me. I’ve had an appointment they are referring me to the diabetes team.

Funny thing I’ve zero symptoms I’d never of even known if I hadn’t gone for an eye test !
 
@Jacko999 Pretty high then. It’s good you’ve been referred - do you have an appointment soon? Have you been given any medication in the meantime? Did they test for ketones too?
 
Well done that optician. It is frightening at first, but you'll soon get your head around it
 
Jacko999 said:
100 I think. It all didn’t really make sense to me. I’ve had an appointment they are referring me to the diabetes team.

Funny thing I’ve zero symptoms I’d never of even known if I hadn’t gone for an eye test !
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No surprise that you're worried when your diagnosis came out of the blue but many of us on here were diagnosed with an HbA1c in 3 figures but through a combination of diet, exercise, medication and (if needed) weight loss have managed to bring it right down, sometimes into normal range. What will matter is what type of diabetes it is, as this will determine what happens next. Have you been given a date for your appointment with the diabetes team?
 
Afternoon all.

Confirmed. I am a type 2 diabetic. Starting on metaformin and something called galiczade.

The issue with me is I’m certainly not overweight. I’m a serious gym junkie. I’ve had zero symptoms for this which has shocked the doctors. So I’m not sure really.

I’ve got my appointments for monitoring sugar and stuff tomorrow morning.

Makes me wonder how many people like me will be in the same boat and have no diagnosis. Just thankful I have regular eye checks with opticians who have detected this.
 
Jacko999 said:
Afternoon all.

Confirmed. I am a type 2 diabetic. Starting on metaformin and something called galiczade.

The issue with me is I’m certainly not overweight. I’m a serious gym junkie. I’ve had zero symptoms for this which has shocked the doctors. So I’m not sure really.

I’ve got my appointments for monitoring sugar and stuff tomorrow morning.

Makes me wonder how many people like me will be in the same boat and have no diagnosis. Just thankful I have regular eye checks with opticians who have detected this.
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I was in a similar situation. Not overweight at all, and no couch potato either (not exactly a gym bunny though), and really no warning signs had I not been tested before a scan. I have made some moderate changes to my diet - very little sweets/sugar, and have approximately halved my carb intake, and also restarted running as I wasn’t doing much cardio. I was on metformin, gliclazide and sitagliptin but just dropped the gliclazide, and have lost 3kg, and reduced hb1ac from 82 to 39 in just 3 months.

What I have learned from this site is that everyone is very different, but just some ideas to tweaks you can make.
 
Oh, and I got a free trial of the Libre glucose monitor. This helped me immensely to get a sense of how I reacted to different foods and was able to work out my personalised tweaks….
 
Jacko999 said:
Afternoon all.

Confirmed. I am a type 2 diabetic. Starting on metaformin and something called galiczade.

The issue with me is I’m certainly not overweight. I’m a serious gym junkie. I’ve had zero symptoms for this which has shocked the doctors. So I’m not sure really.

I’ve got my appointments for monitoring sugar and stuff tomorrow morning.

Makes me wonder how many people like me will be in the same boat and have no diagnosis. Just thankful I have regular eye checks with opticians who have detected this.
Click to expand...
Good that you have an appointment so quickly so make the most of the opportunity. Just to check that you have had the two tests to exclude Type 1 those being c-peptide and GAD antibodies since you don't fit the usual profile for Type 2.
The two medications you have been prescribed act in different ways, metformin allows the body to use the insulin it is producing more effectively and reduces release of glucose by the liver whereas gliclazide encourages the pancreas to produce more insulin if it is able. That is a medication that can potentially cause hypos (low blood glucose) so you should be prescribed a blood glucose monitor and test strips and lancets so do ask for those.
Most people with Type 2 make dietary changes in terms of reducing carbohydrates but with the gliclazide you need to be cautious.
 
My first question at your appointment is "What makes them think you are Type 2?" There are no specific tests for Type 2 and at 30, you are young and fit by the sound of it, so both of those things suggest Type 1 rather than Type 2.
The Type 1 tests (C-peptide and GAD antibody tests) are specific blood tests done when there is a potential question mark over your Type and in your case, they should be done in my opinion. The results from these tests usually take weeks to come back, so very unlikely they have been done yet and worth asking for them to be done and ideally a referral to a specialist diabetes clinic to get them done, where the results can be interpreted by an experienced consultant because the results are not always clear cut.
My guess is that they have done a ketone test and inferred that you are not Type 1 from that, but I never had ketones and I am Type 1. GP's really do not know very much about diabetes, so I would not take their diagnosis of Type as being accurate by any means.

Apologies if I am coming across as a bit antagonistic, but far too many people are assumed to be Type 2 when they are Type 1 and it can delay appropriate treatment and leave them with high BG levels for much longer than is advisable, putting them at risk of possible complications and denying them the help and support both through medication, education and technology to manage their diabetes well. It is often ignorance or laziness or even financial on the part of GP practices (I believe referrals to hospital specialists cost the practice, so there is pressure to manage in house) to assume everyone is Type 2 without looking at the individual's clinical presentation. I may be wrong and you may be Type 2 but the likelihood is that you are Type 1, even if it is a slow onset form like LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults).

Hopefully we can give you knowledge to go into your appointment so that you can get the best outcome from it. If you are Type 1 then Gliclazide is not a good medication because it essentially flogs your remaining insulin producing beta cells into working harder, when they are already under strain.
 
rebrascora said:
My first question at your appointment is "What makes them think you are Type 2?" There are no specific tests for Type 2 and at 30, you are young and fit by the sound of it, so both of those things suggest Type 1 rather than Type 2.
The Type 1 tests (C-peptide and GAD antibody tests) are specific blood tests done when there is a potential question mark over your Type and in your case, they should be done in my opinion. The results from these tests usually take weeks to come back, so very unlikely they have been done yet and worth asking for them to be done and ideally a referral to a specialist diabetes clinic to get them done, where the results can be interpreted by an experienced consultant because the results are not always clear cut.
My guess is that they have done a ketone test and inferred that you are not Type 1 from that, but I never had ketones and I am Type 1. GP's really do not know very much about diabetes, so I would not take their diagnosis of Type as being accurate by any means.

Apologies if I am coming across as a bit antagonistic, but far too many people are assumed to be Type 2 when they are Type 1 and it can delay appropriate treatment and leave them with high BG levels for much longer than is advisable, putting them at risk of possible complications and denying them the help and support both through medication, education and technology to manage their diabetes well. It is often ignorance or laziness or even financial on the part of GP practices (I believe referrals to hospital specialists cost the practice, so there is pressure to manage in house) to assume everyone is Type 2 without looking at the individual's clinical presentation. I may be wrong and you may be Type 2 but the likelihood is that you are Type 1, even if it is a slow onset form like LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults).

Hopefully we can give you knowledge to go into your appointment so that you can get the best outcome from it. If you are Type 1 then Gliclazide is not a good medication because it essentially flogs your remaining insulin producing beta cells into working harder, when they are already under strain.
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I can’t remember exactly what the tests were however I do remember the from saying something along the lines of querying type 1 or type 2 - that was on the bloods form from the doctor.

The doctor seemed shocked and did note both types so I’d assume she’s aware, she even said herself im an extremely strange case as I’m not overweight and have zero symptoms. As for what the tests and stuff mean I have no clue. I have an appointment tomorrow to go through the blood monitors and things and I’ll be given one then so I shall ask.

How’s best to approach that topic though because I don’t really want to insult their intelligence if that makes sense ? They’ve been extremely quick reacting for me since my eye test.
 
Good to hear that they didn't automatically assume Type 2 and did consider Type 1 but I don't think a GP is sufficiently qualified to make that call if the appropriate tests have been done, because as I said the results can be unclear for a variety of reasons, particularly if you are still producing some insulin of your own and a slow onset Type 1 rather than a very obvious straightforward Type 1.

I would ask how they know you are Type 2. What tests have been done to establish your diabetes Type and what the results were in actual numbers NOT a subjective descriptive like "low" or "normal" or "high" etc. A print out of your results would be helpful and they should be able to provide you with them but if not, then take a note book and write them down. You may want to ask if the C-peptide test, if it was done, was done on blood or urine?....There are other tests done on urine, so it might not be a simple matter of assuming it was urine just because you provided a urine sample.

How long ago was your original diabetes diagnosis. ie. Was it last week or a month ago or longer and were the tests done at that time? ie Is this your first appointment since that initial appointment?
 
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis @Jacko999

Hope you get some clarity about your diabetes type soon. Have you lost any weight without really meaning to in recent months? Have you been feeling tired?

A cPeptide check would help to establish how much ‘home grown’ insulin you are still producing, but as others have suggested some GPs seem reluctant to request these additional checks.

Coincidentally, a straw poll I conducted several years ago about age at diagnosis suggested that 35 was about the age when it was most likely a person would be diagnosed with T2, and then later re-classified as T1.
 
Hi all ,

Had my blood monitor appointment today safe to say my hands are like pin cushions now but all well and fairly happy with it.

The trainer I saw , I forget her title when asked about type and how they know gave me some justifications with age and the highness of my sugars etc but immediately sent me for a blood test again.

So currently waiting in the bloods line for a GAD test 🙂
 
Jacko999 said:
Hi all ,

Had my blood monitor appointment today safe to say my hands are like pin cushions now but all well and fairly happy with it.

The trainer I saw , I forget her title when asked about type and how they know gave me some justifications with age and the highness of my sugars etc but immediately sent me for a blood test again.

So currently waiting in the bloods line for a GAD test 🙂
Click to expand...

Hope the results provide you with some clarification @Jacko999 🙂
 
Good morning,
I could be completely wrong, but I was 34, not over weight & lived a balance lift style being active 3-4 times a week. I originally got told I had type 2 but diabetic nurse explained it did not seem right. I had similar tests to you and got diagnosed with Lada Diabetes. Your body still produces a small amount of insulin but eventually it will stop & then I will be fully type 1. Not sure if this is helpful or not
 
LisaC42 said:
Good morning,
I could be completely wrong, but I was 34, not over weight & lived a balance lift style being active 3-4 times a week. I originally got told I had type 2 but diabetic nurse explained it did not seem right. I had similar tests to you and got diagnosed with Lada Diabetes. Your body still produces a small amount of insulin but eventually it will stop & then I will be fully type 1. Not sure if this is helpful or not
Click to expand...

Yes T1 can come on much slower in some adults, leading to a confusing situation which can seem to respond to some T2 meds initially. But as the autoimmune attack condition continues, and more beta cell mass is lost insulin will be needed sooner or later.

We have some members whose GPs prefer not to use the term LADA, and just use T1 throughout, but we have others whose practices have been reluctant to change the T2 label, even when their presentation is extremely atypical for T2.
 
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