Ongoing diagnosis confusion- may be T1 may be T2

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fullmoon1993

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Type 2
Hi all,

I've been diagnosed with "some" form of diabetes - I presented all the classic symptoms in October; 8kg of weight loss, thirst, tiredness and eventually blurred vision.

My GP measured my MMOL which was 26.2 at the time and his hunch was that I was type 2.

Thanks to Metformin I have been measuring between 3.9 and 9.6 since Christmas and that is factoring in some real pigging out on curries and pizzas thanks to late night work events!

There is no genetic link in my family, and the fact that I'm not overweight makes my Consultant, so I'm guessing the field expert, think that I may be type 1 - but that I *may* be able to manage with just Metformin.

I'm very confused, my pancreas is obviously doing something - I thought T2's needed the extra help. With type 1 I though it was simple, in that no insulin is being produced - so why is there still doubt between the two? :(
 
There are several of us on here who have developed Type1 as adults, and in most cases, our diabetes has progressed more slowly than it would have done had we been children, who can go from healthy to seriously ill in a matter of days. Quite often, even in the case of a sudden onset, there can be a 'honeymoon period' where after initial treatment, the beta cells in the pancreas stage a bit of a recovery, before continuing to die off. That's why there's the confusion. I was misdiagnosed as Type 2 initially, just because of my age, although my blood sugar was sky high and I was losing 2lb a week without dieting. There is an antibody test that can be done, to help diagnoses, but it may not be conclusive. My hospital take each case as it comes, and consider that provided the right treatment is delivered, it doesn't matter what type you are. This causes its own problems, though, because some therapies, such as an insulin pump, are only open to Type 1s, and it's much more difficult to get test meters and strips prescribed if you are Type 2. So worth pushing for a correct diagnosis.
 
Hi Fullmoon, I'm afraid with T1 it's not necessarily true that thei pancreas doesn't make any insulin, their can be a honeymoon period where after the pancreas had had a nice rest because it's owner has very kindly been injecting insulin, it suddenly wakes up and tries helping out again. Their are also the other flavours (types) to consider too
 
I must learn to type faster
 
Thank you both very much for your replies - it makes sense that my pancreas could possibly be in the "rest & recovery" phase right now
 
There are some researchers thinking that rather than there being distinct types of Diabetes, that it is a spectrum of types.
 
Hi. I would have suspected T1 not T2 as the GP. Weight loss around diagnosis and a high BS etc tends to indicate T1 as the body will be burning fat due to lack of insulin. Late onset T1 can come on slowly as mine did. It took 6-7 years before I needed insulin with tablets initially working but gradually failing - the so-called 'honeymoon' period. Long-term T1s can still produce a little insulin.
 
When I was first diagnosed all signs pointed to me being T1 and a 5 week stay in hospiyal allowed the doctors to monitor my insulin production. Due to the very low levels of insulin I was producing and having DKA they decided on T1.

Fast forward a few months and I;m now producing a lot more insulin and the anti body test now suggests I'm actually T2.

There are a few things that don't weigh up for me, like having DKA if I was T2, but I'm more concered now with getting the right treatment.

So, i think what I was trying to say is that your body can do weird things that make initial diagnosis hard.
 
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