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Prior to diagnosis, did you ignore/miss any symptoms?

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Ladas

chattygirl187811 mentions LADA and 1.5
can one of you ex spurts explain it in very simple terms please
keep seeing it on various posts
sorry if its been explained before

Had a Lada once, wife worked in the office of a Citroen/Lada dealership so got a good discount. a 1.6. you could watch the fuel gauge needle dropping
gas pipe thick exhaust pipe. vicious brakes, either full on or not. same with the heating
suppose they needed it in Siberia
swapped it for a ..............Capri 😎
 
I had a conversation whilst in the hospital with two endocrinologists about 1.5, and they said it was quite common for people to be diagnosed as type 2 because the assumption is if your over thirty it's type 2 and they don't routinely do the antibody test. I was lucky I suppose that I was admitted in such a state that they did the full range of tests and I was swimming with those antibodies so type 1 confirmed right at the beginning. They also said that with latent autoimmune disease it can be gradual or quite sudden. Just makes me wonder how many type 2's are actually slow growing type 1's. Coincidentally when my Dad was in hospital just before he died, they suggested he may have been 1.5 because one of the test showed antibodies. At the time I had no idea what that meant but it makes me wonder now. I suppose they don't do the full range of tests because it's expensive but surely not as expensive as complications further down the line?

On a complete tangent I'd never realised how much "judgement" there is around type 2 until now. The number of pharmacists and nurses and general folk whose attitude changes when I say type 1 instead of two is quite astounding, and these are people who should understand what a metabolic disorder is. I suppose it hits home for me because my Dad used to talk about how he was treated sometimes and I didn't really understand, and now I do.
 
According to figures I've read Kooky, it's around 22-25% of those diagnosed as T2 who are actually LADA. I was originally told I was T2 and had a real battle on my hands to get the tests done that proved I'm not. I am a classic T2 to look at, fat and over 40 but had no history of T2 in the family, even though there is a lot of obesity and high blood pressure, high cholesterol/strokes in the clan, there were no diabetics. I'd also been tested for T2 less than 6 months earlier with no sign of a problem. I'm different from the rest of my tribe as well, because I have low blood pressure, a couple of other autoimmune conditions that they don't and a permanently low red cell count/anaemia. All of this, plus the fact that the meds weren't working I took as signs that something didn't fit.
 
I'm not an expert because I'm quite new to this but I did annoy the hell out of the consultant with questions so this is what I understand. Type 1 diabetes is caused by an autoimmune reaction where your immune system forms a firm grudge against the pancreas, specifically the cells that produce insulin, so little to no insulin is produced. Type 2 is a metabolic disorder, the pancreas still produces insulin but the body can't use it effectively, so drugs like Metformin are used to help the body use the insulin that is being produced. LADA is latent autoimmune in adulthood, where the autoimmune reaction can be gradual, so it slowly destroys the cells that produce insulin, so it can appear more type 2ish than type 1ish because some insulin is still being produced. However I understand that eventually the autoimmune will destroy all the cells producing insulin so insulin injections will be necessary, no idea how long eventually is though!
 
That's interesting, I had no idea it was that many! I also have a low red blood count and low blood pressure, but we have a few type 2s in the family line, with the classic cuddly apple shape as the predominant body shape. They are also quite teeny, except for us three genetic kickbacks who are six foot plus and more athletically built (or as I like to say, I'm apple but stretched over long bones!). I fear I'm rambling, it's all this not working business I don't get to talk for 8 hours a day. Do you think the low red blood cell count and low blood pressure are related? Just interested because every time I have my bp done or have a blood test I have to explain that it's normal for me, I dip into anaemia periodically and my bp is always on the low side unless I'm amped on caffeine then it's normal.
 
Hi KookyCat. I agree with what you said in your post. In addition, I think Type 2's may start to lose their insulin production as well if the condition proceeds uncorrected. That's why some Type 2's have to inject insulin as well as possibly taking other drugs to overcome any continuing insulin resistance.

Andy 🙂
 
Yes, that's about it, though some T1s also still produce a little insulin from time to time. The progression of LADA can be affected by a great may things and it's impossible to tell how long the deterioration process will take. I was on insulin within 6 months, but I've known others who took years to get that far.
 
Andy HB said:
Hi KookyCat. I agree with what you said in your post. In addition, I think Type 2's may start to lose their insulin production as well if the condition proceeds uncorrected. That's why some Type 2's have to inject insulin as well as possibly taking other drugs to overcome any continuing insulin resistance.

Andy 🙂
Click to expand...

You're right Andy, especially those on sulphonyureas (Gliclazide, Sitaglipin and the like) which trick the pancreas into producing more insulin in the hope that flooding the system will allow the body to catch at least some of what's put out. The poor beleaguered pancreas can only do so much after all.
 
Tejbat6 I think the others have probably explained LADA better than I can. When I first heard the term it made me think of the massive ladder my nan used to have in her kitchen! Im still trying to get my head around it all. My understanding is that its adult autoimmune diabetes where the pancreas can pack in all of a sudden or slowly sometimes up to 6 years from initial type 2 diagnosis I was told. The upshot of it is the diabetes becomes type 1 or closer to type 1 than 2 if that makes sense! :confused:
 
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