Type 2, now Type 1, Hba1C down from 110 to 67

[RobMil]

Hi All

I have joined the forum today, mainly as a response to my Life insurance Quote, but will come back to that!

I was first diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes 11 years ago (Although it could be that this was an assumption!), I had my eldest and nothing more was said, I self diagnosed when I was pregnant 2 years later (not automatically given a GTT) and went to my GP, I was put on insulin for the rest of my pregnancy but the support was pretty non-existent. I had my second daughter, and no problems thereafter, I wasn't tested but thought that was normal. 12 months later I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes, and in my opinion as I had it in pregnancy alongside my blood results I was assumed to be T2, annual checkups but my Hba1C was always around 110, I tried a few tablets but nothing seemed to work, and the nurse didnt seem overly bothered or suggest anything else, I wasn't even testing my sugars (but when I did start they ranged from 10 up to 32+ which i now realise is crazy!)

Around 18 months ago I decided to help with a drugs trial at hospital for people with T2 diabetes, taking 3 different meds over 4 months of each to see the difference, after the first round of drugs and no change in my results the consultant decided to re-do my blood tests (and antibodies) and confirmed I am actually T1 - this was devastating, trying to sort myself out over such a long time and I didnt even have the right diagnosis in the first place. I was part way through the weight management course, which I had started with the review that a high percentage of cases actually help put T2 diabetes in remission, so this has now all turned on its head too! Since then i have been on insulin, Novorapid and Abasaglar, I have been testing my blood sugars like some sort of finger-prick ninja - 10 times a day! Thankfully I now have a freestyle libre which is helping me so much to track where I am, and see the results live, my Hba1C has come down to 67 and due to test again next month (current estimate according to my app is 61.) I have a brilliant nurse helping me now too.

Anyways, this is me and my story - thanks for keeping up with me this far!

Back to the insurance - I have just been quotes £57 a month (I'm 32, T1 with depression and a family history of cancer) this is for £200k cover over 30 years which I thought was quite steep - Can I ask what you pay and who you are with?

 

[SB2015]

Hi @RobMil Welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear about the difficulties you have experienced along the way to your now correct diagnosis.
Your change in HbA1c is showing that what you are doing is working.

Good to hear that you have now got the Libre. That was a game changer for me, as it enabled me to start to time my Bolus insulin before meals appropriately, as well as showing how I react to specific foods (porridge is a no no for me now). I also love it for exercise as I don’t to stop and can just swipe between games and carry on or Jelly Baby as necessary. It can certainly help to head off highs and lows.

For travel insurance we have a policy through a bank but then have to pay extra for the declarations that we make. It is often based on the number of tablets you are which pips you into a specific charging bracket. We pay an extra £250 per year for me on top of the cover from the bank. I hope that helps.

 

[stephknits]

Sorry you have had such a difficult journey to get a proper diagnosis. Sadly this is all too common. I was also diagnosed wrongly as type 2, but was fortunate enough to have found this forum, who made me realise things were badly wrong and who gave me the strength to keep pushing for better help. Still took me 9 months and a trip to A&E to get a diagnosis of type 1. By which point I would as eating as few carbs as possible and had lost around ,2 stone. I don't know anything about insurance, sorry, but welcome to the forum.

 

[Flower]

Hello and welcome @RobMil , glad you've joined us, sorry you needed to!

I'm sorry you've had a difficult time to get to the correct diagnosis. It looks like things are starting to improve now with an established insulin supply, the Libre, a decreasing HbA1c and an excellent nurse 🙂

I can't help with life insurance but typing it into the search box at the top of the page returns a fair few threads - they won't all be relevant or up to date but some may be helpful. https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/search/3073/?q=life+insurance&o=date

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @RobMil

Sorry to hear your diagnosis was such a difficult business

It may be that you have a ’slow developing’ form of T1 called LADA (latent autoimmune diabetes in adulthood), where the immune attack on the pancreas takes place over a much longer period, which means that initially T2 meds can have some positive effects (because there are still some beta cells to work).

But it certainly sounds like your BG and HbA1c levels were allowed to run very high for quite a while

Unfortunately this is probably a reflection of how these very high levels are not all that uncommon for a surgery or clinic to see.

Hope that you can manage to put your unfortunate experience behind you and move forward with effective diabetes management now that you have the right diagnosis and the right tools!