This is my first post. I hope I am not posting in the wrong area.
I was newly diagnosed with Type 2 on May 9th, 2009. I am 43 years old and at the time, I was 5’9" and 180 lbs. The weird thing about this is that I had absolutely NO symptoms…NONE at all. I had applied for a disability insurance policy and I got turned down with the blood results on the physical showing me why. Fortunately, I have a good friend who knows how to read the bloodtests on medical reports and he has been a diabetic longer than I have been alive and has all his fingers and toes and is in better shape than most guys in their 30’s. He told me to immediately get my butt to my doctor and get this confirmed, so…I did. My blood sugar reading was at 267 and my A1C was at 11. He was shocked that I had no symptoms at all. I don’t even know how long I have had this condition but it was confirmed. The Doctor put me on some pills under the name of Janumet. My friend told me to immediately go on the Atkins (Low Carb) diet. Within 12 days, I dropped my blood sugar from 267 down to 91 and I also lost 10 lbs. I went back to my doctor 2 weeks later and he was blown away. Since then, my blood sugar has spiked as high as 145 but then it would drop immediately (within 2 hours) all the way down to around 100 to 110. Trying to get my blood sugar under control is REAL TRIP.
Since my diagnosis my wife and daughter were more scared than I was. They went out and joined a gym. To me, it is just something I have to deal with. The ironic thing about this is that I always figured it would be my wife who would show up with something like Diabetes as she is overweight and due to many arthritic joints and a bad case of Fibromyalgia. She has over the years averaged at times, almost 3 surgeries per year. She has been the sickly one and I have always been the healthy one of the 2 of us.
As far as my diet would go before diagnosis, I never even ate that many carbs as compared to the population at large. I would eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and meat. All I effectively did was cut out the carbs completely so it was not a shock of a change for me. This is still interesting trying to keep my blood sugar in line.
Hi Steve: I am sorry you find yourself in this boat of diabetes. At 43, and your height and weight, if I were you I would want to make sure that you have been correctly diagnosed. As you will find on this site, many of us have been diagnosed with adult-onset Type 1 diabetes (sometimes called latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) or Type 1.5). On these site, take a look at the Type 1.5/LADA groups and forums. You are being treated for Type 2, and those treatments will not control your blood sugar if you indeed have Type 1. I would suggest that you get a definitive diagnosis which would clarify what treatment is necessary. The definitive test for Type 1 autoimmune diabetes (at any age of onset) is antibody testing (glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies (GADA), islet cell antibodies (ICA), and insulinoma-associated (IA-2) autoantibodies). Also, a c-peptide test is useful to see how much insulin you produce. An endo (or any doctor, but endo is best) can order all these tests for you, but you may have to be really insistent. Best of luck to you.
Hi Steve: What I am trying to say (but wasn’t clear enough!) is that frequently people who are diagnosed as having Type 2 diabetes, but don’t fit the typical profile for Type 2, have been misdiagnosed and in fact have Type 1 diabetes. Doctors assume if you are an adult you are Type 2–bad assumption. But, if you are not overweight and don’t fit the typical profile for Type 2, and you don’t respond all that well to Type 2 meds, you may have adult-onset Type 1 diabetes. Yes, based on the 300 mg/dl blood test you have diabetes, but what type? A blood glucose test is not enough to distinguish between the two types. That’s why I suggested antibody testing and a c-peptide test. I was diagnosed at age 35, and I was initially misdiagnosed as having Type 2 strictly based on age (I certainly don’t fit the typical Type 2 profile). A week after the incorrect diagnosis I was correctly diagnosed as having adult-onset Type 1 diabetes and put on insulin. I hope I have not confused you. I would check with your doctor. Best of luck. Melitta
Thanks for clarifying. So far, I have responded extremely well to the Type 2 drugs. I have been on pills and have even started to cut back on them. My blood sugar has ranged from a low of 84 to a high of 136, mostly between 100 and 115. My good friend whom I know and has been a long time diabetic has instructed me well. He told me that if I stick to the plan, he assures me I will be off the pills and able to eat semi normally. I will still have to watch the carbs and mostly avoid sugars. He is considered a lay expert on diabetes and has even had some doctors come and seek his advice…NO KIDDING…LOL. I consider myself lucky to know him. BTW…his name is Mike Kemp. He lives in Mississippi. He said it was ok to mention his name on a site like this one.
Welcome to our community Steve! Sounds like you have responded to your diagnosis with a great attitude! I think you will enjoy connecting with others here as well
It sounds like you have things pretty well under control, thanks to your friend, Mike. Why don’t you encourage him to join Tudiabetes? He could probably help a lot of us.
Is there a typical profile for anyone with diabetes? I understand that the underlying things may be the same, but after that, in my experience, we are all different. This is a very personal condition, disease, whatever you want to call it. None of our bodies are the same, none of us react the same to the meds, diet or exercise programs. I have been diagnosed a type II for over 10 years, but am currently going through a period of adjustment as my body is reacting to meds that I have been on for a long time, changes are almost daily, and highs run way over what I am used to being — ie. 167 FBS is not uncommon. But as I said we are changing things around and weight changes — loosing 50 lbs has helped, but not helped in so far as being constant.These are some of the reasons I feel so strongly about having a good support medical system on your side. It’s a group effort, and you are the leader. Advocate for yourself, whether it is in medication, information or other needs, you almost have to ask for them yourself. Docs and others only get a brief education in diabetes and related disorders, we live with them daily; so in reality we know more than most about the day to day stuff, where they may know more about the physical medical side.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I was diagnosed as Type 2 diabetic about a year ago. The doctor had an inkling to have me tested as per my complaint of hypertension.My life since has never been the same.
A lot of people would have sulked, but you handled the reality of this challenge gracefully.
We would certainly love to hear from you these coming days. Don’t worry, you will be fine…
Steve: There seem to be a number of us out there…people who don’t fit the stereotype for a person with type two diabetes. I am active and have a BMI of 22, don’t have diabetes in my family (at least that I am aware of),was a vegetarian at the time of my diagnosis and have always eaten very well (no junk food and not a lot of carbs in general.) Most of my tests (fasting blood sugar, random, post prandial and A1C ) are within the normal non-diabetic range, yet I went up to 250 with my glucose tolerance test.
This message board has been really helpful to me, as I think it will be for you. You are not alone in this!
Melitta: one of the difficulties in diagnosing LADA is that at the start, and during the honeymoon stage (before the immune system has killed off the beta cells), a blood test for GADA will come back normal – as will a blood test for c-peptide, and possibly also a test for serum insulin levels. (I have been told this by medical doctors when we were discussing initial diabetes diagnosis in general.) Genetic tests may show genes for either, or both, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, without showing which gene(s) have been activated. Current medical science and practice suggest treating with diet and oral medications unless and until they are found to be insufficient to maintain normal blood glucose levels.
Thank you for the welcome! I don’t feel I am any different than anyone. I may be just a bit more on the stubborn side. No…I am more on the stubborn side…LOL. My family and friends will testify to that…LOL. Actually, I have some friends who are diabetic and they do fine. One has type 1 and the rest have type 2. I also am less freaked out by some diseases because another close friend of mine has inoperable brain cancer. As I see it, I just joined the club of ailments…LOL.
Thanks for your respones! I have indeed invited my friend Mike to come on the board. He said he will. He is quite the character…LOL. He is 62 and was diagnosed at age 8. He has come back from blindness, and some bad infections in his past to survive and now really thrive with his type 1. Along the way, he has learned about all the kinds of Diabetes and is very free and helpful with the information. When he does make his appearence on here, I think many will be suprised. He has told me that he can work with type 1 or 2 and also that if there is not any damage done to the organs because of it, he can definitely help. He said with type 2’s …he can cure them and he says he has done it with many. All I can say is that with me, his instructions have sent my blood sugar down to normal faster than my doctor has ever seen in his professional career. I have known him for about 3 years now on other issues and now, we work on the one we really have in common.
Thank you for your response. WOW,…that really must have been a shock for you. It initially was for me as well. Because of what I do for a living, I get a fair amount of walking and exercise in about 3 days a week and I was not in bad shape either. Fortunately, because I have some diabetic friends, once the iniital shock wore off, I knew it was not a monster that it could be because they did well, and if I just alter my lifestyle slightly, I could do fine.
Thank you for your reponse! Wow, you are not kidding, none of us are the same and the profiles are not set in stone. I just take this condition with a dose of personal stubbornness…LOL. OH…and advocate…that I can do… I won’t go into details on this website as it is not appropriate on the open board here, but I have been in the political arena for many years and KNOW how to advocate and rattle the appropriate cages when needed.
Hi tmana: Actually, there is little difficulty in diagnosing LADA using antibody testing. But sadly, few medical doctors have knowledge of the correct diagnosis, appropriate care, and treatment of adult-onset Type 1 diabetes (sometimes called LADA/Type 1.5). We are an ignored but significant population. However, recent scientific studies do shed light on the phenomenon of adult-onset Type 1. In new onset Type 1 in adults, autoantibodies are present in the vast majority of cases and intensive insulin therapy is the appropriate treatment.
Jerry Palmer MD, a leading Type 1 diabetes researcher, states that “autoantibodies that are reactive to islet antigens are present at the time of diagnosis in almost all patients with Type 1 autoimmune diabetes” (“Type 1 Diabetes in Adults,” Informa Healthcare, 2009). Antibodies indicating that the immune-mediated destruction of the beta cells is occurring are typically present in a patient many years prior to the onset of hyperglycemia. At diagnosis in either childhood or adulthood, antibodies (GADA, ICA, IA-2) are detected in the vast majority of those with autoimmune diabetes.
In the DCCT, all subjects with adult-onset Type 1 diabetes had some residual beta cell function (Bernard Zinman MD, DCCT). Those who were assigned to the intensive insulin therapy group were slower to lose residual beta cell function than the conventional therapy group (risk reduction 57%). Clearly, early intensive insulin therapy has enormous benefit. As demonstrated in the DCCT, “intensive therapy for Type 1 diabetes helps sustain endogenous insulin secretion, which, in turn, is associated with better metabolic control and lower risk for hyperglycemia and chronic complications.” LADA researchers in Japan (Kobayashi et al, 2002) have conclusively demonstrated that better preservation of beta cell function occurs with exogenous insulin compared to sulfonylureas, and that sulfonylureas hasten beta cell destruction. In other words, doctors may inappropriately use Type 2 therapies in new-onset Type 1 diabetes, but all scientific studies indicate that the correct therapy is intensive insulin therapy.
Undertreatment of Type 1 diabetes at any age of onset hastens the onset of complications and causes needless suffering and potentially death. The appropriate treatment for Type 1 diabetes is exogenous insulin, with intensive treatment begun as early as safely possible after Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed. People who have immune-mediated diabetes should not be treated as if they have Type 2 diabetes.
I am also new to this forum. Fortunately I am not diagnosed with diabetes but my grandma has been diagnosed recently with type I diabetes. I decided to register here because I do not know much about this certain disease. I would like to gather important information and get support if I need it but I think I will get the support anyway whether I ask for it or not.
Hang in there. When I was first diagnosed I was overwhelmed. In the 14 years that I’ve had Type I, I’ve learned one salient lesson: take things one day at a time. Learn from the past, do the best you can and be an active, knowledgeable participant in the management of this disease.
I won’t go into details on this website as it is not appropriate on the open board here, but I have been in the political arena for many years and KNOW how to advocate and rattle the appropriate cages when needed.