I have a question, more like a plea for some help.
Long story short 27 type 1.5 doing it all with diet and working out.
A1C 5.8.
The problem for me, in order to control it all I have to work out up to 3 hours a day. I am now down to 139 pounds and am 5,9. I don't really get to eat that much different kinds of food ( I stay with the G.I). But even rice shoots me up high it is not worth the time I have to spend at the pool or gym to get it back under control.
Has anyone asked to be put on med to make there life better?
If you are a T 1.5, I have heard that going on some insulin early in diagnosis, helps to preserve beta cells and extend your honeymoon period. I would absolutely be asked to put on meds and or insulin to make life better and more flexible. I wouldn’t call it giving up - I would call it treating your D.
Odd that you would have to ask to be put on meds . . . that’s the FIRST thing most doctors want to do.
So, in short, no - I never asked to be put on meds. But you know what? There’s no shame in asking for help. Help might include meds. And if meds make your life better, it’s all good.
You seem to like to be in control, so just keep track to be sure you’ve been given the right diagnosis and the right meds.
It would be wise to get a proper diagnosis. If you are really a LADA (type 1), then it would be wise to start early insulin treatment. If you are another type 1.5 (like a MODY), then you may well do better with other treatments such as a sulfonylureas. But frankly, being a young man at 5’9" and 139 lbs, you are too thin. That is a sign that you are wasting away. Working out for three hours a day is just making it worse. If you are truly insulin deficient, no matter what you eat, you are going to have difficulty utilizing your food. You can eat low carb (which does not include rice) and take some oral meds, but that just puts off the most alarming condition (DKA). If your pancreas is just pooped out, then you really need to get diagnosed properly and get insulin.
Get a proper diagnosis and if you need insulin, just start it. Don’t let yourself be harmed by trying to compensate by not eating and overtraining.
Yea… I am half-way thinking that I may be type II. I was never big as a kid (I was on the nation lifeguarding team).
I don’t want to give-up just want a day off. Have a treat and not have to “punish” myself at the gym.
Oh I know I am to think… but It is hard to put on weight and not mess with your blood sugars… I have been to endocrinologist and he took away my monitor. I think he is trying to figure me out. I see him in a month. So we will see how it all goes.
Personally, I’d be tempted before the next blood draw for your doc, to eat a couple slices of cherry cheesecake or something. Betcha you could go up to 400 real easy (I know I could, actually I could go up to any arbitrary number I want just by not taking insulin, but I bet 400 is enough.) That’ll get you some attention real fast, but if you’ve still got a good number of beta cells you will eventually come back down. IMHO that’s not “giving up”.
Don’t know if you’re seeing an endo or not. A lot of non-endos are actually scared of prescribing insulin, and some endos actually are too.
I think a lot of it comes down to my age and size. I was never big Like 164ish. So they are all over the map as to what I am type 1, was ruled out, type II is a possibility but I have no family history on both side, so they said 1.5. But because they see this A1C they tell me I am fine.
Just so I am clear, if you observed high blood sugars (> 200mg/dl or > 11 mmol/l) 2 hours after eating, that is bad. If you had a reading (> 140 mg/dl or > 8 mmol/l) an hour or so after eating a cup of rice, that is not necessarily unusual. It is not clear to any of us why you think you are type 1.5, but when you say that, red flags go up and we worry about you.
Few diabetics find that punishing themselves at the gym after every meal/snack is particularly effective in treating high blood sugars. If you truly are having highly elevated blood sugars, that should be reflected in your meter readings and HbA1c.
Hi Andrew.
Size and age can be a factor when diagnosing diabetes type…but it is not the sole factor. How did they rule out type 1? One can have a type 2 even when there are no family histories. Maybe you can request for a correct diagnosis first…then a more appropriate medication/management will be prescribed.
My feeling: what type you are is secondary, to you being treated properly to keep your bg’s in control and having a normal life.
It sounds to me like you from your A1C you are keeping your bg’s in halfway decent control, and that’s admirable, but you shouldn’t be wasting away at the same time.
You said in a different thread something about “he took my monitor away”… do you have a bg meter now? What are the numbers? If you don’t have a meter, can I like fedex you a meter or can you get one locally in a pharmacy?
If you’re not a professional athlete, I would consider having to work out 3 hours a day pretty brutal!
I would be asked to put on meds so you can decrease your exercise time to something more manageable, like 1 hour a day for 4-5 times a week. However, just because you take Metformin or some other meds doesn’t mean you can have a big bowl of rice either, but at least you can add a little bit of carbs into your diet and not have to work out so much just to keep your A1C at 5.8.
I run tri’s
So the workout for those are a lot of work anyway. I like most of it, the one hour thing is a bare bones workout, I don’t care about the working out really it is the intake of food.
I really hate the fact that too many doctors (both endos and PCP) use A1C, to see if your diabetic, and never concern themselves to find out the type of diabetes… This I believe hurts diabetics in the long run, sometimes life threatening… I do believe that this is because (globally speaking), people view diabetes as a food (lifestyle) issue, and not a hormonal issue.
I understand that many people want to take care of their diabetes naturally, however, there are times were it just isn’t possible. I damn near used to starve myself do death, because my doctor made me feel like I wasn’t doing enough to take care of my sugars. I ate so little I had stomach pains and still woke up with 150 - 250 mg/dl glucose levels. My body would get beat up and tired from all the exercise (walking to work for at least 45 minutes every morning). I was having a mental break down trying to control this damn diabetes…
At this point, that’s when I decided to change doctors… Insulin is God sent… LOL… This doesn’t mean I don’t do exercise anymore, it just means life is much easier for me now…
People with type 1 or LADA should be on insulin as soon as their diagnosed, because the longer you wait, the harder it becomes…
No, if he were type 1, there’s not way he’d be able to survive just by exercise. He would HAVE to have insulin to survive and no matter how much he exercised and how little he ate, he would have a much higher A1c.
From a practical standpoint, going on insulin will be better for your workouts long term, believe me. It’s an extra variable to have to deal with, yes, but you’ll be able to manage your caloric intake to fit your workout rather than managing your workouts to treat your BG. In your situation, it sounds like a necessity rather than “giving up”.
An A1C of under 6 is fantastic, but could be a bit lower for the kind of working out you’re doing, all other things being equal, and you shouldn’t have to shed lbs if you don’t want to.
To add my two cents to the other comments, insulin will make your life better. No point in burning out your remaining beta cells & you probably wouldn’t need much.
Am stunned that your doctor took your meter away. Get thee to another doc.
Your situation sounds a lot like mine. I am 6’ and went down to 142lbs. I have come back to a much better 156lbs with a lot of hard work. I also think I’m LADA (Type 1.5) because I fit a lot of the criteria (46 years old, always been slim, no diabetes in my family etc…). My Drs have all diagnosed me as Type 2 and most didn’t even know what LADA was… I have learned a lot from members on here like bsc, read as much as you can, ask many questions…
My last a1c was 6.0 and I’m currently on no meds but often wonder if I could eat more carbs if I were taking meds. If I eat a slice of bread I could shoot up to 180 but if I have the same piece of bread with a protein shake I’m only 115… Its a balancing act. Also if I walk for 1 hr after eating it can bring my post meal spikes down by 50 points…
Hope this helps… Message me if you would like to share info… Paul
In addition to all the others…
Now I know, being a Guy, and a young guy, taking Pills or Injections is a sign of weakness…a sign of admittance your a sick Puppy…
Well, Seems to me you’re a sick puppy wether you want toadmit it or not, having to devote all the time and effort wasting your life doing all that gym work… and being paronoid on what you eat and drink… and the aneixity has got to be Unreal…
I took every pill I could after being Diagnosed as a Full T1… My Mother had it and my 2 yr older sister , but No way I had this… attitude… But that lasted about 2 days and comming in on a gurney with 850 BG’s later… and my 8 yr younger brother? He got it a few yrs later and did the same thing, did everything else but go on the Shots… just about killed him too… actually even after he started taking shots, he still faut and ate and drank what he wanted and ended up in the Hospital a 1/2 doz times and lost his Job and on disability… Then he Got on the Pump and is stable…with 7-8% A1cs
And …
You have a 5.8 A1c doing what your doing, right?
You are aware a Non D level is ? 4%-4.5% A1c’s
If you take a Pill or 2 and or even have to take a Basal Insulin, what if you got those 4’s?
