Hello,
Has anyone ever experienced a honeymoon period that began a couple months after diagnosis?
I was under the impression that this period started right away and eventually faded. When I was diagnosed I was taking a ratio of 10:1 for NovoRapid and 20 units of Lantus. Shortly after, my ratio was adjusted to 13:1 then 15:1 and my Lantus dose kept dropping as well. Now my ratio is closer to 20:1 and I am taking 14 units of Lantus.
Any thoughts?
That happened to me also. I just think as our blood sugar gets under control we need less Insulin for awhile. Unfortunately my honeymoon is over but enjoy it while you can.
The normal honeymoon period was different for me as I’m LADA, but I thought that was the way it generally happened, that the high blood sugars get under control (which takes more insulin) and then it settles into the honeymoon awhile later. I’ll be interested to see if that is the most common experience.
My understanding is that with “classic” Type 1 the honeymoon happens a few weeks after diagnosis, as the pancreas needs time to come partially back online after DKA or near-DKA.
With LADA, I think the honeymoon does start right away and fades more gradually.
I was diagnosed as a kid and my honeymoon started about a month after diagnosis and lasted about three months before ending. I was never able to stop taking insulin, but my dosages were lower and my control was much better during those few months.
It changes over time.
The only rule in dosing is to keep changing with need.
The “modern” interpretation (at least as circulating on the internet) seems to be that it starts right away and fades out.
But when I was diagnosed 30 years ago my docs told me that the honeymoon would be like half a year or a year after diagnosis, and that’s when mine was. About 11 months after diagnosis my insulin needs dropped to nearly zero for several weeks… then came back up to where they were before.
I think it’s possible that the “modern” interpretation is more LADA-ish (because they dominate the internet discussion boards so much), and the “classic” interpretation is more what happens to those diagnosed as kids in deep DKA.
I was diagnosed when pregnant, and after our daughter was born, needed no insulin for about 8 weeks. Checked blood 4 times daily until the numbers started creeping up again, at which point the insulin again became part of the daily routine…
One of the things that came out of the Joslin medalist studies was that some people do regain some insulin production off & on thru the years. If you look for some of Richard’s posts, he has links to some of those studies. I think his user name is Richard157.
I might be a bit of an odd case, I had two honeymoon periods. The first started about 3 weeks after starting insulin, at about 6 weeks I was off insulin for a few days but gradually faded from there, after 4 months it was over and I was at 10g/u, at 6 months I started needing less and less insulin my ratio got back up to 20g/u and began fading around month 9, by month 11, I was back down to 10g/u and have stayed there for the past year.
Thanks Tim,
As I was diagnosed after being admitted in deep DKA I suspect my honeymoon period is close to this “classic” interpretation.
Thanks for the responses everybody. It’s nice to be able to get answers like this at such a fast rate.
Cheers,
Mike