Hey. I’ve been a reader but just joined. I had GD in 2009 requiring insulin, normalized post pregnancy and then retested 2016 and was diagnosed as diabetic based on elevated fasting and failed ogtt twice. This coincides with my home testing which shows dawn phenomenon and elevated post meal glucose if I eat more than 30 carbs a sitting. However, my a1c has remained normal (initially 4.9, latest 5.4) so I’m still on no treatment. My cpeptide is low normal and my anti-Gad is highly positive. I range between blissfully ignoring my diagnosis to obsessively scouring the internet. I have many relatives with type 2 and have seen the toll of poorly controlled diabetes that I hope to avoid. I’m thin, fit, have eaten lowish carb since 2009 so for now I suspect there isn’t much else to do. I wonder how long I may be able to stay in this stage. I don’t find many accounts of people diagnosed as early as this, probably because they wouldn’t be diagnosed if just based on an a1c. I’m told that my gestational diabetes was also lada so looks like I’m on year 9 without needing treatment.
Hello and welcome!
Welcome.
You could give some consideration to limited, selective use of insulin for higher carb meals. Some studies suggest that the use of exogenous insulin allows your beta cells to “rest” and therefore extends their life.
Sorry, to be a bit brash ~ I meant that you might want to discuss something like this with your health care provider.
Welcome. Please don’t be afraid to ask questions if you need help. There is always someone here who can answer questions.
Hello twin, it’s nice to meet you! I do take Metformin (helps with the Dawn Phenomenon), but otherwise I’m hanging out in the “LADA but no insulin therapy” category. For me, that’s been a couple of years since diagnosis, with few changes. My A1cs have been between 4.6 and 5.2, but I do have some issues with mildly elevated fasting BGs, and I can’t eat many carbs before I have a significant post-meal spike.
So, I’m just monitoring and staying healthy until something changes. As for the year 9 of LADA, it’s not as unusual as you might think! I started going back and reading the scientific literature (I’m a research scientist), and it turns out the oldest descriptions of LADA were as a slow-onset Type 1 in adults that could take two to fifteen years before insulin-dependence. Most people seem to definitely be on the earlier side of that particular spectrum, but we have a few here that have been antibody-positive for a few years, have impaired glucose response (of some variety), and are still not insulin-dependent. It’s a bit like living in a twilight world, but it is what it is.
Cheers, and welcome to the club noone wants to join!
Welcome to TuD, @Shodd. Like you, I read posts here for a long time before I joined. That was 9 years ago. I hope you enjoy participating here as much as I do.
Thanks for the welcome. My endo is reluctant to treat yet. He said if my cpeptide drops any further I could consider insulin or a dpp-4 inhibitor (to try to delay further deterioration). He hasn’t even considered metformin in me although I have read of several other ladas on it like david49. Potential treatment is on the agenda for my next appointment in the fall. In the mean time I have good intentions to try and amp up my exercise this summer. I often contemplate attempting to further decrease my carbs… but I’m weak. I may need a bit more of an incentive before I have the will power to do so.
It’s nice to meet a lada twin. I agree it is a bit of a twighlight world at this stage … doing well but knowing that it can change at any time.