Tired of the doctor giving me crap!

Thanks so much for this info! Yes, I think “Double Diabetics” also known as mixed or hybrid diabetics should have their own group. Here is what I found:

"Double Diabetes
It is a relatively new phenomenon that’s hard to diagnose and even harder to treat. Doctors call it “double diabetes”, and it’s increasingly showing up in children.
Reporter: Jessa Goddard, Medical Reporter

Font Size: Knoxville (WVLT) - It is a relatively new phenomenon that’s hard to diagnose and even harder to treat.

Doctors call it “double diabetes”, and it’s increasingly showing up in children.

In this week’s Healthy Tennessean, Medical Reporter Jessa Goddard explains why double diabetes poses double the threat.

The mix can strike at any age, and come in many forms.

For example, children who depend on insulin injections because of Type I Diabetes gain weight, and then in a vicious cycle, get the Type II form, in which their bodies become insulin resistant.

“She has Type I, with features of adult Type II. She now takes insulin and pills,” says Nannette Zepeda, whose daughter is double Diabetic.

Eight-year-old Alexis Zepeda was born with Type I Diabetes, a disease she had learned to manage.

But last year, she began to show symptoms that didn’t respond to insulin injections.

“If my sugar’s high, I get bad headaches. And if my sugar’s low, I get very, very dizzy,” says Alexis.

Alexis is one of a growing number of children doctors are diagnosing with double diabetes.

With the Type I form, the patient’s own immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

With the Type II form, the body loses its ability to use insulin properly, even though the pancreas pumps out extra.

The mix of the two only complicates treatment.

“In this situation, she doesn’t make it first of all, and the stuff that we’re giving her, the insulin we’re giving her, isn’t being utilized as well as it needs to be because of that resistance,” says Cathy Van Ostrand, RN, a diabetes clinical specialist.

Most children with diabetes are overweight, so there is universal agreement the best approach is prevention.

Still, in children and adolescents, diabetes of both types has increased two to three fold over the past several decades.

And in fact, depending on age and cultural background, research finds as many as one in four children will eventually be diagnosed with both…

“I was terrified. I’m still terrified. It’s not right that these kids have to suffer like… She’s not the only one,” says Nannette.

While Type II Diabetes has gotten more attention recently, because it’s an epidemic fueled by increasing obesity, Type I has been quietly increasing as well, and doctors aren’t quite sure why.

Both forms can lead to heart and kidney disease, blindness and amputations and can be fatal if not treated properly.

Special treatment for double diabetes has not yet been developed."

I am just not sure I am a double diabetic or not, since I have only had insulin three times, two of which sent me into anaphylactic shock. I personally think that insulin ALLERGIES can mimic Type 2, because the body is making a normal amount of iinsulin, but is destroying the insulin as fast as it is made. A true Type 2 also makes a lot of insulin, but their cells cannot use the insulin so well. I have heard it proposed that the reason they can’t is because of trans fats. These unnatural lipids, which are in a lot of junk food, get into the cell membranes which are primarily phospholipids. A cell membrane composed from trans fats resists insulin! When I went on a diet which excluded all trans fats and limited fake sugars and chemical additives (not easy!) I DID lose weight without dieting and was less hungry. It takes a couple of months off trans fats to see improvement. I just wanted to add this in case someone else wanted to try it. :slight_smile: Not medical advice, mind you, but a report of something that worked for me.

This is great confirmation that I’m not crazy. Thank you.
I’ve been complaining of insulin resistance for about 5 years and my Endos (I’ve had 2 or 3 in that time frame) kind of just shrugged their shoulders. But this is EXACTLY what’s going on with me…except I’m NOT overweight and I haven’t gained weight either. I’ve been basically the same size since I was 13 years old.

But, yes. My insulin resistance (to the insulin that I inject b/c I’m type 1) is shown obviously when you look at my trends and charts of BG readings. It can take up to 10 hours to bring down a high BG. And I’m extremely sensitive to carb intake. I can increase 100 points or more off of a measely 10g of carbs. But my Endo has no clue what’s going on w me.

So… yes. You need to find an endo who is willing to work with you. We may be a rare breed, but we do exist and we need more attention that what they’re giving us.

I’m looking into the Joslin clinic now. I’ve been there before and the people there are fantastic.

One other suggestion - FWIW - take the time to make a detailed log - meaning you write EVERYTHING down for two months. It’s a real pain - but you want to detail the weather; what you did (exercise - what type & where; work/school - what classes, etc.; stressors - bf/gf/spouse yelled at you - boss/teacher yelled, etc - well you get the idea) along with what food you ate - portion size/weight in oz. time, how long you took to eat, etc. and test more frequently - when you wake up; when you eat - 1 hour after eating - 2hours after eating and every two hours throughout an 18 hour day plus if you wake up during your sleep cycle as well as how you feel at the times you test and during the gap prior to testing. I mean document EVERYTHING. If you do this for two month you will then have something that you can copy (Never give up originals) and show your current (and any future) endo/doctor so that they have real fact. If they accuse you of lying or fudging the results get up; tell them it’s been nice knowing them and walk out. Period - end of story. When you go into Joslin - doing this for 2 months before you go there may also be helpful. No one will tell you to do this stuff because most medical professionals feel that the burden of doing this just is too much for a patient…But it is your life and a good endo will be impressed by the copious amount of information you are passing on to them. You might even learn a few things yourself. A good follow up to this is to repeat the process every year for a week or two. Think of it as a “driver’s ed refresher course” for your diabetes.

And a good endo is worth MY weight in gold! Thankfully I have a phenomenal endo; more should be like him. I’ve been having some weird issues this week w/my bg going all over the place and waking up with am bg of 30 and 35 followed by the day not being able to get up into a normal range. And this is without insulin (which I normally take.) I called my endo and in addition to ordering tests, he has been in touch with me every day to keep track of it while we try different things to get my readings back to normal. I am starting to think that every endo should be required to have no more than TWO subspecialties and that is all they should be able to practice. I see the difference between him and a previous endo I had that took all comers…

time for a new doc, sometimes you got a kiss a few frogs before you meet your prince or in this case good doc

Peter- That is amazing. He’s a KEEPER! I’ve been having some major issues w my diabetes this past few weeks and my Endo hasn’t called me ONCE. I mean it’s not like I’m having a hangnail… we’re talking near life/death situations.

Does he really not care enough to say “Hey, this girl is really trying and she’s been having a majorly hard time lately. She doesn’t normally complain, so this case must be special. Something’s going on with her. Maybe I should call her to see if she’s feeling ok. See if there’s anything new we can try to make her more comfortable. Maybe I should show her that she’s not fighting this battle alone.”

I work in Herndon VA and I see a VERY nice endo in manassas. Kind of far to go but worth it. I’ve heard of several good ones in Reston too. You should definitely find a new one. There are good ones out there.

Let me just say, my endo is in Sterling and he certainly does not excel at bedside manner. But I don’t give a cr*p about that, I’m not looking for some shoulder to cry on. I want a competent endo and I’m still deciding on this one (and I’ve been seeing him for 9months). It can be difficult really knowing how an endo will work out, there is just not much info. I’d be happy to share my detailed feedback in a private message.

I would suggest that you also explore the diabetes centers in the area. I am most familiar with the Innova Fair Oaks Center, but there is also one in Reston at Reston Hospital. You contact with the director of the Fair Oaks Center, Jane Ryan, she is very friendly and is a CDE (Jane.Ryan@inova.org). Becoming a CDE is actually straightforward (see http://www.ncbde.org/).