I’ve seen on this forum as well as others where people say “oh your numbers definately look like type 2” - How can they tell? What exactly do that mean? Does Type 1 and Type 2 usually have “different trends in highs and lows” etc?
Thanks
There is so much variety, I think this is a hard question to answer, but from my understanding, type 2’s are much less likely to see really high highs (above 300) for example, but someone correct me if I’m wrong!!
No, Kristin, I think you’re right. Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics generally have the same target blood sugar levels (we’d all love to be 90-100ish, wouldn’t we?), but Type 1s are much more prone to a wide range because we’re not making any insulin. As a Type 1, I have seen blood sugars in the 400s and 500s at home and frequently find myself battling to bring down 200s and 300s on a daily basis. At diagnosis, I was over 1000. Type 2s are unlikely to experience life-threatening highs. Their bodies are making the insulin, but the cells are more resistant to it. For them, a high might be in the low to mid 200s.
Lows seem to be similar for both types and both have a threshold on or near 60-70 mg/dl, but depending on what your A1C averages, a higher number might feel low in relation to where you generally sit.
As a T2, I was having 200-300+ sugars until I got the right medication.
Some of the newer oral meds don’t cause lows but also don’t let your sugar get below 90-100.
MelissaBL is right as far as a higher number making you feel low. Until I got adjusted on medication, my highs were 250-300 and 125 felt like a low with sweats, shaking and confusion… much better now.