I’m not sure why your doctor is saying “probable” T1. If you tested positive for GAD, you are T1. The autoimmune
breakdown that incited yor diabetes can impact other parts of he autoimmune system. Accordingly, by knowing you are T1, you will know to get tested for those other things. It is likely that insurance will not cover suc tests without a T1 diagnosis.
Probable, sounds like “I don’t wanna believe you have type 1, but i’ll go along with what the test results say”…
LOL
Type 1 has to worry about having insulin at all times because of the possibility of DKA. Type 2 and insulin = obesity a lot of the time. DKA is not an issue. I agree about the futility of the squables since it is not obvious if DKA is preferable to obsity .
Oh, that was the first doctor. The second one says unequivocal type 1, and diagnosed another autoimmune problem to boot. Special 2-for-1 sale!!
I got a deal like that too. LOL
Hi Anthony - it’s not that clear cut. I got to have both obesity (+hyperinsulinemia+severe insulin resistance) and DKA (absolute and unequivocal insulin deficiency). The doctors are still trying to figure that one out.
Or to put a black humour spin on it - some of us get to have the cake and eat it too. Even if they don’t even like cake and haven’t touched it in 15 years.
When I found out I had DM before my antibody test, I actually hoped that I had Type 2. I was in the upper BMI healthy range and had no genetic predisposition to Type 2 but I didn’t understand that a 23 year old could be a recent Type 1. I believe Type 2 tends to be more genetically related than Type 1, which more people need to know. Neither is easily treated or “better” to have than the other but I hoped that diet, exercise, and DM Rx in pill form would help. Everyone should check their sugars the same amount of times a day, everyone has to take meds, and everyone has to watch what they eat. The main reason to know: medications for Type 2s will have zero affect on Type 1s and taking only insulin will usually not help Type 2s hence “insulin resistant.”
Some of us are blessed and have both problems.
I’m sorry this is still a fight between type 1 and type 2 diabetics. Although I am type 1, I am fat and have people have asked me if I lost weight if I would cure my diabetes.
I feel sorry for type 2’s that people will discount thier condition with beliefs that they “did this” to themselves. Empathy would go a long way.
I was misdiagnosed for over 3 years by 3 different doctors (general practice) as a Type 2 because I fit the profile being African American and slightly overweight with a history of it in my family. I did everything my doctors told me to do even cutting out carbs all together, not even a crouton on a salad do you know how hard that was!!! But it wasnt until I hit the DKA stage that anyone ever bothered to check if I was in fact Type 1 (I went to a endo). To say the least the attitude that you get as a type 2 is much harsher than those as type 1 so I get it. My mother actually gave me a time frame to get rid of it. People assume that diet and exercise will cure all because for most it will but diabetes doesnt always cooperate. I was relieved to have type 1 because I knew it wasnt anything I was doing like people made me feel like I was including doctors. Of course how I manage my diabetes is still my responsibility but at least now I dont have the pressure. I think most people with type 2 dont always take their disease seriously and that gives everyone with it a bad rap.
I would agree. During the time they thought I was type 2 there was a definite attitude by medical professionals that I was just uncooperative. I remember doing the extreme diet like you, and still getting bad results and the doctor insinuating that I was just not truthful about what I was eating.
Even my first endo was insulting until it was determined that I was actually type 1. So for as scary as it was to finally get the diagnosis, it was also a relief to finally work with medical professionals who are pleasant when you visit.
Thank you, dear friend, for putting some information straight. Most of the misinformation about Type 2 comes from the realities of EARLY stage Type 2, and does not address late-stage Type 2 at all. There is not a whole lot of difference between late-stage Type 2 and Type 1, except that those with a lot of insulin resistance typically take large doses of insulin.
I am perfectly happy to be diagnosed as Type 1, even though I do have mild insulin-resistance. I get far better treatment that way, and much less of the blame game. It helps not to be obese. I understand kestrel’s viewpoint perfectly – it’s hard not to fall for the blame game, and while intellectually we know it to be nonsense, emotional reactions are another matter.
Seems to me that Type 1’s really have their act together as far as advocacy, and that Type 2’s are far behind. And I don’t know where to go to change that – doesn’t matter that I am diagnosed Type 1 – I still care about Type 2’s.
It really does suck that doctors are more willing to believe that you are not following their directions just because the results are not what they want than to question further their own intial diagnoses. I am not against doctors but the ones I have come across in the past arrogance has really left a bad taste in my mouth.
I am wondering which is more vexing. Being a fat type 1 and having people ask if you can cure yourself with weight loss. Or being a thin type 2 and having people think you did it to yourself anyway, or assuming that you must have been a heffalump before.
I too have had some real winners. I remember seeing the head endo at a university hospital who made fun of the charting I was doing on my blood sugars. I told her I wanted to do everything I could to maintain my health and never returned.
I live in New Orleans and the medical care system leaves much to be desired. You have to fight for your care (even with insurance) and waits for doctor appointments can be months.
I think if you are not your own assertive advocate they will easily let you fall through the cracks.
Good one. Maybe the answer is education, or maybe if the diseases had different names - who knows.
I must say i agree. I am over weight and like all of typed as 2. I have been a 2 for what would be 6 years, but being my own advocate, and thanks to this board, I realized something was not right. I asked for a gad and c-peptide endo said fine, and wa-lah type1. I think that the endo’s particularity will help you if they see you are dead set on helping yourself.
I think it’s ALL vexing. I don’t look fat, so people make nasty comments about fat people in front of me and it drives me crazy. The stereotypes about fat people that the media and doctors wanting to sell diet books push are totally maddening. Fat people, and Type 2’s need to get their advocacy act together. It is NOT acceptable to discriminate against fat people. And it is NOT acceptable to blame Type 2’s! Harrumph!
That is what they do not tell you on the fine print that you have to be assertive and basically treat yourself. My last endo also at a famous university who was just a peach, spent more time trying to put me on the pump then actually listening to my concerns, I explained how in addition to weight gain I alo retain fluids. I showed her my wrist where u can tell the most and her reponse was its fat. I said I know the difference between fat and swollen. She just shrugged her shoulders and moved on like I didnt ask. Well i found connections with my symptoms and cealic disease. I started the gluten free diet and no fluid retention so far. Once I visit my new endo i will confirm. I didnt have to dig for that connection. It is common for people with type 1 to have a gluten allergy but she never even considered it.
If you listen only to what the doctor tells you and not what your body is it could kill you. It nearly did for me. After a ICU visit I declared myself my own doc who consults with others…lol…but the great news is thanks to the internet there are so many ways to figure out a lot on your own.
I love that!! I too am my own doctor and I just consult with other physicians. I have found doctors to be, on a whole, completely unable to take into consideration what I’m saying I’m seeing. They spend so much time focused on what they think and on the blood test results they see in front of them (which are really just a snapshot in time) that they don’t focus on what the patient is actually reporting to observe. It drives me BATTY! I’ve basically learned that I have to be my own advocate. Sometimes, I have to make a change, whether that’s a change in medication or a change in physicians, and just see if that change works. Trial and error can sometimes be a good thing if done responsibly.