What is managing Diabetes like for YOU?

[Jeter02]

I was diagnosed w/ Diabetes several months ago after presenting with a blood sugar level in the 300s, and trace amounts of ketones. I was not DKA, however, and was thus not put on insulin right away as it was not presumed that I was T1. After only 2 days of simply watching my carbs, my blood sugars were in the normal level -- and I mean actually "normal" (fasting <100 mg/dl; <120 1 hr postprandial).

Though I didn't know what "Type" I was, I opted to begin taking small doses of Lantus daily (1 unit/day) to try to help rest my pancreas if there was some kind of autoimmune process going on. The 1 unit of Lantus has made a drastic impact. Instead of waking up w/ 95ish fasting, I now wake up in the mid 70's to low 80's. I actually tried wearing a CGM device for a few days, and I literally did not go over 115 mg/dl after eating.

I am doing a lot of things differently -- eating right (and only about 200g carbs/day), exercising, taking that 1 u/day -- but from reading around on this board it seems my experience in managing this disease is very atypical. I'm curious as to how atypical it really is. Was it like this for most at first? Should I expect it to get worse? I mean, honestly, it's almost too easy right now -- not a bad problem to have, of course, and hopefully one I'll continue to have.

I am friends with numerous doctors, and no one really seems to "get" this. Some have suggested that I might be "pre-Type 1" where I caught the disease before anyone else would've really caught it. I don't, however, have any of the antibodies. I've heard MODY floated around, but there's not really a family history for that.

Has anyone else experienced this? It's obviously good to have completely normal BG's as a diabetic, but is it common? Am I just having a stroke of temporary luck?

[Momof4gr8kids]

In the beginning Our daughter needed very little insulin, and it stayed that way for a long time. Some people do not need insulin at all for months.

Can't say weather you have type 1 or type 2. If it is type 1 this will not last. If it is type 2 I dunno. I don't know that much about type 2 to be honest with you.

[Mama Belle]

Some folks with type 1 go off of insulin completely after diagnosis for a period of a few days to a few months (this is called the honeymoon period). I presume they have ruled out type 2 diabetes? If it is type 1 it sounds to me like it was caught early, before you have a real need for insulin. It also could be LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults). LADA often presents with a slow onset (similar to type2) and people with LADA can often take oral medication (like people with type 2 take) for the first couple of years until insulin is needed. But, LADA is definitely Autoimmune diabetes making it more like type 1 than type 2.

A couple of answers to your questions. If this is either the honeymoon period or the beginning of onset you could have days, months (or possibly even a year) of diabetes management that looks similar to what you are doing now. If this is LADA, the time frame may be even longer. However, if this is autoimmune diabetes, you will eventually end up on a much more extensive regimen than you are on now. It is not common to have perfectly normal numbers with a diagnosis of type 1 after all of the beta cells have been destroyed. But people with partial beta cell function will sometimes see a period of normal blood sugar levels after diagnosis.

It could also be MODY. How old are you?

One last thing, it is my understanding that you can have type 1 without testing positive for the antibodies. I am pretty sure that is the situation for several kids whose parents post on this forum.

[Jeter02]

Some folks with type 1 go off of insulin completely after diagnosis for a period of a few days to a few months (this is called the honeymoon period). I presume they have ruled out type 2 diabetes? If it is type 1 it sounds to me like it was caught early, before you have a real need for insulin. It also could be LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults). LADA often presents with a slow onset (similar to type2) and people with LADA can often take oral medication (like people with type 2 take) for the first couple of years until insulin is needed. But, LADA is definitely Autoimmune diabetes making it more like type 1 than type 2.

A couple of answers to your questions. If this is either the honeymoon period or the beginning of onset you could have days, months (or possibly even a year) of diabetes management that looks similar to what you are doing now. If this is LADA, the time frame may be even longer. However, if this is autoimmune diabetes, you will eventually end up on a much more extensive regimen than you are on now. It is not common to have perfectly normal numbers with a diagnosis of type 1 after all of the beta cells have been destroyed. But people with partial beta cell function will sometimes see a period of normal blood sugar levels after diagnosis.

It could also be MODY. How old are you?

One last thing, it is my understanding that you can have type 1 without testing positive for the antibodies. I am pretty sure that is the situation for several kids whose parents post on this forum.

Yes, you can have T1 without testing positive for the antibodies as there are both false negatives (on occasion) and probably things that aren't medically understood. Someone else aroudn here probably knows better than me.

That said, nothing's been ruled out for me at this point. It's a wait and see type deal, but it couldn't really be going much better at this point. And to answer your question, I'm in my mid-twenties -- so pretty young.

What's typical in terms of BG levels/management? What should I expect?

[Heather(CA)]

Seth was also in the 300's at dx'd and not in DKA. He was 7 and started off on 9 units of Lantus. However....there is a type 1.5 that acts like type 2, sometimes for several years, then eventually turns into a normal type 1 existance. Maybe you have that? I don't know:confused:

[lilituc]

I would say it sounds most to me like LADA, but maybe Type 1b.

http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/dictionary/t.htm (under Type 1)

[Carly]

I was diagnosed w/ Diabetes several months ago after presenting with a blood sugar level in the 300s, and trace amounts of ketones. I was not DKA, however, and was thus not put on insulin right away as it was not presumed that I was T1. After only 2 days of simply watching my carbs, my blood sugars were in the normal level -- and I mean actually "normal" (fasting <100 mg/dl; <120 1 hr postprandial).

Though I didn't know what "Type" I was, I opted to begin taking small doses of Lantus daily (1 unit/day) to try to help rest my pancreas if there was some kind of autoimmune process going on. The 1 unit of Lantus has made a drastic impact. Instead of waking up w/ 95ish fasting, I now wake up in the mid 70's to low 80's. I actually tried wearing a CGM device for a few days, and I literally did not go over 115 mg/dl after eating.

I am doing a lot of things differently -- eating right (and only about 200g carbs/day), exercising, taking that 1 u/day -- but from reading around on this board it seems my experience in managing this disease is very atypical. I'm curious as to how atypical it really is. Was it like this for most at first? Should I expect it to get worse? I mean, honestly, it's almost too easy right now -- not a bad problem to have, of course, and hopefully one I'll continue to have.

I am friends with numerous doctors, and no one really seems to "get" this. Some have suggested that I might be "pre-Type 1" where I caught the disease before anyone else would've really caught it. I don't, however, have any of the antibodies. I've heard MODY floated around, but there's not really a family history for that.

Has anyone else experienced this? It's obviously good to have completely normal BG's as a diabetic, but is it common? Am I just having a stroke of temporary luck?


That almost sounds like me, except I was started on diamicron got worse and ended up needing to stay in hospital + started lantus 2 units in the morning a few days later it was changed to 3 units. Then I went onto novomix 4u am and 4u pm almost 1 month later, then a few weeks after stgarting novomix was put on lantus and novorapid. My TDD now since starting insulin 10 months ago is 20u, but that varies depending on what I eat, bsl, and activity level.

So yep, I too started on a very very low dose of insulin. I was told by my first endo that I was a slow onset type 1, then later on was told type 1 but just caught in the early stages.