New Diabetes survivor

[chrisfrostic]

Hello,

I recently found out that I have type II diabetes. I am a 42 year old male and I was sick for a couple of weeks, peeing and drinking a lot of water. I lost 20 lbs (6'2" 235 lbs to 215lbs) by the time I was admitted to the hospital. My wife took me in and I was not aware of it until later. My blood sugar was 913 when I went in to the hospital.

I am now injecting 80 units of lantas and then using novapen as needed. I am testing each day at meals and bedtime using one touch ultra meter. My blood sugar is now around 100 when I get up in the morning and varies through out the day, usually around 125 or so at bedtime when the lantas is beginning to wear off.

Sunday's are the worst as I am the main cook in the family and I tend to eat as I cook.

My eyes are not as good as before I went in the hospital and have had to use 3x glasses until I can get to the optomitrist.

[duck]

Chances are your eyesight will clear up as your blood sugars stabilize to around "normal" levels...

Can I ask why you say you are a Type 2 but on insulin?

BTW, welcome to the forum.

[Cinnabon]

Welcome chrisfrostic...

I encourage you to accept your DIabetes and give it all you got to take full control of your diabetes. I also want to tell you to see an Opthamologist not an optomitrist. You levels seem real good now. As much as I like to snak at times, my future seems to override those urges to eat.

[kgm0612]

Welcome to the board!

[chrisfrostic]

Chances are your eyesight will clear up as your blood sugars stabilize to around "normal" levels...

Can I ask why you say you are a Type 2 but on insulin?

BTW, welcome to the forum.
Hmmm... Because either I am not producing enough insulin or I am resistant to it and need more to keep my sugar levels down? Something like that or so I am told, I am type II because I am 42 and it is adult onset with Ac1? test at around 14.7 which indicates that it has been a problem for a long time. I suspect at least two years. Insulin seems to be working.

[duck]

Hmmm... Because either I am not producing enough insulin or I am resistant to it and need more to keep my sugar levels down? Something like that or so I am told, I am type II because I am 42 and it is adult onset with Ac1? test at around 14.7 which indicates that it has been a problem for a long time. I suspect at least two years. Insulin seems to be working.

Age has nothing to do with Type 1 vs. Type 2. I only ask because we have had members here get misdiagnosed as Type 2 because of their age, only to end up in the ER and get properly re-diagnosed. It kinda makes me nuts that doctors think you can't be Type 1 if you are older.

[chrisfrostic]

Type 1 meaning that I am not producing any insulin? How would you tell and what would the difference in treatment be?

[duck]

Type 1 meaning that I am not producing any insulin? How would you tell and what would the difference in treatment be?

This is actually a big debate. My understanding is Type 1 does not make any insulin, as you say, and the test is the C-Peptide along with blood sugar level and A1c. The C-Peptide is the key, though I can never get an answer on that one. I do remember when I was diagnosed at age 17 someone saying in the background "isn't he a little old to be a Type 1?"

Type 2's can have a variety of reasons for being diabetic (having an inability to process sugar), ranging from being insulin-resistant to not being able to make enough insulin or a combination of both to varying degrees. That's why some Type 2's can "cure" themselves with exercise and/or weightloss, some have to take pills that can allow them to use the insulin they make better, and yet some need to take insulin shots, or shots and pills.

As far as I am concerned, neither condition is anything to be ashamed about.

The reason I ask about your diagnosis is that if you weren't 42 years old, you sound like a Type 1 to me. Even though you are 42 years old, you sound Type 1 to me. If you are a Type 1 and misdiagnosed as Type 2 and put on oral meds, you could die because the oral meds simply will not work if there is no insulin to potentiate (we have some members who have had this almost happen to them). So that's why I ask, not that I am questioning what you say, I am just curious to know the reasoning of the doctors who diag'd you.

Before I forget, welcome to the forum!

[gettingby]

Hello and Welcome.
Duck is right. Misdiagnosis can kill you. Being diagnosed type 1 but put on oral medications can too (happened to me). Even though I have never had one, talk to your doc about the C Peptide test. That should set your mind at ease.
Feel free to ask any :questionm 's you may have.

[Peter Lee]

Chances are your eyesight will clear up as your blood sugars stabilize to around "normal" levels...

Can I ask why you say you are a Type 2 but on insulin?

BTW, welcome to the forum.
When I was first diagnoses as Type 2, my doctor's immediate reaction was to put me on insulin in order to get my sugar down as quickly as possible.

I didn't want this for a number of reasons and I went onto an oral regime - which worked.

[Simon]

Type 2's can be so insulin resistant that they need to inject extra insulin or they may have "worn out" their beta cells by making them produce so much extra insulin for so long. Anyway if you're injecting 80 units a night then that sounds pretty insulin resistant to me. I'm on 6 units a night.

Anyway welcome to the forum.:hello:

[Doetsch]

I do remember when I was diagnosed at age 17 someone saying in the background "isn't he a little old to be a Type 1?"


I was Diagnosed at 15 and the Dr's said the same thing. They kept saying that most Type 1's are diagnosed no later than 12 or 13. I had no idea what they were talking about then. In retrospect, I realize those doctors were idiots. To say that and to put someone on 70/30?!?!?

[chrisfrostic]

Ok, sounds like I am safe as I AM injecting insulin to keep my blood sugar down. They wanted to put me on oral and I said no. I am up to 90 lantas + an average of about 9 (total/day) novalog for meals which keeps me right around 100 most of the time.

Chris

[Cyborg]

I was originally diagnosed as a type 2 about 6 years ago. I met my current endo about 5 years ago and participated in several research groups for some clinical trials he was running. I recieved top-notch medical care and exams, tests, etc. I was type 2. But things changed about a year ago. I became type 1. My pancreas stopped producing insulin, verified with the results of a GAD Antibody test. Google it and you'll find more info on the test. There are some theories out there as to why your pancreas stops putting out. One of them is that your body's own immune system create antibodies (for some unknown reason) that destroy the beta cells on your pancreas, which happen to be the part of your pancreas that creates the insulin.

[Cyborg]

How rude of me. Welcome to the group and glad to hear you made it to the hospital in time. One day at a time...

Good Luck!

[MarkMunday]

Ok, sounds like I am safe as I AM injecting insulin to keep my blood sugar down. They wanted to put me on oral and I said no. I am up to 90 lantas + an average of about 9 (total/day) novalog for meals which keeps me right around 100 most of the time.

Chris
As Simon pointed out, with such a high Lantus dose, you must be very insulin resistant. But you say you refused to be put on oral medication. And I am wondering why. Wouldn't it make sense to take an insulin sensitizer together with all that Lantus? It would help get those damaging insulin levels down.

Cheers,

Mark

[Linda J717]

welcome to the board...

[psilocybin]

90 units of lantus?? wow thats like 1/2 the 3ml cartridge (just a guess), thats alot of lantus. well i hope things work out for you

[Belinda]

Welcome to the boards..with the amount of insulin and your A1C I say your Type 1 but as long as your getting the right kind of care and treatment it really doesn't matter about the T1or T2 title.....

[labob]

This was my experience: I was diagnosed as a Type II in December 2005 at the age of 47. Because my glucose levels were so high (over 1,000 gm/dl the day of diagnosis with an A1c of 13.4), my doctor put me on Lantus and a sliding scale of Humalog to give my pancreas a break. I continued taking insulin for about 3 weeks, but then got to the point where my pancreas could more or less take up the slack, at least for now. I was also taking oral medications, and still am (glyburide, 10 mg at first, down to 2.5 mg now).

After my glucose levels started getting under control, my eyesight changed for a while. I've been nearsighted since I was in the 8th grade. All of a sudden, I was farsighted for about 2 weeks, which was great for driving, but otherwise pretty frustrating. After that period, though, my eyesight returned more or less to normal.

You should go to an ophthalmogist to make sure that you don't have any signs of retinal detachment, which is a problem for diabetics (or cataracts or glaucoma, which are not necessarily related to diabetes). After your glucose levels have stabilized for about a month (meaning that your fasting levels are not overly high or low), though, you might want to go to an optometrist to get new glasses. I just went last week and can hardly wait to get my new glasses -- but I waited to make sure that my vision had returned to its set point, which happens to be a little (but not much) better than my previous prescription.

That's my experience. Take it for what it's worth. Hope all is well, and welcome.

Bob