Page 6 | T1 Diabetes

LeCirqueFouFurieux · 2023-10-29T10:39:52+00:00

Not an AIBU (well it sort of is as I'm unsure if I should go to A and E). I've been having some tests recently and not got the results - one was for T1 diabetes, I've just googled the symptoms and I have every single one on the list (but I forgot to tell the GP this when I saw her as I was focusing on one particularly symptom). I have an appointment tomorrow to get the results. One of the things I forgot to tell her (and I mean I really did only speak about two symptoms (weight loss and fatigue)) is that I've been fainting pretty regularly; this is the part I'm unsure of - I've fainted (full on fainting from standing) three times this morning (usually it's just once every few days). Is there anything I can do at home or is this something I should seek 111 or A and E advice from, or is it OK to wait until tomorrow and speak to the GP? I have no idea about diabetes at all so any help or advice would be really useful from those that have experienced it?

jellycat · 30/10/2023 12:06

T2s get free prescriptions if they are on any diabetes medication, not just if they need insulin.

OP I hope you are feeling better. After everything has settled down, you’ve had all the test results and have the correct treatment, hopefully you’ll be offered a Libre or Dexcom on the NHS (continuous glucose monitor).

TheShellBeach · 30/10/2023 14:10

SunlightOverBamburgh · 30/10/2023 10:54

Those symptoms can also be found in type 2. Either way it needs urgent help. If it does turn out to be type 1 then you need help very urgently.

RTFT

SunlightOverBamburgh · 30/10/2023 14:23

TheShellBeach · 30/10/2023 14:10

RTFT

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Apologies I have seen the update now.

All the best @LeCirqueFouFurieux. I know it's not an easy condition to manage, (from my own experience) but it can be done.

BananaHamster · 30/10/2023 14:24

LeCirqueFouFurieux · 30/10/2023 06:49

One thing I'm worried about is I have zero money at the moment (I'm really skint due to not being able to work), how much of this is covered via NHS free prescriptions or do I need to be looking at taking an overdraft out? I mean I think I can ask the staff that but also would just like to hear from others personal experiences... may sound silly and grabby but there's been so much happening that I had to stop working for a while now.

Diabetics get free prescriptions for life. Don't worry.

Nowanextraone · 30/10/2023 14:40

bruffin · 30/10/2023 11:30

It may not be T1 , it could be T2, i had excessive thirst, weight loss etc and ended up in hospital with an infection and DKA without A. My blood sugar was 26 (instead of under 9) and i had high ketones. My GP sent me straight to a&e where i was taken into resus within 10 minutes. I was there for a day then on ward for a week
I went straight onto insulin and metformin and been diagnosed with T2

There is a type 1.5 which can sometimes be misdiagnosed as type 2 which starts in older people

She will have had the antibody test to confirm if it is type 1 or type 2. With type 1, she will be full of antibodies.

bruffin · 30/10/2023 15:03

I missed Op's latest and see she is T!
Yes i had a GAD test and a cpeptide test . They didnt seem to know whether i was t1 or t2 for weeks

TheShellBeach · 31/10/2023 00:11

How are you doing, OP?

Georgeandzippyzoo · 31/10/2023 06:48

bruffin · 30/10/2023 15:03

I missed Op's latest and see she is T!
Yes i had a GAD test and a cpeptide test . They didnt seem to know whether i was t1 or t2 for weeks

Edited

This was exactly the same for my DH . Treated as T1 , had all the tests but told that We wouldn't officially know for several weeks. Consultants expected T1 due to severity of his symptoms. Given Insulin for several weeks before decision made it was T2. Had to be weaned off the Insulin slowly and placed on meds.

bruffin · 31/10/2023 07:11

Georgeandzippyzoo · 31/10/2023 06:48

This was exactly the same for my DH . Treated as T1 , had all the tests but told that We wouldn't officially know for several weeks. Consultants expected T1 due to severity of his symptoms. Given Insulin for several weeks before decision made it was T2. Had to be weaned off the Insulin slowly and placed on meds.

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Im on metformin and insulin, but half my initial dose when i was first diagnosed.

jellycat · 31/10/2023 08:39

@bruffin my DH (T2) is on metformin and insulin as well, plus Trulicity. He’s pretty much tried all the different oral medications over the years but none of them worked well enough so here we are (we call Trulicity the wonder drug because before he was prescribed that he was on basal and bolus insulin and now he only needs basal). He has been tested (repeatedly) for T1 (they thought he had LADA) and MODY but in the end decided he was T2. I wonder if in a few years they will want to test again for something else newly discovered (he is a very atypical T2-quite young at initial diagnosis, slim, fit, and has had DKA which prompted them to re-test him for T1). He has a Libre (which he gets on prescription now, after years of self-funding) which is brilliant.

bruffin · 31/10/2023 09:45

jellycat · 31/10/2023 08:39

@bruffin my DH (T2) is on metformin and insulin as well, plus Trulicity. He’s pretty much tried all the different oral medications over the years but none of them worked well enough so here we are (we call Trulicity the wonder drug because before he was prescribed that he was on basal and bolus insulin and now he only needs basal). He has been tested (repeatedly) for T1 (they thought he had LADA) and MODY but in the end decided he was T2. I wonder if in a few years they will want to test again for something else newly discovered (he is a very atypical T2-quite young at initial diagnosis, slim, fit, and has had DKA which prompted them to re-test him for T1). He has a Libre (which he gets on prescription now, after years of self-funding) which is brilliant.

Thanks@jellycat
I have used a libre which i got free trial. It was great but i dont qualify under NHS as too stable. Im on Novomix 30 twice a day and libre showed i was 97% in range.
Going to see consultant again next march and need to do another cpeptide test before then to see how much insulin i am producing naturally

jellycat · 31/10/2023 11:02

@bruffin I think the requirement for T2s to get a Libre on prescription round here is that you are on at least 3 medications for diabetes. According to the c-peptide tests, DH definitely makes insulin but his body doesn’t seem to release it as required. His consultant said the Trulicity would help with that. He asked about Victoza years earlier and was told he ‘wasn’t fat enough’ 😡 so he struggled on with other medicines and eventually ended up with DKA. That was what triggered all the re-testing (c 18 years after initial T2 diagnosis). He was on Novorapid and Levemir for a while (that’s when we decided to pay for the Libre) but since all the second batch of tests came back saying definitely T2 and Trulicity was prescribed, he was able to stop the Novorapid. So the Libre isn’t so vital now but it still helps us to monitor how different foods affect him.

sorry @LeCirqueFouFurieux , I’ve hijacked the thread somewhat. I hope you are feeling better. When my DH was first diagnosed we joined Diabetes UK and have been members ever since. While most of the time the magazines go straight into the recycling, I do flick through them and sometimes pick up useful titbits of information. They also fund research into diabetes so that’s an added bonus.