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New diagnosis

7 replies

Yesterdayyesterday · 17/12/2023 22:49

DH was diagnosed a few days ago. He had had gradual weight loss for a few months and more recently increased thirst. The GP measured his blood sugar as 20 and sent him straight to A&E. Hba1c was >100. The doctor was non committal, understandably, about whether it is type 1 or 2. She said he is on the cusp of having increased risk of type 2 - age 39, was overweight (BMI 28) before the weight loss, and mixed ethnic background. He is now being treated as if he is type 1 while we wait for the test results which will take 4 weeks. He is now on insulin and his blood sugars have stabilised a lot over the weekend (fasting sugar in the 6 range typically).

What I'm struggling with is understanding the context. I get the impression his Hba1c was very high - is this correct and does it indicate that it is more likely to be type 1? If it is type 2, does the high Hba1c indicate that it is more likely to need insulin to control it?

OP posts:
RedSnail · 17/12/2023 22:52

Sorry to hear about his diagnosis but the hba1c doesn’t tell you anything about what type it is, I know people with t2 who were 120+ at diagnosis, and manage it with a low carb diet or tablets, and type 1s who were that high too. The only thing that can tell you which type it is are the Cpeptide and antibodies blood tests.

DancingFerret · 17/12/2023 23:10

It would be worth your while registering and asking for advice on this site: Diabetes.co.uk.

BigBoysDontCry · 17/12/2023 23:24

I had a blood glucose of 19.1 in March this year. I went on a keto diet and got it into normal range but was really struggling. It took them a while to determine whether it was type 1 or 2 or indeed type 1.5...

I was normal bmi and no real symptoms though on reflection I was definitely drinking more but all such a gradual increase I'd not really noticed.

Anyway, it took a while to get a diagnosis as I had to reintroduce some carbs to see how my body reacted. Whilst my hba1c initially went up, 3 months later it's now in the normal range, just purely by following a low carb diet and cutting out sugar.

It's possible to be type 2 and not overweight.

I hope they get to the bottom of things for your DH and that he is able to gain some control of his blood sugars. He's definitely in the right place to get himself sorted. Good luck.

BigBoysDontCry · 17/12/2023 23:30

I have no idea what my hba1c was in March as I wasn't tested until I'd been on keto for months. It was then 47. After I reintroduced some carbs, it went up to 51 and without changing anything, it came down to 42 within a couple of months.

I'm guessing my initial levels were probably similar to your DHs. Just trying to reassure that with those sorts of levels, if it's type 2, it's perfectly possible to get it down into a normal range with diet and exercise. I was top end of normal bmi, now I'm bottom end.

Butterfly44 · 17/12/2023 23:56

Hb1ac levels don't indicate T1 or T2. The blood tests will look for presence of antibodies. It's right to treat as T1 until results are back.

EndOfMyTether11 · 18/12/2023 07:53

Blood tests is the only way to know through antibodies if it's type one or type two.

My son has type one, he was in DKA but still needed blood tests to confirm. All I can is if it is type one ask for a dexcom, download Sugarmate it'll ring in the night if his sugars go low best way to keep a diabetic safe in the night.

Yesterdayyesterday · 18/12/2023 08:39

Thank you, this is good to know that all possibilities in terms of diagnosis and treatment are still on the table 🙏

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