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Comment by _2dsr | Hacker News Reader

Kind of related: it's fun as a Type 1 Diabetic when people tell me that I should be able to manage my disease with just diet. Or when they get upset because I eat a bowl of ice cream or something (even though I bolused properly for the carbs).

It's really unfortunate that T1 and T2 diabetes have the same name, since they're completely different diseases that just happen to share some symptoms.

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I was diagnosed as diabetic in my early 30s with an A1C of 13. I'm vegan and at the time weighed about 135 pounds (down from my normal weight of 165), ran 20-30 miles a week.

The doctors I saw immediately diagnosed me as Type 2 and treated with Metformin. Between that, starving myself, and exercising like a maniac I was able to keep my blood sugar roughly under control for another year or so.

Then everything really went to shit and additional tests were like, "Whoops, guess it was Type 1 after all."

With doctors having a hard time getting past their own biases and experience, it's no wonder the average person does, too.

Somewhat similar story, (though I weighed a bit more). Went on a keto diet and got my blood sugar down to non-diabetic levels in three months (also lost a lot of weight).

But the type 2 diagnosis didn't feel right, and I pressed them for more testing, and found out that I was actually type 1. However, it's been four years now and I'm still not on insulin. Apparently the honeymoon period for adult onset type 1 is highly variable, and they don't have much data on it. So who knows when I'll have to go on insulin, but have felt pretty lucky so far.

The only downside to insulin for me is the cost and I'm pretty lucky. I buy my testing strips and pen needles from Amazon and spend $200 or so every few months when I need to restock. I signed up for a Lantus (slow-acting insulin once a day) discount card and am fortunate to pay nothing for it. Humalog (fast-acting insulin taken with food) costs $75-100 a month.

I go to the doctor every few months and demand free insulin samples when I'm there. I also got them to fill out paperwork saying I'm disabled (this is technically true by the letter of the law in the US). I used that to get a reduced fare bus pass and free entrance into National Parks. Figured I got fucked over and am going to milk what I can out of it.

Overall though it's not that bad. It's more of a hassle dealing with the routine than anything else.

Yeah, I also got misdiagnosed as T2 (at 23). Too many doctors still immediately jump to a T2 diagnosis if you're not a kid anymore. There's a reason we don't call it "child onset diabetes" anymore.

Same thing happened to my mom at 45. Only she was overweight, worked really hard to get to a healthy weight and get off insulin. And then had to go right back on it. She was devastated.

I actually love it. I was pretty close to suicide with how poorly I was feeling mentally and physically and how nothing I did "worked" no matter how hard I tried.

Since starting insulin I've gotten a bit better. Able to run and train more than ever, better mental clarity, eat like a more or less normal person, etc.

I was diagnosed with type 2 about 4 years ago. I was 245 pounds. My daily fasting number was around 180. I was put on Metformin. Now, I am off the Metformin and down to about 180 pounds. Diet and exercise were key. I dont check my blood sugar anymore because my medical insurance doesn't cover the supplies. If I checked my sugar just twice a day it would run me almost $400 a month in supplies. $400 buys all of my food for the month.

But my dr mentioned to me that I might be leaking protein into my urine stream and that I need to lose even more weight and make my diet even more strict. If I continue to leak protein into my urine stream then I need to have my kidney and liver looked at. I already just eat vegetables and meat 90% of the time. I watch my sugar intake and I turn away anything with more than 1-2g of sugar per serving. I don't eat any treats except maybe an RxBar is I crave something sweet.

Can anyone explain if I could develop type 1 diabetes still?

why did I get down-voted for this?

Type 1 is an auto-immune disease. Type 2 is not and cannot become type 1, though you might become insulin dependent at some point.

and if I do become insulin dependent then I am basically needing to shoot insulin like a Type 1 user needs to? How does one realize they are becoming insulin dependent? I mean I usually don't see a Dr except 2-3 times per year. How would I know to see a Dr sooner?

Yes, being insulin dependent means you would require taking insulin like a type 1.

Only a doctor can tell you if you need to go that route though. I'm assuming they make that decision based on your HbA1c being high or going higher despite being on a metformin, diet and exercise regimen.

You want to avoid this.

As a very tired parent of a type 1 diabetic I beg you to do whatever you can about your situation. You are lucky to have type 2 because it's something you can do something about. You have choices. You should exercise those choices.

I am doing everything I can think of. Diet, exercise, as mentioned above. I hope that it is working well. I am off the meds now and 65 pounds lighter.

About your type 1 child....just realize that your efforts are important and your child will be better off because of them. Although they might not realize it now :-)

I am doing everything I can think of

Are you aware of the research linking diabetes and inflammation?

I know some about it. Enough to where I don't eat red meat or pork (maybe 1-2 times a month) and I eat a lot of leafy vegetables. I don't use butter or mayonnaise. I don't consume caffeine and I make my own cashew milk.

At the risk of giving medical advice, you probably want to confirm the "might" be leaking protein in the urine thing. It's obviously worth worrying about so it's worth being sure about.

indeed. I have another test in January to check the status.

Just off the top of my head, trying to be constructive here, I will suggest you add peanut oil to your list of foods to avoid.

good thought. I don't use it much at all when I cook. However, I should start asking if it is used when I go out.

Read labels. It is frequently used in roasted nuts, which are otherwise a healthy thing to add to your diet.

Chik-fil-a advertises that they use 100% peanut oil and I suspect Jack in the Box uses peanut oil. I don't eat at either one, not even to get salad.

I don't eat at any type of fast food at all and I haven't for maybe 18 months now. If I am going someplace for dinner, I often bring some of my own food, at least a salad or my own dressing. Usually people are understanding about it once I tell them why, My friends already know so it is no big deal to them.

Thanks for mentioning that peanut oil might be in nuts. I eat nuts everyday. I will check the labels.

> If I checked my sugar just twice a day it would run me almost $400 a month in supplies.

That's $6.66 per test! Here in Australia I recently purchased a blood glucose tester for approx $50 and 100 test strips for $50, that's full retail price. If I had a diagnosis from a doctor I would probably be entitled to a diabetes card thingo which gives a significant discount.

US prices are magnitude higher than other countries. I have frequent jumper's knee and use Voltaren Gel which my insurance won't cover. Out of pocket, it is $1200 per tube for generic. In Canada its $10.

Did you intend to write $1200? That's two order of magnitude greater. Astonishing.

This is very true. I take Prednizone 1-2 times per year for an allergy I have to nickel, cobalt and gold. In the U.S. a few days of pills (maybe 30 pills) is around $30usd with my insurance.

I am traveling in China right now and needed Prednizone after coming into contact with nickel. 100 pills was 4rmb which is only $0.64usd

Do people not just buy stuff online from Canada, if that's the case?

its not that easy. Your package could get intercepted or you might not even get the same stuff you wanted. I am not sure how often this happens but I know people that always seem to have bad luck doing this.

$1200?! The more concentrated version was about 17 EUR/100mL at a retail pharmacy in Germany, over the counter, no prescription.

https://www.goodrx.com/voltaren-gel

$60-100, maybe you meant $120

I use 2.5%+ version. Goodrx doesn't always have coupons.

https://www.goodrx.com/diclofenac-sodium?form=tube-of-gel&do...

Many kinds of test strips are less than $1 each here too.

“Diabetes” and even “Diabetes Mellitus” (the latter of which being what Type 1 and Type 2 are modifiers for) are originally just names of symptoms (essentially “frequent urination” and “frequent sweet-tasting urination" [17th century diagnostics were... interesting]) that got adopted with modifiers as disease names.

I guess it is an outcome of these things being names based on symptoms rather than causes.

Just look at cancer, depending on where it originates it can have a multitude of causes. But MSM is likely to report every new finding as just cancer, with zero details about the type involved.

It is quite funny the relationship between the two types of diabetes. The guy who fitted my kitchen was diabetic, but was at pains to point out that he had "proper diabetes, not fat bastard diabetes."

Amen to this.

I'm a parent of a T1D and if I had a dollar for every time I've heard "My cousin cured his diabetes with diet!" I'd be a very rich man.

Or, and this may sound petty, but listening to someone equate their struggles as a type 2 with the struggle of a type 1 makes my blood boil. I would gladly swap my son's type 1 for type 2 any day of the week.

It's a real shame that they share the same name. I feel for you. One is a disease and one is a completely reversible condition bought about by eating decisions.

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