Mimigirl, how long did your honeymoon last?
I was diagnosed with Type 1 at the age of 43. I'm 50 now and doing just fine, keeping my sugar levels stable. Not sure what the "honeymoon period" is you're talking about?
The later you see symptoms of Type 1 the longer that it seems that your immune system takes to kill off all the insulin producing Beta cells in your pancreas. For example I was diagnosed January 6th 2011 with type 1 diabetes at the age of 42. I am quickly coming up on my 1 year anniversary and am no longer taking any meds and no insulin yet. I eat like a bird and exercise 6-9 hours a week. My last A1C was 5.8 with no meds for 2 months prior to the blood test. Kids with Type 1 go from original symptoms to insulin dependancy very quickly. It seems adults that are strict with their diet and excercise can go from 1 to 5 years or more before the insulin dependancy occurs.
I was diagnosed at age 22, my Uncle was diagnosed at 50. At first they said it was Type 2 because of his age, but I thought otherwise. He is a farmer and a very fit man. He ate well so in my eyes it was definitely type 1 late onset. I convinced him to see another Doctor and was put on insulin immediately.
The 'honeymoon period' that is referred to is when the pancreas still produces some insulin, but not enough. In my case it lasted about 18 months. I was on small doses of insulin in that time as my pancreas was trying to do its job, but of course, it soon failed.
@Parrformance, It's great that you can control your levels well with diet and exercise, and without insulin, however to me that sounds more like type 2.....I'm curious about your diagnosis. Were you a fit person prior to your diagnosis? What brought you to be diagnosed type 1?
I was fit and still am, I have been an athlete all my life, participating in several sports. I began Mountain biking in 2005 and competitively racing in 2006. I was 179 lbs at 5'9" when I was racing the series, I fell "ill" around late 2008 and felt fatiuged most of the time, a general practitioner friend suggested I have a sleep apnea study done, I was then diagnosed with mild to moderate Sleep Apnea.
I believed this was the reason for the chronic fatigue and the loss of interest in competing.
In June of 2010 I went for my yearly checkup and bloodsugar was fine(I wish we had done an A1C), by January of 2011 my A1c was 10.7 Blood sugar was 500something.
My wife pushed the Endo to do a GAD antibodies test and he reluctantly agreed, the Endo was kind enough to send a letter to my house with the corrected Type 1 diagnosis. I am now at a very fit 140 lbs and am cycling 125-175miles a week, both mtb and road cycling.
To correct possible misunderstanding of my 1st comment: I was diagnosed as type 1 right away at 43, started taking insulin and have been able to manage my sugar levels well. I'm 50 now. So I never had a "holiday period."
I was diagnosed 2010 right after my 39th birthday. I'm coming up on my two year anniversary with Type 1 and still in my honeymoon stage. The honeymoon stage for me is that I take a set dose of insulin in the morning before breakfast and another before I go to bed. BS stays around 150-180 when I go to bed around 10-11 PM. BS is 90-100 in the morning before I take my morning dose. I only check BS twice a day unless I don't feel "right". I can tell when my BS is low when I start to get nervous, body shakes, cold sweat, etc. If it runs high, I'd never know unless I test and discover it.
When first diagnosed the nurse didn't think I was diabetic, but I had a couple of folks ask me if I was (which prompted my visit to see her). I never thought it would have been diabetes, much less Type 1. No family history as far back as my grandparents can remember. A1C was off the scale and BS was 280 after fasting. I was immediately referred to Endo where he did the tests to determine my type.
There's been some speculation that some vaccines can cause this adult onset, no definitive proof.
I am 49 years of age and was diagnosed just 5 weeks ago. I have strong genetic code as my grandfather was diagnosed T1 in his 40's and my sister was diagnosed when she was 23. I am positive that i must be in honeymoon stage as taking about 7 units of Humalog daily and 9 units of Lantus and my numbers are good notwithstanding some lows during excercise. I am just hoping this lasts for a while - we shall see!
hello Cary hey sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis, but I am glad you're numbers are good for now.
For others who asked (I know this thread is a year old) honeymoon just means you are still making some insulin, really common for a little while after you are diagnosed.
I am a late onset type 1 diabetes diagnosed as gestational diabetes when I was pregant with my son at 39. SO I went through the insulin shots and the testing and it disappeared for 9 months and came back a week after my 3 3month checkup with a yeast infection. From then on they though I was a type 2 diabetic for 13 years until by nephrologist was as confused as I was about the way my body reacts. More tests and behold type 1 diabetes. Autoimmune disorders run in my family but no diabetes. I have been forever on insulin since I was gestational. I have been to two different endocrinologists and they do no better than my internist. Sometimes I think this chronic disease will make me crazy before it kills me.
Phoenix13
I was diagnosed at age 15 and have had it for almost 10 years. I would say that I only really saw the effects and raising blood sugars about 3 or 4 years ago- which seems to be a much longer "honeymoon period" than they predicted I would have. Before that it felt like I could sneak anything and only half watch my diet and my blood sugars and A1C were all just about perfect. So the answer is about 6 or 7 years!
I was diagnosed at age 54 - 2 1/2 years ago No honeymoon period at all. Fortunately my doc realized I was not a typical type 2 so he didn't treat me that way. Tried Metformin for about 3 weeks and no effect, so on insulin right away. I got my Animas Ping 6 months later, and my Dexcom (now G4) a year ago. It certainly has changed my life and honestly, I can't actually remember what life was like without diabetes sometimes! I have a blog at www.lifeinladaland.wordpress.com if you want to know more. It really helps to blog- helps me think things through and work out the emotional parts of dealing with this disease.
I was diagnosed Type 1 at age 25, 12 years ago. I never had a honeymoon period, I had symptoms for a very long time before I even thought about going to the doctor.
i was 28 when i was diagnosed with T1D. I was sick for a whole month with what i thought at the time was the Flu.....My Blood Sugar was over 650....i have recently gotten my A1C back under 7%....which wass my goal set out early last year......
I was diagnosed at 43 with T1D. I had all the symptoms at the same time which was very over whelming. It was weird it was like I woke up one day fine then by the end of the day I was drinking water like a fish, I had the worst leg cramps of my life, my vision went blurry and at dinner time I just kept eating and I never could get full. My blood sugar was at 580 at the docs office about 3 hours after breakfast the next day and the doctor told me it could may have been as high as 700 an hour or 2 after I ate breakfast. My A1C was 13.4. At first my doctor thought I had type 2 because of my age but when I finally got my blood work back 2 weeks later it showed I had type 1. So while waiting for my blood work I was being treated for type 2 diabetes and I was mostly eating protein and fat and I was always hungry and I just kept losing weight like crazy. I went from 180 down to 135 very fast and I had no energy at all but I pushed my self to keep active. I remember looking in the mirror and I didn't even recognize myself. I had always been pretty muscular and in top shape my whole life. Once I got on insulin wow, I could not believe how fast I got better. I gained 30 pounds back and felt AWESOME!!! I also trained for the 100 mile Tour de Cure in Colorado. I went from only being able to ride my bike 8 miles to riding more than a 100 miles just in a few months. I also did workouts I did while I was in the Army and got in better shape than when I was in the Army. I just was not going to let diabetes get the best of me. My A1C in one year went from 13.4 all the down to 6.2. So I highly recommend exercise, doing everything your endo says and try to stay positive. I know it's hard at times, I had several days that I just wanted to give up. Ya just have to keep grinding away and also try to find other people with diabetes because you can learn so much from someone that has had type 1 for a while.
Another thing is I think I had a honeymoon stage for a few months then when it was over I almost had to double the amount of insulin I was taking. It seemed like overnight it was over because I went from being very in control of my blood sugar then the next day I woke up with my bs at 350 and couldn't get it to go below 200 until my endo told me to increase my doses and eventually I was injecting about twice what I was injecting. I have also been on the Medtronic Minimed pump for about a year and I love it. My A1C now is 5. something. I can't remember the exact number. I used the CGM for a while but it started getting in the way while working out, and the tube would come out and poke me OUCH!!! It would also bug me while trying to get sleep. I'd rather just check my bs every 2 or 3 hours then using the CGM again.
i was on the minimed pump for 6 years and also used the cgm...I hated the cgm because it kept comming back with an error or would not connect sometimes...also would not work when i slept because i always sleep on my side...so I am now on the Onetouch Ping Pump and love it...i have finaly got my A1C down from a 9 to a 6.2...
I have to say some good words about the Minimed 723 pump and CGM. For one thing you have to find good places on your body for the CGM. I use my thighs toward the inside and generally keep a sensor in for about 10 days. I do recharge after 7 days but I have two transmitters, so that is easy and fast. I always tape the sensor and transmitter with Opsite flexifix tape so it doesn't move during exercise or swimming etc. I often turn off all the pump/sensor alerts when I sleep so they don't wake me up.(I know they are supposed to keep me from going low but I know my body and basal rate and don't go low unless I have bolused too much etc.) During the day I love the alerts. But I know others who have had problems with the MM system.