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Permalink Reply by JohnG on March 22, 2012 at 3:34am

I think the actual Honeymoon experience is diffrent for everyone. I went from my deathbed to feeling better than I could remember feeling within just a few injections but  my BG has never been easy to manage. My brothers BG went to normal for a long long time by just adding a few drops of basal insulin to his daily regiment.

I would say your Honeymoon started as soon as you supplied your body  some external insulin.

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Permalink Reply by Trudy on March 22, 2012 at 5:34am

Hi palominovet. I've never actually seen "honeymoon" defined. I've always thought of it (in Type 1) as when a person started losing the beta cells up to needing to start insulin. I had an awful year or so when I was "sick", had no idea what was wrong. Finally diagnosed as a Type 2 (1993) and put on pills, which made me sicker. Then I went onto insulin taking not much less than I now take. I've always thought of that year before the diagnosis as the honeymoon -- anyway, it was slow onset Type 1, or LADA.

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Permalink Reply by Benjamin McLaughlin on March 22, 2012 at 6:04am

I was diagnosed February 6, started me off on 25 units of Levemir at night, and 3 units Novolog before each meal. Novolog was accurate, but after the first day I had to drop Levemir to 10 units. That combo worked for about a week to two weeks, and let my pancreas get a break. After two weeks, my pancreas really kicked back in, Levemir dropped to 8 units, Novolog dropped to 1 unit pre-meal, then after a few days Levemir dropped to 4 units, and no bolus was given. Today, nearly two months after initial diagnosis, I am on no insulin, but I have to keep carbs around 50. If I go above that I need a little help from insulin. So I guess to answer your question, my true honeymoon began (I'm describing this as when my insulin dependency decreased to nearly nothing, yours may just taking a small basal or bolus) about 5-6 weeks after diagnosis.

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Permalink Reply by palomino on March 22, 2012 at 6:22pm

Wow, that was a lot initially. I'm currently on 5u Lantus in the AM and 5u in the PM. My I:C ratios are all over the map.. but my TDD averages between 20-25 depending on how carbaholic I'm feeling that day.

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Permalink Reply by juliannaergrl on March 22, 2012 at 7:52am

I'd say mine started 2 months after I started Insulin. My Lantus is now 4u and my novolog is about 1:25

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Permalink Reply by LASmith2 on March 22, 2012 at 9:18am

I'm not sure about mine. I've only been diagnosed since Nov and initially controlled by diet and exercise for 2 months. Went on a very small amount of bolus insulin the end of January and haven't had changes yet.

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Permalink Reply by awg0681 on March 22, 2012 at 10:10am

It depends on what one considers the definition of the honeymoon phase to be. I went on insulin immediately at diagnosis. Started out at 10u of levemir and the doc said to increase by 3 u every 2 days until fasting BGs were under 120. 6 days later I leveled out at 16u. Then my endo added in Novolog (3-5u per meal depending on when and what I eat) and took my Levemir down to 14u. That's been working pretty well so far. I haven't had any super low lows with 64 being the lowest I've been and (so long as I'm good about what I know I should and shouldn't eat) haven't had any super highs, nothing over 200 genearlly. So in respect to easily managed BG numbers I'd say I'm in a honeymoon phase with my pancreas still producing some, but not much insulin (c-pep was 0.34). I wasn't one who was lucky enough to have any period after dx without insulin though.

This little snipet is from HealthCentral.com (full text here):
"How do you know that you have entered the honeymoon period? Generally, once insulin is started, one notes that over the course of days to weeks, blood sugars and the variability of the blood sugars have decreased. Blood sugars that were formerly in the 200-300 range now have decreased to near normal levels in the 100s and even 70-100 range. To prevent lows, your diabetes team will start to decrease the amount of injected insulin. Generally, however, you remain on some insulin to deter future destruction of those islet cells. There are research studies focused on prolonging the honeymoon period. The honeymoon period also allows for the islet cells to rest as injected insulin is working as an assist. It is unclear how long a honeymoon period may last; it could be several months to more than a year. It is different for each individual with type 1 diabetes."

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Permalink Reply by juliannaergrl on March 22, 2012 at 10:30am

I am curious though, Not to hijack your thread, but everyone keeps saying that the honeymoon period starts when you start taking insulin.., so I wonder if having diabetes before this and not taking insulin delays the honeymoon period. For example, I have had diabetes for 3 years, but took no insulin until November when my b/g spiraled out of control. I started on 18u Lantus and 5u Novolog with meals... now I am on 4 u Lantus, and 1-4u Novolog with meals... seems like I didn't get a honeymoon until I actually started taking the insulin.

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on March 22, 2012 at 10:54am

I think I've posted this on here before, and maybe someone would disagree, but I think those of us with LADA can't technically refer to a honeymoon. The whole nature of the LADA type of Type 1 is slow onset. The average time before needing insulin is from a couple months to 4 years. I think this is very different from a "regular" Type 1 who gets diagnosed with very high blood sugars, starts insulin and then a little ways down that road has a dramatic drop in insulin needs for awhile.

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Permalink Reply by palomino on March 22, 2012 at 11:47am

I think it would be interesting if they figure out more of the genetics... I have wondered if I had a slower onset than they've even thought.

I can remember feeling 'crappy' as far back as spring a year ago, and the fall even before that. I attributed it to school. I was just in general exhausted all the time, but didn't have any other symptoms until after the clinical year started.

But, never having had bloodwork performed in my life... or even thought about checking my BG... who knows. Just something I wonder, and it would be interesting if they determine enough about the genetics to prove it. Though I know it wouldn't change a thing about the treatment.

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Permalink Reply by palomino on March 22, 2012 at 6:25pm

I think if T1's get to 'honeymoon'...

LADA's get to... go on extended vacations? party like it's 1999? I dunno. Insert witty statement here. /fail.

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Permalink Reply by juliannaergrl on March 22, 2012 at 3:14pm

I only found out that I had diabetes because we play with the glucometers at work when we are board... IE we used to eat like as much candy and pop as possible and then see who could get their sugar higher. I DO NOT do this anymore, but back in the day, it was fun. Now I referee these challenges. Haha. I never had any symptoms until about a year AFTER I was diagnosed.

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