Linda Fox's Page

I am 51 yrs old, female, married since 1991, and we have adopted 3 kids, ages 8, 6, and 5 so are pretty busy. I had worked out before kids, ran quite a bit, but my middle one, my boy, would not let me out the door in the morning! Of course I put on quite a bit of weight. And last summer after a lot of stressful events, I even got a fat tummy.

I had had infertility problems, when I got a workup at age 34 when I had gained weight, was told I had fibroids, and hypothyroidism -- TSH of 84, in fact. I was told then that I had thyroid antibodies, but not which types. T4 replacement worked very well and I did not worry much about it. I began running again, something I had also done when I was younger, and I lost quite a bit of weight, and got on with life.

Last winter I became aware that I was thirsty, and peeing more. I mentioned it to my husband a bit after New Year's, and he shrugged it off. He had a meter because he is obese and mildly type 2, what is called Pre-D. I noticed I had lost about 10 lb (at 51!) without trying, and mentioned it to him again. He ran out to the drugstore and got me a meter. Set it up, showed me how to use it. The result was ... 447. I re-tested. Of course I retested again.

The next morning I called my internist, but could not get in for 3 days. They should have been instructed to send me to the ER, but did not. And of course I was a fat, middle aged woman, must be a type 2 so I COULD NOT have DKA, right?

WRONG. I had 4+ urinary ketones and was wheeled straight to the hospital. Oh and by the way, had I had any viruses, lately? Well sure I had, I have kids. No response.

I was horrified. My kids when they visited were terrified. My ABG showed mild acidosis. From the very first time I got insulin, though, I injected it myself. With IV fluids and potassium I soon felt much better. I told them I was a vegetarian, so they fed me a lovely ADA 1800 kcal vegetarian diet. It was really good food. I had a low one night, and I actually recognized the feeling -- from when I was hypothyroid, all those years before, over and over. No big deal, I 'd eat, and then I'd be fine.

An endo showed up and was treated like a celebrity by all the hospital staff ... but to me he epitomized a "young whippersnapper" type. Smart-alecky, know-it-all. I asked him if this wasn;t a rather rapid onset. I was hypothyroid, could it be related? He took a history, and without a moment's debate decided to discharge me on oral meds (actoplusmet, and I later negotiated FOR simvastatin, with the hospitalist, who then also recommended aspirin), exercise, and a low-fat diet. I had done that before, and my attitude was that it was boring and ineffective, since it never had helped my lipids (high LDL, low HDL, and NORMAL trigs). I am a fat sedentary middle-aged woman. But with CHILDREN, so, you know, I had had viruses lately.

I went home. I got on the internet. I read books. I googled. I read every page of the Blood Sugar 101 website. And I knew. I began cutting carbs. I read David Mendosa's website and tried some low-glycemic index starches. All except oatmeal spiked me. Kept eating and testing. I went back to my doctor at 1 week. I asked to test antibodies. "Everybody has antibodies," he said. I went home and read some more.

I went back in one month. He was pleased with my blood sugars and my weight. Told me to keep it up. I told him the ADA was crazy and I was eating 60 - 80 g of carb per day. I could not tolerate more, maybe I was not making much insulin. No comment. I asked for GAD-65 and C-peptide testing. He said C-peptide, next time. No point in the GAD.

Three month checkup. I reminded him I wanted that C-peptide. He smiled and checked it. And the GAD. He looked up. I said quietly, "It's really important to me. I need to know one way or the other," He checked it. Down the hall for the blood draw. The lab guy had a fit. He had no dry ice for my sample for the antibody testing! Etc etc etc. He'd have to look it up and call some people. I told him, this is really important to me. I told him, I am not an assertive person, but I want this test now. He called the home office and they told him to put it on regular ice, they'd send him dry ice at pickup.

I waited two weeks ... and called. Oh, said the nurse, your results are not in the computer. I'll get back to you. Three hours later, my doctor called. C-peptide, 1.3, low normal. GAD > 30. "Which means you have Type 1. I'll have the endo call you to set up an appointment. Oh, not the guy you saw in the hospital, his only office is down south. I'll send you to the one up here." I did not tell him that that was a relief.

So ... now I see an endo in 8 weeks, to learn how to use insulin. She's a middle aged woman. I have no idea what her attitude toward LADA or insulin use is. I have no idea how well she tolerate my attitude that I need to be in charge, even if I do not know everything ...