DKA and diet pills: type 1?

[lau1123]

Hi there! i was recently diagnosed for DKA, i had a 700 blood sugar when rushed to the hospital. I had no family history of diabetes.

I was taking diet pills before ( so-called 'bangkok pills'), I didn't know that it was diabetes that was making me lose a lot of weight. I thought that the pills were just having effects on my body. I also did have a 'sugar addcition', my diet consists of cookies, candies, chocolates, sodas and all kinds of foods w/lots of sugar in it.

I'm having insulin shots for almost 2 months now after bein discharged at the hospital; with frequent visits to my doctor, she still doesn't require oral medicines for me although my monitoring shows normal or hypo glucose readings. I still need 2 months of insulin shots before taking oral. Being type 1 or type 2 is not clear to me, my doctor still doesn't give specific type but she says maybe i'm on the honeymoon stage so we still continue my insulin.

Am i really type 1? or can I still go on oral medications?

Last thing, did taking diet pills make me a diabetic? (doctors said that i had ampetamine in my blood tests)

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

Dear Lau1123,

We are volunteers with lots of experience in Type 1 diabetes, and none of us is a medical professional.  Be sure to continue working with your doctor, and -- if you're not convinced you're geting clear & complete information from her/him -- do ask for a second opinion or seek out a specialist.  Endocrinologists are specialists who treat endocrine diseases like diabetes.



I certainly can't tell you which type of diabetes you have, only a physician armed with your history & test results can make that determination.



If you have Type 1, you will use insulin for your entire life.  Few folks with Type 1 take oral diabetes meds, tho' some do.  Type 1 diabetics must also learn health ways of eating and must incorporate exercise into our routines (just like everyone else who strives to lead a healthy life ;-)  ).  Folks with Type 2 may be treated successfully with diet & exercise, or diet, exercise & oral meds.



I don't know anything about "bangkok" pills, but I am generally skeptical about any "pill" that alleges folks can shed pounds without modifying behaviors related to foods and exercise.  It's so sad that nationwide, desperate folks endanger themselves with expensive pills to get a quick result.  Long-term we need slow, steady, and sustainable behavior changs to achieve long-term results.



Your "sugar addiction" may have been the result of your body literally starving while all the sugar in your foods remained in your blood (DKA & a reading of 700 is dangerous and simply a sign that diabetes had been uncontrolled).  Your appetite for sugar was the result of your cells literally starving, becuase without insulin, sugar cannot get to our muscles or organs or other cells to nourish them.  We eat & eat, and only get sicker & sicker as the sugar piles up in our blood, our cells starve, and we begin to accumulate dangerous waste in our blood.



I'd encourage you to work with your doctor and learn all you can about a balanced way of eating and safe levels of exercise.  If you were my sister (I'm assuming you're female, sorry) -- I'd tell you to toss those pills and any other quick fixes you have around.