How long have I been diabetic?

[Chypre]

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a year and a half ago.  I had a blood clot in my leg that the doctor called an "unprovoked event" so they started looking for possible causes and found diabetes(also a heredity blood clotting factor).  I already have diabetic retinopathy and nerve damage in my feet..  How long does it take for this kind of damage to develop?  In other words, how long have I been diabetic?   Ballpark.  I don't guess there's any way to determine this exactly. Testing has shown that my heart, liver, and kidneys are undamaged.  Thanks for any enlightenment.

[Cathleen Zoretic, RN]

Thanks for using the forum.

There is not way to tell for sure how long you have had diabetes. The onset of complications would be affected by how high your sugar has run. This is why it is so important to control your blood glucose going forward. Keeping control of blood sugar will help to minimize and prevent the complications of diabetes in the future.

Cathy

[diabetes86]

I think that depends on how high your BG has been running the higher the faster damage will accrue,  for most people 10 or 15 years for neropathy to show up.  faster for some people, slower for others.  Keeping your BG under 140 AT ALL times will help slow the progression of neropathy and in some cases can reverse the damage.  IT takes time...  Also "alpha Lopaic Acid" (SP)  ALA  helps with neropathy.

Stop waring about the past and start to work on controlling your diabetes for your future.