# Type 3c Diabetes



## JhnBssll (26 Dec 2022)

Nope, I hadn't heard of it either  As I think I mentioned in another thread I've been recently diagnosed as diabetic. This is no great shock to me after losing a large amount of my Pancreas around 6 years ago through Acute Necrotising Pancreatitis and the resulting necrosectomy required to 'fix' me 😄 The only real surprise I guess is that it took this long to happen having been warned it was extremely likely at the time.

There are going to be some people on here with a lot of knowledge on this topic and I'm hoping to tap in to this; whilst I've known it was likely to be in my future, I hadn't really given it much practical thought  My (currently minimal) understanding of Type 3 diabetes is that it is caused by damage to the Pancreas rather than the classic autoimmune disease of Type 1 and insulin resistance of Type 2. There seem to be various subsets of Type 3, with Type 3c being specifically caused by Pancreatitis or Pancreatic Cancer or so I'm told. In my case my pancreas still produces Insulin just not in the quantities it should so it needs a helping hand. I've been put on a drug called Metformin and have ramped up to my current prescribed dose of 1500mg/day over the last 3 weeks. I've also watched my average blood glucose readings drop over the same time frame so it's doing what it's supposed to do, which is great news. I'm controlling my diet and making sure I don't overdo the carbs and sticking to complex ones where possible. I'm also losing weight, currently down to around 106kg from 117kg earlier in the year.

When i was first diagnosed a few weeks ago I snagged a Freestyle Libre 2 glucose sensor patch on a free trial. I've been wearing it for around 11 days so far and it'll expire in a few days time but I have purchased 2 more to tide me over - they last 14 days before they stop transmitting data. The Diabetes team are trying to get them prescribed for me in future which would be great but its by no means a done deal. I've done some internet trawling and have now got the sensor paired to my phone via bluetooth to give updated readings automatically every minute. The phone app (Juggluco) then transfers these to a second app (xDrip+) which uploads them to a cloud server (NightScout). Another app I've sideloaded on to my Karoo 2 bike computer then streams these readings to my data pages so when I ride I'll know exactly what my blood sugar is doing. How useful this is long term is anyones guess as currently I have no means of actually controlling it, only monitoring 

Anyway, I'm extremely interested to hear of any other Diabetics either on metformin or using tech to keep tabs on things plus any tips on fueling on rides - I've been told to avoid high sugar energy drinks even during excercise which surprised me so I will probably experiment with that advice a little


----------



## fossyant (26 Dec 2022)

When we funded the first Libre for my son, we needed another bluetooth device that sat on his libre and transferred the data to his phone and then NightScout. Since moving to the Libre2 he just used his phone to scan, an it's pretty accurate, so push to get in on prescription.

There is a good chance you may end up on injections to control it then, but that then adds in the issues of hypos.


----------



## JhnBssll (26 Dec 2022)

Yeah there's every chance I'll be insulin dependant in the long run. It's heartening to see the sensor and pump technology moving forward as this seems to make fairly tight control of glucose levels much easier to achieve. I'm still hoping to avoid it for as long as possible though


----------



## fossyant (26 Dec 2022)

My son doesn't have great control - eats too much and doesn't adjust his insulin, although his HBA1C has come down since using it.


----------



## JhnBssll (26 Dec 2022)

I guess all the tech in the world doesn't eliminate the human factor! From my extremely limited experimentation over the last few weeks I've concluded that my pancreas has a sense of humour similar to my own and controlling it is not going to be easy


----------



## cyberknight (28 Dec 2022)

New one on me !
Mrs CK was diagnosed type 2 about 6 months ago and has really took it to heart and has lost 2 and a half stone as she has been really strict with her diet,She is now at the weight she should be for her height and the nurse at the surgery are really impressed with it , she also does a lot more around the house nowadays which makes my life a bit easier ,


----------



## sevenfourate (28 Dec 2022)

Can’t add any hugely worthwhile input: other than saying both Mother in Law and Wife are type 1 and 2 respectively.

MIL is constantly testing / monitoring; wife is (sometimes) careful of her diet - but it doesn’t really interfere with her day to day life. As yet 🤷‍♂️ So to some degree I know what you’re up against……

What I can do is wish you the best going forward. Look after yourself - our Health is all we have 😎


----------

