Low C-Peptide, Not Insulin Resistant, No antibodies!

Hello all,

A routine checkup in late December revealed that I am diabetic. There was a bit of a lag time between the date I discovered the diabetes by logging into the patient portal and my follow up appointment (almost 3 weeks). In that time, I purchased a Lingo CGM, standard finger poke meter and changed my eating habits. I was immediately prescribed 500 mg Metformin per day.

My risk factors are:

1. Diabetic dad, uncle and grandfather

2. I did develop gestational diabetes with my last child, though I was an older mother at that time and was slightly overweight pre and for a couple of years post that pregnancy, so I attributed my GD to that. I did lose the diabetes after having the baby though. I also failed my first glucose tolerance test on my first pregnancy when I was 17 and 127 lbs at the end of the pregnancy, but did pass the six hour test. I didn't have any blood sugar issues with the two pregnancies in between.

I am not overweight and my weight distribution does not put me at risk. I exercise at least 45 minutes most days and lift weights. My blood sugar doesn't move downward even with the exercise until after I eat later in the morning, which is interesting.

I wasn't seeing what appeared to be a major change in blood sugar levels beyond what I was seeing with just my diet prior to my diagnosis. I will say though, the Metformin is doing something because I don't feel nearly as tired most mornings.

In any event, I ended up setting up an appointment with an endocrinologist after seeing no major reduction in my fasting glucose after a couple of months on the Metformin. I think one time I hit below 100 after dinner one night, and I'd eaten carbs, though apparently not as many as I thought. I was frightened because I hadn't seen such a low number yet, but that was one time. My updated A1-C is 6.7, so I am doing better, but still not seeing a huge drop in my daily numbers beyond what I was able to do myself was of concern.

The endocrinologist ran a bunch of tests. She says I'm not insulin resistant, my C Peptide level is just under the low threshold, but I have no antibodies from four different antibodies she tested, so she can't call me type 1. My insulin production is such that I would qualify for an insulin pump (I opted for Jardiance instead to see how that goes). I asked how? I wasn't even diabetic two years ago and I'm not insulin resistant now. She says maybe my beta cells just burned out. In less than 2 years though? and without insulin resistance? Why would they have had any reason to overwork? Could the pregnancy almost 16 years ago have caused my beta cells to go bad that quickly?