Type 1 diabetes...do I have it?

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 Here is a quick way to determine what kind of diabetes it is.

• The body is producing no insulin - this is Diabetes Type 1
• The cells do not respond correctly to the insulin - this is Diabetes Type 2

So a endo probably would have to have you tested to check which kind it is.

 Go get tested is the simple answer.  It's easier than playing what if and panicking.

I will also throw out there that type 2 can eventually become type 1, especially over a long period of time or if uncontrolled, so I would be hesitant to say your dad was necessarily misdiagnosed.  Could be but also might not be.

What she said!

Sometimes it's better to not self-diagnose and drive yourself batty, when the anwer can be determined with a simple test.

To amplify on what Rags said:

Type I diabetes is caused by the islet cells of the pancreas not producing insulin.  There is a genetic susceptibility factor.  It is thought that it is in some cases an autoimmune disease, caused by the body attacking and killing the islet cells, perhaps after infection with the Coxsackie virus - the body makes antibodies to fight the virus, and those antibodies accidentally have a cross-reactivity with a protein on the surface of pancreatic islet cells, and kills them.

Type 2 diabetes is a completely different disease, a metabolic disorder resulting in the body's cells becoming resistent to the effects of insulin, which is necessary to get glucose absorbed by the cells.  In response to the cells giving off the signal that they are starving, the islet cells make more insulin, trying to overcome the resistence of the other cells to uptake of glucose.  After years of overproducing insulin, the islet cells become exhausted and die - and then the patient becomes in effect a type 1 diabetic - no longer producing insulin.

Another possibility is that your father had latent autoimmune diabetes:  "Latent autoimmune diabetes of adults is a condition in which Type 1 diabetes develops in adults. Adults with LADA are frequently initially misdiagnosed as having Type 2 diabetes, based on age rather than etiology."

But insofar as what YOU have, you need to be tested yourself to rule out the other types.  However, no matter which type you have, the DS should improve your utilization of insulin and other risk factors including cardiovascular disease.

Ahh, I love reading your posts, science rules. I switched from biotech to different major, sometimes I wonder if I'd made a mistake 

What Ragamuffin said. It's quite possible your father DID have type 2, and, over the years, his pancreas eventually burned up all the beta cells and could no longer produce insulin, thereby eventually essentially making him a type 1.

Different types have slightly different symptoms as far as certain lab results, certain reactions to food/fasting, etc. In the end, does it matter what type you have as long as you are treating it effectively? Let your glucometer be your guide.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 25 (had never been pregnant, so no gestational prior). I have no question that it's not really type 2, as I had consistently high levels and never experienced a single hypo. Age has little to do with it.

You can be diagnosed with Type 2 and then a few years later, your pancreas stops producing insulin--then it becomes evident that you had a misdiagnosis.  It's not always discovered early on that you have Type 1.5 or LADA.  Check out these two links for more clarification.  My brother was diagnosed with Type 2 at the age of 35 and responded well to oral meds like Metformin (which I'm not now).  Then two or 3 years later his pancreas stopped producing insulin and he's now on an insulin pump and considered VERY diabetic--type 1.5 or LADA.  We have a strong Diabetic history in my family--my mother, my uncle, my aunt, my grandfathers, one of my great grand mothers....the list goes on and on.  My brother wasn't heavy at his first diagnosis--but still they assumed that because of familial history, he had type 2. 

Here are the links--I hope they are helpful.

http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2008/05/lada-epidemic-wha ts-going-on-here.html

and I loved this one: http://www.diabetesmine.com/2010/03/clarifying-lada-type-1-d iabetes-in-adults.html 

Sher-

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Neither of those things (1300 glucose level nor oral meds not working) is actually indicative only of type 1. Again, specific lab tests are required to know for sure. Neither metformin nor Januvia (sitagliptin), both oral meds, ever did much of anything for me in controling my type 2. Diet was the single most important factor in my level of control (unless I wanted to go to insulin, which I didn't since I was having surgery anyway).