I have to take issue with something my new, wonderful treatment team seems to think. Dr. A said, "It really doesn't matter what type of diabetes you have as long as you have an effective treatment method." While I mostly agree with him, I have to say that a lot of people with diabetes want the distinction; we want to know the label. Because even though the treatment method may be the same, it’s still different.

Despite me rattling off a list of drugs meant for people with Type 2 that I tried and that didn't work, and telling him my c-peptide result (<0.1), Dr. A still said, "I think you are Type 2."

He discounted my c-peptide results since I was already taking insulin when I had that test done (although some Web research said that doesn’t matter). His best argument in my mind was that in all those months of trying only Lantus, Lantus+Metformin, Lantus+Metformin+Byetta I had never had an episode of DKA.

"But I could be 1.5 and it could have been slow progressing," I argued.

While my appointment with Dr. A was several weeks ago, I did some obsessive Internet research today. A lot of what I found, while intended to be in in patient-speak, is actually in doctor-speak. Except for this blog I found by a woman who has Type 1 and has done much of her own research and written a book about diabetes. While I almost feel like I searched until I found the answer I'm looking for, I mostly feel like I'm reading a credible source who's speaking my language.

Her post from September 2008 says:
Here's what your C-peptide can tell you:
Very Low C-peptide test results. If your C-peptide is significantly below the normal fasting range given by your lab no matter when your blood sugar was tested your beta cells are likely to be dead or dying. If you are young or very recently diagnosed with diabetes of any type, a very low C-peptide value is a good way of diagnosing Type 1 (autoimmune) rather than Type 2 diabetes.

But if you have had Type 2 for decades, and have not kept your blood sugars at normal levels, you may also have a very low C-peptide test value because over the years the very high blood sugars you have been exposed to may have killed off your insulin-producing beta cells.

I was diagnosed in Feb. 2005 at the age of 30 with an A1C of 7 and my fasting c-peptide was drawn in Jan. 2008. My highest A1C was 9, which within three months was down to 7.8 and three months after that it was below 7.

So I know you're asking yourself why I'm telling you this because it seems like all I was trying to do was prove that I'm right. Right? In what has been a theme in a number of my recent posts: Keep fighting for what you believe is right no matter how insignificant your treatment team may think it is. That may seem oversimplified, but in reality, it's the best medicine.