Type indicates what "caused" or triggered the Diabetes, not how it's treated

Type 1 - Auto-Immune, previously called Juvenile Diabetes

LADA - Auto-Immune, previously called Type 1.5 (when they weren't sure what it was)

Type 2 - Metabolic, previously called Sugar Diabetes

Type 3 - any Type of Diabetes with Diabetic Vascular Dementia (not an officially recognized Type yet, but widely used)

Type 3C - caused by damage/removal of the Pancreas the result of an accident or disease not associated with Diabetes (Covid or Cushing's disease damages pancreas as an example)

Type 4 - another "new" term that is not yet "accepted" but used to describe Diabetes caused by nothing more than "getting old" - things start to wear out - so the patient may be making less insulin just because of age, no damage, otherwise healthy etc (just like if we all lived long enough we would all develop Parkinson's when we could no longer make enough dopamine on our own)

Monogenic - hereditary - inherit a (messed up) gene from a parent - most common Types (although both rare) are MODY and NDM

Gestational - this one there aren't totally sure why it happens - leading theory is (pregnancy) hormones increase insulin resistance to diabetic levels

Any of those "Types" could be treated with Insulin because it's a "treatment", nothing to do with the "Cause" of the Diabetes

The Auto-Immune and some with Monogenic "WILL" Need Insulin, just about all the rest "might use it" but can generally manage with lifestyle change alone, or in combination with other "non-insulin" Anti-Diabetic Meds

Type = Cause
Treatment = what you are using to manage it

I, too, wish the medical profession would stop saying that diabetes is absolutely progressive. It just makes it sound like all diabetics are going to die from the disease. There have recently been reports that eating higher amounts of protein can not only help manage diabetes but can significantly lower the blood sugar, to the point of putting it in remission. Meaning no longer needing to take meds. Researchers need to try harder to find medication that does a better job of managing diabetes. And the food industry needs to stop putting in ingredients that are making people diabetic. I think the FDA and the Pharmaceuticals have been "partnering up" to make more people diabetic and helping Pharma make more profits.

@A DiabetesTeam Member if a Diabetic is at normal weight then they have done about as much as they can (without meds) to improve their insulin resistance

That doesn't mean that it's perfect. Despite catching my onset of diabetes very quickly (normal A1C in Feb/2016, Diabetic in Aug/2016) and immediately making the lifestyle changes including getting my BMI down to the low 20's, I still have some "mild" insulin resistance, but it was "high" when I was carrying 60 extra pounds - so it "helped" (losing the weight) but did not totally recover perfect function

If that is true with you - your insulin resistance is as good as you can get it, without meds, and yet your blood sugar continues to run high - and 7.6% is still a little high considering your age (at my age I would consider that way too high), that would point to a combination of ingesting too many carbs for the amount of insulin you can produce yourself

The solution is either meds to take care of the excess carbs or restrict your carbs further (if you can) or a combination of the two that you are comfortable with

Mentioned Users

A Diabete...

I also came off of anti-diabetes meds for a year. It can be done I'm working on doing it again. I watched my diet, exercised, and lost 50 lbs. Straight forward @A DiabetesTeam Member, as always. We'll said.

Mentioned Users

A Diabete...