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LADA: Why So Many Adults Are Misdiagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes

Taking Control Of Your Diabetes®

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Roughly 4 in 10 people who end up diagnosed with LADA are told they have type 2 diabetes first. Some spend years on medications that were never going to work for them.

Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is a form of type 1 diabetes that shows up in adulthood and progresses slowly enough to look like something else. Dr. Steve Edelman sits down with endocrinologist Dr. Schafer Boeder to talk about why the misdiagnosis keeps happening, what should raise a flag, and the blood test that settles the question.

In this episode:
0:00 - The most misdiagnosed diabetes there is
1:03 - Why doctors keep missing it
3:05 - What medical school got wrong about type 1
4:14 - Smoldering onset vs. crash and burn
6:26 - The classic type 2 profile, and who doesn't fit it
8:05 - "This article is exactly my story"
10:46 - How LADA leads to DKA
14:35 - Which tests confirm it
19:13 - What AI found in a clinic full of type 2s
22:23 - "You have type 1 diabetes" - having the conversation
27:49 - Treatment, the honeymoon period, and starting gentle
32:03 - Preserving beta cells and where research is headed
35:39 - Free screening and how to get involved in trials
Plus a letter from a TCOYD reader who was diagnosed at 54, watched her A1C climb past 12% while doing everything she was told, and finally heard an endocrinologist say she didn't fit the profile.

RESOURCES MENTIONED
TrialNet - free autoantibody screening, especially for relatives of people with type 1
https://www.trialnet.org

Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) Clinical Trials Connect - matches you to studies based on your diabetes type and history
https://www.breakthrought1d.org

ClinicalTrials.gov - searchable registry of studies by condition and location
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov

💙 ABOUT TCOYD
Taking Control of Your Diabetes (TCOYD) is a nonprofit dedicated to educating and motivating people with diabetes to live healthier, more empowered lives — and giving healthcare professionals the tools to help them get there. Founded by Dr. Steve Edelman, who has lived with type 1 diabetes since age 15.

🔗 CONNECT WITH TCOYD
Website: https://tcoyd.org
Facebook: Facebook: tcoyd
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TikTok: TikTok: tcoyd
LinkedIn: LinkedIn: tcoyd

20 Comments

@TCOYDtv Creator 1 month ago Pinned

Have you been through this? How long was it between your first diagnosis and the one that turned out to be right? Tell us in the comments.

@Irisgal5555 1 month ago (edited)

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 2006. After numerous hospitalization with DKA. My pulmonologists asked me to find a doctor that tests for type 1 diabetes. When I saw the endocrinologist specifically diagnosing type 1 he said I do not fit the profile and would be surprised if I was diagnosed with type 1. Well, all my blood test came back confirmed type 1 diabetes. I have been blamed for my blood sugars for 20 years. Not my fault. I have not been hospitalized with DKA since my type 1 diagnosis. Twenty years of hell. And now dealing with diabetes complications.

@EarlDavis-w6v 1 month ago

I spent 17 miserable years misdiagnosed as type 2. Because of TCOYD I became educated enough to ask to the tests that finally gave me the correct diagnosis. Thanks guys.

@caronkeyser8571 1 month ago

At age 52 I was diagnosed with type two, and for a year was on Metformin. I lost so much weight, my vision would get blurry and I generally did not feel well. That’s when I asked my primary care doctor if maybe I should see an endocrinologist. The endocrinologist said I had type 3. (?)
I was put on insulin at that time, but he kept me on metformin. Shortly afterwards I found out about TCYOD. Which saved my life. I got permission to speak up, and control my diabetes. I have been to ONE three times. Two years ago I started taking Ozempic, which I had begged my endo for, and because I had been on metformin she was able to prescribe it. Now along with a CGM, an insulin pump a Beta Bionic, my latest A1c was 6.9, it’s never been that good. I have also maintained a good weight. I hope my experience is helpful.

@phyllisemroll4920 1 month ago (edited)

My eye doctor diagnosed me (she also was diagnosed with T1 as an adult )but my PCP refused to accept I did not have type 2 and refused to have me see an endocrinologist. Luckily my eye doctor got an appointment with an endocrinologist for me and I received a proper diagnosis within a week or two. I had lost more than 20 pounds, I had a yeast infection and thrush, blurred vision, and a wound that would not heal.

@Clodene 1 month ago

I would love an episode on GPL-1 for Type 1. I know it is off label but some of us are trying to use them.

@eileenkuntz1058 1 month ago

I was misdiagnosed in 1996 at 25. I was given metformin and sent home from PCP. Two days later in ER with my left lower leg swollen three times normal size. Also moved in my 40 s and new Endocrinologist said I don’t believe your type 1 and did blood test which confirmed. I have left that Endocrinologist and I have spoken up for my care of diabetes.

@seanm6412 1 month ago

How about covering T2D SIDD..

@fouresterofthetrees287 1 month ago

Too bad our nearest endocrinologists are 1.5 hours away.

@JimBritt-c4e 1 month ago

This is me. I was 54 ,told I was type 1.5, responded really well to type 2 meds, exercise and diet changes for a couple of years but got to a point where I was eating nothing but leaves and meat and was exercising 7 hours a week but my BG and A1C were steadily going up. I carried on like that for nearly 10 years before I ran into an endocrinologist who figured it out. She's the one who told me I should start listening to you guys. I'm very lucky to have run into both of you.

@fouresterofthetrees287 1 month ago (edited)

Diagnosed T2 in late 2008 age 42 Pills stopped working in 2014, added basal insulin shot, issues again in 2015, went to endo, looked at my food intake, physical fitness, and blood sugars. Immediately knew I had LADA. Took me off pills,went on bolus insulin.

@juliecox8391 10 days ago

I am 61, diagnosed with type 2 about 4 years ago. I am very thin, my cholesterol is pretty low, but yet my doctor tells me to eat less especially carbs. He has me on a GLP, Jardiance and small dosage of insulin. Now I can say there is room for improvement in my diet, but overall my diet is not that bad. I also exercise everyday (when I do extreme rowing...my glucose goes down and then shoots right back up again), with all this being said...I have been unable to control my glucose and A1C. It is so frustrating and sometimes I feel like giving up. I first heard about LADA from a google AI search on type 2 diabetes. Amazing!! I do not feel like I fit the profile of being a type 2 diabetic, but LADA does make sense.

@seanm6412 1 month ago

I understand the feeling, struggles, and what it takes to manage T1D. LADA is at least a well known type of diabetes. Some doctors and endocrinologists do miss diagnosis it, but usually with the proper diagnosis and labs it is recognized. Getting T2D with no family history of diabetes being born 2 lbs. then being diagnosed at 34 with T2D and for almost 20 years being told to work harder, eat better but nothing you do ever makes a difference. Spending years feeling like crap in and out of the hospital. But your told your type 2 not overweight but work harder and do better. Then you finally switch endos and find out that your T2D SIDD / SIRD and your make just enough insulin to show up on tests but zero first stage insulin and just enough second stage or basal insulin to show up on test. Currently on a glp1, full mdi or insulin pump. Average insulin usage a day is 50 units. And still no one seems to understand T2D SIDD. I’d take LADA or T1D any time rather than this.

@rooniebarnard108 5 days ago

My husband has a GAD of 123, high blood glucose, high inflammation, bmi of 19, he's been low carb and low sugar, no alcohol for 7 years, even with the high GAD reading they're saying type 2, the uk are sooo slow with these things, and try telling a consultant he's wrong 😢

@nancysalvo596 1 month ago

At 70, I was diagnosed type 2 diabetic. Took Metformin and glipizide and insulin, first twice a day and then with meals as well. I had lost an bout 30 lbs, was stuck thin and could not gain wait. After 4 years of frustration, even with a monitor, I insisted on autoimmune testing and was rediagnosed as type 1/ LADA.

I believe my father also had LADA. He was diagnosed a diabetic at 38 and in those days used insulin exclusively. This would have been around 1956. He was also very thin and unfortunately died at age 49.

My question is for my children. Are they any more likely to get LADA than if my father and I had had childhood type 1?

@MichelleMonk-n2x 1 month ago

I am going through this now. 52 years old. My PCP diagnosed me with Type 2. I have never had an A1C above 5.6 on yearly bloodwork but last August 2025 my A1C was 12.8. My BMI is in normal range and I’ve been on a keto diet or low carb for the past 10 years due to surgical menopause at 33. This has been documented in my medical history. I decided to hire a concierge pcp who did the IA-2 test and a c-peptide. IA-2 was >150. The concierge PCP was not comfortable treating T1D diabetes and referred me to Endocrinologist. The endo added another IA-2 (>150),and GAD-65 (1763.1) and c-peptide (2.3, insulin 11.7, finger stick 262). At the follow up appointment to go over the bloodwork a mini med pump rep showed me my antibody results and said that I would need insulin for the rest of my life. When the Endocrinologist actually came in the room (after the rep), I asked him if this was reversible or could go into remission because I was initially diagnosed with type 2. He immediately said “why does it matter if you’re type 1 or type 2” I’ll treat however your diabetes needs to be treated. Long story short months later I was able to get in with another Endocrinologist who said that I might have LADA but continues to label me as type 2. I’m so confused. I was missed diagnosed with Graves’ disease after having my first child in 1999. I actually had thyroiditis that later ended in Hashimoto’s. I was diagnosed with Celiac through bloodwork and biopsy last month. My paternal grandmother had rheumatoid arthritis and my father was diagnosed with T1D at 6 years of age.

@santiagomoebio 1 month ago

I was correctly diagnosed at 45. But on further visits I met doctors that wanted to convinced me that I didn't have Diabetes Type 1.

@numtwelve12 1 month ago

I had several doctors tell me they thought I had a “blood sugar issue” without officially diagnosing me. I went into DKA last year at the age of 45 and was diagnosed type 1. But at the ICU they discharged me with paperwork that said type 2, even though I got insulin, needles, etc just like a type 1 would. It was two weeks later at my endo when I was told it was type 1

@An_Zura 1 month ago (edited)

Когда мне было 36 лет. Я жила в Казахстане. Попала в больницу кетоацидозом. Мне сказали что мне необходим инсулин. Через 9 лет я приехала в Америку. Но доктор сказал что мне не нужно колоть инсулин и выписали таблетки от 2 типа. В течение 12 месяцев месяцев я от 130 паундов похудела до 100 паундов мне было 46 лет. Я совсем уже не могла встать с кровати. Тогда померила кетоны в моче. И они были на самой высокой границе. Я позвонила доктору . Но к моему удивлению она сказала что это не страшно. Спасибо Богу что выжила. Стала опять колоть инсулин и пошла к другому доктору. А затем сама настояла на анализе на антитела. И у них было много удивления. На все виды у меня были антитела.

@Rustech-fun 1 month ago (edited)

me I have been type 2 for 28 years. I don't take insulin but I have tested positive for Insulin autoimmune antibodies about3.5 years ago. but that's all. i am 56.