I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Melissa Slemp, from Type 1 in Midlife to talk about something close to my heart: the confusing, often misdiagnosed world of LADA — Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults.
If you’re newly diagnosed, suspect you’ve been misdiagnosed with Type 2, or you support someone who has, this conversation is for you.
What we covered
- Why so many adults with LADA get misdiagnosed as Type 2 — and the two tests (an autoantibody panel and a C-peptide test) that can finally give you a clear answer
- The transition to insulin as the pancreas’s natural insulin production declines over time
- Why a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) is one of the most powerful tools anyone with LADA can use and how it made a difference in my LADA journey
- Sugar Surfing — Dr. Steven Ponder’s dynamic approach to blood sugar management, and how it changed the way I manage my diabetes
- The mental health side of LADA — burnout, micromanaging data, and why self-compassion isn’t optional
- Hormones, perimenopause, and unpredictable blood sugar — what the textbooks leave out, and how I adjust
A huge thank you to Melissa
Melissa is doing important work giving midlife women navigating Type 1 and LADA diabetes a place to be heard. If you’re not already following her, check out the Type 1 in Midlife podcast and her resources at Abundant Health with Melissa.
Want to go deeper than a podcast episode can?
Everything Melissa and I touched on — the misdiagnosis story, the testing roadmap, the day-to-day of Sugar Surfing, the mental health piece — is in my book.
P.S. If you’re newly diagnosed or still fighting to get the right testing, I send a free email series that walks you through what to ask your doctor and how to advocate for yourself. Join the list here →
