@johnstow, LADA honeymoons last longer than T1s. In most cases, the older you are diagnosed, the longer your honeymoon is likely to last. My son was diagnosed at age 11, and his honeymoon lasted a bit less than a year.
As a LADA diagnosis, you are likely to have several years of honeymoon. Imho, honeymoon is good and bad. It is good because you still get some self-regulation. It is bad because your beta cells sputter often, so your insulin needs can vary shockingly. We were someone relieved (with some wistful regrets) when my son got out of honeymoon.
How you recognize you are out of honeymoon: I am sure there are many possible signs. The three that were most significant to us where
- the nice, someone flat, slightly curvy CGM curves gave we to zigzaggy plots with sharper angles,
- his BG began requiring more precise adjustment with little forgiveness, and
- he reached a somewhat stable TDD (Total Daily Dose of insulin) not far from (weight in lbs)/4. At the time, he was about 120 lbs and was using about 35 units/day.
Insulin needs vary, of course, from person to person. They are somewhat proportional to weight, but can be very different between two PWDs of equal weight. Obviously, this depends upon many factors, the least of which is not your daily carb diet:
- at equal basal need, the more carbs you consume in the day as a percentage of your daily calories, the more insulin you consume, the higher your TDD;
- your daily exercise routine has strong impact on your TDD, for your basal and bolus both. In and out of sports seasons, my son’s TDD varies by 50%.
With this understanding, the general equation for average insulin needs for someone out of honeymoon is:
TDD = 0.55 * (weight in kilograms) or
TDD = (weight in lbs)/4
Here is a link from UCSF that describes typical insulin needs: