- Messages
- 2
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
Have been pondering about some questions regarding diabulimia for some time now. Would like to have professionals or very well educated people answering. For the sake of other who is as curious as myself, I'm asking both for both an overall answer and one personalized to myself.
What is diabulimia?
How do people with diabulimia avoid DKA?
In what blood sugar level to the body start to shed away your own body fat? 15mmol? Higher?
Have there been any longer studies showing that diabulimia is in fact having negative impact on diabetics?
How quickly can one lose weight when restricting insulin?
Which insulin is the "ideal" one to restrict?
Should one exercise while restricting insulin - what are the effects?
Would drinking more water help with losing weight quicker/safer?
And to myself then; I was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, more accurately a month ago. My symptoms were quite "severe" - I drank about 7-8 liters of water a day, had a need to pee approximately 25 times a day, was extremely fatigued and had to convince myself to stand up after being seated, had trouble sleeping, had vision blurs, lost my balance a few times a day, every time I ate I got crazy abdominal pains that lasted several hours and made me pretty much unable to function, lost 10 kg of weight, couldn't walk more than a few steps without shortness of breath and so on. This evolved gradually upon me, it wasn't something I even thought about much and when I think back I believe it has been going on for at least six months prior to my diagnosis. Despite an overall feeling of not being well and all these symptoms I forced myself to maintain my normal life and thought I was just "lazy" when my body tried to stop me. I ended up at my doctors just about a month ago after persuasion from my parents, mostly for my abdominal pains as they seemed to get worse. My doctor didn't think of diabetes (why the hell not?? Really, so weird!), but took some blood tests and was confused when my blood sugar was "high" and well above the forties. She took a hba1c which said 20% and that was when she realized I had diabetes. Was sent to the emergency and was hospitalized for a week. Has since then been introduced to insulin and the now normal life for myself as a diabetic.
Now to my inquiries. I have since starting on insulin gained A LOT of weight, probably around 20kgs. This feels awful, because the weight I had when diagnosed is the "ideal" for my length and body type. I am now very fat and it's really not a pleasant experience. I know the reason is that I've indulged in foods with high carbs and therefore have been taking quite a lot of insulin. So it's not a shock that I am now over weight, but I now feel fed up and ready to give up this lifestyle with high carbs and sugar. What I've been thinking though, is that if I maintain a high blood sugar level now, my body "should" eat my stored fat, right? I am in no means wanting to maintain eating carbs or sugar, so this would simply be a way for me to quickly shed my excess fat so that I then can start my healthy new life with a slimmer body and for the rest of my life have normal blood sugar levels. So basically I want to have a period with high blood sugar levels so my body eats up my fat, and when I'm down on my normal weight, proceed with a healthy diet and normal insulin injections.
What would the "optimal" high blood sugar be for this to be as "safe" as possible? I don't want to risk DKA, but risking some long-time effects I'm okay with (because I don't think anyone really knows why long-term effects show, therefore I don't really think a month or two with high blood sugar would be so harming as they assume). How much insulin and which of them (Lantus versus NovoRapid) should I take to continue to be in the highs, but not so high that I risk DKA? I've tried to read a lot on the subject but can't find answers to my questions. Is it safe to exercise while on this "diet"? Could it in fact hurry up the process? Or does it slow it down?
I am a stable young woman, with high IQ and have no reason to believe that this will turn into a long-term eating disorder, it is just a way for me to come to terms with myself and my diabetes. I am fully prepared to give up carbs and sugar from now on, I don't feel like I will miss it at all, and I just want my body to get rid of the excess fat before I start my new healthy life with the goal to maintain a perfect hba1c for the rest of my life. Please answer to your best knowledge, and consider answering for both the overall public and to my specific case. If possible, please include sources for your information and do consider explaining how you came to your expertise (are you perhaps a doctor? Etc).
(Sorry if the language isn't perfect - I am not a native English-speaker)
What is diabulimia?
How do people with diabulimia avoid DKA?
In what blood sugar level to the body start to shed away your own body fat? 15mmol? Higher?
Have there been any longer studies showing that diabulimia is in fact having negative impact on diabetics?
How quickly can one lose weight when restricting insulin?
Which insulin is the "ideal" one to restrict?
Should one exercise while restricting insulin - what are the effects?
Would drinking more water help with losing weight quicker/safer?
And to myself then; I was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, more accurately a month ago. My symptoms were quite "severe" - I drank about 7-8 liters of water a day, had a need to pee approximately 25 times a day, was extremely fatigued and had to convince myself to stand up after being seated, had trouble sleeping, had vision blurs, lost my balance a few times a day, every time I ate I got crazy abdominal pains that lasted several hours and made me pretty much unable to function, lost 10 kg of weight, couldn't walk more than a few steps without shortness of breath and so on. This evolved gradually upon me, it wasn't something I even thought about much and when I think back I believe it has been going on for at least six months prior to my diagnosis. Despite an overall feeling of not being well and all these symptoms I forced myself to maintain my normal life and thought I was just "lazy" when my body tried to stop me. I ended up at my doctors just about a month ago after persuasion from my parents, mostly for my abdominal pains as they seemed to get worse. My doctor didn't think of diabetes (why the hell not?? Really, so weird!), but took some blood tests and was confused when my blood sugar was "high" and well above the forties. She took a hba1c which said 20% and that was when she realized I had diabetes. Was sent to the emergency and was hospitalized for a week. Has since then been introduced to insulin and the now normal life for myself as a diabetic.
Now to my inquiries. I have since starting on insulin gained A LOT of weight, probably around 20kgs. This feels awful, because the weight I had when diagnosed is the "ideal" for my length and body type. I am now very fat and it's really not a pleasant experience. I know the reason is that I've indulged in foods with high carbs and therefore have been taking quite a lot of insulin. So it's not a shock that I am now over weight, but I now feel fed up and ready to give up this lifestyle with high carbs and sugar. What I've been thinking though, is that if I maintain a high blood sugar level now, my body "should" eat my stored fat, right? I am in no means wanting to maintain eating carbs or sugar, so this would simply be a way for me to quickly shed my excess fat so that I then can start my healthy new life with a slimmer body and for the rest of my life have normal blood sugar levels. So basically I want to have a period with high blood sugar levels so my body eats up my fat, and when I'm down on my normal weight, proceed with a healthy diet and normal insulin injections.
What would the "optimal" high blood sugar be for this to be as "safe" as possible? I don't want to risk DKA, but risking some long-time effects I'm okay with (because I don't think anyone really knows why long-term effects show, therefore I don't really think a month or two with high blood sugar would be so harming as they assume). How much insulin and which of them (Lantus versus NovoRapid) should I take to continue to be in the highs, but not so high that I risk DKA? I've tried to read a lot on the subject but can't find answers to my questions. Is it safe to exercise while on this "diet"? Could it in fact hurry up the process? Or does it slow it down?
I am a stable young woman, with high IQ and have no reason to believe that this will turn into a long-term eating disorder, it is just a way for me to come to terms with myself and my diabetes. I am fully prepared to give up carbs and sugar from now on, I don't feel like I will miss it at all, and I just want my body to get rid of the excess fat before I start my new healthy life with the goal to maintain a perfect hba1c for the rest of my life. Please answer to your best knowledge, and consider answering for both the overall public and to my specific case. If possible, please include sources for your information and do consider explaining how you came to your expertise (are you perhaps a doctor? Etc).
(Sorry if the language isn't perfect - I am not a native English-speaker)